Despite claims by some contemporary scholars (e.g., Bart Ehrman and Elaine Pagels) that there were lots of alternative Christianities and so it is hard to know which one is the “true” one, the fact remains that later Gnosticism was clearly inconsistent with the earliest teaching and beliefs of Christianity. See Darrell L. Bock, The Missing Gospels: Unearthing the Truth Behind Alternative Christianities
