The ongoing evolution of Christianity

As research has developed over the past two decades, scholars are questioning the designation of "Gnosticism" given to these works. Karen King, of the Harvard Divinity School, says in her new book, "What Is Gnosticism?" that it's now agreed that it was not a historical religion, but a term that's been used to define the boundaries of normative Christianity, and includes works of great variety. Scholars also agree that the authors of the New Testament and the so-called Gnostic gospels are not known, although the works are attributed to the apostles.

While noting the traditional idea that "what has survived must be right," Pagels explores political and cultural reasons that spurred early Christian leaders such as Irenaeus, the bishop of Lyons in the second century, and Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria in the fourth, to choose some writings over others and attempt to destroy the "heresies." (Rather than destroy works that Athanasius had ordered burned, monks apparently buried them in a huge jar at Nag Hammadi.)

As Christianity grew and spread across the Roman empire after the 1st century, it faced widespread persecution as the "atheism" of the day. With the apostles gone, local teachers became the authorities, and differing cultural experiences sparked many variants. "When so many people claim to be divinely inspired ... who knows who has the spirit and who does not?" Pagels writes.

Some argued that genuine revelation had ended with the close of the apostolic age. Irenaeus did not go that far, but he wrote a massive, five-volume "Refutation and Overthrow of Falsely So-Called Knowledge," aiming not only to settle strictly on the four Gospels, but also to press a certain interpretation of the Gospel of John and to define "the whole faith." To bring stability and uniformity to a persecuted faith, he and his successors sought to ensure that all future "revelations" endorsed by Christian leaders would conform. When the Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official faith, he also promoted the gathering in AD 325 that produced the Nicene Creed, which helped unify his empire.

Pagels's small and beautiful book poses many questions: What is spiritual truth and how may it be discerned? Has revelation concluded or is it an ongoing phenomenon? What constitutes genuine baptism and can it occur more than once? Most of all, her book highlights the ongoing debate, so pervasive among Christian denominations today, over whether Christianity should be understood as a set system of doctrines or an ongoing search for the divine.

Acknowledging the good that has come through Christian teachings over the centuries, at the same time she suggests that these works offer inspiration to those, like herself, who are deeply moved by Christianity but do not accept it as "a single, authorized set of beliefs, coupled with the conviction that Christian belief alone offers access to God."

In a period when so many call themselves "seekers" and others press for a return to orthodoxy, this remarkable book will stir and provoke thought. It offers rewards to any reader concerned with the promise and power of faith, and the hunger for spiritual discovery.

• Jane Lampman writes about religion and ethics for the Monitor.

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