The Gospel of Judas

[Daniel]

http://www9.nationalgeographic.com/c...gospelofjudas/

Wow. Have you seen the news about the Gospel of Judas? Amazing stuff.

The implied nuances of this text are riveting. And it would seem, at first glance, that content and context is everything.

[Mia14]

Blows my mind...
---
It's scary to think that the Bible was compiled by men and there were so many more gospels that the greater public may never know of. I've heard of a gospel according to Mary and one according to Thomas. Who knows what really happened?

[cellardoor]

I read this article about it a few days ago. Be warned: Cynicism ahead.

[NonLemming]

Glad to hear that this manuscript has been found. The concept has been around for a long time....even in our short life-times. "The Last Temptation of Christ" dealt with this topic explicitly. Harvey Keitel and Willem Dafoe (Judas and Jesus) were in on the plan that only Judas had the courage to follow through with. Yes, some minds may blow open, but an open mind is a good thing. Judas got a bad rap.

[Daniel]

Originally Posted by cellardoor

I read this article about it a few days ago. Be warned: Cynicism ahead.

Read the article you posted. The word specious comes to mnd. The writer uses what I call circular thinking, that is, he has a point of view and then ignores any evidence that contradicts it.

Some points:

The author insinuates that the document was copied (gasp!) which calls the name on it into question. Ok. Since when is any gospel that we have an original one? It was my recollection that all of the supposed canon are copies.

The author also asserts that, because we've know about it for a long time (from an adversarial source by the way) and that invalidates it as well. Gee. I didn't know that it had been translated before. (It hasn't.)

The author also posits that, because it can't conform to his view of early christianity- he has the 'right' view it seems, this invalidates it as well. Too bad he ignores the very words under his nose.

And so what that National Geographic brings this out before Easter? I don't see any harm in that. I think they call that marketing. Of course the author won't be doing that for his next- if ever- book. (OK- mea cupla- I've lapsed into cynicism.)

Now this isn't a defense of Gnosticism per se, but throwing out the tub before even stepping into the water is, well, stupid.

Circular Thinking Ahead. Danger Will Robinson!

[revtj]

[photo of Judas & Jesus from Turkish Byzantine Ceiling Fresco]

After seeing this picture, (Is it just me or what? That Judas has got one sweet booty to show off, hmm?), I wondered if maybe Judas tried to break up Jesus & the Beloved Disciple and thus his betrayal was out of jealousy?

Heresy or Hairspray? You decide!

[Liberal Crozier]

Patristic theology was traditionally taught in Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox seminaries. The codification of the NT was NEVER intended to exclude those other works of the Fathers of the Church altogether. The undivided Church never foresaw a time when Word would supplant the Sacraments/Mysterion and not complement them.

This, and the addition of the Deuterocanonical Books of the OT, shows us that 72 as opposed to 66, Christianity is not a faith system that you can reduce to twenty-five words or less.

The contextual Biblical scholar who uses all the tools at his command, rather than the absolute "literalist" will, IMHO, save the Faith from derision or worse.

[maklelan]

Originally Posted by Mia14

Blows my mind...
---
It's scary to think that the Bible was compiled by men and there were so many more gospels that the greater public may never know of. I've heard of a gospel according to Mary and one according to Thomas. Who knows what really happened?

There were over five thousand different texts to sift through when they first started compiling a New Testament. The Gospel of Judas is a Gnsotic text, and there were thousands of them, to be sure. At its earliest, Christianity was kept alive and promulgated through oral tradition, and many believe the stories weren't put to paper until the Gnostics started circulating their own Gospels. The thought was that the Gospel would get heinously perverted unless some documents were produced. This website will give you a fascinating look into how the New Testament was compiled and canonized:

http://www.geocities.com/airspirit3/...mentcanon.html

and this website will give you the original Greek and current English texts for all the early Christian writings that we have:

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com

Check those sites out and tell me what you learn about early Christianity.

[Daniel]

Originally Posted by maklelan

There were over five thousand different texts to sift through when they first started compiling a New Testament. The Gospel of Judas is a Gnsotic text, and there were thousands of them, to be sure. At its earliest, Christianity was kept alive and promulgated through oral tradition....

Check those sites out and tell me what you learn about early Christianity.

Makelan,

Thanks for the webpages.

In a nutshell, the first webpage you include bring to mind this phrase (who originated it I can't remember): "History is written by the conquerors" While the phrase was made, I believe, in reference to military matters, it applies equally to the history of the church and calls into question a great many things.