Admittedly, the Gospels of John, Thomas, Philip and Mary all have gnostic leanings - but it seems as though only pictic Gospels have ever been accepted.
The simple fact that these individuals were very close to Christ and still had gnostic leanings surely must indicate that the gnostic viewpoint was compatible with the teachings of Christ.
I have also read on a number of sites that the pictic view (absolute faith in scripture) was originally heretical, but grew rapidly in numbers during the time Nero put them to the lions as entertainment. I would be interested if anyone could recommend any books / sources regarding the early schizm of Pictic / Gnostic Christianity.
I would also like recommendations on books regarding the inception of Roman Catholicism - I didn't realise that 'Catholic' meant 'Universal', nor that Constantine had allegedly created it by combining Pictic Christianity with a number of Pagan faiths in order to create a state religion.