Adam, Eve, and the Serpent
by Elaine Pagels
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At a glance:
- Author: Elaine Pagels
- First Published: 1988
- Type of Work: Religion
- Genres: Criticism, Nonfiction, History, Religion and spirituality
- Subjects: Creation myth, Sexism, Sex or sexuality, Gender roles, Sin or Original sin, Religion, Women's issues, Christianity, Women, Bible, biblical imagery, or biblical symbolism, Greek or Roman times, Women's rights, Theology
Pagels traces the metamorphosis of the primary message of Genesis Chapters 1 through 3 from one of freedom in the early church into Augustine’s reading of the story as one of human bondage and Original Sin. In each chapter, she discusses a theme that Christians attempted to understand or justify in light of the creation story. She examines the early Christians’ view that the real message of the Adam and Eve story is one of moral freedom and moral responsibility; the austere spiritual discipline of Paul; the Christians’ application of the account to their dangerous political...
(The entire page is 722 words.)
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