The Gnostic Gospels

As discussed in The Da Vinci Code... Long buried and suppressed, the Gnostic Gospels contain the secret writings attributed to the followers of Jesus. In 1945, fifty-two papyrus texts, including gospels and other secret documents, were found concealed in an earthenware jar buried in the Egyptian desert. These Gnostic writings were Coptic translations from the original Greek dating from the time of the New Testament. The material embodied—poems, quasi-philosophical descriptions of the origins of the universe, myths, magic, and instructions for mystic practice—were later declared heretical, as they offered a powerful alternative to the Orthodox Christian tradition. Elaine Pagels examines these texts and the questions they pose, showing why Gnosticism was eventually stamped out by the increasingly organised and institutionalised Orthodox Church.