The Gnostic Gospels: A Startling Account of the Meaning of Jesus and The Origin of Christianity Based on Gnostic Gospels and Other Secret Texts

"Elaine Pagels' 'Gnostic Gospels' was the first book to make the early Christian Gnostics come alive for modern readers, and it remains unsurpassed as a readable introduction to these heretics' ideas and scriptures. The Gnostics valued mystical experience above doctrinal fidelity, fashioned alternate creation myths and gospels that the early Roman church did their best to stamp out, and raised the feminine figure of Sophia (Wisdom) to a stature nearly equal with Christ's....Dr. Pagels excels at puzzling out [the Gnostic scriptures'] implications for our present understanding of Christianity."Elaine Pagels is the author of 'The Gnostic Gospels: A Startling Account of the Meaning of Jesus and The Origin of Christianity Based on Gnostic Gospels and Other Secret Texts', published 2006 under ISBN 9780739333174 and ISBN 0739333178.