Doubting Thomas and Elaine - Hate Mail

Elaine Pagels, what little I've read of her and about her, I am not impressed except, for the most part, in the negative. The same goes with what are generally called "the Gnostic gospels" which I don't think are all accurately called "Gnostic" nor do I think that the most famous of the so-called ones, the Gospel of Thomas, is either the work of one person or of one group, [See John Dominic Crossan, The Historical Jesus, Apendix A]. Until now I'd only read it in the Esperanto translation made by Gerrit Breveling and I thought it was a real mess then.  The English translation I just went through online doesn't seem much better.  

 

A lot of it was definitely copied from either the canonical Gospels or from a source common with them, some quite close in meaning, some twisted, a few twisted to a hardly better end.  I doubt it's a closer witness to what Jesus taught than what Paul learned from the Jerusalem community, many of whom knew Jesus as well as anyone and what they, certainly, passed on to those who wrote the canonical Gospels.  I don't believe John's was written in opposition to Thomas because of the Thomas Gospel which I doubt the author of John was even aware of.   As someone I just saw online pointed out,  Thomas becomes fully a believer in the Resurrection, not someone who was opposed to the possibility.  He hardly comes off badly, in the end.  Peter's betrayal in John's Gospel is far, far worse than Thomas's brief doubt.  

I won't comment on the academic sin she was accused of, fabricating one or more quotes from Irenaeus to distort what he said about one sect of Gnosticists (he apparently noted that even that sect wasn't accepted by other Gnostics) but if it's true it should have assured her fall from at least academic acceptance.  Though I know academics are only punished for that if it contradicts the common received  AND ENFORCED, required POV.   I think any academic who approved of Dan Brown has earned disrespect, at least.  And she did.  I think she is rather typical of academics who got a taste of popular fame and had it go to their heads.