Elaine Hiesey Pagels (born 1943), historian of religion, was a leading interpreter of the Nag Hammadi gnostic texts and their implications for understanding the origins and development of Christianity...
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In the following review, Crisler describes The Gnostic Gospels as a lucid history of the Gnostic movement.
The shattering of two ancient jars, one in December, 1945, near Nag Hammadi in Egypt and t...
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In the following review of The Origin of Satan, Houlden states that while Pagels's arguments are single-minded and do not always have documentary support, she has written a compelling book that...
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In the review below, Gordon concludes that The Origin of Satan is informative but fails to address some of the questions it raises.
Satan may not exist, but there are excellent reasons to invent hi...
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In the following review, Meier argues that while some of Pagels's assertions are questionable, The Origin of Satan reveals Pagels's skill at clearly and concisely developing new theories...
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In the review below, Gray writes that Pagels's efforts in The Origin of Satan to link early Christian ideas to the present are hampered by her failure to include cultural history and psychology...
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In the review below, Cohn calls The Origin of Satan an important, original, and adventurous work.
Whereas in the nineteenth century Satan seldom attracted the attention of serious historians—...
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In the review below, Troychak discusses how events in Pagels's life motivated her to explore the dark side of Christianity.
Five hundred years ago, Elaine Pagels would have been burned at th...
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Below, Brown offers a negative assessment of The Gnostic Gospels.
Some 30 years ago, there were two discoveries in the Middle East that have great, even if indirect significance for our knowledge o...
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In the following review, Maccoby argues that while The Gnostic Gospels provides the lay reader with an introduction to gnosticism, it is flawed in several crucial areas.
Gnosticism, an esoteric mov...
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In the following essay, McVey explores issues of feminism in Pagels's The Gnostic Gospels.
A collection of Coptic documents discovered at Nag Hammadi (Chenoboskion) in Egypt in 1945 has shed...
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In the review below, Fox states that Adam, Eve, and the Serpent contains the best elements of Pagels' writing, but contends that Pagels' arguments are not always plausible.
The Bible ...
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In the following review, D'Evelyn finds Adam, Eve, and the Serpent an "elegant, well-argued discussion of a bold thesis."
Adam, Eve, and the Serpent is an elegant, well-argued ...
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In the review below, Ochshorn considers Adam, Eve, and the Serpent a fascinating account but finds some of Pagels's arguments troubling.
Elaine Pagels' new book [Adam, Eve, and the Se...
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In the review below, Cotter argues that while Adam, Eve, and the Serpent is well-written and persuasive, it contains misleading and inaccurate areas.
In the epilogue of her new book [Adam, Eve, and...
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In the following review of The Gnostic Gospels, Chadwick discusses Pagels's efforts to address modern problems in Christianity by considering the early church.
In December 1945, an Egyptian ...
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At the summit of national power, politicians and bureaucrats are terrified at the idea of endorsing the religious views of the majority of Americans. Our First Amendment forbids the establishment o...
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Elaine Hiesey Pagels
Critical Review by B. Cobbey Crisler
Who's Scared of Christmas?
