At the center of Beyond Belief is what Pagels identifies as a textual battle between The Gospel of Thomas (rediscovered in Egypt in 1945) and The Gospel of John. While these gospels have many superficial similarities, Pagels demonstrates that John, unlike Thomas, declares that Jesus is equivalent to "God the Father" as identified in the Old Testament. Thomas, in contrast, shares with other supposed secret teachings a belief that Jesus is not God but, rather, is a teacher who seeks to uncover the divine light in all human beings. Pagels then shows how the Gospel of John was used by Bishop Irenaeus of Lyon and others to define orthodoxy during the second and third centuries. The secret teachings were literally driven underground, disappearing until the Twentieth Century. As Pagels argues this process "not only impoverished the churches that remained but also impoverished those [Irenaeus] expelled."
Beyond Belief offers a profound framework with which to examine Christian history and contemporary Christian faith, and Pagels renders her scholarship in a highly readable narrative. The one deficiency in Pagels’ examination of Thomas, if there is one, is that she never fully returns in the end to her own struggles with religion that so poignantly open the book. How has the mysticism of the Gnostic Gospels affected her? While she hints that she and others have found new pathways to faith through Thomas, the impact of Pagels’ work on contemporary Christianity may not be understood for years to come. --Patrick O’Kelley
A rTi SiAnS Arti sanSBoOkS BoOkS ArTiSaNs Collectible Hardcoverswith Dust Jackets protected in new Brodart mylar
Reliable Service Delivery ConfirmationQuick Shipping
Dedicated to providing each customer with the highest service standardAll books well stored, clean, sticker free, graded to industry standards for new and used books. Careful Packaging, Shipping Email with Delivery confirmation tracking
PayPal Guest Payment option also available for shopping convenience.
Shipping Discounts -- Standard Shipping $3.49 additional items $1.75
-- Expedited Shipping $4.99 additional items $2.42
-- International $12.91 additional items $7.96
Our E-mail: Artisans@Artisians.org
BoOkS ArTiSaNS Arti sanSb oOks ArTi SiAnS
ArTiSiAnS ArTi SaNsBoOkS BoOkS ArTiSaNs