Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas by Elaine Pagels
|
List Price: Our Price: $6.49 You Save: $6.51 (50%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.15 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas
Book Review: Yes, Unbelievable
Summary: 5 Stars
Jesus Christ In His Own Words
What is it that is Beyond Belief?
* The Gospel of Thomas, whose main premise is that God is within every man (and not arrived at through an institutional oligarchy), was banned by the principal architect of the New Testament, Bishop Irenaeus of Gaul (Lyons, France) in 180, and consequently by the council of Nicea in June of 325.
* The author of the Gospel of John (Pagels claims) seems to have been intentionally written as an anathema to the Gospel of Thomas; for it is only in John's gospel that Thomas is portrayed as the "doubter." John's gospel, and John's gospel alone claims that ONLY Jesus is divine and is, in fact, God himself. (Matthew, Mark, and Luke describe Jesus as a mortal invested with divine power.) It is John's gospel that Irenaeus chose first and foremost to represent the new catholic--"universal"--church, with its hierarchy of bishops representing Jesus on earth.
* The author of the Gospel of Matthew mistook an erroneous translation for a miracle: In 500 BC, the prophet Isaiah wrote in Hebrew "a young woman [almah] shall conceive and bear a son." Translating to Greek, "almah" became "virgin."
* The very populace that tormented the Christians for 300 years established Christianity as, what the Roman Emperor Constantine called, "the lawful and most holy catholic church," offering tax relief and exemptions to clergy.
* Irenaeus somehow came to the conclusion that, "The Jews have departed from God," regardless of the fact that Jesus and his followers were Jews.
Pagels gives us historical content and context. Her "sketch" of the early days of Christianity--before a New Testament existed--is shown as a conundrum that faced its editors. With a melting pot of seekers and followers of Jesus' teachings migrating throughout Europe, Greece, Egypt, N. Africa, and as far as India, hundreds of philosophies evolved, threatening to distort or obliterate altogether, the core teachings of the one called "The Christ." Bishop Irenaeus took it upon himself to assimilate a collection that he felt represented, by composition and chronology, the true teachings of Jesus. To arrive at a cohesive framework he determined that Matthew, Mark, and Luke should form its body with the Gospel of John elected as first and foremost. "Four winds, four pillars of the church, four gospels," period.
The Gospel of Thomas, the very foundation of this book, occupies its back pages--fourteen in all--almost as an afterthought. But such is not the case. The beauty of this placement, whether intentional or not, is to make the entire script available to the reader without interference. At a certain point one becomes haggard with scholastic interpretations by experts of academia and their painstaking particulars in dissecting spiritual scriptures so that we will "get it." Good Lord! Let us think for ourselves!
Professor Pagels has done just that.
by Elizabeth Wallace, author/illustrator of Jesus Christ In His Own Words
JesusChristinhisownwords(dot)com
Book Review: Christianity before the councils revisited
Summary: 5 Stars
Some time in the 80s I read Elaine Pagels The Gnostic Gospels in German. Meanwhile this book has become a classic for all those who are interested in primitive or original Christianity. This book already gave a vivid description of the time before the council of Nicea the time before the creed. Beyond Belief explains like nothing else how the basis for the Roman Catholic Church and all its protestant derivatives was developed - the theological part mainly by bishop Irenaeus and the organisational part by emperor Augustus. The book skillfully puts together historical facts and religious thoughts of a most important time in the history of Christianity that otherwise are hardly accessible for the lay Christian. I was again thrilled to read about the origin of my faith.
However the main subject of the book, an assumed conflict of the Gospel of John against the [Secret] Gospel of Thomas, is not so convincing to me. It may be so that Irenaeus and his followers were inclined to believe that John proves the divinity of Jesus more than Thomas, but to assume that this was the reason for the inclusion of John instead of Thomas into the Canon can hardly be substantiated. Although both books are kind of loose compilations, there is much more historical substance in John and nothing of that in Thomas. Interestingly for long periods John was considered the youngest Gospel of the four - as I think mainly because its theology was not so much in agreement with the official belief of the church. It is John that quotes Jesus with: ?He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do;" For me this means that Jesus expected his followers to execute the same divine capabilities and it does not confirm his uniqueness as being God as this book implies.
It is interesting what Elaine Pagels relates in the second chapter of her book. ?After a close friend was killed in an automobile accident at the age of 16, my fellow evangelicals commiserated but declared that, since he was Jewish and not ?born again,` he was eternally damned." She was so shocked that she left the church. The founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy had a similar experience in her youth, when she became a member of the Congregational Church. She refused to believe that all those outside the faith would be lost. Later she based the church she founded on original Christianity - beyond the belief of the Council of Nicea. Elaine Pagels investigates into exactly that Christianity.
Book Review: Beyond Thomas
Summary: 5 Stars
Recognizing the hazards both of wholly subjective belief and of uqnuestioning acceptance of religious authority, Elaine Pagels synthesizes in five lucid and luminous chapters the way in which conflicts in interpretation and ecclesial (and then imperial) politics yielded the structure of orthodoxy. The Gospel of Thomas is only part of the story, but 'The Secret Gospel of Thomas' (included in the second hardcover and current paperback edition) is more alluring to the audience to whom the book is addressed than "How Irenaeus Fought Valentinianism and Constantine Established Athanasian Christianity". But any title would be misleading, since the import of the book is to open up to the reader's view the common task that he or she shares with the teachers and bishops who sought solutions for the same difficulties in the early centuries of Christianity. While she shows, through the Gospel of Thomas and other Nag Hammadi texts, that there was a rich and unquestionably Christian tradition which was officially suppressed, those whose actions led to its suppression aren't written off as villains, but presented as likewise engaged in the quest for truth. At the same time, she demonstrates that the actions taken by Irenaeus, Athanasius and Constantine were themselves bold personal initiatives, not mere adherence to an absolutely clear tradition. Irenaeus' reading of the gospel of John, for example, which has become the one which is regarded as orthodox, was contested at the time he formulated it and remains contestable. The exclusion of other readings and the denial of spiritual license to the books excluded from the New Testament, she contends, prevent us from understanding the cultural and spiritual heritage, as similar actions and restrictions in other religions do to those cultures.
What lies beyond the sort of contractual belief of subscription to certain articles of faith is 'epinoia', which she declines to translate, but sees as essential to a living faith which entails response rather than submission.
Those who value much of what their faith tradition holds but who can't gloss over the evils of the harm many do in the name of preserving it will be the most appreciative readers of 'Beyond Belief'. It's also an excellent introduction to the tradition that is still held in suspicion by many of those who believe themselves to be the divinely-entrusted guardians of belief.
Book Review: A Good Contrast of The Gospel of John with the Gospel of Thomas
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this outstanding book by Elaine Pagels and enjoyed it very much. I give it five stars. A review of this book in the Christian Science Monitor said, "This remarkable book will stir and provoke thought. It offers rewards to any reader concerned with the promise and power of faith, and the hunger for spiritual discovery." It lived up to this description and much more.
Pagels makes clear how choosing the gospel of John over the gospel of Thomas "shaped and limited" Christianity. Thomas directs each person to find the light within, where John says Jesus is "the light of the world' and whoever doesn't come through Jesus has no part of it. Thomas says, "you are from the kingdom and return to it," where John says only Jesus is from God: "you come from below, I come from above." John is saying Jesus is distinctly different than you or me, where Thomas asserts that we can become like Jesus.
The book of John is the only gospel to portray Thomas negatively, making him obtuse, "doubting," and rebuking him as "faithless." The whole gospel of John can be seen to refute what the Book of Thomas was trying to represent. After all, Thomas' gospel allowed for a frightening level of individuality and that could be divisive!
Thomas teaches that, "recognizing one's affinity with God is the key to the kingdom of God." He encourages us to consider ourselves "children of God" which through John's urging the church has suppressed. John instead offers a simple formula: Jesus loves you, believe in him and be saved. Eliminated is Thomas' urging to become like Jesus.
I can completely understand together with Pagels how freeing Thomas' interpretation can be, as well as how infuriating this would be to conservatives steeped in religious orthodoxy. While I do think Jesus' role was unique, I accept him as my way-shower and try to emulate his character. Jesus was the best man to trod the globe and most fully represented the Christ, but I also agree with Thomas that the Christ is the true essence of all of us, there for us to connect with and express as best we can.
Reading this book has peaked my interest in exploring the Gospel of Thomas further.
Book Review: Origins of Belief
Summary: 5 Stars
I have only recently learned of the existence of the "secret" Gospels. My first questions about them were, "What do these secret Gospels say?" and "Why are these secret Gospels not included in the bible?". Elaine Pagels' primary focus is on the Gospel of St. Thomas. Because Thomas is often labeled as "Doubting Thomas" or the apostle of the weakest faith, I thought Pagels' focus was an interesting choice.While the book itself gives little of the actual text written by Thomas, differences between the Gospel of Thomas and the others are highlighted. The main source of comparison for Thomas is the Gospel of John. Of the four Gospels of which most people are familiar, John is the most controversial because his differs form the other three on many levels. The author's discussion expands into the choice of the four Gospels and the reasoning behind this choice. Very few people are actually aware of how the Gospels and New Testament were developed.
Pagels also looks briefly at other secret Gospels including the Gospel of Truth, the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. I appreciate that the author went throught the process by which these books were rediscovered.
Many Christians find these alternative Gospels to be heresy because of there differences to the canon Gospels. I find this book to be a great explanation behind the divergence in Christianity. It was enlightening to see Jesus in new ways. Differing forms of Christianity developed from the differing missionaries who ventured to different lands. The fact that what in most cases are small differences can lead all Christians back to the basics of the faith is a beautiful reflection of the faith. God, Jesus, or the Chirstian faith is not able to be categorized into boxes as many sects of Chirstian faith would have you believe. The book is merely encouragement to those who endeavour to, in the words of Jesus, "seek and you shall find!"