PRESTOPUNDIT

Elaine Pagels has a new book, this one a close study of the Gospel of Thomas and 50 other early Christian works. This is from a review in the Christian Science Monitor:

Pagels .. points out that the Gospel of John is the only one in the New Testament that actually promotes the idea of Jesus as God in human form, and she argues .. that it was written explicitly to counter the Gospel of Thomas, which said otherwise. Thomas's gospel, she writes, teaches "that God's light shines not only in Jesus but, potentially at least, in everyone ... and encourages the hearer ... to seek to know God through one's own divinely given capacity .. "

If you like this kind of stuff, Pagels is a great read, and what she has to say can be, er, revelatory. I found The Five Gospels marvelously interesting -- guess I'll have to order up Pagels when I've finished off the two history of religion books I have awaiting in the nightstand.