Nathan E. Lewis

Elaine Pagels is coming to town. For $60.00 or more you can attend her lecture in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. The ad in The Oregonian this week features this quote: “What I find interesting about Dan Brown’s book is that it raises a very important question: If they - meaning the leaders of the church- supressed so much of early Christian history, what else don’t we know about? What else is there to be known?” This is the typical Gnostic teaser. The Gnostic will promise you secret knowledge and when you hear it, you may discover that it is as known and universally known as the serpent’s whispering into our mother’s ear, “You can be divine.”
What’s with the high ticket price?!! (I purchase nearly all of my books used at Powell’s, the public library, or in one of the many used book stores in Portland. I found Pagel’s “Beyond Belief,” at the library book store for $10.00 hardback. Such a deal.) Why should we pay more than $50.00 to hear Pagels speak in person? You might think that the higher price indicates more truth. But few theologians or scholars speaking in Oregon would consent to such high ticket prices. (I’m quite certain that Pagels must have little to do with the ticket price.) This same month, you can pay $20.00 at the Trinity Cathedral in Northwest Portland to hear Brian McLaren speak about the Emergent Church. How much did you pay to hear the Rolling Stones at the Rose Garden? Did you stand in line at Freddy’s to enter the lottery of U2 tickets? Bono delivered. Mick was entertaining. Brian’s ticket is reasonable. But Elaine is peddling conspiracy theories and the oldest stories on the planet packaged as secret knowledge. Second thought, she could be quite entertaining - as entertaining as Dan Brown.
I can’t believe it! Here I sit posting this the day after Pagels came to town! I’ve been camping on the Oregon coast with my family, forgetting to check the calendar. Did any of you make the show? How did she do? Was she red hot? Did she cast sufficient doubt for you to abandon your faith? Don’t tell anyone that I sit around reading old newspapers.