Elaine Pagels, a renowned religion professor at Princeton and author of "Miracles and Wonder: The Historical Mystery of Jesus," dives into the intricate tapestry of early Christianity. She shares her transformation from a scientifically-minded teen to a passionate seeker of faith through a profound encounter with evangelism. Pagels discusses the controversies surrounding biblical texts, the exclusion of Gnostic writings, and the enduring questions about Jesus’s birth and resurrection. She emphasizes the deep connections forged through spirituality and the invisible realms of belief.
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Pagels' Conversion and Disillusionment
Elaine Pagels' teenage self was captivated by Billy Graham's evangelical crusade and converted to Christianity.
This conversion was short-lived, ending when the church she attended told her her Jewish friend, who died in an accident, was in hell.
insights INSIGHT
The Persistence of Religion
Pagels' curiosity about religion stemmed from her transformative, albeit brief, evangelical experience.
This led her to explore why religions persist despite lacking rational basis.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Jesus as Myth
During her evangelical phase, Pagels viewed Jesus as a figure in a grand mythological drama rather than a real person.
Her perspective was cinematic and metaphorical, focusing on the cosmic battle between God, Satan, and Jesus.
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In 'The Gnostic Gospels', Elaine Pagels delves into the mysteries and meanings of the Gnostic texts discovered at Nag Hammadi in 1945. These texts, including the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, present a diverse and often conflicting view of Jesus and early Christianity compared to the New Testament. Pagels examines how these gnostic texts challenged the orthodox Christian church, questioning the literal interpretation of Christ's resurrection, the gender of God, and the role of clergy. She highlights the individualistic and democratic nature of Gnosticism, which emphasized self-knowledge and spiritual search over hierarchical church doctrine. The book provides a comprehensive introduction to the gnostic movement and its significance in the history of Christianity[1][3][4].
Miracle and Wonder
Conversations with Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Malcolm Gladwell
Bruce Headlam
Miracle and Wonder is an audio biography that delves into Paul Simon's life and music through extensive conversations with Malcolm Gladwell and Bruce Headlam. The audiobook includes archival audio tracks and live performances, offering insights into Simon's creative process and the stories behind his iconic songs. It also features reflections from other artists like Sting and Herbie Hancock, providing a comprehensive look at Simon's enduring legacy.
How God Becomes Real
How God Becomes Real
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Tanya Marie Luhrmann
The origin of Satan
Elaine Pagels
In this book, Elaine Pagels delves into the origins and development of the concept of Satan within the Christian tradition. She argues that the idea of Satan was used not only to persecute external enemies such as Jews and pagans but also to maintain internal control within the early Christian community. The book examines how different generations of Christians retold Christ's life and teachings through the lens of their own experiences, influencing the writing of the Gospels and the canonization of certain texts. Pagels also explores how the concept of Satan became a symbol for both earthly and spiritual conflicts, reflecting the broader human tendency to create an 'us versus them' narrative[1][2][4].
Thirty years ago, David Remnick published “The Devil Problem,” a profile of the religion professor Elaine Pagels—a scholar of early Christianity who had also, improbably, become a best-selling author. Pagels’s 1979 book, “The Gnostic Gospels,” was scholarly and rigorous, but also accessible and widely read. She changed how a lot of people thought about the Bible. Pagels went on to write “The Origin of Satan,” as well as works on Adam and Eve and the Book of Revelation. Pagels's upcoming book, “Miracles and Wonder: The Historical Mystery of Jesus,” is a summation of her lifetime of study, as it takes on some of the central historical controversies of Christianity, including the stories of immaculate conception and the resurrection. The daughter of a scientist, Pagels “was living in a world in which science defines what you can see, and there’s nothing else.” Then, as a teen-ager, she was born again after seeing the evangelist Billy Graham preach. “This was about opening up the imagination,” she tells Remnick. “I did feel like the sky opened up.” Her time in the evangelical community was brief, but her fascination with belief never faded. “I have a sense that what we think of as the invisible world has deep realities to it that are quite unfathomable.”
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