“The story of the betrayal of Jesus by Judas gave a moral and religious rationale to anti-Jewish sentiment, and that's what made it persistent and vicious.” MadeStoriesJesusReligiousMoralBetrayalMade ItSentimentsViciousPersistentJudasRationale Author:Elaine Pagels
“Why did the consensus of Christian churches not only accept these astonishing views but establish them as the only true form of Christian doctrine? . . . these religious debates - questions of the nature of God, or of Christ - simultaneously bear social and political implications that are crucial to the development of Christianity as an institutional religion. In simplest terms, ideas which bear implications contrary to that development come to be labeled as 'heresy'; ideas which implicitly support it become 'orthodox.'” IdeasChristianFormPoliticalReligionSocialTermChristChurchReligiousViewsAcceptingChristianitySupportDevelopmentBearsContraryDebateDoctrineOrthodoxCrucialSimplestConsensusAstonishingImplicationsHeresyChristian ChurchChristian Doctrine Author:Elaine Pagels
“Rediscovering the controversies that occupied early Christianity sharpens our awareness of the major issue in the whole debate, then and now: What is the source of religious authority? For the Christian the question takes more specific form: What is the relation between the authority of ones own experience and that claimed for the scriptures, the ritual and the clergy?” WholeChristianFormReligiousChristianityIssuesAwarenessSourceAuthorityMajorsRelationDebateScriptureRitualControversyClergy Book:The Gnostic Gospels Source: The Gnostic Gospels
