Why Ignore the Gnostic Gospels? [Questions That Haunt]

This week’s entry in the Questions That Haunt Christianity series comes from Patience, who asks,

Since leaving the faith I have not looked back, and I have done a lot of exploration of atheist/agnostic communities as well as alternative religious communities. In studying Buddhism and some other religions I came back to some references to the Gnostic Gospels, and I want to know why mainstream christianity has not yet dealt with these at all but keeps preaching the Johannine gospel as ultimate truth when it was one interpretation among many at the time (as regards the meaning and significance of the life of Jesus).

So I guess what I’m asking is why those gospels are not in any bibles, why no christians read or quote them, and why so conveniently christianity can dispose of alternate explanations within christianity itself; is christianity ultimately just a test of saying the right words, or is christianity ready to admit among its ranks those who do not believe in miracles, virgin births, or resurrections?

My answer will come on Friday, but I hope that you will attempt to answer her question below. You can submit your own question here.