Gnostic Christians, on the contrary, assert that what distinguishes the false from the true church is not its relationship to the clergy, but the level of understanding of its members, and the quality of their relationship with one another. The Apocalypse of Peter declares that “those who are from the life … having been enlightened,”22 discriminate for themselves between what is true and false. Belonging to “the remnant … summoned to knowledge [gnosis],”23 they neither attempt to dominate others nor do they subject themselves to the bishops and deacons, those “waterless canals.” Instead they
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