In the chapter "God the Father; God the Mother" from her book The Gnostic Gospels,Pagels herself offers an original argument based on "actual, historical reasons why these gnostic writings were suppressed," asking "By what means, and for what reasons, did certain ideas come to be classified as heretical, and others as orthodox, by the beginning of the third century?" (p. 59) What are the main conclusions that Pagels offers in answering this question with reference to "actual, historical reasons," and what evidence and reasoning does she use in building her argument?

In the chapter "God the Father; God the Mother" from her book The Gnostic Gospels,Pagels herself offers an original argument based on "actual, historical reasons why these gnostic writings were suppressed," asking "By what means, and for what reasons, did certain ideas come to be classified as heretical, and others as orthodox, by the beginning of the third century?" (p. 59) What are the main conclusions that Pagels offers in answering this question with reference to "actual, historical reasons," and what evidence and reasoning does she use in building her argument?