The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels

The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels

NATIONAL BESTSELLER - NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER - NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE WINNER - SELECTED BY THE MODERN LIBRARY AS ONE OF THE 100 BEST NONFICTION BOOKS - The landmark study exploring alternative perspectives of early Christianity as revealed through the Nag Hammadi texts that could have shaped the religion differently if included in the Christian canon - Pagels] is always readable, always deeply informed, always richly suggestive of pathways her readers may wish to follow out for themselves.--Harold Bloom, The Washington Post

Pagels] writes with the instincts of a novelist, the skill of a scholar, and the ability to sort out significances that many writers lack.--Chicago Tribune - An intellectually elegant, concise study . . . The economy with which Pagels] evokes the world of early Christianity is a marvel.--The New Yorker

The Gnostic Gospels is a work of luminous scholarship and wide popular appeal. First published in 1979 to critical acclaim, winning the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, The Gnostic Gospels has continued to grow in reputation and influence. It is now widely recognized as one of the most brilliant and accessible histories of early Christian spirituality published in our time.

In 1945 an Egyptian peasant unearthed what proved to be the Gnostic Gospels, thirteen papyrus volumes that expounded a radically different view of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ from that of the New Testament. In this spellbinding book, renowned religious scholar Elaine Pagels elucidates the mysteries and meanings of these sacred texts both in the world of the first Christians and in the context of Christianity today.

With insight and passion, Pagels explores a remarkable range of recently discovered gospels, including the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, to show how a variety of Christianities emerged at a time of extraordinary spiritual upheaval. Some Christians questioned the need for clergy and church doctrine, and taught that the divine could be discovered through spiritual search. Many others, like Buddhists and Hindus, sought enlightenment--and access to God--within. Such explorations raised questions: Was the resurrection to be understood symbolically and not literally? Was God to be envisioned only in masculine form, or feminine as well? Was martyrdom a necessary--or worthy--expression of faith? These early Christians dared to ask questions that orthodox Christians later suppressed--and their explorations led to profoundly different visions of Jesus and his message.

Brilliant and stunning in its implications, The Gnostic Gospels is a radical, eloquent reconsideration of the origins of the Christian faith.

Elaine Pagels is the Harrington Spear Paine Foundation Professor of Religion at Princeton University. She is the author of several books, including Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity, the New York Times bestseller Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas, and The Gnostic Gospels, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and the National Book Award. Professor Pagels lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

Karen L. King is an American academic specializing in Gnosticism and early Christianity. She was the Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Harvard Divinity School from 1998 to 2008, and succeeded Harvey Cox in 2009 to become the first woman appointed to that school's distinguished Hollis Chair, the oldest endowed chair in the United States.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780394502786
ISBN 10	0394502787
Title	The Gnostic Gospels
Author	Elaine Pagels
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Microfilm
Publisher	Random House USA Inc
Year published	1979-11-12
Number of pages	182
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.