Fresh Air, Elaine Pagels and Youssef M. Ibrahim (Nonfiction‪)‬

Religious scholar Elaine Pagels talks about the Gospel of Thomas and Middle East energy expert Youssef M. Ibrahim on this edition of Fresh Air. Elaine Pagels latest book, Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas, is about a religious text that is little known - the secret Gospel of Thomas, rediscovered in Egypt in 1945. She will explain why it was suppressed by the church and kept out of the cannon. Elaine Pagels has been called one of the world's most important writers and thinkers on religion and history. She won the National Book Award for her book, The Gnostic Gospels. Pagels is a professor at Princeton University. Youssef M. Ibrahim is a Senior Fellow on the Council on Foreign Relations. Previously, Ibrahim was a foreign correspondent for the New York Times, and Teheran Bureau Chief. He also covered energy for the Wall Street Journal. He is currently working on a book about oil and war. (Broadcast Date: June 4, 2003)