A friend of mine once remarked on how different she thought it would be if Valentinus had been selected as Bishop of Rome and led the fledgling Catholic church into a more gnostic worldview. She inquired as to how different I think it would have been. My answer then is the same as my answer now:

Not a bit.

In the end, Gnosis isn't a shield against evil, or corruption, or political pressure. Not in a literal sense. It lies within the Spirit to perfect people, not the system or the church. Given access to where the outer church was, the Valentinians would most likely end up where the church ended up. We may each strive for the best, but in the end we are all as human as every person at the Council of Nicea, voting with our over-pressured hearts and praying for grace.

As it well should be. I can think of no greater commenter on it than Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn:

"Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either - but right through every human heart - and through all human hearts."

May we pray as fervently that we win the battle alongside our rivals as we do to win the battle with our rivals. Amen.