The Gospel of Perfection

is yet another Gnostic text listed among the heretical works by the church fathers. It is thought to have been written by the specific Gnostic sect known as the Ophites, described by Hippolytus of Rome as a Christian sect who engaged in speculation about the serpent mentioned in the Biblical account of Paradise (Genesis 3) and also the bronze serpent Nechushtan carried as a banner by Mosheh (Exodus 7:10-12) - see also 2 Kings 18:4.

This Gospel is thought by some scholars to be the same as "The Gospel of Eve", though Epiphanius' account implies that they were separate Gospels. Others have argued that it was the same as "The Gospel of Philip". Epiphanius says of it that:

"Some of them [the Gnostics] there are who vaunt the possession of a certain fictitious, far-fetched poem which they call the Gospel of Perfection, whereas it is not a Gospel, but the perfection of misery. For the bitterness of death is consummated in that production of the devil. Others without shame boast their Gospel of Eve."

"The Gospel of Perfection" is also briefly discussed in "The Infancy Gospel of Thomas" which offers (chapter 25) a "lengthy account of the miracles performed by Christ while a child in Egypt", and goes on to state: "And the Lord Jesus did many miracles in Egypt, which are neither to be found in the Gospel of the Infancy, nor in the Gospel of Perfection."

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