Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Advanced
Title details for Adam, Eve, and the Serpent by Elaine Pagels - Available

Adam, Eve, and the Serpent

by Elaine Pagels
ebook
Read a sample Read a sample
A National Book Award winner and New York Times bestselling author deepens and refreshes our view of early Christianity while casting a disturbing light on the evolution of the attitudes passed down to us. 

"Confirms her reputation as both a scholar and a popular interpreter.... Continuously rewarding and illuminating." —The New York Times

How did the early Christians come to believe that sex was inherently sinful? When did the Fall of Adam become synonymous with the fall of humanity? What turned Christianity from a dissident sect that  championed the integrity of the individual and the idea of free will into the bulwark of a new imperial order—with the central belief that human beings cannot not choose to sin?  In this provocative masterpiece of historical scholarship Elaine Pagels re-creates the controversies that racked the early church as it confronted the riddles of sexuality, freedom, and sin as embodied in the story of Genesis.  And she shows how what was once heresy came to shape our own attitudes toward the body and the soul.
Expand title description text
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Kindle Book

  • Release date: October 5, 2011

OverDrive Read

  • ISBN: 9780307807359
  • Release date: October 5, 2011

EPUB ebook

  • ISBN: 9780307807359
  • File size: 1994 KB
  • Release date: October 5, 2011
Loading
Loading

Formats

Kindle Book
OverDrive Read
EPUB ebook

subjects

History Religion & Spirituality Nonfiction

Languages

English

A National Book Award winner and New York Times bestselling author deepens and refreshes our view of early Christianity while casting a disturbing light on the evolution of the attitudes passed down to us. 

"Confirms her reputation as both a scholar and a popular interpreter.... Continuously rewarding and illuminating." —The New York Times

How did the early Christians come to believe that sex was inherently sinful? When did the Fall of Adam become synonymous with the fall of humanity? What turned Christianity from a dissident sect that  championed the integrity of the individual and the idea of free will into the bulwark of a new imperial order—with the central belief that human beings cannot not choose to sin?  In this provocative masterpiece of historical scholarship Elaine Pagels re-creates the controversies that racked the early church as it confronted the riddles of sexuality, freedom, and sin as embodied in the story of Genesis.  And she shows how what was once heresy came to shape our own attitudes toward the body and the soul.
Expand title description text
History Religion & Spirituality Nonfiction