The Antichrist is often identified with the second beast in the Book of Revelation that arises from the land, the beast that tries to make everyone worship the power of evil. Elaine Pagels antichristarisebeast Change image and share on social
What's different about the Gospel of Thomas is that, instead of focusing entirely on who Jesus is and the wonderful works of Jesus, it focuses on how you and I can find the kingdom of God, or life in the presence of God. Elaine Pagels findfocusgod share on social
Orthodox theologians insisted that the rest of humankind were only transitory creatures, lost in sin - a view that would support what would become their dominant teaching about salvation, offered only through Christ, and, in particular, through the church they claimed to represent. Elaine Pagels christchurchclaim share on social
People who are comfortable with very clear boundaries and group definitions don't like the instability and ambiguity of people who say they are more advanced Christians, or they don't have to do what the bishop says. Elaine Pagels advanceambiguitybishop share on social
Christianity becomes just a set of things you believe in. It's almost an intellectual kind of abstract issue. Elaine Pagels abstractchristianityintellectual Change image and share on social
Really, I don't like to do any household chores. There was a time when I loved to cook, but that was when I wasn't writing books. Elaine Pagels bookchorecook Change image and share on social
What survived as orthodox Christianity did so by suppressing and forcibly eliminating a lot of other material. Elaine Pagels christianityeliminateforcibly Change image and share on social
I realized that conventional views of Christian faith that I'd heard when I was growing up were simply made up - and I realized that many parts of the story of the early Christian movement had been left out. Elaine Pagels christianconventionalearly share on social
People who study the way religions develop have shown that if you have a charismatic teacher, and you don't have an institution develop around that teacher within about a generation to transmit succession within the group, the movement just dies. Elaine Pagels charismaticdevelopgeneration share on social
I had been taught that the separation between religion and politics happened in the Enlightenment. But there were people who tried to create a secular relationship to government 2,000 years ago, and those people were the Jews. Elaine Pagels 000agocreate share on social