GNOSTIC GOSPELS

by PAGELS, ELAINE

• ISBN13: 9780394740430
• ISBN10: 0394740432
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 1980-12-12
• Publisher: Vintage

Summary

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.

Author Biography

Elaine Pagels earned a B.A. in history and an M.A. in classical studies at Stanford, and holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. xiii
The Controversy over Christ's Resurrection: Historical Event or Symbol?	p. 3
"One God, One Bishop": The Politics of Monotheism	p. 28
God the Father/God the Mother	p. 48
The Passion of Christ and the Persecution of Christians	p. 70
Whose Church Is the "True Church"?	p. 102
Gnosis: Self-Knowledge as Knowledge of God	p. 119
Conclusion	p. 142
Notes	p. 153
Index	p. 175
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