Date: November 2007 Series: Title: The Gospel of Judas

The Gospel of Judas

     Along with The DaVinci Code and the Lost Tomb of Jesus, the third diversion from Biblical Christianity recently making the rounds has been the Gospel of Judas.  Elaine Pagels, of Princeton University, claimed that the Gospel of Judas has opened up “new perspectives on familiar gospel stories,” was viewed as “advanced-level teaching for those who had already received Jesus’ basic message,” and “explodes the myth of a monolithic Christianity.”^[1]  Another article claims that the discovery of texts like the Gospel of Judas “have shaken up biblical scholarship” and “have produced a generation of Christians who now regard the Bible not as the literal word of God . . . For that reason, the discoveries have proved deeply troubling for many believers.”^[2]  When I read that kind of stuff, I feel like someone climbing their way out from under the rubble of an explosion in a baloney factory.

     What’s All the Fuss About? - The Gospel of Judas was found near Nag Hammadi, Egypt in the 1970’s as part of a 66 page codex (side-bound “book”) along with the First Apocalypse of James, a letter attributed to Peter, and something else called the Book of Allogenes.  What are the blockbuster contents of the Gospel of Judas?  It claims that Judas was Jesus’ favorite disciple, the only one truly “clued-in” on what was happening, and that he turned Jesus into the Jewish authorities at Jesus’ request so He could shed His unwanted fleshly body.

       Christian Diversity or Heresy? - Prior to the discovery of these texts, the only knowledge of these ideas came from the Church Father Irenaeus’ writing Against Heresies, dating from about 180 A.D.  Liberal scholars, like Pagels, tend to favor unorthodox groups and writings as being more interesting (and more valid?) than the canonical Biblical documents.  The fascination with the “conspiracy genre” extends beyond Hollywood, for there are a lot of modern folks anxious to believe that traditional Christianity has been covering up/suppressing/distorting "the real story."  I suspicion that scholars continue to suffer from the “Athenian Complex” (Acts 17:21) - the perverse obsession with whatever “new” items and theories come along and the assumption that such things just have to be better than whatever is already known and believed.  If for no other reason, this "new" (old) stuff can be hyped, published, and bring in some money until the media-dependent masses catch on.

       I have read the text of the Gospel of Judas and can find nothing in it that warrants placing it above (or equal to) the New Testament documents as a valid source of original Christian beliefs.  It does not come from the Apostolic era, so that alone places it in a secondary position to begin with.  As for contents, these vary from original Apostolic teaching to such a degree that it is clearly defensible why Irenaeus and other Church Fathers regarded this as heresy.

       Nature and origin of the document - The Gospel of Judas comes from a Gnostic group known as the “Cainites” and they were notorious for trying to “launder” the reputations of Old Testament “bad boys” (Cain, men of Sodom, etc.).  Along with some stuff that seems to parody (and seriously depart from) the authentic Gospels, there is other stuff that you won’t hear touted in the popular media because it reveals what a whacked-out bunch of unorthodox (compared with Biblical Christianity) folks these Gnostics really were.  "Scholars" trying to portray the Gospel of Judas' as an unfairly rejected/suppressed variation "within the early Christian Community" are not about to mention it's discussion of the "heavenly kingdom of Barbelo, the 72 heavens, the 360 firmaments, and the vast array of demigods said to be floating around in them!  Yeh, the Gospel of Judas is pure Gnostic literature and that is why Irenaeus viewed it as heresy back in the 2^nd century A.D. and so should we.

       Follow the Money - Yale University refused to purchase the text because of unresolved issues about its background.  National Geographic's Terry Garcia made arrangements with Frieda Tchacos Nussberger (she paid $300,000 for it in 2000 and now stands to make $1-2 million) to get access to the text and it was published in the Spring of 2006.  Of course, the National Geographic Society knows a good money-maker when they see one (they published, made a bundle of money, and then were embarrassed by the 1971 Philippine Tasaday fraud and the 2000 Archaeoraptor liaoningensis fossil that turned out to be a composite fraud “Piltdown Chicken").  The Gospel of Judas text is probably authentic 2^nd century Gnostic literature, but Jane C. Waldbaum, president of the Archaeological Institute of America claims this is a looted object and has quite an unsavory and foggy history amongst antiquities dealers.  National Geographic promised that the text will go back to Egypt when they are finished with it, but a number of scholars remain concerned that this manuscript is making money for people who are not its rightful owners.

       Conclusion - So, is the Gospel of Judas an "amazing find" that should re-write everything people believe about Christianity?  Nope - its just another 2^nd century A.D. Gnostic departure from the real story recorded in the canonical 1^st century A.D. New Testament documents.  Words are attributed to Judas and Jesus, but the only people really impressed by this text are those who don't want to believe the original story.  It seems that skeptics are impressed by anything that can be used to challenge or raise questions about traditional beliefs.  This is the basic element of truth shared by The DaVinci Code, the Lost Tomb of Jesus, and the Gospel of Judas!  There are a lot of other 2^nd century A.D. apocryphal "Christian" writings still unknown to the general public, so expect more of them to be trotted out in the future, but don’t worry about the validity of the New Testament documents.  The early church already worked through this stuff carefully and critically to be sure they had the most trustworthy "Christian" documents and these wound up in our New Testament.^[3]

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