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Nov 13, 2011

Erik rated it:

For over four years I occupied one of the cheapest singles in Union Theological Seminary's Hastings Hall. The room had been used for guests and, so, was larger than any other single, a wall having been apparently torn out. Consequently, it was large enough to accomodate both myself and my girlfriend, Janny, after she transferred from Grinnell to Barnard College a couple of blocks away south on Broadway.

I'd gone to Grinnell also, having done my thesis there on the subject of scholar More...

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Dec 15, 2007

Fredstrong rated it:

The Nag Hammadi texts, containing the Gnostic Gospels, were found in Egypt in 1945. These codices were compiled in the 4th century AD, but the gospels themselves date to the 2nd century AD. The Gnostic teachings are quite different from those of the orthodoxy. The Gnostics had an egalitarian approach to the sexes. Sex itself was held a sacrament, and Jesus himself had a consort in Mary Magdalene. All this points to one of the most fundamental differences of Gnosticism to the Orthodox Christianit More...

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Oct 06, 2007

Eva rated it:

This book is a classic. It describes, catalogues, quotes, and interprets portions of the secret gnostic gospels which were ordered destroyed in the 4th century after Christ. How, then, did we gain access to them? Some crafty monk shoved bits and pieces of papyrus into a clay jar and buried it, like a time capsule, for 20th century archeologists to discover and historians to argue about for another 16 centuries.

What do the gnostic gospels disclose? Well, read if you want the full stor More...

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May 22, 2007

Christine rated it:

This book is about how, after JC's death, there was a struggle between heretic believers- those who believed in personal enlightenment and shunned a church hierarchy- and the disciple of John's beievers- patriarchal, hierarchal, congregational- and why John's side won. GG is based on the gnostic gospels which were discovered in urns buried in a cave in Egypt 1950. They had likely been suppressed by the dominant faction.

It does a good job describing how present-day Christianity ev More...

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Oct 02, 2011

Katie rated it:

This is a really fascinating book, and a great introduction to Gnosticism. It's learned, it places theological ideas in a socio-political context, and it's enjoyable to read. Pagel's biggest success is in the way she ties the controversy between gnostic and orthodox ideas into contemporary social and political issues and uses them to explain why orthodox ideas ultimately won out. It paints a picture where orthodox Christianity isn't the camp that won because it's ideas were any 'truer,' but beca More...

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Jan 03, 2009

Dave rated it:

I found the book fascinating. The description of the discovery and coming to light of the Nag Hammadi library, a collection of Gnostic writings including gospels, apocalypses, and other early Christian/Gnostic books called apocryphal that did not make it into the New Testament because of the heretical views expressed. The narrative shows the extreme division among early Christian groups and the struggle between ecclesiastical authority (orthodoxy) and individual conscience (the various heterod More...

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Jan 02, 2009

Pete rated it:

One of the few Christian writers I can enjoy reading.

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Aug 12, 2011

Camille added it

I am not particularly religious, although I attended catholic school for most of my education. I never really liked the way that God was separated from us—through a priest, bishop or pope— and always made me question the church in general. Why can’t one communicate with God directly? Why do we need to be absolved by a priest in order to be free from sin? Why do I need to continually be fearful of a vengeful and jealous God?

The gnostics have always been of interest to me because I am enthralle More...

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Aug 02, 2011

Jody added it

Fascinating and thought provoking. This is a very thorough historical examination of the conflict between the orthodox and gnostic perspectives of Christianity in its first centuries, based on various scriptures (canonical and apocryphal) as well as the writings of religious scholars and historians from that time. At the end, the author disclaims that she doesn't necessarily agree with or 'side' with a gnostic view of Christian philosophy. More's the pity - she demonstrated quite well, in my More...

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Jan 10, 2009

Bruce rated it:

The best overview of the history and meaning of the gnostic gospels. Pagels does a fine job in outlining the amazing history of the finding of these manuscripts in a jar by an Arab shepherd in the late 40's, and the near miraculous way they were saved from destruction. It is heartbreaking to consider that some were used by his mother to start fires, what work may have been lost there.

These variant views of Christianity were sidetracked by the early Christian fathers who determined More...

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Jun 24, 2011

Franz rated it:

Not only describes and interprets the ancient gnostic scrolls buried at Nag Hammadi in Egypt for over 1600 years, Pagel also explains why the orthodox Christianity overcame gnostic versions of Christianity. In a nutshell, the organization, order, and greater ease of understanding of the orthodox version of Christ's teachings for the bulk of the people helped orthodox Christianity to trump the decentralized structure and esoteric interpretation of Christ's teachings as understood by the gnostics. More...

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Mar 29, 2011

Miles rated it:

If you're gullible enough to buy the idea that the Bible is infallible, this book is not for you.

If you're feeling like there has got to be more to the story that what you are told, this book is an wonderful starting place. Elaine Pagels is concise and lively in style, and her scholarship is excellent. Others have filled in with greater bulk and more voluminous scholarship, but this book (and the other I have read) get straight to the point. Her books are short and a good read.
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Jan 15, 2010

Barnaby rated it:

This brief introduction to the Gnostic scriptures discovered at Nag Hammadi is instantly recognizable as a classic. It is beautifully written, deeply informative, and utterly fascinating. Pagels presents the Gnostics as representing various competing doctrines in the charged religious landscape of the first few centuries of the first millennium, competing against groups that would eventually ascend as canonical and orthodox representatives of the catholic church of Christ.

Pagels is More...

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Aug 08, 2009

Robert rated it:

During the first and second centuries, when Christians were still a persecuted minority and stuggling to organize themselves, a zillion sects duked it out ideologically, ginning out a plethora of interpretations of what Christianity actually signified. The Catholic Church as we know it today eventually won out and, after gaining secular as well as religious power when the Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in the fourth century, began vigorously persecuting dissident sects as heresi More...

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Jun 21, 2009

Steven rated it:

A telling line that helps close out the book (page 147): "It is the winners who write history--their way." In December, 1945, an Arab peasant discovered ancient documents near the town of Nag Hammadi. These represent 52 texts of Gnostic works, such as the "Gospel of Thomas," the "Gospel of Philip," the "Gospel of Truth," and so on. The actual works were dated at 350-400 AD, with the likelihood that they were authored by 120-150 AD.

Elaine Pagel More...

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Jun 20, 2009

Courtney rated it:

This book analyzes gospels discovered in 1945 in Nag Hammadi and through them explores the diversity of Christian beliefs in the years after Christ's death and how politics determined the shape the church has taken. To greatly simplify: The gnostics were Christians who placed more emphasis on the spirit and metaphor of Christ's story and message and less on literal interpretations of resurrection and virgin birth and such. They counseled looking inward and knowing oneself in order to find God. A More...

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May 08, 2009

Davidmcdonnell rated it:

I stopped one-fifth into this book. Elaine Pagels, a PHD in religious studies in from Harvard, gives an mildly interesting back story to the discovery of the "gnostic" gospels of Nag Hammadi. The book is heavy on judgements/opinions and light on facts/justifications. One more interested in getting someone's opinions concerning these actual historical documents may find this book interesting. I was hoping for a more fact-based explanation and dissertation on these gospels, allowing More...

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Jul 11, 2011

Jason rated it:

While this is a decent overview of the findings at Nag Hammadi in general, there are also an awful lot of exaggerated caricatures of 'orthodox Christianity' in here. Elaine seems to conflate ancient orthodoxy with modern Catholicism, which is a huge mistake. Eastern Orthodoxy is much closer (if not the same?) to ancient orthodoxy, and the veracity of many of her claims against the latter don't hold up from a closer look at the theology of the former.

For example, she says the ancient or More...

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Dec 25, 2010

Nalin rated it:

A well-researched exploration of the differences between the original diversity of thought surrounding the teachings and sayings of Jesus, and what became the institution of mainline Christianity. I very much appreciated the author's care in investigating beyond just the differences between gnostic and catholic (in which I include post-Reformation Christianity, because in the broader sense of early Christian thought they really are not that different). She also details the political motivations More...

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Nov 28, 2011

Bob rated it:

Pagels discusses the tension between orthodox Christianity that emphasized the need for authoritative supervision over the word of God, and the alternative gnostic voices that relied on direct communication with the divine. Over time, the gnostic tradition lost out to orthodoxy, leading to the Christianity of today that is under the direction of popes, priests, deacons, ministers, etc. that mediate relationships with the divine world.

In the controversy between the two traditions ove More...

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May 14, 2011

Jordan rated it:

Pagel's offers a highly readable introduction to the Gnostic Gospels focussing on the main points of difference between this expression of Christianity and the historical orthodoxy. Pagel's emphasis is on the social and political advantages of the orthodoxy over the estoteric, and she concludes, somewhat truistically, that the orthodox dominated because it better suited the needs of believers in the early centuries of the Christian movement. Pagel argues that the political and social unity offer More...

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Mar 12, 2009

Junio rated it:

The Matrix made me think that Gnosticism was going to be a lot cooler. Sure it's different than Orthodox Christianity, but I thought there was going to be a lot more "It's us against the world, and the world we see isn't even the world we're fighting." So Gnostic Christians thought that an inner spiritual search was important. They didn't necessarily believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ. They thought that church was secondary to the spiritual quest for enlightenment. But 1800 y More...

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Mar 06, 2009

Caleb rated it:

Huh. I didn't realize this was a 20-year-old book until I just now looked it up on Good Reads. So I suppose the scholarship could be somewaht out of date, although given that it examines texts from the first few centuries, I suppose 20 years isn't really such a long time that too much would have changed.

Anyway, Pagels offers an extremely breif (150-ish page) but rather thorough general introduction to the gnostic texts discovered at Nag Hamadi in the middle of the last century, and p More...

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Mar 25, 2011

William rated it:

The so-called apocryphal gospels, discovered by a farmer in 1975 at Nag Hammedi, are here explained in the context of late second-century Church history. The gnostics Christians did not believe that human intermediaries (bishops, priests, etc.) were necessary for an individual to find God. For the gnostics, enlightenment was an entirely inner and self-determined process. Late in the book some of the techniques for achieving gnosis are reviewed and they are surprisingly close to those used by mod More...

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Nov 01, 2009

Nikki rated it:

Pagels is an amazing scholar of the early Christian era. I initially thought that this book was going to be a detailed account of the gnostic gospel texts, but it was really more about why the early Christian fathers chose the books they did to be included in the cannon of scriptures. The gnostic gospel text, Pagels argues, were excluded and deemed heretical because they did not support the establishment of an all-powerful church. A lot of Christians, I'm sure, would have problems with much o More...

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Nov 27, 2011

Mike rated it:

Whenever the church fathers railed against false teachers and heretics, more often than not they were referring to the Gnostics who, rather than submitting to hierarchical authority for salvation, sought God by turning in inward. According to the Gospel of Thomas, a sacred text of the Gnostics, “If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.” This is very threatening stuff More...

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Jun 25, 2011

Jholt71 rated it:

So far, this is the most lucid study of the Gnostic Gospels that I have come across. I have previouly read "The Gospel of Mary" which included "The Gospel of Thomas" and the scholar of that book was so biased that she would make statements such as "Now we know that..." about Mary Magdalene. I don't care for that sort of editorial leading. Pagels is far more tentative and interested in presenting all of the facts about the subject. Having already read her wonderful " More...

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Aug 19, 2009

Martin rated it:

An early, comprehensive, and extremely influential examination of the scrolls found at Nag Hammadi in 1945. Does not include the recently restored Gospel of Judas, but does tackle all apocrypha available and relates the histories of these gospels if known. I recommend this book to anyone who has ever struggled with certain aspects of Christianity, as it offers a window into a religion that could have been. I could totally practice this form of Christianity if only it still existed. It is use More...

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Mar 14, 2011

Mqcarpenter rated it:

Elaine Pagels is the author of numerous articles and five books and is well known for her work in translating the Nag Hammadi Library. Pagels is the author of The Gnostic Gospels, which received the National Book Critics Circle Award and The National Book Award and has been published in ten foreign languages. The recipient of the MacArthur Prize, she has also received awards from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton. This book More...

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Jun 12, 2011

g rated it:

This is an intelligent exploration of early Christianity focused around the Nag Hammadi discoveries, texts that escaped the censorship of the emerging orthodox Church and reveal the tenets of gnosticism. The author argues that these beliefs were deemed heretical and their corresponding texts left out of the Bible not so much for their theological content but for their political content--namely their threat to the consolidation of Church authority. It's a persuasive thesis, though I sincerely dou More...

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