Skip to content
The Dubious Disciple

Book Reviews and Theological Rants of a Liberal Christian

The Dubious Disciple

Book Reviews and Theological Rants of a Liberal Christian

Book review: Beyond Belief, The Secret Gospel of Thomas

September 24, 2011May 31, 2014

by Elaine Pagels

★★★★★

Pagels is a recognized scholar of religion, and the author of The Gnostic Gospels, among others. This book might be her best.

Don’t buy this expecting a dull, scholarly exposition on the Gospel of Thomas. It’s hardly that. It’s sort of an unobtrusive evangelism for unorthodox Christianity, a plea for the kind of “religious truth” that can never hide behind a stale set of doctrine.

Pagels bares her soul in this book, and her passion for spirituality, religion and Christianity shines. The result is inspirational. This is the book that turned me on to Pagels’ scholarship, and I’ve felt a distant kinship ever since. It’s really less about the Gospel of Thomas and more about diversity and meaning within the early Christian movement. John’s Gospel actually gets as much attention as the Gospel of Thomas. While John hints of gnostic influence, it also finds itself in direct opposition to Thomas on many topics, such as the divinity of Christ. Pagels embraces this diversity of ideas, and spends a great deal of time discussing how the canon of acceptable scripture grew.

I love engaging, thought-provoking books, and Pagels never disappoints.

Book Reviews

Post navigation

Previous post
Next post
©2025 The Dubious Disciple | WordPress Theme by SuperbThemes