Gospel of Judas

[cmotherofpirl]

'Gospel of Judas'

Theologians say the ancient account could be misinterpreted
by Martin Penner .

(ANSA) - Rome, February 24 - The forthcoming publication of the 'Gospel of Judas' has sparked fears among some Catholic theologians that it could give people wrong ideas about the man who is famous for betraying Jesus Christ .

The second century text, which was believed lost for over a thousand years, reportedly argues that Judas Iscariot was an essential part of God's design and, as such, almost a hero. Without his betrayal, Jesus would not have been crucified and so, the argument goes, God's plan to save mankind from its sins would not have been fulfilled .

This unorthodox account of Christ's life was written by an ancient Gnostic sect called the Cainites, which made a habit of giving a positive value to all the negative figures in Christian scriptures .

The Gospel of Judas, written in Coptic, is one of several accounts of Christ's life which are termed 'apocryphal', meaning they are seen as questionable in some way and so not recognised as part of the Bible .

But, according to several Church experts, this distinction could be lost on many people when the document is published at Easter. "The danger is clearly there, because some people will try to hide the truth and give undue importance to a document written in the 2nd century by people in open opposition to the early Christian Church," said a Rome-based theologian who is an expert on ancient texts .

Although very little is known of the details in the pro-Judas story, news of its coming publication has already led the media to talk about a "rehabilitation" of the hitherto despised disciple. A Vatican official cited in the British press as leading a drive to give Judas a better image was forced to deny last month that this was the case .

Giovanni D'Ercole, an Italian theologian who often appears in the media, stressed that the Gospel of Judas should always be seen in its historical context, otherwise its message could "feed a New Age drift". "We have to avoid creating confusion in the minds of believers with readings and evaluations not formed on the basis of a careful study. The risk is that the truth of the New Testament will be distorted," he said in an interview. After being last heard of in AD180, a manuscript containing the text of the 'gospel' appeared about 30 years ago on the Egyptian antiquities market. It was recently acquired by the Swiss-based Maecenas Foundation for Ancient Art and U.S.-based National Geographic magazine, who are behind the imminent publication. The document might appear to pose a serious challenge to traditional Church thinking on Judas. But in fact it will have no theological impact whatsoever, according to Giovanni Maria Vian, professor of patristic philology at Rome's Sapienza university .

"Reflections on the role and meaning of Judas have been going on for centuries. This has no bearing on Catholic theology because the document reflects the doctrinal requirements of certain Gnostic groups," he told ANSA .

He admitted however that the text does raise interesting questions about the role of Judas in the Christ story. Some of these were discussed recently by Italy's top Catholic writer, Vittorio Messori. Interviewed by the Turin daily La Stampa, he noted that a key difference between the Gospel of Judas and the Bible accounts concerns the question of forgiveness .

In the apocryphal account Judas is forgiven, Messori recalled: "He weeps, Jesus forgives him and in order to purify him he sends Judas into the desert to do spiritual exercises." In the New Testament, in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is quoted as saying: "Woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born." After the betrayal, they never meet again and, overcome with remorse, Judas commits suicide. Christ atones for the sins of humanity but never specifically forgives Judas .

Messori said the lack of forgiveness in the Bible account appeared strange in a man who preached forgiveness. He also noted that Jesus's choice of Judas as a disciple in the first place seemed to show a marked lack of perspicacity .

But, as someone who wanted to believe the Gospels were true, he said he was glad of Judas's presence. "If the gospels had been invented, the figure of Judas just wouldn't be there because he's so embarrassing," he said .

Photo: In Leonardo's famous painting, The Last Supper, Judas is the figure on the far left .

[jswranch]

"Gospel of Judas" as written by Judas Iscariot or Judas, brother of James?

FYI. Either way it was rejected due to date: It was written between 130-170AD.

[url="http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/gospeljudas.html"]http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/gospeljudas.html[/url]

For you "typologists," what is the accepted typology for Judas Iscariot? David vs. Goliath, Moses vs. Pharaoh?

[phatcatholic]

[quote name='jswranch' date='Feb 25 2006, 10:38 PM']"Gospel of Judas" as written by Judas Iscariot or Judas, brother of James?

FYI.  Either way it was rejected due to date: It was written between 130-170AD.

[url="http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/gospeljudas.html"]http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/gospeljudas.html[/url]

For you "typologists,"  what is the accepted typology for Judas Iscariot?  David vs. Goliath, Moses vs. Pharaoh?
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[/quote]
here's some cool typology:

In Gen. 37, Judah (one of Jacob's 12 sons) is a type of Judas because he sells his companion (Joseph) for money, and Judas betrayed Jesus for money. However, Judah's character beings to change so that, in Gen. 44, Judah is now a type of Jesus because he steps up to save his brothers from harm, as Jesus did for the apostles when the soldiers raided the garden of Gethsemane.

pretty cool, i think. learned that in class the other day

[cmotherofpirl]

Expert Doubts 'Gospel of Judas' Revelation By RICHARD N. OSTLING, AP Religion Writer
1 hour, 11 minutes ago



An expert on ancient Egyptian texts is predicting that the "Gospel of Judas" — a manuscript from early Christian times that's nearing release amid widespread interest from scholars — will be a dud in terms of learning anything new about Judas.

James M. Robinson, America's leading expert on such ancient religious texts from Egypt, predicts in a new book that the text won't offer any insights into the disciple who betrayed Jesus. His reason: While it's old, it's not old enough.

"Does it go back to Judas? No," Robinson told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The text, in Egypt's Coptic language, dates from the third or fourth century and is a copy of an earlier document. The National Geographic Society, along with other groups, has been studying the "Judas" text.

The society said Thursday it will release its report on the document "within the next few weeks" but didn't specify whether that would come via a book, magazine article or telecast.

Robinson has not seen the text that National Geographic is working on, but assumes it is the same work assailed by Bishop Irenaeus of Lyons around A.D. 180.

Irenaeus said the writings came from a "Cainite" Gnostic sect that jousted against orthodox Christianity. He also accused the Cainites of lauding the biblical murderer Cain, the Sodomites and Judas, whom they regarded as the keeper of secret mysteries.

National Geographic's collaborators on the translation and interpretation of the text include its current owner — Mario Roberti's Maecenas Foundation for Ancient Art in Basel, Switzerland — and the Waitt Institute for Historical Discovery in La Jolla, Calif. Rodolphe Kasser, formerly of the University of Geneva, is the editor.

Robinson writes that the journey of the text to Switzerland was "replete with smugglers, black-market antiquities dealers, religious scholars, backstabbing partners and greedy entrepreneurs." In the process, Robinson fears, the fragile text may have been mishandled and parts of it lost forever.

Robinson is an emeritus professor at Claremont (Calif.) Graduate University, chief editor of religious documents found in 1945 at Nag Hammadi, Egypt, and an international leader among scholars of Coptic manuscripts.

He says the text is valuable to scholars of the second century but dismissed the notion that it'll reveal unknown biblical secrets. He speculated the timing of the release is aimed at capitalizing on interest in the film version of "The Da Vinci Code" — a fictional tale that centers on a Christian conspiracy to cover up a marriage between Jesus and Mary Magdalene.

"There are a lot of second-, third- and fourth-century gospels attributed to various apostles," Robinson said. "We don't really assume they give us any first century information."

A National Geographic response said "it's ironic" for Robinson to raise such questions since for years "he tried unsuccessfully to acquire this codex himself, and is publishing his own book in April, despite having no direct access to the materials."

National Geographic said it practiced "due diligence" with scholars "to save the manuscript before it turns to dust and is lost forever" and that everyone involved is committed to returning the materials to Egypt.

In "The Secrets of Judas," a HarperSanFrancisco book on sale April 1, Robinson will describe secretive maneuvers in the United States, Switzerland, Greece and elsewhere over two decades to sell the "Judas" manuscript.

He writes that he was approached about purchasing a group of manuscripts in 1983 and arranged for colleague Stephen Emmel, now at the University of Muenster, Germany, to meet in Geneva with go-betweens for the owner.

Emmel got a glimpse of the text but didn't know it was the "Gospel of Judas" till years later. He was told the original asking price was $10 million but it could be obtained for $3 million, an impossibly high figure for the interested Americans.

From there, Robinson traces a twisted sales trail through years and continents to this year's impending release.

Emmel is now a member of the National Geographic team along with other former students of Robinson, who hopes his colleagues will be providing solid information about the text's history and location.

[franciscanheart]

This is all way over my head but I'm reading it anyway. I may need sleep but I think I'm just confused. Baby steps...