Almost 30 years ago, religion scholar and Princeton professor Elaine Pagels introduced the world to the Gnostic Gospels in her book by that title. These were intriguing early Christian writings that didn't make the canonical cut.
In books and other writings since then, she has asked important questions about faith and its sources. But until now she has not explored in depth what may be the foundational question about religion: why it exists at all.
It would be a relief to tell you that she has answered that question in a satisfying, exhaustive way in her new book Why Religion?: A Personal Story. But she hasn't. That is, she hasn't come up with a bumper-sticker-size answer.
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