The Gospel Of Judas Iscariot
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Religion
Judas was Jesus’s most trusted advisor and only betrayed him at Jesus’s request? That’s the claim in the gospel that the National Geographic Society recently revealed.
From NPR:
To most Christians, Judas is seen as a traitor, the disciple who betrayed Jesus to the Romans for 30 pieces of silver. But a newly restored papyrus document dating to the 2nd century AD portrays a very different man. Judas is shown as Jesus’ best friend, asked by Jesus himself to betray his identity to fulfill the prophecy and liberate his soul to ascend to heaven.
Still more…
The leather-bound papyrus codex, believed to have been translated from the original ancient Greek to the Coptic language around 300 AD, was found in the 1970s in a cave in the desert near El Minya, Egypt. It then circulated among antiquities traders, moving from Egypt to Europe to the United States. The codex languished in a safe deposit box on Long Island, N.Y., for 16 years before being bought in 2000 by Zurich-based antiquities dealer Frieda Nussberger-Tchacos.When attempts to resell the manuscript fell through, Tchacos — alarmed by the codex’s rapidly deteriorating state — transferred it to the Maecenas Foundation for Ancient Art in Basel, Switzerland, in February 2001 for conservation and translation.
Rodolphe Kasser, one of the world’s leading Coptic scholars, was recruited to reconstruct the manuscript and to transcribe and translate the text. The 66-page manuscript contains not only the Gospel of Judas but also a text titled James (also known as First Apocalypse of James), a letter of Peter to Philip and a fragment of a fourth text scholars for now are calling the Book of Allogenes.
More from the NY Times:
In this text, scholars reported yesterday, the account of events leading to the Crucifixion differs sharply from the four gospels in the New Testament. Here Jesus is said to entrust Judas with special knowledge and ask him to betray him to the Roman authorities. By doing so, he tells Judas, “you will exceed” the other disciples.“You will be cursed by the other generations, and you will come to rule over them,” Jesus confides to Judas in the document, which was made public at a news conference at the National Geographic Society in Washington.
And yes, the manuscript is said to be genuine. The scholars agree on that. The content? Well, that’s another story. My gut tells me that this will ultimately be dismissed because it doesn’t fit into the story most Christians and Christian scholars know and love.
But what if?
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April 6th, 2006 at 11:20 pm
This was reported by Time magazine a while ago.
I agree with your conclusion about how likely it will be for mainstream Christianity to adopt this. The man who’ll probably make the decision for Catholics is an American, come to think of it: Cardinal Levada, now head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the post Ratzinger used to hold before he was Benedict 16.
cheers
lecentre
Centrerion: Canadian Politics
centrerion.blogspot.com
April 6th, 2006 at 11:42 pm
There are a number of gospels that were not put into the Bible but have been uncovered in the last 100 years. The story of early Christiandom is fascinating and anyone who has studied it knows that if the Bible truly is the word of God, He must have acted not only through the authors but also through the church leaders who decided which stories were assembled into the Bible.
April 7th, 2006 at 1:34 am
Well, do you believe that God talked to the church leaders so they could choose to discard the newly found gospels?
April 7th, 2006 at 7:48 am
There are dozens of Gospels like this one that were written by gnostics hundreds of years after Christ’s death. One of them tells the story of how Jesus escaped crucifiction, and an imposter was mistakenly crucified in his place while Jesus stood on the sidelines and laughed!
April 7th, 2006 at 8:03 am
If you’re interested in this kind of stuff, I highly recommend both the NET translation of the Bible as well as Misquoting Jesus by Bart Erhman. Amusingly, the latter having been featured on the Daily Show.
However, as others have mentioned before, there are a host of clearly conflicting, clearly doubtful texts about Jesus. Personally, my interest is in whether the texts of the Bible itself can be trusted.
April 7th, 2006 at 8:03 am
5 bucks says this turns into a book deal.
Why hullo thar Da Vinci Code knockoff.
April 7th, 2006 at 9:26 am
All religious texts are deigned to be read by the audience of the author’s time. This gospel is unique because of its early writting and generally well preserved state. The gospel speaks often of the times after Jesus death, when others (who we would identify as early christians) will wrongly use Jesus’ name. It looks like a writting for those followers of Judas who will be tested “in the times to come”. It was common for religious authors to tell a history with prophits predicting events that happen in the author’s time. Here, Jesus gives instructions to the followers of Judas.
April 7th, 2006 at 9:55 am
Jesus tells Judas to betray his identity to liberate his soul. Bush tell Libby to betray Plames identity to help liberate Iraq. Coincidence…oh, I thinking F*@cking not! All of these Christians and Christ are in cahoots.
April 7th, 2006 at 9:59 am
The big problem with the Gospel of Judas is that, unlike the other gospels (including other gnostic ones) this particular disciple couldn’t have been around to write his own gospel. In any event, this particular work was debunked way back in AD 180. This manuscript is very important from an archaeological perspective, but it’s old news from a faith perspective.
April 7th, 2006 at 10:01 am
elaine pagels and bart eherman. check ‘em out…
April 7th, 2006 at 10:03 am
Except the Koran. Submit to Islam, dog!
April 7th, 2006 at 10:33 am
Justin,
Do I personally beleive God guided the early Church leaders in sellecting which of the many early-Christian stories were chosen for inclusion in the Bible?
I believe that the early church leaders chose the stories that resonated most true to the people of the time. Those stories that seemed untrue (like the Gospel of Judas) were cast out. So, yes, I do believe we ended up with the most true version of the Bible possible, making it the most true representation of God’s message.
But I’m not a fundamentalist so I don’t view the Bible as always infallible or always factually accurate. I acknowledge that God’s message has passed through the lesser hand of man.
April 7th, 2006 at 10:53 am
This was probably written by Judas’ mom.
“See, my boy wasn’t so bad…”
April 7th, 2006 at 11:14 am
Quite aside from what’s The Truth, what’s the better story? (I’m echoing Life of Pi here, for those who know.)
I think in this case, novelistically the church fathers picked the better story. That is, Judas being an unknowing instrument of God through his own human greed and weakness, rather than Judas being conscious of his role and “in on the fix.” (Heck, I wouldn’t even be too sure Jesus knew why he was being sacrificed. I think the whole cross-sacrifice-redemption story was created after his time, but I’m just a heathen so what do I know.)
And Judas the well beloved disciple, the one who Jesus said really “got it,” being the very one to betray him and sell him out — how human, how novelistic, is that?! What’s great about the Bible from a heathen, literary point of view is that God seems to prefer to work through humans’ flaws, cruelty, and unawareness. If it’s all preordained and prearranged, it’s new-agey and boring.
April 7th, 2006 at 11:59 am
Brian, don’t know if you know this, but most Biblical scholars agree that for the most part, the New Testament wasn’t written by any of Jesus’ actual apostles. The Gospels themselves are believed to have been written well after the death of Jesus, and possibly even after the deaths of most of the apostles.
The Bible is the work of men inspired by their faith.It may contain actual historical fact, but it is still written by fallible human beings.
April 7th, 2006 at 12:16 pm
I believe that the early church leaders chose the stories that resonated most true to the people of the time. Those stories that seemed untrue (like the Gospel of Judas) were cast out. So, yes, I do believe we ended up with the most true version of the Bible possible, making it the most true representation of God’s message.
But I’m not a fundamentalist so I don’t view the Bible as always infallible or always factually accurate. I acknowledge that God’s message has passed through the lesser hand of man.
Amen, brother!
What’s great about the Bible from a heathen, literary point of view is that God seems to prefer to work through humans’ flaws, cruelty, and unawareness.
I think that preference is pretty great from a believer’s point of view, too; in fact, I’d go so far as to say that’s the point of God’s message, period.
April 7th, 2006 at 12:28 pm
That’s why, to me, the Republican’s dance with the Fundamentalists in this country is so alarming. There are SO many things that are left up to simple faith, and I don’t like that.
Personally, I’m mostly ambivalent about the subject of God, being a militant agnostic and all. My motto (which I stole) is “I don’t know and you don’t either.” But when somebody proclaims that the Bible is infallible, I certainly have to take a step back and truly consider what they’re saying both from a religious AND historical perspective. Knowing what I know about Jesus, how his teachings became widespread, the whole business with Constantine, etc., I have a very difficult time with fundamentalism. That also a big reason why I have a hard time supporting the “Right.” If Republicans would pull away from the zealots, I think a lot more people would consider their policies, etc.
April 7th, 2006 at 1:29 pm
So maybe the Gnostics were right after all? It’s clear Christianity was much more diverse in the early years, and so the tradition of effortless debunking will continue. Don’t want to destroy the version of history we all based the last 2000 years on.
April 7th, 2006 at 1:51 pm
Justin Gardner – here is my favorite agnostic quote … “Maybe….Maybe not”
April 7th, 2006 at 1:58 pm
How interesting . . . .
You know, if Judas had not betrayed Jesus, he wouldn’t have died on the cross to save us from sin, etc. So, the argument could be made that whether or not Judas and Jesus cooked up this scheme, it was always in God’s plan for this to happen. Judas had free will to be sure, but God knew which decision he would make, right?
Well, anyway, I’m a militant agnostic as well, so I’m just throwing stuff out there. I don’t know why it would be hard to accept the stuff written on this old piece of papyrus, versus all the stuff written on other old pieces of papyrus that were “picked” to be in the Bible. It’s all unverifiable. Oh, I guess that’s where the faith comes in, which I don’t have. Faith + a quarter might get you downtown . . . . Sorry, I don’t believe in the tooth fairy either (ever since my parents got wise to that and stopped giving me money).
April 7th, 2006 at 9:04 pm
For all you folks who have never “been a Christian”, I suggest you refrain from criticizing Christians and/or holding them in disdain. You’re really speaking out of ignorance and we all know that ignorance is the one of the biggest factors of prejudice.
Several of the comments here clearly show a lack of understanding of the power of faith. It seems to me that’s why Christians scare so many people who don’t have faith.
Christian faith has sustained many people in the face of overwhelming odds throughout history. That’s a big part of having faith – when everything you physically see appears to head towards disaster, you hang in their regardless. That’s a really hard thing to do even when you do believe, and next to impossible when you have no faith.
Painting Christians as scary “fundamentalists” is just plain dumb. They are a powerful force for working hard, acting responsible, doing good, and giving selflessly. Why don’t you ask around and see who is still going to the Gulf Coast and helping people rebuild. You’ll discover a whole bunch of crazy Christians.
I would much rather have a hoard of strong faith Christians guarding my back than a bunch of agnostics.
April 7th, 2006 at 11:20 pm
Lewis, I don’t really think any comment about Christians in this thread are disdainful. They’re questioning and a few are purposefully sarcastic, but hardly disdainful.
The truth is, the GOP has aligned themselves with the fundamentalists who think the bible is THE word of God, without question. And to not question things is, I think, a bad idea.
You’re writing out of frustration, obviously, but don’t target people who have genuine, valid arguments against people who accept things on faith alone. This doesn’t mean that they aren’t good people, etc., but the political goal of these groups is to create a Christian nation above all else, and inject the church into the state. I don’t like that, and I bet many in this thread don’t either.
April 8th, 2006 at 9:52 am
Justin, I have to admit you’re correct about my frustration, but I try to keep that to a minimum. What I hope to do is to help non believers understand Christians a little more. I’d assume that most of them have spent little time in a church community so how can they really understand Christians?
To say that you can’t support Republicans because of the support of so-called fundamentalists who believe the Bible is the true word of God strikes me as prejudice. This I can understand since you’re “agnostic”. I’ve been there and done that, so I have some insight into your feelings. But since you haven’t ever had faith (I assume), I know you can’t really understand how that is.
I sure hope there’s room in the political center for people of faith. You’re comments suggest there is not. No Christian I know wants the government to be part of the church. We do believe that morality is more black and white without much grey and we want our country to reflect that. Most of this morality reflects a positive work ethic, acting in a responsible manner, putting community over self and helping those less fortunate. Certainly, these values are not a bad thing, especially when compared to those of the current self-destructive anything goes it’s all about me popular culture.
These values should be highly desirable for any political party. But it’s clear where Christians are welcomed and where they’re not. I hate that it’s like that. It’s clearly prejudice that’s rooted in an ignorance of what being a Christian is all about, at least in my opinion.
If you want create a powerful political movement, then I suggest you look for ways to include, rather than exclude people of faith.
Oh yeah, I do agree that not to question things is a bad thing. Have you ever questioned your agnostic beliefs?
April 8th, 2006 at 12:54 pm
The ‘gospel of Judas’ being written brings many questions into many peoples minds. There is a lot of evidence that must be looked at concerning this writing before we begin allowing it to become truth over pre-exsisting works.
The elaborate scheme mentioned began with the writings of Moses which are widley agreed to have been written around 1500 BCE. This seems to then trickle down through many people, often writing simultaniously to different nations, close in proximity yes, but still without the communication abilities we have today. Therefore, a generous 1700 years passed and the so called ‘hoodwinked’ masses were taken in what is being portrayed as an incredible scheme. Or, possibly the prophecies were exactly fulfilled, because this was a plan that was implemented as the Bible says “before the ages began.” That plan was the blood of Christ, and His resurrection were imparitive to fulfill the Law of the Old Testament in order to appease the requirements of a Holy God to allow people into Heaven. Not because He sits on a throne as an unmerciful Judge, but because He is gracious and would send His Son to die for those whom He loves. Not being able to allow sin in His presence and requiring another means of purifying the people, because the temple sacrifices of sheep, bulls, birds, grain, and wine were temporal, but the blood of God who became flesh, was perfect.
That is both the argument of the books of Romans and Hebrews (in the Bible), and the point that each of the Gospels make for Judas betraying Christ. Judas was serving himself by making some money out of a deal, not helpling Jesus become something He already was.
This ‘gospel’ was written “sometime before 180 A.D.” (NG Home). This is a long time from the death of Christ, and a longer time from the writting of the other Gospels. Knowing that the gnostics were a radical group, that strayed from the text of scripture to follow thier own ways, where does there seem to proof that this ‘gospel’ has cleared up any of Judas reputation. More proof seems to be pointing to the fact that is is false writtings, and not that it is truth re-embodied.
And hey if I am wrong – I spend the rest of my life happy with a great wife, and if I am right then I get to spend the rest of eternity in Heaven praising God. Of course, I am painted as a narrow minded bigot who believes the Bible is true, but then I guess that is better than being painted blue. Right!
April 8th, 2006 at 2:23 pm
I sure hope there’s room in the political center for people of faith. You’re comments suggest there is not. No Christian I know wants the government to be part of the church. We do believe that morality is more black and white without much grey and we want our country to reflect that.
First, I can only speak for myself, but I feel very comfortable stopping by here and even commenting (ahem), and I am, indeed, a person of faith, specifically Christian, and not only a regular churchgoer, but on the staff of my particular church. That’s just a part-time “paid” position, but given that I play two other, significant volunteer roles, it adds up to a LOT of time. And I’m politically in the center, in the aggregate if not in every particular, so by my lights I belong there whether someone wants me there or not. I think we of mixed POV’s should just stake out room for ourselves and go from there. Then there’s this (necessarily put in a pithy, shallow way here): Christians are expected to be welcoming. But where does it say that we should expect to be “welcomed”? I think we just persevere, regardless. I’m not saying YOU’RE writing this way (in fact, I don’t think that’s your intent here), but too often I read complaints from Christians on this topic which have more than a small sense of both entitlement and victimhood. When that happens, I can’t help but think we, as Christians, are paying a bit too much attention to ourselves and our status in the world; in turn, that plank blinds us to much more important things.
Second, I do know Christians who, if they don’t want the government to be part of their churches, they do want religion in their government (this would include a number of family members–as it happens of a different denominations than I–so I know whereof I speak). I also know many Christians who object, in varying levels of vehemence, to blurring between the realms of church and state. Sometimes, though you don’t see it in the public square as much, I think there’s actually MORE sharp disagreement among those within the church than outside (but then, I belong to a pretty diverse, even polarized, church, especially as reflected in my particular congregation).
Third, I see a difference between “grey” and “nuanced.” I prefer the latter term for a variety of reasons, which I won’t go into here. In any case, I suspect I’d see a whole lot more “grey” than you, depending on what you mean by that, and yet I’m still Christian (and no one who knows me would put me in the progressive-left branch of theology, as a holistic label).
Most of this morality reflects a positive work ethic, acting in a responsible manner, putting community over self and helping those less fortunate. Certainly, these values are not a bad thing, especially when compared to those of the current self-destructive anything goes it’s all about me popular culture.
We are of a mind here, brother. I back that seventy times seven.
+Peace
April 8th, 2006 at 9:40 pm
Simple logic tells you that in order for jesus to redeem the world of its sin his death and rebirth must occur, if jesus was not betrayed then the world will still be rolling in sin. therefore judas saved the world by handing over jesus to be slaughtered for his redeeming blood. judas should be worshiped greater than how the catholics worship mary, thing is tradition and what others think is more important than truth and knowing god. the gospel of judas confirms this now.
April 8th, 2006 at 10:34 pm
Lewis, of course there’s more than enough room for people of faith in the middle. But if you want to mix church and state, then you’re most likely not going to be very welcome.
In any event, your comments are appreciated.
April 9th, 2006 at 12:59 am
You know, it really doesn’t matter in the overall picture whether you consider Judas a hero or betrayer. The story of God’s redemption is not about him, though it includes him in the story. It is about the fall of man and redemption through Christ alone.
The question to ask is, where will you be when you die? Will you go to “Heaven” or “Hell” as the Bible claims, or will you just cease to exist? Both can’t be true. So which one will it be? Let’s start by saying that Truth needs no defense. It stands on its own. Regardless of what you choose to believe, it remains the same. Truth is not created. It is either acknowledged or denied. If you deny truth when it crosses your path, then you will, as a consequence, live dishonestly. If you acknowledge and act upon truth when you happen to run into it, then, as a consequence, you will be living in “truth”.
Now, the question then to ask, “What is Truth?” If truth is stands on its own then it’s just a matter of finding it. But, where do I go to find it? The answer is right before your eyes.
Example of Circumstance: If you stand directly on tracks in front of a train coming toward you at 70 mph, and you stay there and let it hit you at that same speed, I don’t believe anyone will argue the fact that your body will be smashed. It doesn’t matter if you believe otherwise.
Truth stands on its own.
Example of Morality: If a man came up to you and pointed a gun at your head and said that he is going to kill you just because he believes it’s okay. Would you say he has a right to believe what he wants and tell him to go ahead? I don’t think so.
You would think he was crazy, automatically. That is your intellect and conscience telling you that there is something wrong with the picture.
Let me rephrase that. You are acknowledging a moral truth that you are convicted of. “It wouldn’t be right to take my life without justication.” You are in essence declaring that justification exists apart from you. It’s not something that you made up.
You see, the truth stands on its own.
Back to the first question. Where will you be when you die? Will you go to “Heaven” or “Hell” as the Bible claims, or will you just cease to exist? Both can’t be true.
It is your responsibility to answer that question. If you choose ignorance and decide to steer clear of answering it for yourself, it doesn’t make make it invalid.
If you cease to exist, then you have nothing to worry about. You just live your life the way you want.
But if there is a final destination of “Heaven” or “Hell” you might want to investigate it objectively and look for the truth yourself. I wouldn’t want to live my entire life choosing not to know and then ending up in “Outer Darkness”, into the “Unquenchable Fire” of eternal regret and separation. When, I had the opportunity to know a loving God who promises that in His kingdom there will be no more sorrow, pain, or death for all eternity.
The truth stands on its own. It’s for you to find it.
April 9th, 2006 at 5:12 pm
What amuses me is that the naysayers of this new-found text deprecate its authenticity because it is not dated ca. Judas himself. If they will ignore the importance of a document because it was not written during the time of its subject matter then we might as well throw out the entire book of Genesis, because nobody was around at that time either. The consensus by even fundamentalist Biblical scholars is that the book of Genesis was written long after the initial Creation (i.e. Adam wasn’t given to writing, now was he?) And Genesis isn’t the only book in the Bible that falls under this category. If scholars accept Genesis, they have to accept the Gnostic Gospels of Thomas, Paul, and Judas as well, don’t they? To do otherwise is nonsense.
April 9th, 2006 at 10:16 pm
I really don’t believe that discriminating scholars would throw out a document based solely on its dating. The date of a manuscript doesn’t, of itself, verify its authenticity. Example: “The National Inquirer” magazine is written in the present about present events, but, to believe everything in it, just because of that fact, would be foolish. Any objective thinker would require evidence to back up what is claimed in “The NI”. There would need to be other sources to support the claim. There would also need to be contrary evidence to discredit any particular recorded account if one is to dogmatically state that it isn’t true.
You mentioned Genesis above. Let’s just put the entire Old Testament on the line.
What proof is there that the Old Testament is a reliable document?
Let’s start with the fact that there are more than 14,000 manuscripts and fragments of the Old Testament. Some of the Dead Sea scroll manuscript fragments date back as far as 250-200 B.C. (or if you prefer, B.C.E.). the earliest quoted verses date from 800-700 B.C.
There are more historical documents available supporting the Bible than any other historically documented event(s) in history.
That being said, I don’t think one can objectively discredit the authenticity and reliability of the Old Testament manuscripts.
But, you might ask, “Does that mean what the Old Testament says is truth?”
NO. It doesn’t. Again, just because a document says something doesn’t make it true. There must be evidence that supports it.
An eyewitness is always a source of strong evidence when one is put on trial. So, it would help if the Old Testament included eyewitnesses to support what it says. Well, there are. For example, Moses, who, most if not all scholars agree, authored the first five books of the Old Testament. In his writings he claims to be an eyewitness and a participant in the events surrounding the Egyptian captivity of the Israelites, the Exodus, the forty years in the desert, and the ushering in of the Israelites into the “Promise Land”.
Now, you must note that the chronicles of the old testament are written by the author in a way that eludes to the fact that he believes that the events are actual historical events that really happened. The literary style does not lend to fable or mythical literature. Moses even goes as far as listing exhaustive genealogies and very specific details about places and events.
“But, an eyewitness can be a false one!!” That is very true.
So one must seek evidence that either supports or discredits the eyewitness’ testimony. “What evidence is available to support the old testament?” Archaeology. One example is this:
For years critics dismissed the Book of Daniel, partly because there was no evidence that a king named Belshazzar ruled in Babylon during that time period. However, later archaeological research confirmed that the reigning monarch, Nabonidus, appointed Belshazzar as his co-regent while he was away from Babylon.
A new testament example is that of Sir William Ramsay, an archaeologist & biblical skeptic, who set out to disprove the historical reliability of the accounts of Luke and Acts. But, to the contrary, during his archaeological trips, he became converted due to the compounding evidence he found that supported the accuracy of the documents.
The following website lists several skeptics/aethists throughout history that set out to discredit the claims of the bible so that there would be no arguement but in doing so, all became converted by the overwhelming evidence. In fact, there is no other religion in the world that is supported by such exhaustive evidence as Christianity. Christianity is not “Blind Faith”. It is actually a giant leap of blind faith to believe in any other religion if you seek to defend it by historical evidence.
Please don’t take me wrong. I am not an anti-semitic expressing my “hatred” for the Jews through blindly agreeing that the “Jews killed Jesus”. NOTE: it wasn’t actually the Jews who did it. More precisely, it was the Pharisees and Saducees that were threatened by him because he was leading “Jews” as well as gentiles into the faith and belief that he was the Messiah that was spoken of by the prophets. Their power over the people was threatened and it stirred up such a hatred for Jesus that they sought a way to kill him.
I am just a firm believer that absolute truth exists. And that it is in the revelation that the bible proclaims of Jesus Christ and His message of redemption from our depraved state of heart & mind.
April 9th, 2006 at 10:19 pm
I forgot to include the website. Here it is:
http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/apologetics/AP0202W4.htm
April 9th, 2006 at 11:25 pm
I’ve just seen “the Gospel of Judas” on the National Geographic channel. A superb objective program extremely informative and which opens up people’s minds.
Thi document just confirm what I’m experimenting since a long time living in different countries and now in The U.S. and coming from Italy where I was born.
People make more and more confusion between religion and and faith and the fact is that religion as an expression of faith today doesn’t exist anymore. Today’s interpretation of religion brings to more and more hate and it’s strongly in crisis in the culturally advanced countries and more and more addictive among the ignorants the closed minded and the underdeveloped countries.
Living in a country with more than 50 religions and coming from a country with an “imposed” one, it’s very understandable that in the past, with mich higher ignorance and no possibility to travel, it was very easy to impose religion models as the roots and traditions of generation and generation of people. The ABSOLUTE TRUTH !!
More than 30 gospels have been smartly elimininated to build a Christian world which today has no serious anwers to homosexuality and transexuality (450 millions people), the life in the Universe, the abortion, the de-facto familes and many more.
Why the Christian or the Jewish or the Muslim religion should be the truth and why not the Scintoist religion in Japan. This was an area never touched by the Christianity because nobody even knew about Japan at that time. Nobody can ever demonstrate this.
When the “conquistadores” arrived in the Americas, they “imposed” the religion to people who had no weapons and sophisticated military tactics (Indios and American Indians).
When during the last century and up to now people voluntary emigrated in the new world, countries like the United States started living the contraddiction of the management of old religions all together and in the same place with new ones (mormons, baptists, scientologists and more). Some people started giving more and more value to the religio as a “dogma” while many others started looking much more for their internal spirituality and faith true maditation, yoga and more. Now religious interestest is declining in the emancipaed Europe, stationary and starting loosing interested in the U.S. and growing in the undrdevolped countries where people “travel less”.
The Gospel of Judas is just a less anti-semitic confirmation of another version of the research of the human feelings true personal spirituality and looking for ore aswers to questions nobody answered.
The 21st century will see always less priests, rabi and muetzin, represent the PR of God and always more people researching for their own faith and internal spirituality.
FINALLY !!!!!!!!!!
April 10th, 2006 at 8:06 pm
You know, it amazes me how much Christianity is underestimated by reporters and mainline Americans alike.
You think Christian this stuff never occurred to Christian thinkers before? You think they’ve never been faced with challenges like these before? Do you think that the halls of the Vatican are quaking before the approach of this new threat?
The reporters are behind the times. About a few centuries behind the times. Debates over the veracity of the Bible and the process of canonization have been had out ad nauseum in more variations than NPR or the NYT (bless their hearts) ever dreamed.
You’d think, from the way this is being reported, that Christianity was ready to explode in a violent fireball the moment someone suggests that we’re all irrational idiots. It’s like the Christian psyche is supposed to be this fragile little facade that will crumble the moment the brave skeptics at the NYT shine the glaring light of truth on our little house of cards.
Please!
Aetheism has already had ample opportunities to discredit religious belief. Like about a century of opportunity.
It failed. Aetheism has failed in what it set out to accomplish. The atheists just don’t know it yet and gleefully carting out silly little non-issues like this that were already settled centuries ago just makes them look irrelevant.
April 10th, 2006 at 11:12 pm
Shift to Discovery channel.
April 11th, 2006 at 9:31 pm
to Paul Gonzales:
Religionis not faith. Atheist are not religious but they have faith. people have faith in themselves, nature, other people and some of these people call this God and they deserve respect for that as well as atheists. You cannot impose faith masquerade by fairy tales (religions)written centuries ago and interpreted by humans with their limits.
I personally believe in God but I don’t believe in religions because they put limits on the hman feelings, intelligence and development century by century. Today religions cannot answer questions opened by a lot of realities which exist in nature and deserve respect as they are (example: homosexuality, extraterrestrial possibilities) and more importantly they cannot judge in name of God if nature don’t harm anyone just because it exists.
April 12th, 2006 at 2:41 am
Max:
I’m really pleased to hear that you believe in God. However, I noticed that you didn’t really study the facts behind the orthodox religion. I can understand that. Besides, scientists dismiss religion as fairy tale even in the face of overwhelming historial evidence.
Science should not be placed above religion because mortals cannot explain everything. The universe is too complex and too intricate to be dismissed as a product of comic chaos. The organization and composition of the human body is too advanced to be considered a result of chance.
A scientist who insists that creation was not orchestrated by a higher intelligence is too unscientific and ironically an idiot in the opinion of many people with common sense.
Religion is concerned with spiritual matters and not science that’s why it is not bound to satisfy scientific curiosities.
Faith in God makes us happier people.
Concerning E.T.’s, there is no evidence that they exist.
Concerning homosexuality, it is not normal. We have to ask our homosexual friends to work their way toward the opposite direction because immorality is a bottomless pit and there is no end to the sexual experimentation.
Concerning the Gospel of Judas, I’m amazed that he found the time to write it, maybe a few minutes before he hung himself.
April 12th, 2006 at 3:20 am
True Christians need not be worried at all about all these stories floating around. We have to just sit back and see how innovative and humorous these conspiracy theories can get – be it the da vinci code, walking on ice or judas iscariot.
Jesus has very clearly said that that there will be many false prophets and false teachers who will “deceive many people” (And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many-Mathew 24:11). Though these false prophets might claim to know and communicate God’s word, they are spreading lies. These false prophets and false teachers will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. They will deny the Lord who died for them by presenting a different view of the gospel. The focus is not on the cross for salvation. Again, “many” will be deceived by religious, innocent-looking-but deadly enemies of Christianity, who bring the way of truth into disrepute (2 Pet. 2:1,2). The Apostle Paul clearly stated that there are teachings which actually come from “demons” through false teachers (1 Tim. 4:1, 2) and that Satan has servants which masquerade as servants of righteousness (2 Cor. 11:15).
False teachers are not rejected for their distorted teachings but are actually embraced. Support is not lacking for these men, but is overwhelming. Jesus wasn’t joking when He said beware of false prophets that come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravening wolves (Matt. 7:15). They are here NOW! Be on guard. It’s a matter of life and death. Learn the Scriptures, so that you won’t be deceived.
How are Christians to protect themselves in the midst of the religious deception so prevalent in the world today? The Bible exhorts us to search the Word of God for wisdom, understanding, and discernment (Prov. 2). We are to test every teaching. “Examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good” (1 Thes. 5:21). We are warned not to believe every spirit because many false prophets have gone out into the world. It is only by God’s Word that we can discern the Spirit of Truth from the spirit of error (1 John 4:1,6).
We are to be like the Bereans who examined the Scriptures daily to verify the truthfulness of the Apostle Paul’s teachings (Acts 17:11). If the one who wrote over half the New Testament was tested, it stands to reason everyone’s teaching must be examined in the light of God’s Holy Word.
What are we to do with the false teachers within Christendom? We are to expose their false teachings and refrain from participating in their endeavors (Eph. 5:6, 11).
April 12th, 2006 at 4:12 am
Quoted: “So, yes, I do believe we ended up with the most true version of the Bible possible, making it the most true representation of God’s message.”
Wow, that sounds concrete enough to forsake the one life I was given to chase some crazy notion of heaven and hell. Where do I sign up and do you guys drink kool-aid?
April 17th, 2006 at 6:17 pm
It was prophesied in the Old Testament Scriptures that Judas would, of his own free will, betray the Messiah… Read more:
Gospel of Judas Not Truth
April 17th, 2006 at 11:21 pm
National Geograhic channel’s presentation of The Gospel of Judas was carefully crafted to deceive Christians. The narrators didn’t sound to me like scholars or independent researchers but rather cunning promoters of lies. In their show, Judas is young and innocent looking while Peter looks really bad. They also used their so called credentials to have us believe that the Main Orthodox Christian Church is just one of the many Christian denominations that sprouted in the early days of Christianity, as if all are equal in size and validity. The fact is the other groups are just small ridiculous sects that cannot be taken seriously (with the exception of National Geographic).
Do you really think Dan Brown wrote the Da Vinci Code without diabolical agenda? The book aims to bring down Christ under the guise of fiction writting. Didn’t you notice that the subliminal deceptions were carefully planned to victimize the weak and uninformed. This is not an innocent artistic work. Dan Brown’s soul could be black.
Why do Americans allow these garbage to take center stage? Is there a culture of garbage in America? Americans are suppose to be devout Christians like the founding fathers. Do not give up the amazing grace and your unique position in the international community, fight for Christ.
I noticed that the American media and entertainment industry are always aiming to distort Christian norms and ideals which made materialism and immorality appear reasonable, and the Daily Show blasphemes God with immunity. Perhaps the people controlling the American media and entertainment industry are not Americans at all, nor Christians, that’s why mel Gibson met opposition for “The Passion of the Christ” movie. Perhaps they want to put in their own christ. (But don’t call me anti-semitic, I’m just protesting the excesses of present day Jews)
April 18th, 2006 at 1:49 am
Hey Dexter B., for your information they also control the Federal Reserve, World Bank, and our own US military. I think they’ll crucify Christ a second time. They worked hard on the gospel of Judas bull shit.
April 18th, 2006 at 9:12 am
Dexter,
I wouldn’t worry about the American Media, or the Jews for doing damage to Christianity. Look in the mirror Sport.
April 18th, 2006 at 10:28 am
Dexter is not exaggerating about Jewish control. Even the US congress is known to be Israeli occupied territory. Have you heard of AIPAC, Wolfwitz, or Perle? Are you aware of the Kosher tax? The new world order is a Jewish plan for world dominion, more like evil domain on earth. Do some serious research sport.
April 18th, 2006 at 12:16 pm
LOL,
Jason. If by serious research you mean surfing Neo-Nazi propaganda sites, I’m afraid that I can’t help you. Now supposing that this was a serious posting, You should spend a little more time worrying about being a good Christian in more than participation in church. See, cuz if your saved, it won’t matter what the evil Jew Boogie Man is doing down here on Earth. You don’t have to Goose Step across every issue in the world as a Jew v/ Christian issue. What part of the Bible tells us that Christianity should seek revenge on the the Jews for killing Christ. That is not to say, that the Romans killed christ, but given that the Vatican is in Rome, and the Catholics controlled the formation of the Church for the majority of its early influential years, don’t you think that most likely the Evil Jew bit was probably played up a little to relieve some of the blame for the crucifixion of Christ from the Romans.
April 18th, 2006 at 8:16 pm
My dear John, its not about blaming the Jew for crucifying Christ, its about defending my faith and my country from the schemes of the modern Jew. Christians never hated the Jew for crucifying Christ. The Jews are the ones who suggested this to cover up their present day crimes. That’s why National Geographic wants us to believe that anti-Semitism was started by vengeful Christians. Many people can see that Anti-semitism is a result of their oppressive behavior in their host countries. I believe Christians have the duty to expose every lie that cause injustice. Of course they coined words like neo-nazism and anti-Semitism to make it appear that they are the victims, but the evidence against their abuses are no fiction and these could not be suppressed forever. Legitimate Americans know these, no need for help from your so called neo-nazis. Don’t you realize what’s going on in your backyard? There is a conspiracy to erase Christianity from the face of the earth. Now you will call me conspiracy theorist? The Jews are behind films like Sin City. Should I remain silent John?
April 19th, 2006 at 12:00 pm
Jason,
Please do remain silent. The last Sunday I took a walk, and I saw No Lack of Christian Worship. Last time I followed an election, I saw no lack of christian influence. The last time I looked at our Presidents or the make up of our Gov’t I saw no lack of christians in office. So yeah, Jason, I have no issue asking you to relax on this crazy Jew conspiracy bit. You don’t like the media, don’t watch it. I don’t watch Fox news, christian broadcasting, the 700 Club, reality TV, I don’t read the pamphlets left by Jehovah Witnesses, I try to ignore the Billboards along the highways condemning sinners or abortionists or Bumper Stickers telling me that God is their CoPilot. I don’t see the Jew bit you are concerned about, I’m sorry. Sin City was an amazing movie, if you’re belief in God will not let you understand that, too bad for you.
And what is with all this Bullshit Christian Martyrdom going about these days. Please! You all are the majority of the country, hold the greatest number of elected seats. The problem is that you don’t have complete control, and thank your God for that.
Oh, and Jason, you sound EXTREMELY paranoid, seek help.
April 21st, 2006 at 1:49 am
Here’s an interesting article on countering false teachers – a child’s way
A boy was sitting in a park bench with one hand resting on his open Bible. He was loudly exclaiming his praise to God. “Hallelujah! Hallelujah! God is great!� he yelled without worrying to see if anyone noticed him or not.
Shortly thereafter, along came a man, who had recently completed his research and higher studies at a local University, and feeling good about it. And very eager to demonstrate his personal mission to create deception about the Christian faith, he questioned the boy about the source of his joy.
“Hey� said the boy is return with a bright smile, “don’t you have any idea as to what God is able to do? I just read that God parted the Red Sea and lead the whole nation of Israel right through the middle�.
The enlightened teacher laughed loudly, sat down next to the boy and began to try to open his eyes to the ‘realities’ of the miracles in the Bible. “This can be very easily explained�, he said. “Modern scientific research and studies have shown that the Red Sea in that place (where the Israelites crossed over) was only 10 inches deep at that time, making it a simple matter for the Israelites to wade across�.
The boy was now confused and his eyes wandered from the enlightened teacher to the Bible lying open in his lap. The false teacher, pleased that he had enlightened a naïve young fellow to the finer points of scientific research, turned to leave.
Hardly had he taken a few steps when the boy began to rejoice and praise God louder than before. The teacher turned and asked the boy the reason for his new found jubilation.
“Wow�! exclaimed the boy joyfully, “God is even greater than I thought He is! For not only did He lead the whole nation of Israel through the Red Sea, He topped it off by drowning the whole Egyptian army in 10 inches of water!�. “Praise the Lord�.
——–
These are the kinds of lies and deception dished out by the current day false prophets and false teachers under the guise of false research and studies (which nobody has the time nor inclination to challenge). True Christians must not at all be worried about these conspiracy theories as Jesus had clearly told us that these false teachers and false christs will abound in plenty.
April 30th, 2006 at 9:37 pm
oh Boy- this is not cool. More things added to scripture that wasnt suppose to be. Adding and taking away is forbidden.
May 30th, 2006 at 11:46 am
I must admit, as a new reader to the blog that I am thoroughly enjoying the truly insightful blogs about The Gospel of Judas. The name calling and bigotry is another story. I for one, not being a life-long practicing Christian, but always interested in all aspects of it feel that I have come to the conclusion that The Gnostic concept of God and Christ (I realize that the term Gnostic is wideranging) is more true and consistantly plausable than either the Old or New Testament writings. If I could find a church or group of followers in the Pacific NW I would likely join them.
The wonderful thing is that as openminded belivers in Jesus we can all find our truth.
May 30th, 2006 at 1:05 pm
All religion is a book selling SCAM. A way to control people and suck even more out of their wallets.
The Jews LIED! They are NOT any “chosen” people. They LIED. Not that the man EVER even existed…in any event, the Hebrew name would have been JOSHua [now go look up “josh” in your dictionaries, if you are strong even to know the truth.
The truth is all of us have only so many years on this earth. You Youth, make your lives count.
The Jews told this lie knowing it would bar the way for others to do what they do [try to take all the top paying jobs so their smaller numbers can control a whole population.
As to the Arabs religion-theirs is a control system too. “Mohammed’s”
wife should have never told him he was in touch with a male creator and should have told him the truth-he should see a head doctor.
But it keeps us all divided when the truth is many of us are even related by blood…but that doesn’t profit the Jew[the booksellers and tree choppers now does it!
Wake up and stop this division or your children may all fry.
Face the harsh realities of life: somewhere between birth and 140 years you will surely die.
May 30th, 2006 at 1:12 pm
The only thing you need to know in life: Treat others as you would like to be treated and the world will live in harmony….unfortunately, they don’t make as much money, but we will all live and live more peacefully.
What does the Jew, as a group do? They say in their writings one thing and in actuality they push faggotry, pornography, and everything wicked and base in actuality. It is they who dumbed down America’s children[so they could push their sexual perversions as “normal”.
THEIR ARE NO KNOW GOD’S JUST MEN WHO LIE AND SAY THEY KNOW WHAT THEY KNOW NOT…AND THEY DO IT FOR MONEY and to put Men over women[how do you like the job they’ve done over the last two hundred years…how many tens of millions deaths of young men?
THEY DON’T EVEN KNOW IF THERE ONE AND THEY SURE DO NOT KNOW IF THERE IS A CREATOR IF THEY EVEN HAVE A SEX…NEVER MIND A MALE. Tired of cowering before this violent offenders…GIVE US TRUTH, FREEDOM AND ONE RULE FOR RICH AND POOR OR GIVE US DEATH AND WE MEAN IT!
As to the Saudi’s: HOW DARE THEY BUY YACHT’S WHEN THERE IS ONE UNEMPLOYED IN THAT NATION!
The rich taking advantage of the poor and baring the way to their being as educated is going to set the world ablaze!
WE CAN STOP THE DESTRUCTION OF THE EARTH, BUT THE GREEDY HAVE TO MEND THEIR WAYS!