{"product_id":"miracles-and-wonder-by-elaine-pagels","title":"Miracles and Wonder by Elaine Pagels","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eNEW YORK TIMES\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e BESTSELLER • From a renowned National Book Award–winning scholar, an extraordinary new account of the life of Jesus that explores the mystery of how a poor young man inspired a religion that reshaped the world.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“This a brilliant and necessary book. Sober, wise, respectful, and fearless.\" —Jon Meacham, author of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Soul of America\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Pagels’ story is for believers and non-believers alike.” —Tara Westover, author of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eEducated\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The depth of spirituality she uncovers is profound.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003e —The New York Times Book Review\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEarly in her career, Elaine Pagels changed our understanding of the origins of Christianity with her work in \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Gnostic Gospels\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. Now, in the culmination of a decades-long career, she explores the biggest subject of all, Jesus. In \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eMiracles and Wonder\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e she sets out to discover how a poor young Jewish man inspired a religion that shaped the world.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe book reads like a historical mystery, with each chapter addressing a fascinating question and answering it based on the gospels Jesus's followers left behind. Why is Jesus said to have had a virgin birth? Why do we say he rose from the dead? Did his miracles really happen and what did they mean?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe story Pagels tells is thrilling and tense. Not just does Jesus comes to life but his desperate, hunted followers do as well. We realize that some of the most compelling details of Jesus's life are the explanations his disciples created to paper over inconvenient facts. So Jesus wasn't illegitimate, his mother conceived by God; Jesus's body wasn't humiliatingly left to rot and tossed into a common grave—no, he rose from the dead and was seen whole by his followers; Jesus isn't a failed messiah, his kingdom is a metaphor: he lives in us. These necessary fabrications were the very details and promises that electrified their listeners and helped his followers' numbers grow.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eMiracles and Wonder\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, Pagels does more than solve a historical mystery. She sheds light on Jesus's enduring power to inspire and attract.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46319194931366,"sku":"","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/4637\/7638\/files\/IMG-0159.jpg?v=1747344231","url":"https:\/\/woollybearbooks.com\/products\/miracles-and-wonder-by-elaine-pagels","provider":"Woolly Bear Books and Gifts","version":"1.0","type":"link"}