The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels

The Gnostic Gospels is a landmark study of the long-buried roots of Christianity, 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 over the past two decades. 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, provocative, and stunning in its implications, The Gnostic Gospels is a radical, eloquent reconsideration of the origins of the Christian faith.

This is a great primer and introduction to gnostic theology, and an even better socio-cultural critique of the early church. She makes the argument that Gnosticism didn't die out because, as some would claim, “it just didn't have enough going for it,” but because its theology was not consistent with the doctrines of papal and clergy authority. The bishops, seeing that their authority was being undermined, branded the gnostics heretics – not out of any actual heresies (they were not Marcionites!), but to ensure their power over the christian community.

But, as I said, this book is more of a primer than an authoritative work on the beliefs of the gnostics. It is a very fun and informative read, and I recommend it thoroughly to people interested in the history of early Christianity. But if you are looking for a book that is more indepth concerning the faith and beliefs of Gnosticism, this one does not suffice.

Reviews and more on my blog: Entering the Enchanted Castle

I'm glad I finally read this after many years of circling around it. I'm also glad I had also read/watched some other resources on the Nag Hammadi texts and Gnosticism, because Pagels emphasizes the opposition of Orthodox/Gnostic views, and it's actually more nuanced than that. But there is no question that the rediscovery of Gnosticism and the re-emergence of Gnostic texts is a transformational event of our time. I would like to go back to the book and consider again all the ideas it brings up. I think that I am a Gnostic and after centuries of burial and suppression, there is a lot in me that wants to come out and needs rediscovery too!

One thing that stuck with me was a point she made at the end, that Gnosticism did not become a larger movement, and went underground, because such a solitary path oriented on individual discovery could never have survived on the scale that the orthodox church, with its community orientation and outward mechanisms of transmission, did. That seems to me true. However, that outer “carrying” mechanism seems to me to have be in danger of falling into emptiness and oppressiveness, and needs to be re-enlivened by the spirit of true knowledge, personal experience of the divine. This was not possible before, because not enough human beings were ready for it. But the time is now! We have evolved further, and now, we can potentially take up the call of Gnosticism. I hope we will, and that we will not reject and oppose the other side but bring about a marriage of these seemingly opposite impulses. Each side suffered from their separation.

Despite being raised in the christian traditions, I never really thought about how infected they are by being a death cult. Or, at least, that's my interpretation of the martyr mythology.