Why Religion?

A Personal Story

By: Elaine Pagels

Narrated by: Eunice Wong

Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best seller

One of PW’s Best Books of the Year

One of Amazon’s Best Books of the Month

Why is religion still around in the 21st century? Why do so many still believe? And how do various traditions still shape the way people experience everything from sexuality to politics, whether they are religious or not? In Why Religion? Elaine Pagels looks to her own life to help address these questions.

These questions took on a new urgency for Pagels when dealing with unimaginable loss - the death of her young son, followed a year later by the shocking loss of her husband. Here she interweaves a personal story with the work that she loves, illuminating how, for better and worse, religious traditions have shaped how we understand ourselves; how we relate to one another; and, most importantly, how to get through the most difficult challenges we face.

Drawing upon the perspectives of neurologists, anthropologists, and historians, as well as her own research, Pagels opens unexpected ways of understanding persistent religious aspects of our culture.

A provocative and deeply moving account from one of the most compelling religious thinkers at work today, Why Religion? explores the spiritual dimension of human experience.

©2019 Elaine Pagels (P)2019 HarperAudio

Most revealing and insightful

It's not often you get to listen to a book that weaves together scholarship, a personal narrative of love and loss, spiritual exploration, and a new take on life. And with heart and insight and impact! This is a rare book.

Magnificent!

Questions I have struggled over for decades were enlightened with new dimensions through Elaine Pagels struggle to understand in the midst of deep grief and near despair. I am so grateful for her transparency and generosity in sharing this profound story.

Moving Story Powerfully Told

An incredibly moving personal story written beautifully and with great emotional and intellectual depth. In asking universal questions about suffering and weaving in her quest for meaning, Dr. Pagel shows us a way to accept the unknowable in life. A must-listen for anyone dealing with grief and seeking answers both inside and outside the traditional structure of religion.

Moving, Powerful, and Wise

Elaine Pagel’s life has been remarkable both for it’s stunning achievements and it’s tragic losses. This is an account of both. It begins with her introduction to religion at a Billy Graham revival as a teenager and follows her to eventual disillusionment with evangelical religion. It then continues along the circuitous route to what became her life-long career translating and interpreting the Nag Hammadi library, recently discovered texts of early Christianity, which present alternate interpretations of Jesus’ life and teaching to those offered by the Church’s “official” theologians. Along the way is the story of two devastating deaths, which left her utterly bereft. Behind it all is the question of the title, “why religion?” If she is not able to actually offer a final answer to this provocative question, she is able to provide many intriguing insights – insights drawn both from her life and from the rich texts she knows so well.

This is a moving and powerful, and very personal book, told with honesty and hard-won wisdom. Highly recommended.

Fantastic Memoir and Listening Experience

I was drawn to this title because years ago I read and admired Pagels' The Gnostic Gospels. This audio version, narrated by Lynde Houck, was a fantastic listening experience. Houck creates just the right tone for the content.

Pagels tells her life story from how she first became interested in Christianity, to her graduate studies and early career, to the death of her son and a year later the unexpected death of her husband, physicist Heinz Pagels. These tragedies both compelled and shaped her scholarly interests. The relationship the Pagels shared seems like such a true partnership and a beautiful intertwining of their love and intellectual interests.

One of the things I admired about this memoir is how Pagels seamlessly weaves together her interest in religion and her love for Heinz and their children with her work. I can't recall reading a memoir that so deftly and relevantly entwines the writer's work, love, and life. Perhaps this is due to the nature of Pagels' work in religion. She also brings in anthropology, philosophy, and science to look at issues of emotional pain, loss, and mourning. Pagels' work in religion after these tragedies was an exploration of how others have dealt with death and grief. She blasts traditional Christian platitudes around pain and death (e.g., God doesn't give us more than we can handle).

An excellent read (and listen) for those interested in a scholar's journey, religious studies, and dealing with the pain of death.

Thank you Elaine

Thank you for sharing your story and your insight and your studies that helped you gain insight. I heard this book in audible. I will have to buy this book either on Kindle or hardcopy as I will have to highlight, ponder/meditate on what you have written. Just know that I have been moved, that I have shed tears, and want to seek a better understanding of the insight you’ve gained through your experiences and your studies. I have not lost a child, but I have lost my husband, the love of my life.

A Quest for Meaning

I highly recommend Pagel's book especially for those who, like her are looking for meaning after adversity has knocked on our doors. In that sense if you have experienced the loss of a beloved one it is a balm, but if you have not, it will prepare you to deal with it creatively when the moment arrives.
Elaine is a great scholar of religions and in this book you understand why she is at the same time so intimate, personal and honest, which are principles very scarce in the social sciences. She belongs to the Ernest Becker's tradition that invite us to be brave, if we really want to declare ourselves lerners of the human condition.

moving, emotional work

Elaine's story spoke to my heart, echoing many feelings I myself have felt while dealing with tragic personal loss. thank you, Elaine, for sharing these pieces of yourself with the world.

Fabulous

Once again Elaine Pagels reveals her crafty talent to elucidate the grip which religion maintains on human beings, while interweaving her poignant personal experiences sharing with the listener her life’s journey of Why Religion? I read the Origin of Satan years ago as well as the Gnostic Gospels, but somehow THIS is now my absolute favorite of her writings. It’s worth every listening moment, especially with Ms. Wong’s voice. Enjoy.

A soulful journey into the ineffable.

Pagles takes us to the understanding that suffering is part of what binds us all together. She showed me how important it is to continue ones meditative journey into the unity with the divine.