'The Gnostic Gospels'

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STEVE CR
I recommend "The Gnostic Gospels" by Elaine Pagels (Vintage Books, 1989;
originally published 1979). 

It is a very readable account of the some of the early beliefs, considered
heretical by what became the orthodox church,  based on the gnostic texts
found at Nag Hammadi in Egypt in 1945.

For those who don't know, up until these gnostic texts were recovered in
1945, we only had the writings of the 'orthodox' church fathers to
understand what the 'heretics' believed, which obviously gives some concern
over whether the 'heretical' views were properly understood and properly
communicated.

Pagels covers the writings by topic rather than going through the works one
by one. So for example, the first chapter is "The Controversy over Christ's
Resurrection: Historical or Symbol" - which considers what many of the
early views were on this subject and how the 'orthodox' reacted, as well as
suggesting why.

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