Beyond Belief : The Secret Gospel of Thomas

Rating:
Summary: Erroneous vs. Iraneus
Review: Elaine Pagels may be an expert on the Gnostic Gospels and the history of the cannonization of the Bible, but she is not credible in her comparative analysis of the four cannonized gospels (Matthew-Mark-Luke-John). She finds minor differences between the Gospel accounts to be signs of major conspiracy: especially, that John was written to discredit the Gospel of Thomas and was chosen for cannonization over Thomas in order to enforce Second Century theologian Iraneus' view of orthodoxy. By the time she restates her assumptions, they somehow become facts.

I found myself wishing Pagels was more of a theolgian herself, as her historian's bias is that any differences between Gospel accounts must be signs of political struggles and authors' agendas (that Pagels has a strong agenda is no reason to assume these Gospel writers did). She does not seem to allow for the remotest possibility that the events in the Gospels actually happened, and are depicted differently because of different observations, memories, expectations and perceptions of those who claimed to be eyewitnesses to events.

In discussing the divine nature of Jesus, Pagels seems to ignore that Jesus is accused in the synoptic Gospels of making himself out to be God -- not just in John. And a most glaring omission -- unless I missed it myself -- is that Pagels never accounts for why Paul in writing much of the New Testament (apparently before John's Gospel) corroborates most of the John teachings she objects to!

I did find Pagels' account of early church history informative and thought-provoking. Good historian, dubious theologian.

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Summary: Pagels for women and scientists
Review: I discovered Elaine Pagels and the Gnostic Gospels years after I utterly rejected traditional christianity as being too patriarchal, patronizing, and misogynistic to have any place in my life. At the same time my belief in a Divine Purpose, if not a Divine Being continued to develop and become a strong component of who I was and am.

I found a home in Goddess-centered religions for a long time, but when I discovered a paper that Pagels wrote on the "Lost Gospels", I read the "Gnostic Gospels" and the New Testament of the bible in parallel, and began to rediscover my faith.

The movie "Stigmata" piqued my interest in Pagel's new book on the Gospels of Thomas, and if you have a 21st century mind, are interested in science and are disenchanted with traditional Christianity, I think you will find material in the Gospel of Thomas and in this book that may help reconcile you with faith in God and Christian religious belief.

Rating:
Summary: A brilliant return to the origins of Christianity
Review: "Beyond Belief" releases the spiritual aspects of Jesus' teachings. If you enjoy learning more about how faiths are created, this is the book for you. I found myself transported back to the origins of Christianity when reading this book. The author, Elaine Pagels, reminds us that when Christianity was founded, Jesus' followers were people confronted with a new life-changing philosophy of love -- and they had to creatively try to find a way to live it. Too many Christian denominations today, in my opinion, follow agreed-upon creeds rather than the actual spirit of this great faith. There is nothing wrong with having creeds; over time, though, people begin to believe only what has already been discovered and creativity is frowned upon (or punished). But creativity is a vital part of Christianity. Albert Schweitzer put it best in his book, "The Quest for the Historical Jesus," when he stated, "Jesus means something to our world because a mighty spiritual force streams forth from Him and flows through our time also. This fact can neither be shaken nor confirmed by any historical discovery. It is the solid foundation of Christianity." This statement has proven to be true in my own life, and I found its truth present in this book, "Beyond Belief," as well. Review by Mary Anne Thomas, author of "Ask and You Shall Receive," email [e-mail].

Rating:
Summary: Flimsy foundation but makes some good points
Review: Elaine Pagel's Beyond Belief is definitely worth the read, and very informative, but I disagree with its thesis. I dislike how it seems to buy into the modern trend of thinking of Gnosticism as the "good" Christianity that should have won out, all the while ignoring its less desirable aspects.

I also disagree with her saying that Gnosticism is in any way more true to general mystic principles than Catholic mystics like St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross. She says that only in Gnostic Christianity can one say "I am Thou" as opposed to "I and Thou" (p.75)-- but that's just not true. The entire point of the oldest forms of orthodox Christianity (Catholic and Eastern Orthodox) is to become God, to divinize the will, or, as Teresa puts it, to marry one's self to the King who lives in the innermost chambers of one's soul, so that you may become One Flesh with Him, one Being. St. Athanasius formulated what has become pretty much the Orthodox Church's catch phrase: "The Son of God became man so that man might become God." True, orthodox Christianity does not say that you can ever become infinite or uncreated in nature, but neither does Gnosticism. The Gospel of Thomas states "He that drinks of my mouth shall become like me, I myself shall become this person, and the hidden things will be revealed to him." That's the summary of "gnosis"-- no more revolutionary than the Catholic/Orthodox dogma of divinization/theosis. One does not become naturally God, like Christ, but simply has Christ become one's self. The real difference in Gnosticism was that it all took place in the nous, mind. It was literal knowledge, knowledge passed on in a cult-like setting. Opposed to this, orthodox Christianity maintained that God's love was a refining fire, consuming us and transforming us into His very self, all of us without exception.

If anything, orthodox Christianity on this point is more empowering because it affirms material existence, saying that Jesus was man, was flesh. Gnosticism separates Christ thoroughly from us, making us totally depraved by nature, as in modern Protestantism (it is no coincidence that writers such as Calvin derived their beliefs from Augustine, who was in turn influenced by many Manichean/Gnostic beliefs, especially as to the matter/Spirit dualism.)

Pagels seems to forward the idea that Gnosticism is unique in saying that God's Light is in all of us. That's untrue, and seems strange considering that Gnosticism is arguably the birth of the idea that Christ is fundamentally different than us in nature. At least orthodox Christianity insists on him being a human as well as God; Gnosticism simply insisted on his heavenly nature, apart from matter. Gnosis was an internal achievement, but an escape from matter, not an exaltation of it. Perhaps I'm missing something, but Pagels seems to be wanting to see something that's not there. She says on page 54, "What John opposed... includes what the Gospel of Thomas teaches-- that God's light shines not only in Jesus, but, potentially at least, in everyone." This baffles me. The Gnostics believed that only the elite, the chosen, had "light" in them, and that this comes from a transcendant force, though present in a non-material part of us. John's gospel seems to show the same thing-- John 1:12-13, 6:44, 8:12, 12:36, 14:12, 17:21-23, etc. In fact, it was probably FROM Gnosticism that John's gospel attained its elitism.

One thing that I like about this book is that, for once, it doesn't use Paul as a scapegoat-- it uses John. One fault with modern liberal Christian scholarship, I think, is that it attempts to pin too much on Paul, citing Paul as the genesis of all Christianity's failures. However, Beyond Belief correctly identifies the gospel of John as the document more culpable as to the birth of the "saved by faith" beliefs. What Pagels doesn't really point out is the similarity of the gospel of John to the Gnostic gospels. In fact, the elitism of the gospel of John cannot be traced to any Pauline sentiment or synoptic creation. It can only really be traced to the Gnostics, who viewed their religion as a mystery religion revealed only to an elect through esoteric rituals and knowledge.

Now, I love the gospel of John, even though I can see its faults. But all of its faults that I can identify seem to me closer to Gnostic doctrine than anything else. The gospel of John was originally used by heterodox Christians, not orthodox Christians, and the Valentinian Gnostic Christians used it far more than the orthodox Christians, forcing Iranaeus to formally refute their exegesis of it. Citing the gospel of John as the opponent to Gnosticism is far-fetched at best. Perhaps the opponent to Thomist Gnostics, but by no means Gnosticism.

I never really had drawn the connections between the Doubting Thomas appearing in the gospel of John and the Thomist/Johannine communities until I read this book, and I think that's the main concept to be grasped from it. The gospel of John does seek to thoroughly discredit Thomas for whatever reason. But I disagree with her belief that it was an orthodox plot to destroy Gnostic heretics.

Rating:
Summary: An illuminating study of Christian history and Gnosticism
Review:

I met Dr. Elaine Pagels when she was a professor at Barnard College, in the mid-seventies, when Dr. John Cantwell Kiley and I made a trip together to New York City. We had each read her (then) new book, The Gnostic Gospels. She was one of the group of scholars who translated the Nag Hammadi scrolls, found in the Egyptian desert in 1945, and so we met her in her office for a brief discussion.

Dr. Pagels is a serious, recognized scholar of early Christianity and its literature and history, and she now teaches at Princeton.

This book describes the early schisms between what was to become the orthodox Catholic (universal) Christian church and the ones called the "Gnostics". The main difference between them is the position of the gospel attributed to John, and that (Gnostic gospel) attributed to Thomas. John's version claimed that Jesus (the Greek name of the Jewish teacher named Yeshua, or Joshua) was identical with God--literally, God descended to earth in the form of a man--which both Jews and most early Christians would have considered blasphemy, and Thomas' version, which implied that any person could experience God directly, essentially without the need of a priest, bishop, or pope to intervene in the process--a view abhorrent to the organized church which had established such a hierarchy, and in later centuries thrived by selling dispensations and maintaining power over the multitude through tithes and threats of excommunication.

The actual "canon" of the scriptures, declaring some to be inspired by God and discarding others as heretical was decided at the Council of Nicaea, where scholars empowered by the Christian Emperor Constantine, whose wish it was to settle the differences between the many Christian sects, and create one orthodoxy for everyone, made the fateful decision. As a result, the Gnostic writings were declared heretical, and ordered destroyed. It was nearly successful: for hundreds of years, virtually the only evidence of their existence was the animosity in writings of non-Gnostic writers attacking them--until 1945 when a clay jar full of scrolls was found, well-preserved, in the Nag Hammadi desert of Egypt by an Egyptian shepherd.

The word gnosis translates to a deeper wisdom, or knowledge of a spiritual truth previously accepted by faith alone, and described the acceptance by the Gnostics of the premise that man needs no intermediary to have the experience of union with God. This has been the stance of many Hindu Vedas (scriptures), specifically the Advaita Vedanta, and the most advanced Hebrews and followers of Islam, for centuries. The Hindu saying, "Tat tvam asi" translates to "Thou art That," and elsewhere clearly states that the individual soul is not different than the soul of God. The Advaita Vedanta (the last of the Vedas) claims that there is only one soul in existence, which plays all of the parts in the universal dance.

Johannes "Meister" Eckhardt, a Catholic priest, was preaching much the same message, and for his heresy was summoned to Rome for punishment. Fortunately, perhaps, for him, he died on the way. Throughout human history there have been many who have had the experience, which many call "enlightenment," of coming to acknowledge that they are one with God. One such, of course, was Siddhartha of Gautama, better known as the Buddha. In more recent times, in the United States, we were blessed with a man named Alan Watts. One of his books is called, The Book: The Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are.

I recommend all of his writings to you.

This book contains not only the translation of the Gospel of Thomas from the coptic (ancient Egyptian) but, perhaps most important, the scholarly, enlightened commentary upon it by Dr. Pagels. If you have an interest in this subject matter, it is indispensable to your library.

Joseph (Joe) Pierre

author of The Road to Damascus: Our Journey Through Eternity
and other books

Rating:
Summary: Most of what is written is.....
Review: beyond belief, and so Pagel's book is therefore aptly titled. I really believed that this book would build upon what Pagel's wrote in the Gnostic Gospels, but to my dismay that is not what this book is about. Instead, Pagels attempts to analyze two specific schools of thought concerning Christian spirituality and devotion. The ones who read the gospel of John were the ones who would later be termed the orthodox, and the ones who read the gospel of Thomas were known as the gnostics. First, Pagel's assertion that both gospels may have been written around the same time is a tenuous assumption at best. She offers no proof to validate this claim, but only theorizes that John's mention of doubting Thomas is meant as a slam toward Thomas Christians who believed the gospel of Thomas. Interesting theory, absolutely no support!

Second, Pagels seems to have serious qualms with Irenaeus, the 2nd century bishop of Lyon France, because she constantly attacks and criticizes his views. I have read Irenaeus' masterpiece, the Against Heresies, and have found it to be a compelling and trustworthy piece of writing. What bothers me the most is that Pagel's uses partial quotations and selective citing to prove her point, but does not explain the context around the provided quotes to substantiate her claims. Throughout this work, Irenaeus demonstrates that gnostic teaching is not Christian because it draws from numerous other sources including Zoroastrianism and the popular mystery cults of the day. In addition, Pagel's makes it appear that Irenaeus is telling people not to mature and grow in their Christian faith but to blindly accept what the heirarchy teaches them. This idea is simply not true. Sure, Irenaeus stressed following apostolic tradition and following the bishops, but he never wanted to impede anyone from growing spiritually. What he wanted to avoid were people reading the Scriptures with the wrong theological lenses and thus leading themselves astray with their wild speculations and vain ideas.

Finally, the idea that mankind is related to God and can be relate to God is absolutely non-sense. Christianity has it's roots in Judaism and both affirm that man claiming to be god-like or somehow divine is non-sense. Sure, there are groups who claim such things, but they are outside the pale of orthodoxy and distort certain Scriptures at the expense of multiple other verses that speak otherwise. I think both the Old and New Testaments overwhelmingly affirm man's sinfulness and their need of divine intervention and grace. Where the gnostics and orthodox would divulge can be summed up very simply: The gnostics see Jesus as a spiritual example to help them in their journey to uncover the divine within them while the orthodox see Jesus as a savior who saves them from their sins and radically transforms their lives and releases them from the power of sin. One view preaches what practically every religion teaches, thus the gnostics are really nothing more than Christian Buddhists or Hindus, while the orthodox claim is wholly unique and to my satisfaction makes the most sense out of the Scriptures, both old and new Testaments.

Rating:
Summary: B-A-L-O-N-E-Y
Review: This book is Beyond Belief....

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating look at the early Christian writings and history
Review: Elaine Pagels is an exceptionally engaging writer with a talent for locating and explaining hidden wisdom. She wrote an earlier book, "The Gnostic Gospels: A New Account of the Origins of Christianity," that brilliantly summarized the ancient and rambling Nag Hammadi texts, which describe the teachings of Jesus as captured by early Christian writers. In "Beyond Belief," a title that addresses the audience she wishes to reach, Pagels examines more closely these ancient texts and how they compare to the four gospels. She focus on the "Gospel of Thomas" (90 ce) comparing it to the Gospel of John (100 ce) and current christian beliefs about the teachings of Jesus.

"Beyond Belief" is intensely interesting to the right audience. It is part gospel analysis, which she translates from ancient Greek, part early Christian history and part personal story meant to provide context in understanding the beauty of modern Christianity. One audience for this book is those seeking to understand factually what Jesus taught and what happened to Christianity in the early centuries following his death (30 ce) and how the Gospel of Thomas can shed light on that understanding.

But another audience, the one for whom this book will resonate most deeply, are readers with an intuitive grasp of "transcendence" and the teachings of Jesus that verify the union that can be experienced between God and man. This is what Saint John of the Cross referred to when he wrote "All and Nothing." ("Here I stand alone transcending all knowledge"). Pagels points out that this experience is taught by Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas and expressed in the Vedic literature of India. ("I am That"). It is found in the writings from many religious traditions. One Catholic University scholar has compared the description of the higher states of consciousness from the Upanishads to the rooms described by Saint Theresa of Avila in her "Interior Castle"(Seven states of consciousness; seven rooms in the castle).

There is no doubt that saints the world over have written of union with God. The Christian tradition is no exception (read Alan Watts, "The Supreme Identity."): "It seemed to me, as if [my soul] was wholly and altogether passed into its God, to make but one and the same thing with Him; even as a little drop of water, cast into the sea, receives the qualities of the sea. Oh, union of unity, demanded of God by Jesus Christ for men and merited by him!" -Jeanne-Marie Bouvier de la Motte-Guyon. Or "Blessedness consists primarily in the fact that the soul sees God in herself. Only in God's knowledge does she become wholly still. Therefore it is in Oneness that God is found and they who would find God must themselves become One." And the famous "My eye and God's eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, one love." -Meister Eckhart.

I wonder sometimes how we got from these sublime expressions to the crap that is dispensed by our Churches. Nobody explains this better than Pagels. She attempts to explain why, if the experience of union with God is universal, it is not prominently recognized in the four gospels and most Christian teaching.

The problem, Pagels explains as she accounts for the development of early church othodoxy, is that the apostles and the early Christian writers built Church teaching upon revelation and visions. "Without visions and revelations, the Christian movement would not have begun. But who can tell the holy spirit when to stop?..."And when so many people--some of them rivals and even antagonists--all claim to to be divinely inspired, who knows who has the spirit and who does not? She claims that Irenaeus, the promoter of the four gospels, and only those four, was confronted not by "a lack of spiritual revelation but an overwhelming surplus. 'How' he asked 'can we tell the difference between the word of God and mere human words?'" It is in this climate the first attempt to unify Christian believers began.

Hericlitus, the great Greek philosopher, said "All is One." If you recognize the wisdom of this ancient expression and you understand that, consciousness, the source of thought, is divine and that the inner experience of Jesus is available to all, you will enjoy this book. Jesus says in Thomas "I am all: From me all came forth, and to me all attained. Split a piece of wood; I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there.". Or in the words of the Vedas "I am That, Thou art That, All this is That."

Understanding the Transcendent may be the key to appreciating this book. I had been practicing meditation for only about seven years when I discovered Pagels' first book over twenty years ago. The Gospel of Thomas and these gnostic writings from the earliest christians resonated immediately for I could validate it by my experience. Pagels quotes the gospel of Mary Magdalene, "The Son of Man is within you."

In the end, the orthodox view, the Church view, prevailed and the Gnostic writings were suppressed. Perhaps for this reason Hericlitus had another saying for which he was known: "People who follow religions are like cattle."

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Summary: God of my understanding.....
Review: Elaine Pagels has written a book I can understand and identify with spiritually. It's been a while since I found anything written about Christianity that did not send me into spasms. I was raised Christian (I even taught church school for a number of years) but over time I became alienated from Christian theology. I simply could not and can not accept some of the "core" traditional teachings. I want to accept these "givens" - mind you it would have made my life easier - but I cannot. I am driven or compelled by some inner voice that challenges me continuously. It is heartening to know that others, particularly those who buried the "gnostic" gospels near Nag Hammadi Egypt 1700 years ago felt similarly.

In BEYOND BELIEF - THE SECRET GOSPEL OF THOMAS Pagels examines the conflicting gospels of John and Thomas. The gospel of John has been used to support the notion that Jesus was exclusively divine and that the only way to god is via his representative on earth. John is the source of the 'I and a Thou' relationship with God. Thomas, on the other hand, suggested that Jesus was divine, but this divinity was a divinity accessible to all, i.e. could be found in every human. Like the eastern guru, Thomas suggests that Jesus message is that the kingdom of God is within. Seek and you shall find.

A particularly revealing section Pagels translates from the 'Secret Book' suggests God sent Adam " 'a 'helper' - luminous epinoia ['creative' or 'inventive' consciousness] which comes out of him, who is called Life [Eve]; and she 'helps' the whole creation, by working with him and by restoring him to his full being, and by teaching him about the descent of his kind, and by showing the way to ascend, the way he came down.' Thus Eve symbolizes the gift of spiritual understanding, which enables us to reflect-however imperfectly-upon divine reality."

I like that very much. Sounds like the God(ess) of My Understanding.

Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected
Review: OK, did anybody besides me wonder why the subtitle was called "the secret gospel of thomas"? I enjoyed the book, but it seemed to me like more of a history of the church than info on the Gospel of Thomas. I wish I would have waited for the paperback version.