The pneumatics ("spiritual", from Greek , "spirit") were, in

Gnosticism Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized p ...

, the highest order of humans, the other two orders being psychics and

hylics Hylic (from Greek (''hylē'') "matter") is the opposite of psychic (from Greek (''psychē'') "soul"). In the gnostic belief system, hylics, also called somatics (from Greek (''sōma'') "body"), were the lowest order of the three types of hum ...

("matter"). A pneumatic saw itself as escaping the doom of the material world via the transcendent knowledge of Sophia's

Divine Spark The divine spark is a term used in various different religious traditions. Gnosticism In Gnosticism, the divine spark is the portion of God that resides within each human being. The purpose of life is to enable the Divine Spark to be released fr ...

within the soul. In the New Testament a contrast is made between the ''psychikoi'' and the ''pneumatikoi'', in the former of whom the mere animal soul predominates, the latter exhibiting the working of a higher spiritual nature (; ; compare also ). In the Valentinian system this contrast is sharpened, and is made to depend on an original difference of nature between the two classes of men, a mythical theory being devised which professed to account for the origin of the different elements in men's nature; the psychic element being something higher and better than the mere material element, but immeasurably inferior to the pneumatic. It may well be believed that in the language of the Gnostic sects, the "pneumatici" are "spiritual men who have attained to the perfect knowledge of God, and been initiated into these mysteries by Achamoth" herself ( ''Adv. Haer''. I. 6, 1), ordinary Christians being branded as "psychici." Such was also the use made of the latter word by

Tertullian Tertullian (; la, Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus; 155 AD – 220 AD) was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of La ...

, who in his latest works, written after his

Montanism Montanism (), known by its adherents as the New Prophecy, was an early Christian movement of the late 2nd century, later referred to by the name of its founder, Montanus. Montanism held views about the basic tenets of Christian theology simi ...

had involved him in complete separation from the church, habitually uses the word ''Psychici'' to designate those from whom he had separated.

Descriptive term in religious studies

In the academic study of religion and mysticism more generally, pneumatic has been used as a classification term to define similar trends in wider contexts. For example, Joseph G. Weiss describes "A Circle of Pneumatics in Pre-

Hasidism Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...

",Chapter in ''Studies in East European Jewish Mysticism and Hasidism'', Joseph Weiss, Littman Library in the context of

Jewish mysticism Academic study of Jewish mysticism, especially since Gershom Scholem's '' Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism'' (1941), distinguishes between different forms of mysticism across different eras of Jewish history. Of these, Kabbalah, which emerged in ...

. Here the pneumatic group have minor prophetic powers (" Ruah Ha-qodesh" in Jewish parlance), such as revealing the sins of their fellows. However they decide to renounce use of this, probably in response to communal suspicion in the wake of the

Sabbatean The Sabbateans (or Sabbatians) were a variety of Jewish followers, disciples, and believers in Sabbatai Zevi (1626–1676), a Sephardic Jewish rabbi and Kabbalist who was proclaimed to be the Jewish Messiah in 1666 by Nathan of Gaza. Vast n ...

Kabbalistic heresy. The

Baal Shem Tov Israel ben Eliezer (1698 – 22 May 1760), known as the Baal Shem Tov ( he, בעל שם טוב, ) or as the Besht, was a Jewish mystic and healer who is regarded as the founder of Hasidic Judaism. "Besht" is the acronym for Baal Shem Tov, which ...

, founder of Hasidism, seeks recognition in the group, but is initially hindered by his lower status as a Baal Shem exorcist.

References

;Attribution *{{source-attribution, {{cite book, title=A Dictionary of Christian Biography, Literature, Sects and Doctrines, chapter=Psychici, volume=IV, editor1-first=William , editor1-last=Smith , editor1-link= William Smith (lexicographer) , editor2-first=Henry, editor2-last=Wace, editor2-link= Henry Wace (Anglican priest), last=Salmon, first=George, chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e3DYAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA514, pages=514–15, year=1887, publisher=John Murray, location=London

External links

The Gnosis archive
Gnosticism de:Pneumatiker

Descriptive term in religious studies

See also

References

External links