As discussed in The Da Vinci Code Long buried & suppressed the Gnostic Gospels contain the secret writings attributed to the followers of Jesus In 1945 fifty-two papyrus texts including gospels & other secret documents were found concealed in an earthenware jar buried in the Egyptian desert These so-called Gnostic writings were Coptic translations from the original Greek dating from the time of the New Testament The material they embodied
- poems quasi-philosophical descriptions of the origins of the universe myths magic & instructions for mystic practice
- were later declared heretical as they offered a powerful alternative to the Orthodox Christian tradition In a book that is as exciting as it is scholarly Elaine Pagels examines these texts & the questions they pose & shows why Gnosticism was eventually stamped out by the increasingly organised & institutionalised Orthodox Church