In Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas Pagels wrestles with her own faith as she struggles to understand when--and why--Christianity became associated almost exclusively with the Trinitarian doctrine of the fourth-century Nicene Creed. In her exploration, she uncovers the richness and diversity of early Christianity. At the center of her book is an early Christian document, The Gospel of Thomas (rediscovered in Egypt in 1945); it reflects the view that Jesus is not God but, rather, a teacher who seeks to uncover the divine light in all human beings. But its "secret teachings" were driven underground by early church fathers, emerging once again in the work of Pagels and other contemporary scholars. As Pagels argues, the rediscovery of documents like the Gospel of Thomas may transform our understanding not only of early Christianity, but of the Christian faith itself. GodWeb: Finding God on the Web

I looked up this review after reading Continued discovery within 'secret gospels' By Louis Sahagun, Times Staff Writer, in the January 20, 2007 LA Times. I liked Elaine Pagels answers to questions that seem designed to stir up a bit of controversy. I had never looked into anything about the "lost gospels" because they were not part of the canon and it seemed (at least in the '70s) that folks were interested just to be rebellious. As Elaine says, "We were told they were bizarre, heretical, nonsensical, full of philosophical fantasies and religious junk." My views have changed as I have read about them and became convinced that "the richness and diversity of early Christianity" has been suppressed. Like Pagels though, I feel they are not the answer but just a part of the mystery of faith. She says, "Essentially, they were trying to make a distinction between anthropomorphic notions of God and the divine reality." Sounds like what Bishop Spong is saying. I would like to read this book one of these days when I have the opportunity. I had not realized till I did a search that she had written this article I quoted on The Truth at the Heart of 'The Da Vinci Code'.