Rylands distinguishes what he calls "Gnostic Christianity" — the Christianity of Paul and the Fourth Gospel, which he treats as the religion's original form — from the later "Christian Gnosticism" of teachers such as Basilides and Valentinus. The book traces how a knowledge-centered faith centered on Christ was gradually overlaid by creed, ritual, and church authority.
Author: L. Gordon Rylands (Louis Gordon Rylands)
