In 1982, Pagels joined Princeton University as a professor of early Christian history. Aided by a MacArthur fellowship (1980–85), she researched and wrote "Adam, Eve, and the Serpent", which examines the creation account and its role in the development of sexual attitudes in the Christian West. In both "The Gnostic Gospels" and "Adam, Eve, and the Serpent", Pagels focuses especially on the way that women have been viewed throughout Jewish and Christian history. Her other books include "The Origin of Satan" (1995), "Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas" (2003), "Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity" (2007), and "Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, and Politics in the Book of Revelation" (2012).