Rating: 
Summary: A bold book that tries the impossible....
Review: Pagals' writing makes for a well-researched and scholarly book. However, I believe her conclusions to be careless, in that they are simply not fair to the original documents.1. She points out, correctly, that Christianity did have great initial diversity - as compared to other religions, which often consisted of a single social or racial group. In contrast, Christianity embraced women, slaves, Jews, Gentiles, Greeks, Romans, tax collectors, fisherman, etc. The point she doesn't make is that this continues today. The core tenants of Christianity are embracing of all people - although not of all ideas. I wish she would have made this important distinction. 2. The other historical observation she makes is that Christianity narrowed to include only certain scriptural texts as authoritative. This is accurate. (Although her assumption is that a large amount of Christians embraced other 'Gnostic' texts - a claim boasting little evidence.) The council of Nicea certainly did this. If a canon was never arrived at some point, then which writings would be seen as authoritative and which would not? If boundaries were never set, then I suppose a person may argue today that the Koran should be seen as a Christian text? (In fact, that might be the next hot-seller!) 3. The substance of her book consists of a conflict she sets up between the books of John and Thomas. She claims that Thomas offered readers a message of 'spiritual enlightenment', instead of promoting Jesus as an exclusive means to God, and the only 'light of the world'. I'm still not sure why she sees Thomas as a message of 'spiritual enlightenment', and apparently not John. (Maybe the individual becomes their own savior instead of needing to turn to Christ?) Furthermore, I don't understand her lament that 'only one was chosen'. She wants them both to be authoritative, and yet they contradict each other regarding truth-claims? Perhaps in Pagals' world truth doesn't seem to pose a problem. However, in the realm of logic, if two statements contradict each other, then only one can be true. The early Christians believed truth existed, and were therefore forced abandon the book of Thomas since it not only doesn't fit with John, but it contradicts much of the rest of the NT - particularly many of Jesus' statements about Himself. 4. Pagals points out that the book of Thomas teaches individuals that "there is a light within each person, and it lights up the whole universe. If it does not shine, there is darkness." This is an incredible contrast to John's teaching that Jesus is the light of the world and that His followers reflect Jesus' light - He is the source. 5. Pagels suggests that Thomas be 'recovered' as a way of embracing the 'glorious diversity of religious tradition'? The first type of diversity mentioned earlier in the book is one of Christianity embracing numerous racial, social, and economic backgrounds. However, what she promotes now is a very different form of 'diversity'. Pagals now suggests contradictory truth-claims be accepted in the name of 'diversity'. In short, she suggests the book of Thomas be promoted at the expense of truth. This is a very bold claim. In fact, it's so bold that I wonder why she doesn't go further and suggest all Gnostic teachings be seen as canonical. In fact, what would make her stop there? Here's the thing, Pagals doesn't want to reform Christianity, she wants it to become Gnostic. 6. She claims religion is not an assent to a set of beliefs, but a fabric of teachings that connect us with 'the divine'. If that's her belief, then is that a belief she wants her readers to believe in contradiction to the NT? Is she promoting this belief despite the exclusive claims of Christ that He is the Way, Truth, and Life? 7. Reformation is a calling back to original beliefs. Pagals tries so desperately to claim that she is reforming Christianity back to its core tenants - or at least to something 'better'. However, this is a significant stretch and she fails leap over the gap. Gnostic beliefs existed independently of Christianity; and still do. Christianity never was Gnostic. The two are oil and water. Her book is a valiant and 'scholarly' effort, but it falls significantly short. Again, it's the peskiness of truth that proves Pagals' principal foe.
Rating: 
Summary: Tell no lie Dr. Pagels.
Review: Be careful here !!! The cover of this book is totally misleading as to what is inside. There is no explication on the Gospel of Thomas and only a slight mention of two tenets that are contained within. Go to the text at the back of the book if you want to see how the Gospel of Thomas is treated. I wish I had.
Rating: 
Summary: Not to beyond,,,
Review: I have always enjoyed Pagels, I have found all of her books enlightening. I found something in this book I hadn't realized in any of her others. The motivation for writing beyond belief. I base what I have found on her autobiography here, her experiences and the sweetened analysis of the Gospel according to St John. Pagels is searching like the rest of us. There is this uncanny critisism of the faith yet the undertones of reliance on Christainity, we are all human aren't we. I suggest reading SB 1 or God by Maddox, he has done what Pagels is desperately searching for.
Rating:
Summary: AN ENTRE INTO THE WORLD OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY
Review: If you have read Gary Wills' Why I Am A Catholic, you will see how from the early middle ages on, the communities of believers who already possessed the creed became the modern Catholic Church. This book on the other hand brings us to the first 2 centuries of christianity, and shows us the debate between those who were building a creed by editing, and those charismatic christians who were full of the spirit. She also gives some room for those who while no longer believers, long for Christ's message
Rating: 
Summary: FACINATING
Review: Listen, I didn't agree with everything in this book, but that said, this book is an awesome read for anyone who is interested in biblical and religious stuff. If you have a facination for such things, then you will find this book interesting, agree with it or not. Also, another book I would like to recommend is called, The Little Guide To Happiness. No particular reason for doing this, other than it is a fun read that will make you smile and it's worth checking out.
Rating:
Summary: A Landmark Study
Review: With "Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas", Pagels returns after more than two decades of research and teaching - and the publication of three extraordinarily popular books distilling her insights - to the subject that first enlivened her interests as a graduate student at Harvard and then as young author and professor of religion: the vital voice of Gnosticism suppressed during the formation of Christian orthodoxy. She brings with her to this reconsideration the power of a mature, authoritative and very personal voice. The general content of Pagels book is well summarized elsewhere. What I would here add is a perception that Pagels tells much more in "Beyond Belief" than the lively story of the conflict between Irenaeus and the Valentinians, or of the textual formation of the Gospel of John in relation to the Gospel of Thomas (though, of course, she does both jobs brilliantly). Scholarly publications seldom interject a "personal voice" - and heretofore Pagels has properly avoided its use. However, as a reader - and after over twenty years of following Pagels' work, attending her lectures, and knowing a little about the tragedies that have touched her life - I found myself curiously ready to hear about her own personal journey with Christianity. Apparently she too sensed the time to speak had come. "Beyond Belief" interweaves ancient history with the quietly compelling tale of a modern scholar's quest to understand her heritage. It leads by careful and well-reasoned steps back through history, to an interior spiritual tradition within Christianity forgotten by the world - a tradition reviled as heresy, and excised from what became orthodox creedal faith. As most readers will perceive, Pagels' heart is keenly attuned to that forgotten Christianity. When "The Gnostic Gospels" was first published, The New York Times somewhat nefariously assigned Raymond Brown, a prominent New Testament scholar and Roman Catholic priest, to write the review. Brown's review, as Pagels amusingly summarizes it in her current work, went something like this (in speaking of her beloved Gnostic texts): "What orthodox Christians rejected was only 'the rubbish of the second century' - and, he added, 'it's still rubbish.'" Much has changed in the landscape of Christian scholarship over the last two decades. To review "Beyond Belief", this time The New York Times called upon Sir Frank Kermode, perhaps our most distinguished living critic of humane arts. This choice alone speaks a signal change - the subtle realization that the focus of Elaine Pagels writing is not simply history or theology or dogma, but instead, the ageless quest of the human spirit to understand itself. This uniquely humane book will stand as a landmark in our own age's growing understanding of that lost spirit within the legacy of Christianity. (For those wishing a broader general introduction to Gnostic studies - and after reading Beyond Belief many people will- I highly recommend Stephan A. Hoeller's recently published book, "Gnosticism: New Light on the Ancient Tradition of Inner Knowing". It makes excellent companion reading to Pagels' fine new work. The subtitle of Pagel's book, "The Secret Gospel of Thomas" is also somewhat misleading. This is not a commentary on Thomas, but an examination of the history and fate of the tradition that cherished the Gospel of Thomas. For an introduction and excellent translation of the Thomas gospel, see "The Fifth Gospel: The Gospel of Thomas Comes of Age" by Stephen J. Patterson and James M. Robinson.)
Rating:
Summary: Clear Exploration of Another Christianity
Review: As with her other books on religious history, Pagels writes a clear, terse, compelling account of religious ideas that were, for political reasons, kept out of the official canon eventually set in stone by the Nicene council. In Beyond Belief Pagels unearths the religious meanings of The Gospel of Thomas, which emphasize inclusiveness, an Inner Light, and a less dogma-obsessed approach to Christianity than Thomas' rival, the author of The Gospel of John, who, Pagels implies, was an egotist who wanted to be Jesus' favorite, "most loved" apostle and therefore constructed the most hyperbolic version of Jesus possible, as proof that he, more than others, knew the essence of Jesus. Pagels is suggesting that the Gospels that were selected as the official canon were chosen for political reasons: The more stringent and narrow the orthodoxy, the easier to consolidate the fractions of Christians that were splintering during Christianity's early days of tumult. Thus the orthodoxy that is the basis for our present day belief, Pagels suggests, may have been rooted in clashing egos and an urgent attempt to consolidate power, but not, in the spirit of The Gospel of Thomas, to emphasize to the human race what it really means to be spiritual, to walk with God, and to be transformed by one's Inner Light. This strain of Christianity that Pagels longs for seems to have survived in the literature of the Quaker writers--George Fox, Thomas Kelly, and Rufus Jones.
Rating:
Summary: Wishful Thinking ...
Review: The writing of history is a perilous exercise at best, and yet it must be done. Perhaps it would be helpful if the author stated all of her a priori assumptions at first so that we could get on to the next book. What is at question here is not brilliance or good writing - Ms. Pagels is graced with both. The issue is accuracy.
As someone else has said, this is just the book that a Western academic would write at the beginning of the 21st century because it is so assuring and self-serving. Forget the inconvenience that the Gospel of John is a late first century work while the Gospel of Thomas dates from the fourth century at best. (An analogy would be a present day scholar debunking de Casas' first hand observations of the Peruvian conquest and the Incas from the vantage point of 400 years' remove.) Forget that there was no exegesis of the Gospel of Thomas as the term is used so that we could compare and contrast, and arrive at our own conclusions.
Gnosticism was sidelined because it was at odds with the basic unity of the evidentiary witness of the synoptic writers. One would expect its Frankenstein-style resurrection in this age, but in spite of the snow of footnotes and bibliography, it still doesn't ring true.
Rating:
Summary: Not About Thomas
Review: This is a disappointing book--largely because of its misleading subtitle. It is not about the Gospel of Thomas. Barely a handfull of pages are devoted to that wonderful and mysterious work. The bulk of Pagel's book (at least 3/4's) is about the Gospel of John and the politics of the early church that led to its inclusion in the New Testament over other gospels like Thomas. If you are a church history buff you will love this book. If, like many of us, you are looking for something beyond Christianity, this book is not very helpful. It only hints at the alternative. It does, however, shed light on the reasons that particular religion has failed some in their spiritual quest.
Rating:
Summary: Awsome
Review: This is an amazing book. I never knew who wrote the gospels or that there were more than the four in the new testament. Elaine Pagels explains so much about how Christianity became a system of beliefs. The book has exciting characters and is very readable. I like the way Professor Pagels uses her own experiences to tie in the themes of the book.
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