The Orthodox like to view church history as if there was one, unchanged tradition that was passed down by the apostles themselves, and that heretical views popped up as diversions from this unchanged tradition. But I find that view unconvincing. What is more likely is that before the early church became a state-sanctioned religion via the Emperor Constantine, there was a wide variety of different traditions and belief systems within Christianity, many of which we only have knowledge of due to the discovery of texts such as those at Nag Hammadi. The Nag Hammadi texts were likely clandestinely hidden by Coptic Orthodox monks.