A Historian Shares What We Really Know About Jesus 22%
3/31/2026, 9:30:04 PM
Keywords: Jesus, Elaine Pagels, Historian, Gnosticism, Early Christianity, Miracles And Wonder, Gospels, Easter
BS Summary: This article contains 18 faulty reasoning types, including Genetic Fallacy, Appeal to Authority, and Framing Effect, with Biased Writer Voice as the most egregious example at 29.6% saturation with 63 hits. Analysis detected 522 faulty-reasoning hits from 213 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 35.5% and a BS Rank of 22% (13,223 of 16,813 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 78.60% of the article peer group.
With Easter weekend approaching, we’re revisiting our 2025 conversation with Elaine Pagels about the real Jesus of Nazareth.
The evidence is clear that Jesus was a real, historical person.
But beyond that, says the scholar Elaine Pagels, there are more questions than answers about what kind of person Jesus was and what can be known about his life.
Pagels’ latest book offers a new account, based on a wide range of recently available sources, of the life of Jesus.
Some of the most inspiring details of the Gospels, she says, were crafted by his followers to avoid persecution and to explain inconvenient truths.
In their telling, he wasn’t an illegitimate child, but rather immaculately conceived by God.
His corpse wasn’t tossed into a common grave; he was resurrected and seen alive by his followers.
Pagels joins us to explore what actually happened to Jesus, and why he continues to inspire and attract believers.
GUEST —
Elaine Pagels | Historian who has published widely on Gnosticism and early Christianity.
She’s a Professor of Religion at Princeton University and was awarded the 2015 National Humanities Medal.
Her latest book is called “Miracles and Wonder: The Historical Mystery of Jesus.”
[Amazon | Bookshop]
Airdate: Apr.
1, 2026
Analysis
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