Like her later book, The Origin of Satan, Pagels' goal in Adam, Eve and the Serpent is to understand the link between biblical interpretation and the political and social transformations of early Christians. She is less successful in this book.

Pagels' examines three moral lessons that Jews and Christians drew from the creation story in Genesis 1-3.

The early Christians (from Jesus' death to about 400 CE), read a radical lesson of freedom and equality in the creation story. They argued that the story taught humans to take responsibility for our freely-made choices. These choicesmight at times be disobedient to God, but they are nonetheless part of the divine plan because God made humans in his own image -- consequently, free-will must be part of God's own make-up. Humans must endure the consequences of theirchoices, like Adam and Eve did when they were cast out of the Garden of Eden. This interpretation helped early Christians endure persecution from the Romans. Christians refused to worship the Roman emperors; they argued that God had made all humans in his own image and therefore the emperors were just people. They did not deserve worship. When they were threatened with death for their refusal, they drew strength from the idea that they were taking responsibility for their choices--just as Adam and Eve did. These early Christians believed that free will could improve life, both now and hereafter, and that baptism wipes the slate clean from sin.

However, in about 400 CE, Christianity changed. Beginning in 313 with the conversion of Constantine, the church became instituted in Roman life. Church bishops received tax breaks, prestige and special land grants. Instead of being persecuted, Christians were elevated. The old lesson of freedom was no longer congruent with the Christian experience. Radical notions of free will and equality could not coexist with the growing hierarchy among Christians. Not surprisingly, the church decided to keep the hierarchy and ditch freedom. Augustine was the arbiter of this shift, but someone else would have done it if he didn't. Augustine read the creation story as a story of human slavery to passion. Adam and Eve could not control themselves, so they were cast out of Eden. Augustine further argued that their sin was not just disobedience, it was sexual knowledge. And this sin was passed from parent to child in the very act of conception (Pagels' says that Augustine maintained that the sin was in the semen). Not even baptism could wipe away this sin -- hence the doctrine of "original sin." All humans could hope for was to struggle their entire lives, to be good, and maybe they could overcome this stain and gain peace in the afterlife. This meant that they had to do what their bishops and other church leaders told them.

Pagels also discusses celibacy and gnosticism. However, I think the two poles of freedom and original sin better capture her argument.

This book is not as clear as The Origin of Satan. It was difficult to extract exactly what social conditions Pagels' was linking to each moral lesson drawn from the creation story. In the end it was a rewarding read, but I found her other book more accessible.