Such Gnostic gospels often claimed that the prominent apostles of Jesus misunderstood his message and that there is a secret teaching that Jesus passed on that was understood by only a select few.
Taolised gnostilised evangeeliumid väitsid tihti, et Jeesuse silmapaistvad apostlid mõistsid vääriti Jeesuse sõnumit ja et on olemas salajane õpetus, mille Jeesus andis teada ning millest vaid üksikud valitud aru said.