138. The Rediscovered Gospel — A Conversation with Elaine Pagels

Faith Matters

Faith Matters Foundation

Christianity, Ethics, Latter-day Saint, The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints, Mormon, Mormonism, Morality, Lds, Philosophy, Religion & Spirituality

4.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 5 November 2022

⏱️ 47 minutes

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Summary

In 1945 fifty-two papyrus texts were found concealed in an earthenware jar buried in the Egyptian desert. They turned out to be early Christian writings, some dating all the way back to the first few centuries AD. Elaine Pagels, a historian of religion at Princeton university, has dedicated her life to studying and interpreting these texts and it turns out that there are some surprisingly powerful connections between some of the teachings in these ancient texts and the doctrines of the Restored Gospel.

In this episode, Zach Davis spoke with Elaine about her life and research, the importance of wrestling with the big questions of existence, and how religion can open transformative new relationships and perspectives.

Elaine Pagels is a historian of religion and the Harrington Spear Paine Professor at Princeton University. Her ground-breaking books include The Gnostic Gospels, The Origin of Satan, and the New York Times best-seller Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas. Her most recent book tells her own story and why she loves investigating the history of religion: Why Religion? A Personal Story.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey everyone, I just want to take a second to invite you to join me this year at Restore
0:06.6	a Faith Matters Gathering happening October 13th and 14th.
0:12.0	It's going to be at the Amount and America Expo Center in Sandy and it promises to be
0:16.5	an exceptional conference.
0:18.4	I attended last fall and found it to be a remarkably inspiring, hopeful two days of listening
0:27.2	to really well-prepared, thoughtful talks as well as inspiring music and really feeling
0:36.7	a deep connection with my other Latter-day Saint brothers and sisters around me in our
0:41.8	shared desire to speak to the best in our faith and to speak to one another and find a sense
0:48.6	of connection.
0:49.6	I'm also going to be one of the people speaking.
0:52.3	I'll be speaking a bit about eros energy and its connection to spirituality and to the
0:59.6	light of Christ.
1:01.2	And so I hope to see you all there.
1:05.5	Hey everybody, this is Aubrey Chavez from Faith Matters.
1:11.7	In 1945, 52 papyrus texts were found concealed in an earthenware jar buried in the Egyptian
1:17.2	desert.
1:18.2	They turned out to be early Christian writings, some dating all the way back to the first
1:21.5	few centuries AD.
1:23.3	Elaine Pagels, a historian of religion at Princeton University, has dedicated her life to studying
1:28.1	and interpreting these texts and it turns out that there are some surprisingly powerful
1:31.8	connections between some of the teachings in these ancient texts and the doctrines of
1:35.4	the restored gospel.
	...

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