Chapter 5 Summary

For thousands of years, the orthodox Christians had a monopoly on their doctrines. Most of what we knew of the Gnostics came from their side- from Tertullian, from Hippolytus, from Iranaeus, the vituperative Fathers of the orthodox church. Recently, we are finding that the ancient Gnostic writers also had a measure of vituperation themselves. In the Second Treatise of the Great Seth, the author asserts that not only were the Gnostics attacked by pagans but also by those who advanced "the name of Christ," not realizing they were "unknowingly empty…like dumb animals." The Apocalypse of Peter echoes this attack. The orthodox church is an imitation church, which unknowingly claims "exclusive legitimacy." The Testimony of Truth does not confine its attacks to the Orthodoxy, but also directs its attentions to the deficiencies of supposedly immature Gnostics like Basilides, Simon and Valentinus.

With all...