Adam, Eve, and the Serpent by Elaine Pagels

Adam, Eve, and the Serpent by Elaine Pagels

A National Book Award winner and New York Times bestselling author deepens and refreshes our view of early Christianity while casting a disturbing light on the evolution of the attitudes passed down to us. 

"Confirms her reputation as both a scholar and a popular interpreter.... Continuously rewarding and illuminating." --The New York Times

How did the early Christians come to believe that sex was inherently sinful? When did the Fall of Adam become synonymous with the fall of humanity? What turned Christianity from a dissident sect that  championed the integrity of the individual and the idea of free will into the bulwark of a new imperial order--with the central belief that human beings cannot not choose to sin?  In this provocative masterpiece of historical scholarship Elaine Pagels re-creates the controversies that racked the early church as it confronted the riddles of sexuality, freedom, and sin as embodied in the story of Genesis.  And she shows how what was once heresy came to shape our own attitudes toward the body and the soul.

Elaine Pagels is a world-renowned professor whose scholarly achievements have gained her international acclaim. Pagels, the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion at Princeton University, has received three consecutive Rockefeller, Guggenheim, and MacArthur Fellowships. The Gnostic Gospels, Beyond Belief, and Revelations are among her works.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780679722328
ISBN 10	0679722327
Title	Adam, Eve, and the Serpent
Author	Elaine Pagels
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Random House USA Inc
Year published	1989-09-19
Number of pages	224
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.