The Gnostic Gospels

Every year, around Easter, The History Channel features all sorts of documentaries on Jesus. I find them interesting because it's where historians and scientists get together to debunk or prove parts of the bible and the religion.

It was one of these documentaries that I found out about the Gnostic Gospels, more specifically the Gospel of Magdalene and the Gospel of Thomas. It was so fascinating the story behind the scrolls' disappearance and appearance that I wanted to read up more on it.

I basically got from this book what I was looking for. I was looking for some of the translations. At the end of the day you give what you are reading life and meaning. I didn't feel there was a bias and even if there was, I am smart and intuitive enough to stay focused on what I wanted to learn regardless of that bias.

Historical religions scholar Elaine Pagels looks closely at the archeological discovery of thirteen papyrus books in a jar in Egypt in 1945 and she examines how these ancient texts relate to gnosticism and the growth of early Christian church.

Reviews and more on my blog: Entering the Enchanted Castle

I'm glad I finally read this after many years of circling around it. I'm also glad I had also read/watched some other resources on the Nag Hammadi texts and Gnosticism, because Pagels emphasizes the opposition of Orthodox/Gnostic views, and it's actually more nuanced than that. But there is no question that the rediscovery of Gnosticism and the re-emergence of Gnostic texts is a transformational event of our time. I would like to go back to the book and consider again all the ideas it brings up. I think that I am a Gnostic and after centuries of burial and suppression, there is a lot in me that wants to come out and needs rediscovery too!

One thing that stuck with me was a point she made at the end, that Gnosticism did not become a larger movement, and went underground, because such a solitary path oriented on individual discovery could never have survived on the scale that the orthodox church, with its community orientation and outward mechanisms of transmission, did. That seems to me true. However, that outer “carrying” mechanism seems to me to have be in danger of falling into emptiness and oppressiveness, and needs to be re-enlivened by the spirit of true knowledge, personal experience of the divine. This was not possible before, because not enough human beings were ready for it. But the time is now! We have evolved further, and now, we can potentially take up the call of Gnosticism. I hope we will, and that we will not reject and oppose the other side but bring about a marriage of these seemingly opposite impulses. Each side suffered from their separation.

Despite being raised in the christian traditions, I never really thought about how infected they are by being a death cult. Or, at least, that's my interpretation of the martyr mythology.

This is a great primer and introduction to gnostic theology, and an even better socio-cultural critique of the early church. She makes the argument that Gnosticism didn't die out because, as some would claim, “it just didn't have enough going for it,” but because its theology was not consistent with the doctrines of papal and clergy authority. The bishops, seeing that their authority was being undermined, branded the gnostics heretics – not out of any actual heresies (they were not Marcionites!), but to ensure their power over the christian community.

But, as I said, this book is more of a primer than an authoritative work on the beliefs of the gnostics. It is a very fun and informative read, and I recommend it thoroughly to people interested in the history of early Christianity. But if you are looking for a book that is more indepth concerning the faith and beliefs of Gnosticism, this one does not suffice.