Rating: 
Summary: Can you keep a secret?
Review: Elaine Pagels is perhaps best known for her text, 'The Gnostic Gospels' first published in 1979, in which she explores the different alternative gospel and scriptural writings used by (or at least known to) the Gnostic sects of Christians and proto-Christians in the early years of the common era. In this book, 'Beyond Belief', she returns to this subject by focusing more intensely upon the Secret Gospel of Thomas, one of the many gospel texts floating around the ancient Christian world, prior to the time the canon of scripture was more-or-less solidified.She begins with a remarkably personal tale, her idea of faith and the power of God in the face of her own son's problem - he had been diagnosed with a fatal disease, one that is required painful and risky procedures with little hope of success. Where does faith come from in a time like this? Where does faith go? Her first chapter talks about the power of the community, and she traces a history of early initiation rites and community-forging events (including the martyrdom of many). Pagels then relates these back to her own experiences, tracing a connection between then and now. The controversies the early church faced - the participation in communal feasts that were misunderstood, the renunciation of the world in dramatic ways, coupled with a care for persons in unique and egalitarian ways - these are not always the issues faced today. However, Pagels shows how these issues served to form what we hold today as normative Christianity. She also sets the stage for a look at the diversity of practice and belief - prior to the formation of the canons and creeds, there were more points of difference in the Christian world - texts such as the Secret Gospel of Thomas is one such. Pagels identifies a conflict between the gospels of John (one of the canonical four, itself a bit on the fringe, given its greater differences with the synoptics than they have with each other) and Thomas. Pagels asserts that both assumed their communities would be familiar with the basic outline of the gospel story a la Mark (most likely the earliest of the canonical gospels), and that both John and Thomas give similar accounts of the private teachings of Jesus. However, the use of these teachings and emphasis differs between Thomas and John - whereas they might have been complementary, they end up being at odds. For example, John argues strongly for the uniqueness of Jesus, as the light of God for all humanity; Thomas, on the other hand, looks at the light in Jesus as being something that all people have and have access to from within themselves. This gives Thomas a gnostic tint. Pagels likens the message of Thomas to those developed later by mystics, including most recently the writers Tolstoy and another Thomas, Thomas Merton. The kingdom of God is within us, not something that is meant to have a physical definition, either in the past under a messianic warrior-king, nor in the future in some heavenly city descending like a spaceship, but rather, within us. Pagels develops an interesting speculative biography of the author of the gospel of John, and looks at the images of Thomas presented in John, including the ideas that he was the 'doubting' one, and that he missed the gathering of the disciples upon with Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit (the account of Matthew indicates that all the disciples were present; John has Thomas missing). These kinds of images, Pagels suggests, might indicate a sort of rivalry for position. John's gospel was itself questioned during the early church, and his community of Christians existed on the fringe of the wider community. However, John's gospel is a clear and powerful one, and Pagels demonstrates that at many crucial points in the Thomas narrative, pieces are cryptic at best, and not at all definable and discernable. This would not have appealed to certain communities in Christianity, searching for a certain faith. Pagels traces the development of the acceptance of John over Thomas in the wider context of canonical development - she introduces other non-canonical writings of the time, such as the Secret Book of John, the Secret Book of James, the Prayer of the Apostle Paul, and others. She also traces the thought of major figures such as Polycarp, Tertullian, Justin Martyr, and Irenaeus. Much of what we have known historically about the different groups labeled heretical have come from the writings of the 'orthodox' - Ireneaus, for example, is a primary source of certain heresies through his great, five-volume 'Refutation and Overthrow of Falsely So-Called Knowledge'. However, this is a necessarily biased source of information. One interesting piece is the exploration of the Gospel of Philip, another of the non-canonical gospels - Philip's gospel divides the church into those who have it right and those who don't, but along different lines than the typical orthodox view. For Philip, the virgin birth and the resurrection are not one-time-only events for Jesus, but rather apply to all of humanity in potential. Anyone 'born again' experiences a virgin birth through the power of the spirit; all believers are transformed, and this constitutes a resurrection. Philip makes a distinction between those who pay lip service to being Christian and those who are truly spiritually transformed - this is an idea that will resurface again and again Christian history, too. Given imperial backing, Pagels argues that it was largely the party with influence at the court and the centre of empire that won the day. Still, even as these documents were no longer copied and held as valid scripture, the ideas they contained would remain undercurrent in Christian thought. Pagels' skillful writing and interesting narrative choice of using her own life as a backdrop to the larger issues of church history make this an interesting and worthwhile text for all.
Rating: 
Summary: Gnosticism ain't Christianity
Review: Gnosticism ain't Christianity folks, in any way, shape, or form - despite Pagels' "scholarly" efforts to make it appear otherwise.
"The Gnostic Gospels," and "Beyond Belief," are Pagels' attempt to come up with a new, more appealing and politically-correct form of Christianity (eg. Gnosticism proclaims "God" is androgynous, or both man and woman, Mary Magdalene is elevated to the status of the first and greatest Apostle and is Jesus' wife and divine consort, Gnostic writings were suppressed by the "Patriarchical" Church, etc.,).
Pagels makes her claim by presenting to us supposedly "discovered" scripture that supports her position and provides an alternative to stodgy, stuffy, conventional Christianity. No mistake, those searching for a brand of "Christianity Light," will find a lot of appeal in her work.
But the fact of the matter is, anyone with even a minimal understanding of ancient history and the world's religions and philosophies will realize how bunk her theories and arguments are. For starters, the main premise of Pagels' case is simply wrong - Gnosticism isn't an "offshoot" of Christianity. This is a fundamental misconception.
Gnosticism goes back centuries BEFORE the Christian era. Perhaps as early as the Fifth Century B.C., a belief system developed in ancient Syria and Persia, that held salvation of the soul could be achieved by attaining a deep, mystic, and divine knowledge (based on the Greek "gnosis," for knowledge).
According to gnostics, humans were divided into a 3-tiered hierarchy. Those that possessed this knowledge, or gnosis, were a superior form of human being whose present and future destiny were not intertwined with those humans that, for whatever reason, did not "know." Those humans too influenced by matter were doomed. And somewhere in between were those who did not yet possess the gnosis, but could yet be saved.
Rather than believe in the good of creation, Gnostics regarded matter and indeed, the whole physical universe to be a defilement of the deity - the god of light/spirit - and taught that the ultimate end would be to overcome matter and be reunited with the parent spirit and realm of light/energy. This would not be achieved by submission to God's laws, or through Grace (God's forgiveness of man's sins) by acceptance of the living Christ - the Son of God and Redeemer.
Rather, the process was completely intuitive and esoteric. Redemption or salvation would occur by awakening the sleeping gnosis (knowledge/wisdom) or "God within" - through deep thoughts, reflection, and meditation - thereby freeing the good spirit imprisoned within the evil, physical body.
Does this sound like Christianity? Hardly. Gnosticism has more in common with the movies "Star Wars" ("The Force") and "The Matrix," than it does Christianity.
Gnostics were the New Agers of their day, and with the founding of the Christian Church and spread of Christianity, they incorporated and appropriated various elements of Christianity into their beliefs. NOT the other way around.
Pagels paints early Christian church fathers who developed the Canon as repressive, threatened control freaks who were bent on creating unthinking, unquestioning dogma. Pagels couldn't be more wrong and misses the point entirely.
With regional and philosophical offshoots and sects of Christianity spiraling out of control during the first several hundred years of Christianity (Gnosticism, Marcionism, Manichaeans, Docetism, Arianism, etc.,), the hand of the early church was forced: it either define itself as a faith and find some common belief system or doctrine that could be agreed on by those that espoused to be "Christians" - or risk dying out, degenerating into a plethora of splintered factions and cults, as numerous other religions and philosophies had done so before and since.
How is this any different than the history of the world's other great philosophies/religions, like Confucianism, Judaism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Islam - the very word itself meaning "submission." If a religion or philosophy doesn't have a unique and defining set of beliefs or doctrine, what is it exactly that its adherents are adhering to? But please don't bring that fact up to Pagels and her Ivory Tower contemporaries. Remember, its only P.C. to bash Christians...
So, over the course of hundreds of years, the Church strove to define itself. In doing so, it determined which beliefs (through decrees and doctrines adopted by Ecumenical Councils like the Nicene Creed) and writings had Authority. Writings that were true Scripture (that is, prophetic or divinely inspired) were deemed Cannonical and those which were not were Apocryphal or Heretical.
Much to the contrary of the Book's title, there was and is nothing "secret" about the "Gospel of Thomas," (the existence of the writings have been known and their contents debated and rejected centuries upon centuries ago). Nor was it ever actually considered a true "Gospel" - that is, Scripture accepted as Canon or authoritative within the Church.
In fact, there are dozens of New Testament books and writings - some of them nothing short of absurd (Google "The Acts of Andrew" for a great example) - that were deemed Apocryphal by the early church. The fact of their existence, in and of itself, does not confirm that some wild, wonderful, secret shortcut to salvation was stamped out by a reactionary, threatened church. Far from it.
In fact, the best reason of all the great majority of New Testament Apocryphal writings were rejected is that, like the so-called Gnostic Gospels, they were composed centuries after the end of the Apostolic age. Therefore, their authorship and authenticity in providing insight on Jesus Christ and the Apostles is at best, questionable. At worst, the documents are complete bunk.
The tenets of Gnosticism - its elitism, its belief that man is co-substantial, or of the same substance as God, and numerous others - are utterly and irreconcilably incompatible with Christianity. Anyone with half a brain can see that and understand why it was deemed so, so many centuries ago.
Rating: 
Summary: Beyond Belief
Review: As usual, Elaine Pagels delivers*!* I've also read THE GNOSTIC GOSPELS by Pagels and would also rate; but with 10-Stars. I think the possible reader of this book needs to understand that many Bible Literalists are posting 1-star because they do not agree with the content of this book. Forget the 1-star ratings; this is intelligent writting, great abstract thought, and superlative research. I only wish it could have been longer but I think Pagels said everything she wanted to say in 257-pages. A 'must-read' for anyone studying the gnostic gospels.
Rating: 
Summary: The Gospel of Thomas Without Much Context
Review: I agree whole-heartedly with the in-depth reviews below, but I found one really odd thing about this book: she gives us a translation of the Gospel of Thomas, but she really doesn't tell us much about it. I'm a fan of Thomas and I'm a fan of Elaine Pagels and what I came to this book for was an illuminating--and dare I say, comprehensive?--discussion of The Book of Thomas as only Pagels, a great scholar of these early texts, can give. Besides mentioning Thomas as the kind of text that encouraged early believers to look within to their imaginative and creative sides (the "luminous epinoia"), she doesn't say much else. I find this absolutely baffling. Why include the text, and even allude to it in the title without discussing it?
However, there are many illuminating points in this book that make it worth your purchasing it. The creation of the dogma of the "one and only true church" is sketched out here in a passable way, and we are introduced to such interesting figures as Valentinus and the visionery Marcus, who saw the divine truth as a woman adorned with the letters of the Greek alphabet. More about the poetry of Valentinus would have been welcome.
Rating:
Summary: TRUTH REVEALED
Review: In offering this information regarding why there is so much ignorance, pain and suffering during this time, it is important to perform self-enquiry on a community, state and national level regarding fundamentalist concepts that continue to try to block the Light from TRUTH seekers.
This began during the Fourth Century AD---
When Constantine "the Great" had gained the throne of the mighty Caesers, like other despots, he craved more power.
He was motivated by the vain attempt to have the exclusive religious power of the world. He would go to the seat of the religion which ruled most of the subjets of his vast realm, import that religion to Rome, revise and alter it to serve his purpose, invent a popular name for his new religion, and then conceal his fradulent work by sending out his army to demolish their ancient temples and to collect and destroy all the ancient scrolls that could be found.
To make hos work morfe secure, effective, and complete, he would murder the Masters of the ancient religions, and the discredit them and disgrace their country by stigmatizing it, "Land of Darkness." kIts temples were dem,olished. its scrolls were destrroyed. and two shiploads of its preciouys instruments and equi[ment were dumped into the sea.
It was the most astounding crime ever committed against humaity in all the known history of the world; and its consequences and reactions were so broad and vast, that it plunged the Roman Empire into a state of intellectual darkness that is still in evidence in Europe and America.
For this "good work", Constantine, the murder, was the first person to be elevated to the plane of "Saint" by the blighting institution which that "good work" created.
Out if that darkness and desolation hgas come all the history of ancient days that the Christian world has had until the last two centuries.
When it became less dangerous to do so, archeologists began to salvage from the ruins of the "Land of Darkness" some religious fragments of the Lost Wisdom of the Ancient Masters.
From Egypt, the Light shone once more. Truth revealled it could not remain hidden.
The Fifth Gospel, The Gospel of Thomas was unearthed shining with the truth of the Apocalypse of Peter. Peter had a vision and went to the Master Jesus to enquire of its meaning. Peter reported of having seen two manifestations of Jesus and he ask which one was the real Jesus, the one below on the ground, or the one he saw laughing in the air above at the time of the crucifixion?
Jesus said, "I am the one you see above laughing", and continued by describing the flesh body as the substitute body.
Today this gives the enquiring mind the necessary elevation in consciousness to realise that besides the processes of performing the greatest miracles of healing, etc., ever witnessed that this man-god could not be killed, or murdered. He truely was "not of this world" as He stated and is still grossly underestimated to the point of profanity by those who claim to seek His grace.
this is also why I am very sceptical of any system that is trying to abolish all of the wisdom of the past great ages
I work with recovery and those who are ready to look at western civilization real hard, I tell them this: I send out e-mails like this asking my AA friends if they believe the 12 step program will help relieve those who are drunk on blood.
Some ask me what I mean and I say-
We should make these three teachings illegal:
1. Anthropomorphism (that God can only exist and be worshiped in physical form)
2. Belief in a personal devil
3. Deicide (ritualistic canabalism, or communion)
When masses of fundamentalists continue to throw these horrible energies out into the astral Light and manifest thought forms of death, killing and blood as vividly as teaching those same lies (that divine beings must die and be eaten to dissolve all karmic debt while some "devil" runs riot unmolested) to the children and PROMOTING SUCH EGOISM it is no doubt that this is the darkness in need of Light of TRUTH.
Jesus said in John 10:34, 'Ye are gods'
This means that every child that is born is god and that we must nourish this TRUTH Jesus gave because it is so much more tham just a profound positive affirmation. This TRUTH leads us to the ability to do greater things than He did, as He stated later in the Gospel of John.
This book title "Beyond Belief" brings to mind the idea that it is beyond belief that anything like this was allowed to be published in the 21st Century.
Jesus left his body before any "crucifixion" took place.
No one can kill (or murder) God.
The story of the Laughing Jesus is the true Gospel of Thomas.
Rating:
Summary: Good yet not what I was expecting
Review: I was looking for and in-depth look at the Thomas gospel. Instead received a basic yet knowledgeable explanation why it did not make it into the New Testament.
Rating:
Summary: Having actually READ the book...
Review: As a Christian, I found this book very challenging - it was one of those books where you read a few pages, then have to put it down and think for a while about what you have just read. After finishing, I was interested in what others thought about it, so came to Amazon as I often do to check the reader reviews. I quickly noticed two things:
- Many of these reviews are the longest and most in-depth I've ever read - demonstrating the passions this book brings out in people.
- Some of the reviews are obviously from people who did not actually read "Beyond Belief", or who only skimmed it.
Agree or disagree with Ms. Pagels' analysis of the gnostic gospels, and how they potentially impact modern Christianity, "Beyond Belief" is very well researched, foot-noted profusely and cross-references several other works. Any claims about 'poor research' and 'assumptions' made by Ms. Pagels are easily blown away by anyone who actually reads the book. Is she right about her assertions - who am I to say? But she certainly has done her homework, and it is unfair to characterize the book as shoddy or haphazard.
As has been mentioned by other reviewers, one of the core arguments in this book is about the canonical Gospel of John vs the gnostic Gospel of Thomas. Pagels presents her view on this debate. What I found interesting was her presentation of the two gospels - they are very much ALIKE in many, many ways. In fact, John is much more akin to Thomas than to the other three gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. So WHY was John included as the fourth 'pillar' of the NT gospels, and Thomas was ignored, repressed and even deemed heresy? Pagels' presentation of this key decision by early Christians is fascinating and thought-provoking.
But this book is not so much about the gnostic "Gospel of Thomas" as it is about the struggle of early Christianity, and the process that lead to the decisions that shape Christian faith to this day. Pagel's review of the history of the early Church and the development of what we today call the "New Testament" is in-and-of-itself worthwhile. Given the current climate where 'religious folks' are too often almost totally uninformed about the history of Christianity, and where a minimal "Sunday School" familiarity with the Bible has replaced real, serious study, it is an amazing testament to the strength of Christ's message that this book is so popular, even with the controversy it generates.
For Christians of all 'ecumenical stripes' - I say this is a must-read. The early Christians REALLY had to struggle to ensure the survival of their faith, and while many of us are familiar with the struggle against Nero's Rome and other forces that tried to destroy Christianity from the outside, too few of us are familiar with the internal struggle that Pagels presents here. The gnostic 'gospels' - like that of Thomas - were a casualty of that internal struggle. Pagels feels this was highly unfortunate, claiming there is a lot to be learned about Jesus from gnostic writings. Others feel the exclusion of the gnostic writings was a good move by the early church, or perhaps even 'an act of God' [thought this presents the interesting question of God's role in the 'miraculous' survival of these writings in a jar of clay in the desert - to be discovered almost 2000 years later!!]
Regardless of your personal view, after reading this book you will undoubtedly know more about the history of Christianity, the multiple ways in which early Christians viewed Christ, and how we got to be where we are today [whether by the hand of God or man.] As a Christian, I felt this made "Beyond Belief" worthy of praise, and well worth the read.
Rating:
Summary: Another highly accessible and inspirational outing.
Review: Elaine Pagels has done it again, turning out another highly readable and eloquent exposition of religious truth. Although she focuses on the Gospel of Thomas rather less than her title would suggest, she nevertheless gets to the heart of the matter: the rich diversity of Christian origins and modes of belief. I found the description of her attempt to find meaning in religious faith during and after her son's death revealing and compelling. Elaine Pagels remains an inspiration to those of us who reject the dogma and bigotry of "comic-book Christianity" (my phrase), but still seek to rely on our religious tradition for guidance, solace, and strength. She is for me a leading member of a group of writers including John Dominic Crossan, Marcus Borg, and Kathleen Norris who make it possible for thinking people to reclaim their religious heritage. Like Borg and Norris in particular, her books are highly accessible and aimed at the general reader.
Rating:
Summary: Crucial Knowledge For Religious Students & Christians
Review: After so many years of reading the four gospels and especially John, I had no idea of the background revealed in the writings of the Nag Hammandi, or Gnostic accounts. Its amazing how so many people mold their lives from the gospels without this crucial knowledge. After reading the gospel of Thomas and comparing the differences, it can be seen that John was writing much of his account to protest the gospel of Thomas, who he labeled as "doubting Thomas," since Thomas endorsed individual subjective experience beyond the grasp of doctrine over all dogmas and orthodox hierarchy that based all its unity on such formulated, spelled-out teachings. So it was Thomas that John had Jesus speaking the words, "No one comes to the Father except through me," and "I am the way, the life and the truth." Thomas and many other schools of Christians and teachers conveyed a Christianity that entered areas apart from grasping dogmas and schematics; to find Christ was to look inside the self, to see the subjective internal experience to find the light within the self and become an enlightened "twin" of Christ. He was not an external model to follow (I remember Ralph Waldo Emerson's same words on this) but rather a model for us to find the light within ourselves and become a son of God the very same as Christ, as Christ was not considered as a divine being above humanity. And this sparked the name calling attacks by Iraneaus, labeling such as agents of Satan, evil, foolish, apostates and so forth.
The goal of Iraneaus was to one day unify the church into one orthodox Catholic church, as the Christians were under constant attacks, being murdered and tortured by the Roman authorities. And yet, while Ireaneus did allow much diversity, he drew the line with certain teachings, refusing to accept many who were even considered spiritual bishops of great magnitude and their subsequent congregations of various Gnostic and schools of Christian teachings that fell outside of the orthodox dogmas.
Now you can see this removes the fall from Eden for a perfect divine man as ransom. The fall itself is explained in this beautiful concept how Adam and Eve were instructed. In the Secret book of John, human beings have an innate capacity to know God, not by teachings of creeds, but by glimpses into his internal being, the divine reality. Eve's birth from Adam's side speaks of the awakening of this spiritual capacity, the epinoia, a creative, inventive consciousness that is awake only through personal subjective experience, mystical visions, dreams, and awareness beyond dogmas and creeds. And she helps Adam restoring him to his full Beinghood by teaching him about his decent, the way to ascend. Eve was a gift of spiritual understanding, enabling us to reflect upon the ineffable within ourselves
Another book of the Nag Hammadi, states that Adam and Eve saw that they were naked meant that they were made aware to the luminous epinoia or glimpses into spiritual dimensions beyond discursive reasonings, something personified in feminine references, with hints and glimpses, images and stories that imperfectly point beyond themselves toward what we cannot now fully understand - St. Paul's hazy mirror.
It was here that many of the various sects taught and performed second baptisms. The first baptism was one based on faith, as in Jesus healing the officer's daughter in his simple act of faith, while the second was on the epinoia, the gnosis or knowing that occurred symbolically in the illustration of Jesus speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well with the living water where one would never get thirsty. And this epinoia was a spiritual dimension found in all of humanity, not excluded to those who have faith in an orthodox doctrine on the nature of Christ. So it is above and beyond all doctrines and universal orthodox catholic teachings, it is an internal light within the self to find these glimpses of life giving water, something Irenaeus and his orthodox successors so adamantly and violently opposed accusing all who endorsed such as heretics with heretic writings, writings later ordered to be destroyed. Thus the monk, Muhammad Ali (not a boxer) buried his scrolls, which were eventually found 1600 years later.
In this the stories, illustrations and various images of the scriptures, as in the resurrection, the virgin birth and so forth, were recognized as anthropomorphic images formed to the epinoia as teachings to seek higher awareness of the spiritual dimensions found in the self which Christ himself found within and we as his "twins" could also become the light as he was.
In the gospel of Phillip, Phillip writes that while many claim to be Christians, they are not completely in that they were only baptized but they have not been spiritually transformed in the gnosis, concluding that all believers, if not in this world then in another, will one day be transformed into the gnosis or the knowing. Whoever undergoes this tranformation, Phillip says "will no longer be a Christian but a Christ." This is a major difference in what we know as traditional Christianity. A person who becomes a Christ, is not an adherent to dogmas and orthodox creeds, nor any religious organization, but one who knows,(gnosis) him or herself as a Christ.
If Irenaeus were to simply allow all the diversity perhaps the religion itself would not have acquired the strength to endure the horrendous persecutions of the Romans. It was later that Constantine legalized Christianity and it appears that it was not he who lacked tolerance, however he sided with the Orthodox in tax breaks and financing of the Orthodox and rejection of the Gnostics and other various sects that differed from orthodox teachings. It was the successor to Irenaeus, Athanasius who carried on the orthodox attack of the other so-called heretics and against the bishop Arius who did not teach the divinity of Christ. Thus the Nicene Creed was created. And by making Christ equal to God, the apostolic authority would remain in tact with the Orthodox church as the authoritative hierarchal structure to obey with the government's backing.
What also makes this book so interesting is that it reveals how the Protestants, while rejecting the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, retained the majority of the creeds, including the Nicene Creed, and in turn rejected the subjective visionary experience. Thus they interpreted and retained the dogmas and external teachings as of higher significance over the subjective experience and realm of the Tillichian expression, the "God beyond God." In this respect, it is perhaps the Pentecostals and various Charismatic sects that have appeared to have revitalized this visionary subjective experience, and yet even they have retained the exclusivity of doctrinal obedience to the divinity of Christ and many other dogmatic teachings, which make them differ sharply from the Gnostics and various early Christian sects that the Orthodoxy opposed.
Rating:
Summary: top of the pile
Review: Reading for the third time and still underlining and making notes. Learn more of Gnosis and early Christian history each time. Easy read. Well written.
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