Adam, Eve, and the Serpent

Resumen del libro

Deepens and refreshes our view of early Christianity while casting a disturbing light on the evolution of the attitudes passed down to us. 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.

Biografía del autor

Elaine Pagels se formó en historia y estudios clásicos por las universidades de Stanford y Harvard. Desde hace años es profesora de religión en la Universidad de Princeton. Además de Los Evangelios gnósticos, Pagels es autora de Adán, Eva y la serpiente (Crítica, 1990), The origin of Satan (1995) y Más allá de la fe (Crítica, 2004).