I realize that I cannot live without a spiritual dimension in my life. — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
“gnostics celebrated as proof of spiritual maturity, the orthodox denounced as “deviation” — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
Christianity becomes just a set of things you believe in. It's almost an intellectual kind of abstract issue. — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
What survived as orthodox Christianity did so by suppressing and forcibly eliminating a lot of other material. — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
I am enormously susceptible to religious environments - the music, the liturgy and the prayers. — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
These ancient stories in religion speak to our desire. But they move us toward hope. — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
There's practically no religion that I know of that sees other people in a way that affirms the others' choices. But in… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
I got to thinking about the Book of Revelation that was written by a Jewish prophet who was also a follower of… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
Although the gospels of the New Testament-- like those discovered at Nag Hammadi-- are attributed to Jesus' followers, no one knows who… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
People who are comfortable with very clear boundaries and group definitions don't like the instability and ambiguity of people who say they… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
There is no evidence that the author of the Book of Revelation, John of Patmos, read anything that we think of as… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
The Gospel of Thomas claims to be the secret sayings of Jesus. There are 114 of them, so it says many things,… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
We don't actually know if the person who wrote the Gospel of John had a written copy of Thomas because we don't… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
Jesus Christ rose from the grave.' With this proclamation, the Christian church began. This may be the fundamental element of Christian faith;… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
“What Christians see, or claim to see, in Genesis 1-3 changed as the church itself changed from a dissident Jewish sect to… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
I just have a sense that, you know, I'm curious about what is religion about, you know? Why do some of us… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
Why did the consensus of Christian churches not only accept these astonishing views but establish them as the only true form of… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
Possession of books denounced as heretical was made a criminal offense. Copies of such books were burned and destroyed. But in Upper… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
The sense of a spiritual dimension in life is absolutely important, and the religious communities are also important. The question of believing… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
Rediscovering the controversies that occupied early Christianity sharpens our awareness of the major issue in the whole debate, then and now: What… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
Contemporary Christianity, diverse and complex as we find it, actually may show more unanimity than the Christian churches of the first and… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
“The controversy over resurrection, then, proved critical in shaping the Christian movement into an institutional religion. All Christians agreed in principle that… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
“What interested these gnostics far more than past events attributed to the “historical Jesus” was the possibility of encountering the risen Christ… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
I had been taught that the separation between religion and politics happened in the Enlightenment. But there were people who tried to… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
I never thought I would write about the Book of Revelation. It's so dense; it's so complex and puzzling. But then I… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
I study religion because I find it fascinating and problematic. But I struggle with the idea of what religion is, what being… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
What's different about the Gospel of Thomas is that, instead of focusing entirely on who Jesus is and the wonderful works of… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
“A heretic may be anyone whose outlook someone else dislikes or denounces. According to tradition, a heretic is one who deviates from… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
We use the word 'synoptic' to talk about Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and it really means 'seeing together,' because they all have… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
What is clear is that the Gospel of Judas has joined the other spectacular discoveries that are exploding the myth of a… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
I realized that conventional views of Christian faith that I'd heard when I was growing up were simply made up - and… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
The efforts of the majority to destroy every trace of heretical 'blasphemy' proved so successful that, until the discoveries at Nag Hammadi,… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
Startling as the Gospel of Judas sounds, it amplifies hints we have long read in the Gospels of Mark and John that… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
People who study the way religions develop have shown that if you have a charismatic teacher, and you don't have an institution… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
So often, religion is identified in terms coined by Christianity as sets of belief. But I had the sense that it not… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share Image
“Only the Jews, of all the nations under Roman rule, had won the right to separate their political obligations from religious ones, to obey… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share
“Even Tacitus admitted that “whatever their origin, [the Jews’] observances are sanctioned by their antiquity,”64 and the Romans respected tradition. Christians, however, had no… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share
There's practically no religion that I know of that sees other people in a way that affirms the others' choices. But in our century… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share
He's an intimate betrayer. That's what's so troubling. Judas turned in his own teacher. — Elaine Pagels Copy Share
The Antichrist is often identified with the second beast in the Book of Revelation that arises from the land, the beast that tries to… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share
“Jesus—for example, his categorical rejection of divorce, or his statement that “if anyone does not hate his own father and mother and wife and… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share
The Gospel of Thomas claims to be the secret sayings of Jesus. There are 114 of them, so it says many things, but the… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share
I just have a sense that, you know, I'm curious about what is religion about, you know? Why do some of us still engage… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share
“Augustine reflects that “what made me a slave to it was the habit [consuetudo] of satisfying an insatiable lust.”31” — Elaine Pagels Copy Share
Contemporary Christianity, diverse and complex as we find it, actually may show more unanimity than the Christian churches of the first and second centuries.… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share
“I beseech you, my lord, why have I been endowed with the power of understanding? For I did not want to ask about heavenly… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share
The author of the Gospel of Judas wasn't against martyrdom, and he didn't ever insult the martyrs. He said it's one thing to die… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share
“gnostics celebrated as proof of spiritual maturity, the orthodox denounced as “deviation” — Elaine Pagels Copy Share
Startling as the Gospel of Judas sounds, it amplifies hints we have long read in the Gospels of Mark and John that Jesus knew… — Elaine Pagels Copy Share
