Почетный профессор богословия Гарвардского университета.
Обучалась в бакалавриате Университета Монтаны (1973-76), магистратуре Свободного университета Берлина (1982-1983) и докторантуре Броунского университета (1977-1984 гг.)С 1997 г. преподает в Гарвардском университете.
До этого преподавала в Occidental College.
Специализируется в области исследования раннехристианской письменности и истории.
Книги
co-authored with Elaine Pagels, Reading Judas. The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity. New York: Viking, 2007.
The Secret Revelation of John. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2006.
The Gospel of Mary of Magdala. Jesus and the First Woman Apostle. Santa Rosa, CA: Polebridge Press, 2003.
What is Gnosticism? Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003.
Revelation of the Unknowable God. NHC XI.3 Allogenes, Introduction, Critical Text, Translation and Notes. California Classical Library 1. Santa Rosa, CA: Polebridge Press, 1996.
Под редакцией
Co-editor with Hans-Gebhard Bethge, Stephen Emmel, and Imke Schletterer For the Children, Perfect Instruction. Studies in Honor of Hans-Martin Schenke on the Occasion of the Berliner Arbeitskreis für Koptisch-gnostische Schriften’s Thirtieth Year. Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies 54. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2002.
Editor, Women and Goddess Traditions in Antiquity and Today. Papers from the “Women and Goddess Traditions” conference, Claremont Graduate School, May, 1991. Studies in Antiquity and Christianity. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg/Fortress Press, 1997; reprint Trinity Press International, 2000.
Editor, Images of the Feminine in Gnosticism. Studies in Antiquity and Christianity 4. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1988. Papers from the international conference on “Images of the Feminine in Gnosticism.”
Статьи
“(Re)Formation of the Christian Self: Gender Contestation as Political Critique.” In “Doing Gender – Doing Religion”: Zur Wechselwirkung von Geschlechterkonzepten und religiöser Identitätsbildung in Antike und frühem Islam. Ed. Angela Standhartinger and Ute Eisen. Mohr Siebeck, forthcoming.
“Torture and Christianity.” In Oxford Handbook of Religion and Violence. Ed. Mark Juergensmeyer, Michael Jerryson, Margo Kitts. Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming.
“Factions, Variety, Diversity, Multiplicity: Representing Early Christian Differences for the 21st Century.” Method and Theory in the Study of Religion, forthcoming.
“Reading Sex and Gender in the Secret Revelation of John.” The Journal of Early Christian Studies, forthcoming.
“Mystery and Secrecy in The Apocryphon of John.” Pp. 61-85 in Mystery and Secrecy in the Nag Hammadi Collection and Other Ancient Literature: Ideas and Practices. Ed. John Turner, Ismo Dunderberg, Christian H. Bull and Liv Ingeborg Lied. Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies. Leiden: E. J. Brill, forthcoming October, 2011.
“Willing to Die for God: Individualization and Instrumental Agency in Ancient Christian Martyr Literature.” In Religious Individualization in the Hellenistic and Roman Period. Ed. Jörg Rüpke. Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming.
“Toward a Discussion of the Category ‘Gnosis/Gnosticism’: The Case of the Epistle of Peter to Philip.” Pp. 445-465 in Jesus in apokryphen Evangelienüberlieferungen. Beiträge zu außerkanonischen Jesusüberlieferungen aus verschiedenen Sprach- und Kulturtraditionen. Ed. Jörg Frey and Jens Schröder. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2010.
“Martyrdom and Its Discontents in the Tchacos Codex.” Pp. 23-42 in The Codex Judas Papers: Proceedings of the International Congress on the Tchacos Codex held at Rice University, Houston, Texas, March 13-16, 2008. Ed. April D. DeConick. Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies 71. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2009.
“‘In your midst as a child’—‘In the form of an old man’: Images of Aging and Immortality in Ancient Christianity.” Pp. 59-82 in Metamorphoses: Resurrection, Body and Transformative Practices in Early Christianity. Ed. Turid Karlsen Seim and Jorunn Økland. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2009.
“Difference and Diversity: The Real Stories of Ancient Christianity.” In Complexity. Interdisciplinary Communications 2006/2007. Ed. Willy Østreng. Centre for Advanced Study. Oslo, Norway: Norwegian Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2008.
“Comparison: Categories, Methods, and Mischiefs—The Case of the Gospel of Judas.” Pp. 178-191 in Introducing Religion. Essays in Honor of Jonathan Z. Smith.. Ed. Willi Braun and Russell T. McCutcheon. London: Equinox Press, 2008.
“Social and Theological Effects of Heresiological Discourse.” Pp. 28-49 in Heresy and Identity in Late Antiquity. Ed. Eduard Iricinschi and Holger M. Zellentin. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008.
“Which Early Christianity?” Pp. 66-84 in The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Studies. Ed. Susan Ashbrook Harvey and David Hunter. Oxford Handbooks in Religion and Theology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
“The Gospel of Mary.” Introduction, translation and notes for The Nag Hammadi Library in English. 3rd edition. Ed. Marvin Meyer. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 2007, pp. 737-747.
“Living It Out: Period Piece.” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 22.2 (2006), 145-147.
“The Origins of Gnosticism and the Identity of Christianity.” Pp. 103-120 in Was There a Gnostic Religion? Ed. Antti Marjanen. Helsinki: The Finnish Exegetical Society; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2005.
“The Rise of the Soul: Justice and Transcendence in the Gospel of Mary.” Pp. 425-442 in Walk in the Ways of Wisdom. Essays in Honor of Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza. Ed. Shelly Matthews, Cynthia Briggs Kittredge, and Melanie Johnson-DeBaufre. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Trinity Press International, 2003.
“Hearing, Seeing, and Knowing God. Allogenes and the Gospel of Mary.” Pp. 319-331 in Crossing Boundaries and Removing Barriers in Early Christian Studies. Essays in Honor of François Bovon on His Sixty-Fifth Birthday. Ed. Ann Graham Brock, David W. Pao, and David Warren. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2003.
“Why all the Controversy? Mary in the Gospel of Mary.” Pp. 53-74 in Which Mary? The Marys of Early Christian Tradition. Ed. F. Stanley Jones. SBL Symposium Series 20. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2002.
“The Politics of Syncretism and the Problem of Defining Gnosticism.” Historical Reflections/Réflexions Historiques 27.3 (2001),461-479. Special volume on Retrofitting Syncretism. Ed. William Cassidy.
“Back to the Future: Jesus and Heresy.” Pp. 77-107 in The Once and Future Jesus. Santa Rosa: Polebridge Press, 2000.
“Canonization and Marginalization: Mary of Magdala.” Pp. 29-36 in Women’s Sacred Scriptures. Ed. Kwok Pui-Lan and Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza. Concilium. Revue internationale de Théologie 1998/3. London: SCM Press and Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1998.
“Prophetic Power and Women’s Authority: The Gospel of Mary Magdalene” and “Afterword. Voices of the Spirit: Exercising Power, Embracing Responsibility.” Pp. 21-41 and 335-43 in Women Preachers and Prophets through Two Millennia of Christianity. Ed. Beverly Mayne Kienzle and Pamela J. Walker. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.
“Approaching the Variants of the Apocryphon of John.” Pp. 105-37 in The Nag Hammadi Library After Fifty Years: Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Literature Commemoration, November 17-22, 1995. Ed. John D. Turner and Anne McGuire. Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies 44. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1997.
“Myth and Origins in the Study of Gnosticism.” Pp. 157-72 in Reimagining Christian Origins. A Colloquium Honoring Burton L. Mack. Ed. Elizabeth Castelli and Hal Taussig. Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International, 1996.
“The Body and Society in Philo and the Apocryphon of John.” Pp. 82-97 in The School of Moses: Studies in Philo and Hellenistic Religion. Ed. John Kenney; Brown Judaic Studies. Atlanta, GA: Scholar’s Press, 1995.
“The Gospel of Mary Magdalene.” Pp. 601-34 in Searching the Scriptures. Vol. 2 A Feminist Commentary. Ed. Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza. New York: Crossroads Press, 1994.
“The Book of Norea titled Hypostasis of the Archons.” Pp. 66-85 in Searching the Scriptures. Vol. 2 A Feminist Commentary. Ed. Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza. New York: Crossroads Press, 1994.
“Translating History: Reframing Gnosticism in Postmodernity.” Pp. 264-77 in Tradition und Translation. Zum Problem der interkultureller Übersetzbarkeit religiöser Phänomene. Festschrift für Carsten Colpe zum 65. Geburtstag. Ed. Christoph Elsas. Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1994.
“A Progress Report on the Editing of the Manichaean Synaxeis Codex.” Pp. 281-88 in Actes du IVe Congrès Coptes, Louvain-la-Neuve, 5-10 septembre 1988 Vol. II De la Linguistique au gnosticisme. Publications de l’Institut orientaliste de Louvain 41. Louvain-la-neuve: Institut Orientaliste, 1992.
“The Gospel of Mary” (translation and introduction). Pp. 351-60 in The Complete Gospels: Annotated Scholars Version. Ed. Robert J. Miller. Sonoma, CA: Polebridge Press, 1992.
“Social Facets in Mythic Knowing: Joseph Campbell and Christian Gnosis.” Pp. 68-80 in Paths to the Power of Myth. Joseph Campbell and the Study of Religion. Ed. Daniel C. Noel. New York: Crossroad, 1990.
“Ridicule and Rape, Rule and Rebellion: The Hypostasis of the Archons.” Pp. 3-24 in Gnosticism and the Early Christian World. Ed. James E. Goehring, Charles W. Hedrick, Jack T. Sanders with Hans Dieter Betz. Sonoma, CA: Polebridge Press, 1990.
“Sophia and Christ in the Apocryphon of John.” Pp. 158-76 in Images of the Feminine in Gnosticism. Ed. Karen L. King. Studies in Antiquity and Christianity 4. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1988.
“Kingdom in the Gospel of Thomas,” Foundations and Facets Forum 3.1 (1987), 48-97.
“The Rite of the Red Heifer in the Epistle of Barnabas 8 and Mishnah Parah. A Study of Early Christian and Jewish Exegesis.” Approaches to Ancient Judaism V. Studies in Judaism and Its Greco-Roman Context. Atlanta: Scholar’s Press, 1985, 99-114.
Статьи в энциклопедиях, краткие заметки
“Mary, Gospel of” The Encyclopedia of Ancient History. Ed. Roger Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige Champion, Andrew Erskine, and Sabine Hübner. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, forthcoming.
“Gnosticism.” Pp. 652-56 in Religions of the Ancient World: A Guide. Ed. Sarah Iles Johnston. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004.
“Mary of Magdala in Early Christian Coptic Literature.” Religious Studies News: SBL Edition (online), November, 2003.
“Introduction.” Pp. 1-12 in For the Children, Perfect Instruction. Studies in Honor of Hans-Martin Schenke on the Occasion of the Berliner Arbeitskreis für Koptisch-gnostische Schriften’s Thirtieth Year. Ed. Hans-Gebhard Bethge, Karen L. King, Stephen Emmel, and Imke Schletterer Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies 54. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2002.
“Gnosticism.” Encyclopedia Britannica, at press.
“Mary Magdalene in the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature.” Multimedia Project on John 20. New York: American Bible Society, 1997.
“Who are the Disciples?” Multimedia Project on John 20. New York: American Bible Society, 1997.
Response to Daniel Boyarin, “Galatians and Gender Trouble: Primal Androgyny and the First-Century Origins of a Feminist Dilemma.” Berkeley, CA: The Center for Hermeneutical Studies, 1995.
“Allogenes.” Pp. 158-59 in Vol. 1 of The Anchor Bible Dictionary. Ed. David Noel Freedman. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
“What is Gnosticism?” The Fourth R 4.3 (1991), 1-6.
“Who are the Gnostics?” The Fourth R 4.4 (1992), 14-16.
“Sethians” and “Valentinus.” Pp. 841-42 and 923-24 in Encyclopedia of Early Christianity. Ed. Everett Ferguson. New York and London: Garland Publishing Inc., 1990.
Introduction to the Gospel of Mary. Pp. 523-24 in The Nag Hammadi Library in English. Ed. James M. Robinson and Richard Smith. Third edition. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1988.
Обзоры
The Resurrection of Mary Magdalene. Legends, Apocrypha, and the Christian Testament by Jane Schaberg. Women’s Review of Books 20.6 (March, 2003), 18.
Review Essay: Chattel or Person? The Status of Women in the Mishnah by Judith Romney Wegner. Religious Studies Review 18.1, January 1992, 14-18.
Gnostic Truth and Christian Heresy: A Study in the History of Gnosticism by Alastair H. B. Logan. Journal of Biblical Literature 117.1 (1998), 166-68.
A History of Gnosticism by Giovanni Filoramo. Critical Review of Books in Religion (1992), 296-298.
A Separate God. The Christian Origins of Gnosticism by Simone Pétrement. Journal of the American Academy of Religion 60.4 (1992), 804-807.
Sin in Valentinianism by Michel Desjardins. Journal of the American Academy of Religion 59 (1991), 162-164.
Adam, Eve, and the Serpent by Elaine Pagels in Critical Review of Books in Religion. Atlanta, GA: Scholar’s Press, 1990, 315-317.
Women in Hellenistic Egypt. From Alexander to Cleopatra by Sarah B. Pomeroy; The Wisdom Goddess. Feminine Motifs in Eight Nag Hammadi Documents by Rose Horman Arthur; and Womanhood. The Feminine in Ancient Hellenism, Gnosticism, Christianity, and Islam by Raoul Mortley in Signs 13.3 (1988), 623-626.
So It Was True: The American Protestant Press and the Nazi Persecution of the Jews by Robert Ross in Religious Studies Review 8.1 (1982), 90.