The controversy of The Gospel of Judas?

Question

The Gospel of Judas says: "The star that leads the way is your star, Jesus said to Judas... You will exceed all of them for you will have sacrificed the man that clothes me."
National Geographic reported that scholars interpret this quote as:
"Jesus is asking Judas to make the ultimate sacrifice -- to sacrifice himself -- and to enable Jesus to fulfill his mission on Earth."
"....The soul of Jesus will be liberated from the body that entraps him. His soul is now liberated to come to heaven."

What do you guys think about this new text?
Are you skeptical of it? Why or why not.
Mention your religion, if any.

Carbon dating and ink ingredients have been authenticated, I believe.
["...Carbon dating ... has established the age of the papyrus. We've also at done tests [at National Geographic] on the ink [in which] it was written, and it corresponds with the ink that was [used] at the time. And various calligraphers and philologists that have looked at the document -- some who are among the greatest in the world -- and have no doubt as to its authenticity."]

If you believe otherwise, please say why. Sources would be nice.

racam_us:

Ok, I let it go. I won't take any further interest in this anymore.






...Damn. This guy sounded offended, and I didn't even insult anyone.

I APOLOGISE WHOLE HEARTEDLY.



....Whatevvvvv.

Answer 1

While I personally have no opinion on the Gospel of Judas because I have not yet read it, I can tell you without a doubt that the actions of Judas, despite how evil Christendom has painted him, were required to complete the plan of salvation.

Even though the canonized text records Jesus saying that it would have been better for the betrayer never to have been born, it is entirely possible that what was recorded was the impression of the writer.

So, while it sucks that Judas had to do something so horrible, Christians should be THANKFUL, because without that act, there would have been no crucifixion... no crucifixion = no resurrection = no salvation.

Answer 2

There are new discoveries being made, and there were a lot of different interpretations of the Jesus experience in the first century. Most of them got labelled Gnostic, even though there was no such school of though back then. All we got were the (altered) translations of some of the existing works as voted on by the council of Nicea.

Of course I am skeptical, but take the Gospel of Mary for example. It was widely known during the first century, but did not make the cut at Nicea, because it did not serve the new power of the church thanks to Constantine. It is entirely possible that the Gospel of Judas is authentic, and represents what some people thought and taught at the time the church was in its' infancy.

Answer 3

"Due to textual analysis for features of dialect and Greek loan words, academics who have analysed the Gospel of Judas believe that it is probably a translation from an older Greek manuscript dating to approximately AD 130–180.

[...]

The existing manuscript was radiocarbon dated to be 'between the third and fourth century' according to Timothy Jull, a carbon-dating expert at the University of Arizona's physics centre. Only sections of papyrus with no text were carbon dated.

For comparison, the oldest fragment of the canonical Gospel of John is in the John Rylands Library and dates from year 75 to 130."

[...]

"The Gospel of Judas describes Judas as being the favourite disciple of Jesus, just as the Gospel of Mary describes Mary as the favourite disciple, the Gospel of Thomas describes Thomas as the favourite disciple. Like many Gnostic works, the Gospel of Judas claims to be a secret account, specifically 'the secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot.'"

I'm gonna go with false on this one.

No scripture was suppressed by the church, only rejected based on certain criteria...1. Who really wrote this? 2. Does it correspond to the Rule of Faith? The rule of faith is the established teaching. Does this line up with what we already know? 3. Do the other churches say this work is authoritative?

Answer 4

All that can be established by the methods you have mentioned is that it is a document written at a specific time. It does not tell us anything about its author or its correctness. Even though the text appears to be written by Judas there is no way to verify this. Correctness of historical documents is usually verified by comparing it to other documents written at the same time. I think that the dead sea scrolls and other Biblical archaeological finds have the same story mentioned in the canonical gospels.

Answer 5

There is no controversy. It is a non-entity. Judas betrayed Jesus according to scripture. It may be authentic although carbon dating is a ridiculous waste of time. But it was not worth including in the Holy Bible. Let it go, get over it.

Answer 6

I'm skeptical of all "sacred texts", I think that believing in god it doesn't go with modern life. We have plenty other earth grounded sources of inspiration and truth. The Gospel of Judas is an historical treasure as an antique and as historical document, not as an accurate depiction of reality, it's a fairy tale of the first century the same way the Lord of the Rings is from modern days.

Answer 7

The Gospel of Judas DOES in fact date from the correct time period and in fact was a KNOWN text in the early days of the church but like the other 40 some odd Gospels chosen to NOT be included in the canon of the Bible it was cast aside and largely forgotten. The controversy surrounds the fact that Judas is a very evil person in the minds of many and they do not want anything contradicting that view presented lest Judas be protrayed in a brighter light. ME? I think we ought to avail ourselves of everything that is out there KEEPING IN MIND that it is NOT part of the Bible but only a text of historical nature.

Answer 8

Gospel of Judas - What Is It?
The Gospel of Judas was discovered in the 1970s in an Egyptian cave. Until recently, no institutions were willing to pay the exorbitant fee to get the manuscript due to its dubious origin. A foundation in Switzerland eventually purchased the codex to release its content.

In 2006, National Geographic announced that the manuscript has been authenticated by carbon dating, studied, and translated by biblical scholars. However, up to one-third of the gospel according to Judas is missing or illegible.

This Gnostic Gospel is likely dated to the 5th century AD.

Gospel of Judas - Who Wrote It and What Does it Say?
It is unknown who wrote the Gospel of Judas. Our biggest clue comes from Irenaeus (a second century Christian) who referenced the Gospel of Judas as invented history of heretics and rebels. In about 180 AD, Irenaeus wrote:

“They declare that Judas the traitor was thoroughly acquainted with these things, and that he alone, knowing the truth as no others did, accomplished the mystery of the betrayal; by him all things, both earthly and heavenly, were thus thrown into confusion. They produce a fictitious history of this kind, which they style the Gospel of Judas.” (Adversus Haereses I.31.1; Roberts-Donaldson translation.)

The Gospel of Judas is a Gnostic gospel and is consistent with Gnostic viewpoints. The Gnostics believed that the road to salvation was through secret knowledge given by Jesus to his inner circle. The biggest controversy in this text revolves around the theory that Jesus wanted Judas to betray Him in order to fulfill Jesus’ plan. This is contrary to the New Testament, which presents Judas as a traitor.

The Gospel of Judas begins with these words: "the secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot during a week three days before the celebrated Passover." Later, the text says that Jesus tells Judas, “you will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothed me.” (The Gospel of Judas, Published by the National Geographic Society, 2006.)

This is contrary to the New Testament account. If it was Jesus’ plan for Judas to betray Him, why would Jesus call Judas the “one headed for destruction” in John 17:12? Jesus also stated that it would have been better if Judas had never been born: “For I, the Son of Man, must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago. But how terrible it will be for my betrayer. Far better for him if he had never been born!"

The Bible reports that Judas committed suicide when he saw that Jesus was condemned. Why would Judas do this if He was following Jesus’ instructions? Matthew 27:5 says, “Then Judas threw the money onto the floor of the Temple and went out and hanged himself.”

Gospel of Judas - Why Isn't It Accurate?
The Gospel of Judas is considered "Gnostic" in origin. Generally, Gnostics hold that salvation of the soul comes from a quasi-intuitive knowledge of the mysteries of the universe and of secret formulae indicative of that knowledge. The gospel according to Judas is simply a heretical forgery like the Gospel of Mary, Gospel of Thomas, and the Gospel of Philip.

We now have over 25,000 ancient texts and fragments confirming the legitimate biblical accounts. Maybe there’s a reason we’ve only found one copy of the Gospel of Judas laying in an ancient trash heap in the back of a solitary cave. Just as Judas betrayed Jesus Christ, this gospel has betrayed the truth of God.

Answer 9

This makes perfect sense.

Jesus was fully aware that his true reality was as spirit. He saw his earthly body only as the limitation on his spirit nature that it was. His goal was to show all of us this same truth about ourselves.

His message was corrupted by pretenders like Paul who took what Jesus was trying to teach us and obscured it beneath silly ideas about Jesus dying for the sins of others and nonsense about a judgmental punishing God.

Poor Judas has become a pariah for doing only what his teacher ask him to do.

There is a book called the course in miracles that refutes the idea that Jesus died for our sins and explains in great detail what Jesus was actually trying to teach us about ourselves. It is a somewhat difficult read because the things that it says go against much of the nonsense that has been written and taught about Jesus. I have been studying this book on and off for 7 years. I am convinced that what it is saying is the true teachings of Jesus. I suggest getting a copy and reading it.

Love and blessings

Answer 10

Possibly written by one of Judas' relatives in a attemp to clear the family name.