The Gnostics were revolutionary and provocative in enough ways to incur the wrath of the established Church. The most notable reason includes their views on the sacrament of marriage. Such controversial groups understood that the spiritually-transformed sexual act could raise the fallen Sophia (the wisdom of an awakened consciousness) to the heights of Pleroma (the direct experience of divine reality). See how through an explanation of the Gnostic Gospel of Phillip.

Resources and References:

https://chicagognosis.org/lectures/the-spirituality-of-sex