Illusory Polemics: Clement and Irenaeus on the Gnostics
In: Religious Polemics and Encounters in Late AntiquitySearch for other papers by Sami Yli-Karjanmaa in
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Abstract
This essay discusses Clement of Alexandria’s and Irenaeus of Lyon’s polemics with their theological opponents and their views concerning the epithet “gnostic,” as well as the reception of these in scholarship. It is argued that the portrayal of these two authors as opponents of gnostics is without foundation. For Clement, the term “gnostic” is exclusively positive, and he is by far our best example in ancient literature of the self-designation “gnostic.” He never criticizes anyone he considers a gnostic but—in addition to some whom he does not classify in this respect—only those who, according to him, “falsely” call themselves gnostics. This is true for Irenaeus as well, but a characteristic feature in his Adversus haereses is terminological variability: while he explicitly denies the right of all of his opponents to call themselves gnostics by calling them “false gnostics,” he also calls the same people “so-called gnostics” or simply “gnostics.” This variation seems not to have been noticed in research where the standard practice is to speak of Irenaeus’s refutation of the gnostics. The author presents a plea for terminological accuracy and transparency that takes into account the fact that in parts of the earliest evidence the term “gnostic” is an honorific much closer to “orthodox” than “heretic.”