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Elaine Pagels

The Gnostic Gospels Paperback – September 19, 1989

by Elaine Pagels (Author)

444 customer reviews

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Editorial Reviews

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Gnosticism's Christian form grew to prominence in the 2nd century A.D. Ultimately denounced as heretical by the early church, Gnosticism proposed a revealed knowledge of God ("gnosis" meaning "knowledge" in Greek), held as a secret tradition of the apostles. In The Gnostic Gospels, author Elaine Pagels suggests that Christianity could have developed quite differently if Gnostic texts had become part of the Christian canon. Without a doubt: Gnosticism celebrates God as both Mother and Father, shows a very human Jesus's relationship to Mary Magdalene, suggests the Resurrection is better understood symbolically, and speaks to self-knowledge as the route to union with God. Pagels argues that Christian orthodoxy grew out of the political considerations of the day, serving to legitimize and consolidate early church leadership. Her contrast of that developing orthodoxy with Gnostic teachings presents an intriguing trajectory on a world faith as it "might have become." The Gnostic Gospels provides engaging reading for those seeking a broader perspective on the early development of Christianity. --F. Hall

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"The first major and eminently readable book on gnosticism benefiting from the discovery in 1945 of a collection of Gnostic Christian texts at Nag Hammadi in Egypt." --The New York Times Book Review

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Product details

Paperback: 182 pages
Publisher: Vintage; Reissue edition (September 19, 1989)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0679724532
ISBN-13: 978-0679724537
Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.6 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 444 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,242 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #7 in Gnosticism (Books)
- #15 in Mythology & Folklore Encyclopedias
- #10 in Christian Bible Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha

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Orchid

A real eye-opener.

May 19, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I read this years ago right after graduating from high school. This book was a life changer for me. I was heavily indoctrinated in the Catholic church and felt that by even reading this book and daring to speculate about its contents that the church roof would fall in on my head the next time I went to church. Although it was close to heresy for me to read about the early formation of the church, the good news is that I'm still here! The roof did not cave in on me and I continue to be fascinated with the line between historical, man-made doctrine and what went into the Bible as we know it now. Gnostic gospels takes the nag hammadi (sp) scrolls and shows that there were many gospels around the time of Christ. The fact that these gospels were jarred up and buried shows that they were not the favored gospels and possession was tantamount to death. Why were they different? Is it because these gospels talked about finding God within instead of using the priestly class as intermediaries? Or perhaps it was because this group of gospels treated women equal with men? Both concepts were diametrically opposed to the books that survived. So what else is there in these books and how exactly does a religion founded in blood, and reinforced by crusades and inquisitions further the true message of God? This book is a good place to start answering questions like that. Everyone will have their own opinion, but at least by reading the book it will be an informed decision.

163 people found this helpful

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Microdac

Read and think for yourself. You'll be glad you did!

August 31, 2018

Format: Mass Market PaperbackVerified Purchase

Simple: Every Christian should read this book. Enlightening and very educational. Answers all those nagging questions you have always had in the back of your head. Because so much is revealed, it becomes very clear why these books were kept of the Bible. Highly recommend to all who are true seekers.

21 people found this helpful

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R. Roderick Rowe

An experience that transcends

December 25, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

All of my life I have felt that something important was missing from my relationship with God. Reading this work helped me to fill in the holes that orthodox Christianity built deep inside. Call it The Mysterys, call it gnosis. Call it what you will, but I found myself and my God when I read this work.

47 people found this helpful

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Robert Case

A fascinating look into the historical record of the earliest Christian sects

January 26, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I began this book with a fascination for the ancient Minoan civilization, a keen interest in with the people and cultures of the eastern Mediterranean, and knowing virtually nothing about Gnosticism. What an enlightening and enjoyable book the author has produced. The book is based upon her interpretations of fragments of early texts, written in Coptic during the first two hundred years following the crucifixion. Pagels summarizes not just the writings of these early spiritual leaders, but also the social and political issues of the day.
The Gnostic texts, discovered in 1948 buried in a remote Egyptian cave, describe a spiritual tradition of meditation, inner visions, and self-discovery, rather than a quest for salvation. The author's translation and interpretation from the Gospel of Thomas follows: "There is light within a man of light, and it lights up the whole world. If he does not shine, he is darkness."
In Pagels' reconstruction of the period, another profound distinction between the Gnostics and the orthodox view that became the Roman Catholic church, was the participation of women and men as equals in their religious traditions. Mary Magdalen as apostle, is the prominent example. The texts describe God in both masculine and feminine terms with a complementary description of human nature. The book is a fascinating look into the founders and the founding of Christianity.

47 people found this helpful

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Billy-Bob Brooks

Important Intro to the field but with a very anti-academic and un-Christian message at the end

February 9, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This is an excellent introduction to the Gnostic Gospels. The only bizarre and sickly disconcerting aspect of the book comes near the end, and serves to - in a way - Undo Pagels' entire project. To wit, the early followers of Jesus - these Gnostics (and the whole point and impetus and sine qua non for Pagels' book) - were persecuted, eliminated, and destroyed (killed, driven out) by the founders of the early Roman Christian Church. Pagels then makes the most disturbing comment - no longer history nor analysis - but a very unthinking and un-scholarly Conclusion, that, in essence, she - as a Catholic - is satisfied ("happy" even) with this genocide and this sacro-cide (killing out an entire religion), because she thinks the Church could not have survived as a mystic cult but needed the Church-political and ecclesiastical structure to ensure its existence. Thus she writes a book exploring these fascinating early - and, in her telling - True Christians, but - in the end - she is content to see that neither they (bodily) nor their religion (which is closer to Jesus Christ than either the surviving Catholic or Protestant deformations of the true, early church) survived. So, in the "Crime and Punishment" question, Pagels implicitly and explicitly argues that she is FOR the ENDS justify any bloody and WRONG MEANS. I purchased the book in 2001 - I can only hope she has revised that sloppy - or all-too-revealing - Conclusion. So, buy one of the new versions of the actual Gospels, and leave Pagels to her inner-conflict which she should have left inner and not, in the twisted end, reverted to being a mere Cheerleader and shill for the Catholic Church (against which I have nothing, except when it tries to hide its past Sins without Repenting, including - as did the Protestant Church - colluding with the Nazis in Germany against the Jews, and the pedophilia Crisis). The Catholic Church also did many wonderful things - it was the root of all Learning, Medicine, Socialism - free food and entertainment on ca. 45 paid-holidays for Medieval serfs and citizens. (Note: it was the Renaissance where the Church becomes Inquisition-Bloody again). It's a good book but I would give it 5 stars for the first parts, NEGATIVE stars for the Conclusion where Pagels dumps her role and very conscience as an historian and person and goes off on a preachy tangent.

29 people found this helpful

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J. Price

Good historical review

November 24, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This book provides a fascinating review of not only the general contents of the gnostic gospels but it provides a historical evolution of the early church. This historical review shows how the early church had to deal with many views of Christ and what his words and life meant and how the early church silenced these voices to reflect the structure that ensured their power, influence and success survived. A must read for anyone who wants to know how the early evolved.

13 people found this helpful

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