New York: Random House, 2003 reprint. 241pp. hardback 8vo: near Fine in a Fine dj [several tiny foxed spots on top & fore edges; a turned page corner; else a nice crisp copy] Advance jacket praise for this "luminous and accessible" history of early Christian thought from Karen Armstrong, Krister Stendahl, et al.

Synopsis

Elaine Pagels, one of the world's most important writers and thinkers on religion and history, and winner of the National Book Award for her groundbreaking work The Gnostic Gospels, now reflects on what matters most about spiritual and religious exploration in the twenty-first century. This bold new book explores how Christianity began by tracing its earliest texts, including the secret Gospel of Thomas, rediscovered in Egypt in 1945.When her infant son was diagnosed with fatal pulmonary hypertension, Elaine Pagels's spiritual and intellectual quest took on a new urgency, leading her to explore historical and archeological sources and to investigate what Jesus and his teachings meant to his followers before the invention of doctrine--and before the invention of Christianity as we know it. The astonishing discovery of the Gospel of Thomas, along with more than fifty other early Christian texts unknown since antiquity, offers startling clues. Pagels compares such sources as Thomas's gospel (which claims to give Jesus' secret teaching, and finds its closest affinities with kabbalah) with the canonic texts to show how Christian leaders chose to include some gospels and exclude others from the collection we have come to know as the New Testament. To stabilize the emerging Christian church in times of devastating persecution, the church fathers constructed the canon, creed, and hierarchy--and, in the process, suppressed many of its spiritual resources. Drawing on new scholarship--her own, and that of an international group of scholars--that has come to light since the publication in 1979 of The Gnostic Gospels, Pagels shows that what matters about Christianity involves much more than any one set of beliefs. Traditions embodied in Judaism and Christianity can powerfully affect us in heart, mind, and spirit, inspire visions of a new society based on practicing justice and love, even heal and transform us.Provocative, beautifully written, and moving, Beyond Belief, the most personal of Pagels's books to date, shows how "the impulse to seek God overflows the narrow banks of a single tradition." Pagels writes, "What I have come to love in the wealth and diversity of our religious traditions--and the communities that sustain them--is that they offer the testimony of innumerable people to spiritual discovery, encouraging us, in Jesus' words, to 'seek, and you shall find.'"

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Bookseller: Auldfarran Books, IOBA (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #: 17255
Title: Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas
Author: Pagels, Elaine
Format/Binding: Hardcover
Book Condition: Used - Near Fine
Quantity Available: 1
Edition: 2003 reprint
ISBN 10: 0375501568
ISBN 13: 9780375501562
Publisher: New York: Random House
Place of Publication: New York
This edition first published: 2003-05-06
Keywords: PHILOSOPHY RELIGION CHRISTIANITY ESSENCE GENIUS NATURE CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY COPTIC GOSPEL SCHOLARLY CRITICISM INTERPRETATION
Bookseller catalogs: Scholarly Miscellany;

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Auldfarran Books, IOBA

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Auldfarran Books, IOBA

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About Auldfarran Books, IOBA

"I have spent many delightful hours poring over the . . . lists of second-hand booksellers. . . . All these are redolent of romance. They are much more entertaining than half the novels that are written." -W. Somerset Maugham. Auldfarran Books, whose name is taken from an antique Anglo-Scots word meaning "having the sagacity of age," or "wise beyond one's years," is a professional antiquarian and secondhand bookseller (since 1993), and member of the International Association of Online Booksellers, dedicated to the ancient proposition that reading is good for you and, to that end, the enhancement of readers' and collectors' libraries (and even the development of libraries' libraries). Whether you're a voracious, moderate or casual reader, or even if you believe (in the words of Anthony Burgess) "there's no better reason for not reading a book than owning it," we encourage your inquiries and special search requests. E-mail is the best way to get in touch with us.

Glossary

Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Foxed: Foxing is the age related browning, or brown-yellowish spots, that can occur to book paper over time. When this aging process...
Jacket: Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
Crisp: A term often used to indicate a book's new-like condition. Indicates that the hinges are not loosened. A book described as crisp...
Fine: A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
Reprint: Any printing of a book which follows the original edition. By definition, a reprint is not a first edition.