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

A provocative study of the gnostic gospels and the world of early Christianity as revealed through the Nag Hammadi texts.

The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels is a book that claims if the Gnostic Bibles and its texts were accepted back in the 2nd century we would have a completely different outlook on Jesus. Gnosticism sees a Jesus from a different perspective as far as His relationship with Mary Magdalene and His Resurrection among other things.
There is a beautiful new book about God, Jesus, faith and what we will do in the after-life entitled "The Enlightenment, What God Told Me After One Million Prayers: A Message for Everyone," by John H. Eagan. I just finished it. It's really great and deals with God, the creator, Jesus' teachings, and His Passion. It brought me to tears. I think the readers of Pegels' book will really enjoy The Enlightenment

I found this book very interesting. Professor Pagels digs deeply into her subject and manages to explain in plain and understandable language the thoughts of the early Christian Gnostic thinkers and how they differed from the orthodox Roman church, mainly in believing that churches and priests were not always the path to understanding God, but that one could find God within himself, hence the prevalence of hermit monks who retreated from the world to meditate and seek the understanding of God.

Elaine Pagels offers an interesting segue into the texts of Nag Hammandi and the value of her firsthand experience interpreting the texts is recognized. In her book The Gnostic Gospels Dr. Pagels highlights many important questions that those texts along with the New Testament texts give rise to such as "What role did the beliefs of the gnostic v. the orthodox Christians play in what is now seen as traditional Christianity?" "To what extent did preservation and/or legitimization of power play a role in what was viewed as orthodox teaching?" and "Did Jesus literally rise from the dead?" Yet upon reading her book Pagels falls disappointingly short of grappling with the veracity of the claims being made by both sides and also fails to illuminate the readers to the complex and unique facts relating to the origins of Christianity, such as the difficult to dispute empty tomb of Jesus. Within the content of this book Pagels had a unique opportunity to critique and evaluate afresh the propositions of two diverging worldviews but opted instead to downplay the notion that religious beliefs tend to propose a correlation with reality with direct implication.
Dr. Pagels fixation with the political structures that legitimize power causes her cynicism towards any individual or institution that claims knowledge of truth to develop into a substantial bias against orthodox teaching and structures. Yet in fairness Pagels should turn the same cynicism towards Gnosticism which although has not been as influential and widespread as Christianity, within its own right claims to have the corner on the market of Truth. But in spite of this Pagels support seems to tend towards those whom she interprets as oppressed or silenced in some way. While I personally empathize with this concern, Pagels should adequately address the true context of the religious, social and political relationships by grounding the distinctions between the beliefs within their historical context. For example, if the resurrection was used chiefly to legitimize the authority of the apostles and those after them over a body of people what about the initial power struggle between the Jewish leaders and the earliest of believers regarding the physical resurrection of Christ? The Jewish leaders did not swiftly stamp out the early claims of an empty tomb by producing a body. Why not? Pagels does not address this in her book which clearly is significant in the interplay between the beliefs of the orthodox Christians and the Gnostics. Furthermore, there is more evidence which accumulates indicating that there was no body to be found in the tomb. However, wouldn't there have been a body to be produced if Jesus' appearances were merely spiritual apparitions or visions as the gnostics claim? Pagels does little to set a context for the empty tomb phenomenon. Also to understand the birth of Christianity we must understand why there was a sudden split of a swarm of men and women from their richly embedded Jewish religious heritage to follow a dead and buried Messiah figure (one of many to make the claim to Messiahship), most curious of all being the conversions of Saul of Tarsus and James, Jesus' brother. Furthermore, it is pertinent that it is not the case that Christians held any kind of structural power over the gnostics before Constantine and that Gnosticism is a rich tradition that precedes Christianity and therefore should be distinctively understood apart from the figure Jesus. Whatever merging of the two that is read in ancient texts is a syncretism of two belief systems. It would also be helpful for Pagels to contend with the unprecedented literary nature of the resurrection accounts in the four New Testament gospels. I would like to see Pagels openly wrestle with the resurrection of Jesus and the aftermath. Should, or better yet, is it possible that all views of the nature of Jesus' resurrection be valid? It is not possible of course. Questioning facts is a healthy, intellectual enterprise but to question without intention of finding concrete answers outside of ones own enlightened interpretive opinion is not intellectual but emotive and fickle anti-scholarship which in one sense characterizes Pagels' Gospels. Perhaps what the resurrection of Jesus means is up for debate but again the nature of Jesus' appearances is of propositional content.
Again, in sidestepping dealing with propositional beliefs (that is beliefs that are held because they propose to be rooted in a reality that actually exists) Pagels does a disservice to the convictions of both the gnostics and the Christians who hold them. Yet Pagels comes from a line of historians who consider a literal view of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus pragmatic concerns for the immediate community and not propositions of factual content. To what extent do we see this interpretive bias influence this particular book? A frustration some readers will have with this book is that they would be better served reading the New Testament and Gnostic texts firsthand because ultimately Pagels makes no fulfilling analysis other than to say essentially "We now have more examples of beliefs of a particular period of time."
Either Dr. Pagels is trying to get closer to truth about what actually took place or she is not. I of course grant that it is impossible to relive history in its complex internal and external entirety but certain facts can be understood. There is a great tension between what can be known and what will inevitably remain not fully known. But in order to not know certain things fully we must concede that there is something to in effect know first. Pagels cannot dance around forever about the appearances of Jesus. He lived. He died. He appeared after death. But what was the nature of his appearances? And of course, why? There is no other claim of history that mimics this. After conducting an investigation of claims of this particular nature I found claims of spiritual sightings or claims of spiritual ascensions to the heavens indicating divinity (apotheosis) but no claim that is even similar to what N.T. Wright, Bishop of Durham names the "transphysical" bodily appearances of Jesus. It is not enough to say there were too many points of view.

The Gnostic Gospels is a scholastic look at some of the forces that threatened to split the early Christian Church. The battle, as portrayed by Pagels, was between Orthodoxy and Gnosticism. Her argument is based on ancient texts discovered in 1945 in Egypt. She talks about the battle between the Orthodox "winners" and the Gnostic "loser" on issues such as the nature of God, the meaning of the resurrection, and the role of the episcopacy. Since the Orthodox won the battle, our understanding of Christianity is descended from Orthodox beliefs.

Although Pagels puts forth her case strongly, I am left feeling unconvinced by her argument. Although Gnosticism did not win the battle, much of their beliefs have remained vital. Their understanding of approaching God through knowledge has many similarities to mysticism. Process Theologians share Gnosticism's view of God as part of Creation, as opposed to the ultimate source of Creation. In addition, Pagels paints Gnostics as a unified group. In fact, there were many sects that make up those who Pagel calls Gnostics.

For those who are new to Christianity in the early years following the death of Jesus, this book holds much valuable information. However, I feel that Pagel overstates her case and, as a result, comes off as a bit shallow and uncertain.

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