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Elaine Pagels, née Hiesey, (born February 13, 1943), is the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion at Princeton University. Events 1258 - Baghdad falls to the Mongols, and the Abbasid Caliphate is destroyed Year 1943 ( MCMXLIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Princeton University is a private Coeducational research university located in Princeton, New Jersey. The recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, she is best known for her studies and writing on the Gnostic Gospels. The MacArthur Fellows Program or MacArthur Fellowship (sometimes Nicknamed the "genius grant") is an award given by the John D The term gnostic gospels refers to Gnostic collections of writings about the teachings of Jesus, written around the 2nd century AD.

Contents

Biography

Pagels was born in California, graduated from Stanford University (B.A. 1964, M.A. 1965) and, after briefly studying dance at Martha Graham's studio, began studying for her Ph.D. at Harvard University as a student of Helmut Koester. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly known as Stanford University or simply Stanford, is a private Research university located in A Master of Arts ( Latin: Magister Artium) is a Postgraduate academic Master's degree awarded by universities in a large See also Martha Graham ( May 11, 1894 &ndash April 1, 1991) was an American Dancer and Choreographer "PhD" redirects here for other uses see PhD (disambiguation. Helmut Koester (born 1926 is a German -born American scholar of the New Testament, and currently Morison Research Professor of Divinity and Winn She married theoretical physicist Heinz Pagels in 1969. Theoretical physics employs Mathematical models and Abstractions of Physics in an attempt to explain experimental data taken of the natural world Heinz Rudolf Pagels ( February 19, 1939 &ndash July 23, 1988) was an American Physicist, an adjunct professor of physics At Harvard, she was part of a team studying the Nag Hammadi library manuscripts. Nag Hammadi library (popularly known as The Gnostic Gospels) is a collection of early Christian Gnostic texts discovered near the Upon finishing her Ph. D. from Harvard in 1970, she joined the faculty at Barnard College, where she headed the department of religion from 1974 until she moved to Princeton in 1982. Barnard College is a women's liberal arts college founded in 1889

Academic Work

In 1975, after studying the Pauline Epistles and comparing them to Gnosticism and the early Church, Pagels wrote the book The Gnostic Paul. The Pauline epistles, Epistles of Paul, or Letters of Paul, are the thirteen New Testament books which have the name Paul (Παῦλος as the first Gnosticism (γνώσις gnōsis, Knowledge) refers to a diverse Syncretistic Religious movement consisting of various Belief systems Early Christianity is commonly defined as the Christianity of the three centuries between the Crucifixion of Jesus ( c The Gnostic Paul is a book by Elaine Pagels, a scholar of Gnosticism and professor of religion at Princeton University. This book expounds the theory that Paul of Tarsus was a source for Gnosticism whose influence on the direction of the early Christian church was great enough to inspire the creation of pseudonymous writings such as the Pastoral Epistles (1st and 2nd Timothy and Titus), in order to make it appear as if Paul was anti-Gnostic. Paul the apostle (שאול התרסי Šaʾul HaTarsi, meaning " Saul of Tarsus " Σαούλ Saul and Σαῦλος Saulos and A pseudonym is a fictitious alternative to a person's legal name (see Alias) The three pastoral epistles are books of the canonical New Testament: the First Epistle to Timothy ( 1 Timothy) the For other uses of "Timothy" see Timothy (disambiguation. In the Christian New Testament, Saint Titus, (a common Roman first name) was a companion of Paul of Tarsus, mentioned in several of

Pagels' study of the Nag Hammadi manuscripts was the basis for The Gnostic Gospels (1979), a popular introduction to the Nag Hammadi library. The bestselling book won both the National Book Critics Circle Award and the National Book Award and was chosen by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best books of the twentieth century. The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC is an American non-profit organization of approximately seven hundred active book reviewers The National Book Awards are among the most eminent literary prizes in the United States. The Modern Library, a current division of Random House Publishers was founded in 1917 by Albert Boni and Horace Liveright. In a different measure of its influence, the conservative Christian Intercollegiate Studies Institute listed it as one of the 50 Worst Books of the Twentieth Century[1]. The Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Inc or (ISI, is a non-profit educational organization founded in 1953 as the Intercollegiate Society of Individualists

She follows the well-known thesis that Walter Bauer first put forth in 1934 and argues that the Christian church was founded in a society espousing a number of contradictory viewpoints. Walter Bauer ( August 8, 1877 - November 17, 1960) was a German Theologian and scholar of the development of the early Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings Gnosticism as a movement was not very coherent and there were several areas of disagreement between different factions. Gnosticism (γνώσις gnōsis, Knowledge) refers to a diverse Syncretistic Religious movement consisting of various Belief systems According to Pagels, Gnosticism attracted women in particular because of its egalitarian perspective which allowed their participation in sacred rites. Egalitarianism (derived from the French word égal, meaning equal) is a political doctrine that holds that all people should be treated as equals and have

In 1982, Pagels joined Princeton University as a professor of early Christian history. Aided by a MacArthur fellowship (1980–85), she researched and wrote Adam, Eve, and the Serpent, which examines the creation myth and its role in the development of sexual attitudes in the Christian West. The John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation is a major private grant -making Private foundation based in Chicago that has awarded more than US$4 billion A creation myth is a supernatural mytho-[[religion religious]] story or explanation that describes the beginnings of humanity, Earth, life, and In both The Gnostic Gospels and Adam, Eve, and the Serpent, Pagels focuses especially on the way that women have been viewed throughout Christian history.

In April 1987, Pagels' son Mark died after five years of illness, and in July 1988 her husband Heinz Pagels died in a mountain climbing accident. These personal tragedies deepened her spiritual awareness and led Pagels to begin the research leading to The Origin of Satan. This book argues that the figure of Satan became a way for orthodox Christians to demonize their religious opponents, namely, other Christian sects and Jews. Satan, ( Standard Hebrew Satan'el, English accuser) is a term that originates from the Abrahamic faiths, being traditionally Judaism (from the Greek Ioudaïsmos, derived from the Hebrew יהודה Yehudah, " Judah " in Hebrew יַהֲדוּת Yahedut

Her New York Times bestseller, Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas (2003), focuses on religious claims to possessing the ultimate truth. The meaning of the word truth extends from Honesty, Good faith, and Sincerity in general to agreement with Fact or Reality In it, Pagels contrasts the Gospel of Thomas with the Gospel of John, and argues that a close reading of the works shows that while the Gospel of John emphasizes that Jesus is the "light of the world", the Gospel of Thomas teaches individuals that "there is a light within each person, and it lights up the whole universe. The Gospel According to Thomas ( Coptic: ⲡⲉ̅ⲩ̅ⲁ̅ⲅⲅ̅ⲉⲗ̅ⲓⲟⲛ̅ ⲡⲕ̅ⲁ̅ⲧⲁ ⲑ̅ⲱ̅ⲙⲁⲥ also known as The Gospel The Gospel of John (literally According to John; Greek, Κατὰ Ἰωάννην Kata Iōannēn) is the fourth Gospel in the canon If it does not shine, there is darkness. " On Pagels' interpretation, the Gospel of Thomas reveals, along with other secret teachings, that Jesus was not God but rather a teacher who sought to uncover the divine light in all human beings. Pagels argues that the Gospel of John was written as a reaction and rebuttal to the Gospel of Thomas. She bases this conclusion on her observation that, in the Gospel of John, the apostle Thomas is portrayed as a disciple of little faith who cannot believe without seeing and, moreover, that the Gospel of John places a very strong emphasis on accepting Jesus as the center of belief, which Pagels views as a hallmark of early orthodoxy. Thomas the Apostle, also called Judas Thomas, Doubting Thomas, or Didymus, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. Beyond Belief also includes Pagels' personal exploration of the meaning of loss and tragedy.

Reception

Pagels' work has been the subject of a good deal of controversy. With regard to Pagels' conclusions about the Gospel of Thomas, the most frequent and fundamental criticism comes from scholars of the New Testament and first century (such as Richard B. Hays and N.T. Wright ) who conclude that the Gospel of Thomas is, in fact, a second century Gnostic text which uses the already extant tradition of the synoptic, canonical Gospels. Richard B Hays is the George Washington Ivey Professor of New Testament at Duke Divinity School in Durham North Carolina. Nicholas Thomas "Tom" Wright (born 1 December 1948) is the Bishop of Durham in the Church of England and a leading New Testament [2] Key to this critique are the observations that the Gospel of Thomas is unlike the other texts with which Pagels wishes to consider it and that its symbols and worldview are radically different from contemporary Jewish and Christian accounts; hence, critics of Pagels argue that the Gospel of Thomas is most likely a significant "translation" or "subversion" of typical first century Christianity rather than an accurate representation of it. Thus, these scholars challenge Pagels' claim that the Gospel of Thomas deserves equal value to the canonical Gospels as a historical document about the development of Christianity during its earliest years. [3] In so doing, they also undermine Pagels' argument that the Gospel of John was written in response to the Gospel of Thomas.

Recently, Bruce Chilton wrote an article critiquing Pagels' work on The Gnostic Gospels for The New York Sun. Bruce Chilton is a scholar of Early Christianity and Judaism, now Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Religion at Bard College, and formerly Lillian Claus The New York Sun was a contemporary five-day Daily newspaper published in New York City from 2002 until 2008 [4] In this article, Chilton argues that Pagels' conclusions are flawed because she "does not mention crucial evidence concerning Gnostics and Catholics, and distorts what she does mention. "[5] Moreover, he decries Pagels' heavy-handed attempts to make Gnosticism relevant for the contemporary world, writing that Pagels' "anachronisms have undermined public understanding of early Christianity. "[6] Chilton's ultimate recommendation is that we no longer use The Gnostic Gospels, since it is, quite simply, bad history: "Gnosticism is a deeper and darker force than the revisionist scenario that makes it the prop of modern liberalism. After 30 years, it is time to move beyond the anachronism of The Gnostic Gospels. "[7]

Pagels' work on the question of evil in The Origin of Satan has also been thoroughly critiqued. Jeffrey Burton Russell, for one, has attacked Pagels' book as unoriginal: "It is characteristic of this book that the author repeatedly presents hoary ideas as if she herself (or very recent scholarship) had just discovered them. Jeffrey Burton Russell (born 1934 is an American historian and religious studies scholar who received his undergraduate degree from the University of California Berkeley in 1955 and his "[8] Russell also argues that The Origin of Satan is primarily an exercise in projecting Pagels' own beliefs and positions onto the past, writing that "Pagels joins those who want to save [Christianity] by remaking it in their own image and likeness. "[9]

All the criticism, however, has not diminished Pagels' currency in the popular market or in scholarly circles sympathetic to her historical and theological conclusions. [10] Indeed, she is often lauded for the accessibility of her prose, as well as for her ability to make early Christian history interesting for non-specialists.

Recognition

In addition to the MacArthur award, Professor Pagels is also a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship and Rockefeller fellowships. Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who The Rockefeller Foundation (RF is a prominent Philanthropic organization and Private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue New York City.

Books

Notes

  1. ^ "The Fifty Worst (and Best) Books of the Century," The Intercollegiate Review (Fall 1999), pp. 3-13, [1].
  2. ^ Richard B. Hays, The Moral Vision of the New Testament (New York: HarperCollins, 1996), p. 162.
  3. ^ N. T. Wright, The New Testament and the People of God ( Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992), pp. 427-443; esp. 442-43.
  4. ^ Bruce Chilton, "The Gospel According To Pagels," The New York Sun (April 2, 2008), [2].
  5. ^ Ibid.
  6. ^ Ibid.
  7. ^ Ibid.
  8. ^ Jeffrey Burton Russell, "Getting Satan Behind Us," First Things (November 1995), [3].
  9. ^ Ibid.
  10. ^ Cf. "The Mystery Of Christmas," CBS News (Dec. 25, 2007, originally aired on Dec. 20, 2005), [4]; "Gospel of Judas; New Biblical Finding," ABC News Transcripts (April 6, 2006), [5]

External links

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