Behind the Nicene Creed

Best known for her 1979 award winning Gnostic Gospels, Pagels has a new book out entitled Beyond Belief. Its subtitle, “The Secret Gospel of Thomas,” is a bit of a misnomer since the bulk of her latest work focuses far more on the Gospel of John while exploring the early history of the church and its 4th century adoption of the Nicene Creed. Given Pagels' notoriety for exploring Christian mysticism, Random House can hardly be faulted for wanting to play up the far “sexier” and lesser known Gospel of Thomas (rediscovered in Egypt in 1945) to sell more books. Pagels certainly piques interest with an early excerpt:

”Jesus took Thomas and withdrew, and told him three things. When Thomas returned to his companions, they asked him ‘What did Jesus say to you?' Thomas said, ‘If I tell you even one of the things which he told me, you will pick up stones and throw them at me; and a fire will come out of the stones and burn you up.'”

Since Thomas retains these “secrets,” don't expect Pagels to reveal them here. Yet having painstakingly analyzed original source material, she asserts that the Gospel of John was written as a direct challenge to the Gospel of Thomas, forming the crux of belief battles during early church history. There is a richness that has been lost in regular theological church discussions because most churchgoers expect fellow believers to unquestionably accept the Nicene Creed as gospel. It lost Pagels for many years, and numerous young people have often abandoned Christianity to seek spiritual guidance from Eastern religions and philosophies that teach similar messages that you can glean from the Gospel of Thomas: namely that wisdom comes from within.

Considering that there was no unified codification of what should be included in the Gospels and the Bible in the first few centuries of Christianity, continual questions about what was truly from God and what was strictly from man surfaced. Many of these have long since disappeared, like a supposed Gospel of Judas, while others receive little notation outside academic circles (like the Gospel of Mary Magdalene). Three of the accepted gospels tell a fairly unified narrative: Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The Gospel of John stands apart and was championed by influential Bishop Irenaeus as the “first and foremost pillar” because John alone declares Christ's divine origin. Essentially, John's gospel forms the central core of Christian theology by conveying the concept that Jesus embodies the divine word that comes from God, essentially stating that there is one all powerful God and one Jesus Christ, “through whom all things came into being.” John [1:5] The other three gospels all use the “Son of Man” terminology, which in its day referred to all men.

Thus, the Gospel of John stands out as the centerpiece for orthodox Christian thinking. It also directly challenges Thomas in numerous ways, leading Pagels to conclude that the writer focuses on refuting him. Not only is his central belief system that “spiritual truth” can be found within each person plainly contradicted by establishing Christ's divinity as the only true source of Truth, but the Gospel of John alone belittles “doubting Thomas” by praising the virtues of those who can believe without requiring physical proof.

Although readable, Beyond Belief with its 35 pages of footnotes will satisfy theology students for a relatively personal introduction to provocative Christian thinking more than it will serve the casual reader. It's far too scholarly for mainstream readers seeking entertainment and the author curiously abandons much of her personal narrative to dive into academia. However, if you're interested in Christian theology and history, this could serve well as a starting point. Pagels ranks as an influential writer in the field, and time will tell if Christian scholars grow to accept her gospel theories.


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