Carpocratian

Carpocratian

Follower of the 2nd-century Christian Gnostic Carpocrates, whose sect flourished in Alexandria. Carpocratians revered Jesus as an ordinary man whose soul had not forgotten that its origin and true home was within the sphere of the unknown perfect God. They rejected the created world, claimed superiority due to their ability to communicate with demons, and subverted biblical law as the work of the evil angels who created the world. Their goal of transcendent freedom required having every possible experience, which required several lifetimes. The first sect known to have used pictures of Christ, they also made images of Plato, Pythagoras, and Aristotle. See also Gnosticism.