Were the debates between Gnostics and orthodox Christians recorded and preserved?
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Accepted answer
The surviving church fathers's writings contained the still-united Church's defense against one of the earliest heresies: Gnosticism. But we only read the church's side of the argument. Not until the Nag Hammadi discovery 75 years ago that we are now able to learn the Gnostic's own voice through their own writings.
St. Irenaeus (c. 130 - c. 202) wrote extensively about this heresy in his Against Heresies books (c. 174 - c. 189). See also the wikipedia entry. I found a good commentary and annotated text of the first 3 books at these series of blog articles: Book 1, Book 2, Book 3. The 1909 Catholic Encyclopedia entry on Gnosticism under the section "Refutation of Gnosticism" mentioned other early church fathers writing about it, both extant and non, partly informed by Eusebius's indispensable earliest church history written between AD 324 (last date mentioned) and AD 340 (his death).
For the full treatment of what we now know about Gnosticism after the Nag Hammadi discovery, you can watch the highly acclaimed Teaching Company's Great Course Gnosticism: From Nag Hammadi to the Gospel of Judas published in 2015, taught by David Brakke, Ph.D., M.Div., a professor of History of Christianity and History. I found the course notes here and the lecture videos here.
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