Pagels, who has written many imposing and engrossing books on early Christianity, is back with a kind of culminating work ... [A] reasonable middle ground, one that acknowledges both the constructed nature of the texts and the oddities and frictions that point the way out of pure textuality.
Some of the passages in this illuminating and essential work are tough going ... But it’s worthwhile hanging in: As the chapters unfold, the plot thickens ... I realized that while I knew a great deal more about the origins of Christianity than when I began, the mystery of Jesus himself had deepened. Perhaps that’s how it’s meant to be. But the moral of the story is clear: Christ’s story is an iconic tale of hope emerging from darkness.
Pagels asks different questions about New Testament miracles. She is less interested in whether Jesus performed them than in what accounts for their power. Her larger quest is to understand the enduring appeal of Jesus to so many people ... In some cases, recontextualizing the old stories gives them an unexpected poignancy.
Pagels yields perceptive new insights into what draws people to Jesus through her methodology and novel use of the Gnostic Gospels ... Conceiving Jesus in this way, in the poetic dimension, renders him palatable to a modern secularist audience, while leaving a small space for metaphysical ideas in the crevices of materialism.
Much of the material here covers familiar ground that’s been trod by many scholars, including Raymond Brown, John Dominic Crossan, and E. P. Sanders. Pagels revisits it all, pondering the miracle accounts and stories of healing ... Books like Pagels’s go a long way.
For each question posed, Pagels offers explanations, some from traditional sources, others from contemporaries, and later, skeptics who view events more critically. She concludes with a thoughtful examination of why Jesus’ messages, though often contradictory depending on which gospel you’re reading, still resonate. Part history, part mystery, all enlightening.
No matter how familiar readers are with the gospels, the stories Pagels has woven together offer new takes on who Jesus was and what it means to bring facts to faith with clarity and curiosity.
Rigorous ... Less successful are her detours into personal anecdotes...and analyses of Jesus in movies and art. Still, curious believers will find much to chew on.
