Elaine Pagels

Elaine Pagels has written several highly influential and widely read books on the study of religion. One such book is The Gnostic Gospels, in which she compares Gnosticism to Orthodox Christianity. She divides this book into six sections, with the first giving you background on the topic she is about to embark upon. Pagels then travels through a series of major divisions between the two religions in order to help us better understand the distinct differences between the two, as well as making other points along the way.

Pagels relevant information begins with the introduction, in which she lays the background for the argument that follows in the rest of the book. She begins by discussing the discovery of the Gnostic gospels by Muhammed Ali at Nag Hammadi in a cave. Ali found these texts and brought them back home. She also explains the fact that we don’t have all of the texts to this day, as Ali’s mother actually used some of the scripts to feed the fire in their home. From this point, Pagels gives an explanation of why the books were hidden in a cave at Nag Hammadi in the first place. When Emperor Constantine was converted and Christianity became the main religion, Gnosticism and it’s documents were denounced as heretical. As such, all these documents were to be destroyed. It is hypothesized that some Gnostic monks put these scripts in the pot they were found in and hid them in the cave at Nag Hammadi.

From this historical background, Pagels quickly moves into a quick overview of Gnosticism. She begins by explaining the very name with which we denote this faith. Gnostics believe that the essence of their religion lies in a secret “gnosis”, or knowledge, passed on to them. This gnosis is only relayed to certain chosen people as everyone is not intended to have this secret knowledge. Gnostics also consider one of the highest goals in life to be self-knowledge, because “to know oneself, at the deepest level, is simultaneously to know God; this is the secret of gnosis” (xix). As is obvious from this idea, the Gnostics believe the self and the divine to be identical. Gnostics also don’t believe in the ultimate superiority of Jesus. They see Jesus as a teacher of sorts, and once one has fully benefited from what they can learn from him, they are on his level.

The first chapter brings the first major division to be discussed between Gnosticism and Orthodox Christianity, the idea of Christ and the Resurrection. The Gnostics believed that the belief in the literal resurrection of Jesus Christ was idiotic, so they believed that the Orthodox Christians had their belief all wrong. In their eyes they “mistook a spiritual truth for an actual event” (13). They believe that all the visions of Jesus after he was crucified were spiritual, seen in dreams or trance-like states by the people who claimed to see them. They believed that Jesus either appeared as a light or as a certain image. These images were based on the maturity of the believer. Those immature in their faith saw a child whereas the mature believers saw an old man or other symbol of wisdom.

Pagels also discusses how Gnostics differ on the idea of apostolicism. Orthodox Christians look to the four apostles as their ultimate authority. However, Gnostics believe that everyone is their own apostle. As long as someone is said to receive the secret gnosis, they have the qualifications to be an apostle. As a result, they denied the Orthodox demand that the highest authorities were the four apostles. Furthermore, they believed that those who received the gnosis had surpassed the church’s hierarchy, which really outraged the church. They believed that once one received the gnosis, they had direct access to God. This means that they also denied the need of a bishop to intercede for them. This completely flew in the face of and outraged the Orthodox Christians.

The rejection of the bishop’s authority leads directly into the next chapter. The Orthodox Christians believed in the hierarchy of the church, with the bishops at the top interceding to God for the lesser who were not able. Gnostics did not agree with the hierarchy of the church, and worked to eliminate it. In their church, the members constantly rotated roles, even the role of bishop. They did so by casting lots. Everyone could have every role in the church, men and women alike. They believed in this because they believed that however the lots fell expressed God’s wish for the day. This was heresy to the Orthodox Christians. Whereas the Orthodox Christians believed that the hierarchy of the church shouldn’t be messed with as it mirrored the hierarchy of Heaven, the Gnostics disagreed. The Gnostics didn’t believe anyone should have the highest authority in the church on a routine basis. This way there were no feelings of superiority or inferiority, and everyone in the religious group felt like they were equal in their position to God.

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