Carpocrates, a leading Gnostic teacher of the second century, lived in Alexandria.
Carpocrates and his followers claim that the world and the things that are in it were created by angels greatly inferior to the unbegotten Father. They also hold that Jesus was the son of Joseph and that he was just like other men. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.350.
However, it is not for you [Simon Magus] alone that the reincarnation philosophy has fabricated this story. Carpocrates also makes equally good use of it. He was a magician and a fornicator like yourself, only he did not have a Helen. Tertullian (c. 210, W), 3.216.
Carpocrates states that the world and the things in it were made by angels, far inferior to the unbegotten Father. He says that Jesus was begotten of Joseph and that, although having been born similar to other men, He was more just than the rest. He says that His soul—inasmuch as it was made vigorous and undefiled—remembered the things seen by it in its conversation with the unbegotten God. Hippolytus (c. 225, W), 5.113.
[The disciples of Carpocrates] make counterfeit images of Christ, alleging that these were in existence at the time . . . and were fashioned by Pilate. Hippolytus (c. 225, W), 5.114; extended discussion: 1.350, 351.