>>93
When reading the texts of Church Fathers, it is very important to keep in mind that mainstream Christians are opposing Gnostic beliefs. The books that were selected to be part of the Bible had to be agreed upon my the majority and as result the texts are similar and the more controversial texts got dropped. Also, catholic means "universal", after all.
I would like to read the Vulgate and Septuagint at some point. But until I learn Latin and ancient Greek, I have to keep using KJV. I guess I better start reading Lingua Latina per se Illustrata (I would greatly appreciate other recommendations and tips if you happen to have any!)
gnostics and "gnosticism"
It's worth mentioning that the word "gnostic" can be used to refer to many different schools of thought. It can refer to Valentinians, Sethians, Manichaeism and even Mandaeans AND other groups. I recommend you read the epilogue of The Nag Hammadi Scriptures by Marvin Meyer et al. (it's also recommended that you read/compare many different translations of the texts. reading the texts in their original language would be even better). The word "gnôsis" refers to knowledge that is gained from one's personal experiences. There are also some non-gnostic texts in the Nag Hammadi Library (like the excerpt form Plato's Republic). Also, if you liked the text found in The Nag Hammadi Library, you will probably also enjoy the Corpus Hermeticum and Asclepius (aka The Perfect Sermon). Get Hermetica by Brian Copenhaver.
The Dead Sea Scrolls are also interesting (but not Christian). They are usually said to be written by a group of Essenes but this theory has been disputed by some. As far as I know, the translation by Geza Vermes is still regarded to be the best.
what are you thoughts on the gnostic heresy?
That's a difficult question to answer. It's probably closer to the Truth than the mainstream Christianity. The gnostic beliefs are influenced by neoplatonism, and I recommend you also read Plato's works (start with Republic http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.html or https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Plat.+Rep.+toc).
Plotinus also wrote something about the gnostics:
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Enneads/Against_the_Gnostics;_or,_Against_Those_that_Affirm_the_Creator_of_the_Cosmos_and_the_Cosmos_Itself_to_be_Evil
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoplatonism_and_Gnosticism#Neoplatonist_objections
It's an interesting idea that Yaldabaoth = The (jealous) God of the Old Testament (Exodus 20:5, Exodus 34:14). You could also ask the question: since there are many different names of "god" (Yahweh, Elohim, Adonai, etc.) in The Old Testament, are they really referring the the same god or many different gods? Also, Who is the God of the Old Testament jealous of?
The Shepherd of Hermas and Epistle of Barnabas
To clarify, Epistle of Barnabas and The Shepherd of Hermas are not gnostic texts. Instead, these are other early Christian writings. In fact, The Shepherd of Hermas used to be even a part of the Bible (Codex Sinaiticus) at one point! There are also other interesting early Christian texts. And there also some interesting groups, such as the Nestorians and Arianism.
Also, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_heresies_in_the_Catholic_Church (This list is incomplete; you can help by starting a new cult!)