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Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas

by Elaine Pagels

Comment on this title and you could win free books! Synopses & Reviews Read an Excerpt Reading Group Guide Table of Contents Comment on this title and you could win free books! ISBN13: 9780375703164 ISBN10: 0375703160 Condition: Standard All Product Details Only 1 left in stock at $8.50!

 

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

In Beyond Belief, renowned religion scholar Elaine Pagels continues her groundbreaking examination of the earliest Christian texts, arguing for an ongoing assessment of faith and a questioning of religious orthodoxy.

Spurred on by personal tragedy and new scholarship from an international group of researchers, Pagels returns to her investigation of the “secret” Gospel of Thomas, and breathes new life into writings once thought heretical. As she arrives at an ever-deeper conviction in her own faith, Pagels reveals how faith allows for a diversity of interpretations, and that the “rogue” voices of Christianity encourage and sustain “the recognition of the light within us all.”

Review:

"A thoughtful and rewarding essay, as we've come to expect from Pagels, and sure to arouse fundamentalist ire." Kirkus Reviews

Review:

"Even those who possess only a nodding acquaintance with Gnostic writings will find themselves stimulated by her arguments and perhaps transformed by her conclusions. A fresh and exciting work of theology and spirituality." Ilene Cooper, Booklist (Starred Review)

Review:

"[L]ucid...a spiritual as well as an intellectual exercise....[Pagels] seems to rejoice that in the earliest years of Christianity there existed these strange, dissident doctrines." Frank Kermode, The New York Times Book Review

Review:

"With the winning combination of sound scholarship, deep insight and crystal-clear prose style that distinguishes all her work, Pagels portrays the great variety of beliefs, teachings and practices that were found among the earliest Christians." Los Angeles Times

Review:

"Pagels has accomplished a very rare thing, an examination of early religious writings that is a good read, accessible, and at times even dramatic and poignant." The Columbus Dispatch

Review:

"Brilliantly lucid, elegantly written...[Pagels'] book is so readable you can't put it down." Providence Journal-Bulletin

Review:

"Just as topical today as it was nearly two thousand years ago....Pagels is great at pulling together the details that allow us to understand not only what people were arguing about but why." San Jose Mercury News

Review:

"As relevant as today's front page." The Washington Post Book World

Review:

"This luminous and accessible history of early Christian thought offers profound and crucial insights on the nature of God, revelation, and what we mean by religious truth....A source of inspiration and hope." Karen Armstrong, author of A History of God

Review:

"A book many readers will treasure for its healing, its good sense, and its permission to think, imagine, and yet believe." Karen King, author of What Is Gnosticism?

Review:

"It is as generous as it is rare that a first-rate scholar invites the reader to see and sense how her scholarship and her religious quest became intertwined. Elaine Pagels calls for a generosity of mind as she takes us into the world of those early Christian texts that were left behind but now are with us. Her very tone breathes intellectual and spiritual generosity too rare in academe." Krister Stendahl, author of The Scrolls and the New Testament

Review:

"[A] wonderful little book....A small book with a fair amount of scholarly apparatus and tone but without overly academic language, it is highly recommended..." Library Journal

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About the Author

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. She is the author of Adam, Eve, and the Serpent; The Origin of Satan; and The Gnostic Gospels, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the National Book Award. She is currently the Harrington Spear Paine Professor Religion at Princeton University, and she lives in Princeton, New Jersey, with her husband and children.

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Table of Contents

Ch. 1 From the Feast of Agape to the Nicene Creed 3
Ch. 2 Gospels in Conflict: John and Thomas 30
Ch. 3 God's Word or Human Words? 74
Ch. 4 The Canon of Truth and the Triumph of John 114
Ch. 5 Constantine and the Catholic Church 143
Acknowledgments 187
Notes 191
Index 227

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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Product Details

ISBN:

9780375703164

Author:

Pagels, Elaine

Publisher:

Vintage Books

Subject:

Bible - Criticism Interpretation - New Testament

Subject:

Bible - Controversial Speculation

Subject:

Bible - Apocrypha

Subject:

Christianity - General

Subject:

Biblical Studies - Apocrypha

Subject:

Biblical Criticism & Interpretation - New Testament

Subject:

Biblical Studies - Controversial Speculation

Subject:

Christianity

Subject:

Christianity-Biblical Criticism

Copyright:

2004

Edition Description:

Trade paper

Series:

Vintage

Publication Date:

May 4, 2004

Binding:

TRADE PAPER

Grade Level:

General/trade

Language:

English

Pages:

272

Dimensions:

8.06x5.24x.60 in. .45 lbs.

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Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas Used Trade Paper Elaine Pagels

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$8.50 In Stock

Product details 272 pages Vintage Books USA - 2008-11-14 English 9780375703164 Reviews:

"Review" by Kirkus Reviews, "A thoughtful and rewarding essay, as we've come to expect from Pagels, and sure to arouse fundamentalist ire."

"Review" by Ilene Cooper, Booklist (Starred Review), "Even those who possess only a nodding acquaintance with Gnostic writings will find themselves stimulated by her arguments and perhaps transformed by her conclusions. A fresh and exciting work of theology and spirituality."

"Review" by Frank Kermode, The New York Times Book Review, "[L]ucid...a spiritual as well as an intellectual exercise....[Pagels] seems to rejoice that in the earliest years of Christianity there existed these strange, dissident doctrines."

"Review" by Los Angeles Times, "With the winning combination of sound scholarship, deep insight and crystal-clear prose style that distinguishes all her work, Pagels portrays the great variety of beliefs, teachings and practices that were found among the earliest Christians."

"Review" by The Columbus Dispatch, "Pagels has accomplished a very rare thing, an examination of early religious writings that is a good read, accessible, and at times even dramatic and poignant."

"Review" by Providence Journal-Bulletin, "Brilliantly lucid, elegantly written...[Pagels'] book is so readable you can't put it down."

"Review" by San Jose Mercury News, "Just as topical today as it was nearly two thousand years ago....Pagels is great at pulling together the details that allow us to understand not only what people were arguing about but why."

"Review" by The Washington Post Book World, "As relevant as today's front page."

"Review" by Karen Armstrong, author of A History of God, "This luminous and accessible history of early Christian thought offers profound and crucial insights on the nature of God, revelation, and what we mean by religious truth....A source of inspiration and hope."

"Review" by Karen King, author of What Is Gnosticism?, "A book many readers will treasure for its healing, its good sense, and its permission to think, imagine, and yet believe."

"Review" by Krister Stendahl, author of The Scrolls and the New Testament, "It is as generous as it is rare that a first-rate scholar invites the reader to see and sense how her scholarship and her religious quest became intertwined. Elaine Pagels calls for a generosity of mind as she takes us into the world of those early Christian texts that were left behind but now are with us. Her very tone breathes intellectual and spiritual generosity too rare in academe."

"Review" by Library Journal, "[A] wonderful little book....A small book with a fair amount of scholarly apparatus and tone but without overly academic language, it is highly recommended..."