My honest take on Gnosticism is that it has some key points that are correct. Most notably, they have these things right:
- Secret knowledge is real
- Some council can’t decide what is and is not scripture
- The devil controls the world and does play a rather demiurgic role
- This world is pretty hellish
I don’t buy the Yaldabaoth Sophia shit but it’s not like they were completely bereft of correct takes.