DiMatteo, Rebekah, 208–9
DiMatteo, Sarah Pagels. See Pagels, Sarah
DiMatteo, Thomas, 208–9
Dinka religion, 51–52, 53
“Discernment of spirits,” 191
Divine Mother, 43
Donne, John, 19, 32
Doresse, Jean, 28
Dreams of Reason, The (Pagels), 107–8
Drew University, 65
Duben-Vaughn, Sarah, 133–35
Dyson, Freeman, 154
Echocardiogram, 61
Edelson, Mary Beth, 59–60
Edwards, Jonathan, 194
Edwards, Rebekah, 73, 74, 86, 89–90, 95–96
Einstein, Albert, 51, 151
Elisha, 101
Epicurus, 103
Epstein, Jason, 47
Essenes, 27, 157
“Ethnic cleansing,” 162
Eucharist, 26, 201
Evangelical Christianity, 4, 8, 14, 19, 56, 208
Eve. See Adam and Eve
Evil, “problem of evil,” 151
“Evilness,” 102
Exodus, 144
Ezekiel, 69
Faust, Drew, 208–9
Feminism, 42
Fertility rituals, 59–60
First International Coptic Studies Conference, 49–51
Fitzmyer, Joseph, 48
Frankl, Viktor, 153
Freud, Sigmund, 49, 103, 205
Gager, John, 114
Garcia, Jerry, 12–14, 16–17
Geertz, Clifford, 95
Gender roles, 42–46, 54–55, 100–101
Genesis, 45, 52, 53, 54, 56, 143, 156, 198–99
Gibson, Mel, 193–94
Gladney Center for Adoption, 82–83
Gnosis, 28–29, 202
“Gnostic,” 28–29
Gnostic Gospels, The (Pagels), 41, 47–48, 49, 64, 70
Goebbels, Joseph, 188
Good, Theodore, 19–20
Gospel of John, 160, 189–90, 193
Gospel of Luke, 170–71, 173
Gospel of Mark, 29–30, 158–60, 168–76
Gospel of Matthew, 158, 160, 170, 171, 201
Gospel of Philip, 22, 27, 30, 206
Gospel of Thomas, 23, 26, 27–28, 30, 33, 97–98, 175–78, 206
Gospel of Truth, 26, 29, 30, 195–98, 200–205
Goya, Francisco, 108
Graham, Billy, 1–2, 15, 191
Graham, Martha, 17–18
Grateful Dead, 13, 17
Graubard, Phoebe, 13, 16
Greeks, ancient, 43, 150–51, 207
Grief (grieving), 118–21, 133, 141–42, 155, 165–66
“Grief and a Headhunter’s Rage” (Rosaldo), 141–42
Grief counseling, 120–21, 123–24
Gross, Shulamith, 193
Guilt, 67–68, 96–97, 100–103, 167–68
Hairesis, 31
Harvard Divinity School, 24
Harvard Health Services, 25–26
Harvard University, 18, 20–26, 36, 41
Honorary Degree, 208–11
Hathor, 43
Headhunting, 141–42, 162
Hebrew University, 51
Heisey, Louise, xviii, 3, 5–6, 7, 14, 94–95, 130
Heisey, Ralph, xviii, 3, 5, 6, 94
Heisey, William, xviii, 3, 4–5, 18, 21, 94–95, 130
Helen of Troy, 150–51
Herbert, George, 32
“Heresy,” 31, 192
“Heretics,” 23, 43, 206
Hermes, 207
Hess, Linda, 114
Hildesley, Hugh, 82–83
Hippolytus, 206
Historiography of early Christianity, 20–24
Hitler, Adolf, 188
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (New York City), 65
Homer, 150–51
Homosexuality, 49, 52, 54, 185
Hopi Indians, 102
Hopkins, Donald, 209, 210
Hopkins, Gerard Manley, 32, 122
Horus, 43
Howe, Julia Ward, 188
Iliad (Homer), 151
“Illness,” 102
Ilongot culture, 141–42, 143
“Infidels,” 161
Institute for Advanced Study, 154–55
Institutionalization, 10–12
International League for Human Rights, 107, 125, 127–28
Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, 85
Iraq war, 185–86, 188–89
Irenaeus, 28–29, 30, 31, 43, 45, 175, 192, 199, 203
Isaiah, 1, 101, 190
Isis, 43
Islamophobia, 185–86
James, 159, 195
James, William, 205–6
Jeremiah, 101
Jerusalem Temple, 159
Jerusalem visit, 51
Jewish–Roman War, 159, 189
Job, 147, 148–51, 156, 168
John
Gospel of John, 160, 189–90, 193
Secret Book of John, 42, 44, 190–91
John of the Cross, 31–32
Judas Iscariot, 158
Judea, 157–59, 189–90
Jupiter, 43
Kaddish, 121
Keating, Thomas, 97–98, 128–29
Kepler’s Books, 12
Khoury, Nick, 63, 114
King, Martin Luther, Jr., 32, 173
King’s College, London, 51
Koester, Helmut, 24–26, 38
Leiden University, 6
Leviathan, 150
Lipkowitz, Jeanne, 4
Lloyd, Seth, 108–9, 110, 111, 118–19, 139
London Review of Books, 48
Los Trancos Woods, 13
Love of God, 1–2, 15
LSD, 40–41
Lucretius, 103
Luke, 170–71, 173
Luther, Martin, 146–47, 187–88, 194
Luxor, Egypt, 27, 50
MacArthur Fellowship, 68–69, 70, 76–77
McCully, Emily, 60, 98, 100, 111, 131–32
MacRae, George, 42
Maimonides, 182
Mann, Lucy, 97
Mann, Robert, 97, 131
Marcus Aurelius, 205
Marcuse, Herbert, 18
Mark the Evangelist, 29–30, 158–60, 168–76
Maroon Bells, 110–11
Maroon Lake, 98, 110
Martha Graham School (New York City), 17–18
Mary Magdalene, 170
Mary of Paris, 32, 104, 173
Massachusetts General Hospital, 80
Matthew, 158, 160, 170, 171, 201
Mays, Willie, 1
Meditation, 50, 98, 129, 152–53, 208
Menino, Tom, 209, 210
Mental illness, 9–12
Messiaen, Olivier, 188
Midori GotÅ, 98
Misogyny, 55
Mohammed Ali, 27–28, 31, 49–50
Moore, Marianne, 190
Morrison, Toni, 181
Morton, Nelle, 65, 67, 68
Moscow, 125–27
Moses, 144
Mother, Divine, 43
Mount Sinai, 51
Mourning, 80, 89–90, 94–96, 98, 149
Nag Hammadi texts, 27–28, 31, 41, 44, 49–50, 55–56, 190, 192, 206–7
Nazi concentration camps, 104, 147–48, 188
Nazi Germany, 104, 147–48, 188
New Year’s Eve, 132–33
New York Academy of Sciences, xiii, 105, 125, 154
New York City Marathon, 60
New York Psychoanalytic Society, 143
New York Review of Books, 47
New York Times, 69, 104–5, 114
New York Times Book Review, 47
New York University, 18
Nicene Creed, 33
Nietzsche, Friedrich, 18, 129, 172
“Nightmare parable,” 203
Nuclear weapons, 1–2
Nut, 50
Olds, Sharon, 48, 88, 89, 114, 131–32
On the Origin of Species (Darwin), 11
“Original sin,” 108, 194
Origin of Satan, The (Pagels), 154, 155–56, 158–59, 161–63, 175
Origins of Christianity, 26–31
Oxford University, 37
Pagels, David
adoption of, 105
in Colorado, 108, 152
father’s death and, 109–10, 113–14, 116, 117–18, 124–25, 132–34
mother’s Harvard Honorary Degree, 209, 210
in Princeton, 154–55, 184
second birthday of, 136
Pagels, Heinz, xiii, xiv, 35–40
adoption and, 82–83, 84–85
in Colorado, 62, 71, 72, 96, 98, 106, 107, 108–12
death of, 109–15, 118–35, 139–40, 151–52, 165–66
first anniversary of death, 152–53
funeral service of, 115–17
interment ceremony for, 134–35
at International League for Human Rights, 107, 125, 127–28
Mark and, 58, 60–69, 71–82, 85–89, 100, 164
memorial service at Rockefeller University, 128–29, 131
Moscow trip, 125–27
at New York Academy of Sciences, xiii, 100, 125
postpolio syndrome of, 139–40
proposal and wedding, 34, 38–39
research work of, 39–41, 46–47, 51, 107–8
at Rockefeller University, 36, 39, 70–71, 125
Sarah and, 84–85, 90, 98–99, 100
Pagels, Marie, 38, 125
death of, 165–66
memorial service at Rockefeller University for son, 129–31
son Heinz’s death, 113–14, 165–66
Pagels, Mark
birth and first year of life, 58, 60–69
Colorado trip post-surgery and, 71–72
death of, xiv, 85–90, 118, 137–38, 166–67
father and, 58, 60–69, 71–82, 85–89, 100, 164
funeral service of, 88–89, 94, 112
grieving of death of, 89–91, 93–105
open-heart surgery of, 61, 63, 64–69
post-surgery life of, 71–82, 83–86
in Santa Cruz, 71–73, 80–81, 83–84
at The Town School, 77, 78–79, 85, 92
Pagels, Sarah, 136
adoption of, 84–85
in Colorado, 94, 96, 107, 108–12, 140–41, 152
father’s death and, 109–10, 112, 113–14, 116, 117–18, 124–25, 132–34, 140–41
Mark’s death and, 86, 88, 90, 93–94
mother’s Harvard Honorary Degree, 208–9, 210
in Princeton, 154–55, 184
Park Avenue Methodist Church (New York City), 74
Passion of the Christ, The (film), 193–94
Paul the Apostle, 159, 195–98, 199–202
Pediatric Ethics Committee, 77–78
Peninsula Bible Church (Palo Alto), 14, 194, 195
Perkins, Pheme, 24
Peter, 159, 170, 195
Plato, 199, 203, 206, 207
Pneuma, 43
Pontius Pilate, 160, 171, 201–2
Postpolio syndrome, 139–40
Post-traumatic stress syndrome, 118, 167
Pre-existence of Christ, 199–200
Primordial time, 198–201
Princeton Theological Seminary Library, 189
Princeton University, 98–100, 123–24, 153–54
“Problem of evil,” 151
Pulmonary hypertension, 72, 75–76, 90
Pyramid Peak, 110, 113, 114, 117, 152
Quartet for the End of Time (Messiaen), 188
Raboteau, Al, 114
Rage, 4, 120, 141–42, 143
Ra God, 43
Ramadan, 50
Random House, 47
Reformation, 187
Religious experience, 205–6
Religious institutions, xiv–xv
“Religious problem,” 19–20
Religious violence, 162
Republic (Plato), 206, 207
Resurrection of Jesus, 169–72
Revelation of Zostrianos, 181, 190, 207
Road to Emmaus appearance, 170
Robin Hood, 8, 13
Rockefeller University, 36, 39, 70–71, 105, 125
memorial service for Heinz, 128–29, 131
Romero, Oscar, 173
Rosaldo, Renato, 141–42, 161, 162
Rossetti, Christina, 19
Rumsfeld, Donald, 186
Russell, Jeffrey Burton, 156
St. Aloysius Church (Palo Alto), 3–4
St. Benedict’s Monastery (Snowmass), 97–98, 115–16, 117–18, 141, 152–53
Saint Michael’s Alley (Palo Alto), 35
Saint Patrick’s Cathedral (New York City), 52
Sakharov, Andrei, 125–26, 128
San Francisco Chronicle, 1
Satan, 145–50, 155–57, 161–13, 172–74, 186–87
The Origin of Satan (Pagels), 154, 155–56, 158–59, 161–63, 175
Schapiro, Meyer, 18
Schick, Mike, 35
Schneemann, Carolee, 60
Schramm, Judith, 119
“Second sex,” 45–46
Secret Book of John, 42, 44, 190–91
Secret gospels, 22–23, 26–31, 42, 56–57
Segrè, Gino, 113–14
September 11 attacks, 185–86
Sexism, 20, 24–25, 38, 41–42, 45–46
Sexual assault, 24–26
Sexuality and gender, 42–46, 54–55, 100–101, 108, 143
Sharia law, 51
Shenouda III, Pope, 51
Shock treatment, 11–12
Silko, Leslie Marmon, 181
“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” (Edwards), 194
“Situational depression,” 79–80
Smoking, 80–81
Sodom, 54, 167
“Sodomy,” 54
“Solutions of the imagination,” 161, 162–63
Soviet Academy of Science, 125–26
Speegle, Paul, 9–10, 14–16, 39–40
Spider Woman, 102
“Spirit” (Ruah), 42–43, 198
Spirituality, 8, 206
Spiritus, 43
Stanford Linear Accelerator, 39
Stanford Research Institute, 40
Stanford University, 10, 13, 16, 17, 19–21, 35–36, 131
Stark, Richard, 8, 15–16, 114
Stendahl, Krister, 20, 21–22, 27, 38, 175
Stoicism, 205, 206
Stout, Jeff, 114
Suetonius, 22
Suffering, 100–105, 148–51, 204–5
Suicide, 10–11, 81, 122
Superman, 137–38
Tacitus, 22
Tallis, Thomas, 26
Tertullian, 45–46, 55, 192
Testimony of Truth, 44, 56
Theophane, 115, 129
Theudas, 204
Thomas. See Gospel of Thomas
Thomas, Dylan, 32
Thorazine, 11
Thunder, Complete Mind, 179–81, 198
Tibetan Buddhism, 166–67
Timaeus (Plato), 199
Tolstoy, Leo, 205–6
Town School, The (New York City), 77, 78–79, 85
Trappists, 97–98, 115–16
Trist, Alan, 12–13, 15, 16
Twain, Mark, 101
Unconscious mind, 49, 52, 102, 147, 167–68
University Lutheran Church (Cambridge), 24
University of California, Berkeley, 17
University of California, Los Angeles, summer course at, 10–11, 12
University of Chicago, 18
University of Khartoum, 51
University of Texas, 166
Unknown years of Jesus, 206
Valentine’s Day, 100
Valentinus, 196, 204
Van Druten, Sophie, 6
Varieties of Religious Experience, The (James), 205–6
Vietnam War, 17
Walker, Kara, 181
War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Da
rkness, 157–58
Weitzmann Institute, 51
Welch, Bram, 74, 76, 90
West, Geoff, 121
“What do you believe?”, xiii–xiv
Whitman, Walt, 19, 205, 206
Whore of Babylon, 186, 187, 188, 190
“Why religion,” 36–37
Widowed, 123
Williams, C. K., 19
Willpower, 63–64
Winfrey, Oprah, 209, 210
“Wisdom” (Hokmah), 43
Wizard of Oz, The, 7–8
Women and the Bible, 42–46
Women’s Conference at Barnard, 43–46, 48, 49
Woody Creek Tavern, 98
World War II, 188
Yoga, 105, 208
Zeus, 43
Zostrianos, 181, 190, 207
About the Author
ELAINE PAGELS is a preeminent academic whose impressive scholarship has earned her international respect. The Harrington Spear Paine Foundation Professor of Religion at Princeton University, Pagels was awarded the Rockefeller, the Guggenheim, and the MacArthur Fellowships. She is the author of The Gnostic Gospels, Beyond Belief, and Revelations.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Also by Elaine Pagels
The Johannine Gospel in Gnostic Exegesis:
Heracleon’s Commentary on John
The Gnostic Paul:
Gnostic Exegesis of the Pauline Letters
The Gnostic Gospels
Adam, Eve, and the Serpent:
Sex and Politics in Early Christianity
The Origin of Satan:
How Christians Demonized Jews, Pagans, and Heretics
Beyond Belief:
The Secret Gospel of Thomas
Reading Judas:
The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity (with Karen L. King)
Revelations:
Visions, Prophecy, and Politics in the Book of Revelation
Copyright
“The Thunder, Perfect Mind” and “Trimorphic Protennoia” from The Nag Hammadi Library in English, 3rd, Completely Revised Edition, James M. Robinson, General Editor. Copyright © 1978, 1988 by E. J. Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands. By permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
WHY RELIGION? Copyright © 2018 by Elaine Pagels. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
Cover design by Allison Saltzman
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Digital Edition NOVEMBER 2018 ISBN: 978-0-06-236855-3
Version 09282018
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-236853-9