/lit/ - Literature

>It is very funny and revealing to me because in chapters five and six he 'at last' begins to write about 'the gnostics' and he provides to us a picture which more resembles upper to middle class pagan aristocracy who simply tolerate Christians but who appear to claim to 'be' Christians in that they take part in Christian ceremonies. He describes in full detail, the interesting part, how they discussed things and the advise they gave to people such as Irenaeus to do good deeds in the world to better himself and that people such as himself were animal-men who were wholly besotted by delusion.

>This, mind you, is long before any kind of recognizable 'Christian Church' existed and so at this point in history we are in Martials (see: rus in urbe) realm where what would become 'Christians' (if they wished to differentiate themselves from other Jews) have donned the mantle of philosophers in a competitive market of ideas and where their patrons are Roman aristocrats and their followers are illiterate slaves and beggars in the market; i.e. the wholly ignorant.