Gospel of Judas

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The Gospel of Judas is an apocryphal testament of Jesus’ life according to his disciple Judas. The one physical version of the text known to exist today is from the 4th century C.E.; however other ancient texts make references to it, so scholars suggest an original date anywhere from the late 2nd century to the 4th century C.E.

Contents

[edit] Background

Biblical scholars, theologians, and historians largely agree that some dude named Jesus probably walked on the Earth until his number came up at or around 30 C.E.[1] It is also known that according to all accounts this dude had various disciples who walked around with him, ate dinner with him, preached whatever it is he wanted them to preach, possibly healed or saved the poor, and all the other things that apostles do.

What is also agreed upon is that these same dudes (and maybe even a gal or two) went out to teach their leader’s ideas after he was put to death. And, like all human endeavors, politics got in the way. Early Christianity spread to centres of Jewish population and into the the Roman world and until the First Council of Nicaea, and a number of different interpretations (Gnosticism, for example) proliferated. Heck, even a guy who had never met Jesus got in on the act.

The upshot is that by the 2nd century C.E., there were churches all over the place claiming to have the Truth™, claiming to be the only one, and generally running around making a muck of things like religions often do.

[edit] Gospel of Judas

Thus enters the Gospel of Judas, written by an author whose spiritual leader was the honored apostle chosen by Jesus to be the one to turn him in to the Romans. The argument roughly goes: Since Jesus’ death is necessary for his resurrection, the one who turned him in to be executed must have been an honored apostle or he wouldn’t have been chosen. (It is a very Jewish concept to admit that you’ve been chosen by God to be tormented by others.)

The author of the Gospel of Judas comes from the Gnostic tradition, reiterating that Judas received “secret” teachings from Jesus and that he and he alone could pass on his Master’s secret knowledge to other disciples. In a Gnostic tradition, Judas would have been understood not to have participated in the killing of Jesus, but in his release from this early life to the true form of spirit. The author of the Gospel belonged to a type of Gnosticism called Sethianism which holds a very Platonic vision of the world.

What has been historically known about the author of the Gospel of Judas is that his church was vilified by several contemporary authors. What is now coming to light, almost 2000 years later, is that the church which "won" the "battle for Christianity" in the 2nd and 3rd century was bitterly despised by whole other churches fighting to be "the" Christian Church. Only in the last 100 years have the views of the "other churches" begun to be presented. Judas is not the work of someone who was on the fringes of mainstream religion, but was in fact one of the major players—a major player, however, that possibly knew very well that it was losing the battle.

[edit] The text

Though various ancient texts had referenced both the Church and the Gospel, no actual work was found until 1970. The text itself was in such deplorable condition that few pages remain legible. Thousands and thousands of pieces are being painstakingly assembled to attempt to have a readable, comprehensible text.

Of what has been translated as of 2007, the text describes a secret conversation between Jesus and Judas where Jesus explains his plans and the role Judas must play in them.

[edit] Documentary

For what it’s worth, there is a wonderful documentary called The Gospel of Judas, narrated by Peter Coyote, that goes into the cloak-and-dagger-esque aspects of finding the text, selling it, and reselling it. Little attention is given to what is actually said in the gospel, but 10 literary experts wondering about the translation of any given word and arguing about the gender of a pronoun is not nearly as fun as a 30-year chase across the desert with the Antiquities “underground”[2].

[edit] Footnotes

  1. Few scholars actually doubt that there was a teacher/activist/philosopher who was the inspiration of the Christ story. What no one agrees upon is what he may or may not have done, what he may or may not have said, and if he was or was not in any way, shape, or form related to the Big Guy.
  2. Internet Movie Database entry [1]
Guide to the Jewish and Christian Scriptures
Torah: Genesis - Exodus - Leviticus - Numbers - Deuteronomy Old Testament History: Book of Joshua - Book of Judges - Ruth - Samuel (1 & 2) - Kings (1 and 2 Kings) - Chronicles - Ezra and Nehemiah - Book of Esther Old Testament Wisdom: Book of Job - Psalms - Book of Proverbs - Ecclesiastes - Song of Solomon Major Prophets: Isaiah - Book of Jeremiah - Lamentations - Book of Ezekiel - Book of Daniel Minor Prophets: Minor Prophets

Deuterocanon (Catholic and Orthodox): - Tobit - Judith - 1 Maccabees - 2 Maccabees - Book of Wisdom - Sirach - Baruch - Letter of Jeremiah Deuterocanon (Orthodox): 1 Esdras - 3 Maccabees - Prayer of Manasseh - Psalm 151 Deuterocanon (Georgian Orthodox): 4 Maccabees - 2 Esdras Ethiopian Orthodox ("narrow" canon): Jubilees - Enoch - Rest of the Words of Baruch - 1-3 Meqabyan Syriac Peshitta: 2 Baruch Psalms 152-155


The Gospels: Gospel of Matthew - Gospel of Mark - Gospel of Luke - Gospel of John Acts: Acts of the Apostles Pauline Epistles: Romans - 1 & 2 Corinthians - Galatians - Ephesians - Philippians - Colossians - First Thessalonians - Second Thessalonians - First Timothy - Second Timothy - Titus - Epistle to Philemon General Epistles: Epistle to the Hebrews - Epistle of James - First Peter - Second Peter - 1 John - 2 John - 3 John - Epistle of Jude Revelation: Book of Revelation


Selected pseudepigrapha: Gospel of Judas - Infancy Gospel of James - Gospel of Mary - Gospel of Philip - Gospel of Thomas - Nag Hammadi texts


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