PSEUDEPIGRAPHA: 'Gospel of Judas' to Be Published

Why do I feel like this is a play I've already seen?

The first translation of an ancient, self-proclaimed "Gospel of Judas" will be published in late April, bringing to light what some scholars believe are the writings of an early Christian sect suppressed for supporting Jesus Christ's infamous betrayer.

Certainly, the work has great historical significance, especially for the Coptics.

If authentic, the manuscript could add to the understanding of Gnosticism, an unorthodox Christian theology denounced by the early church. The Roman Catholic Church is aware of the manuscript, which a Vatican historian calls "religious fantasy."

I sure the following should have a high priority and carry great weight in our development of our faith. Rrrriiiiggghhhttt!

According to scholars who have seen photographs of the brittle manuscript, it argues that Judas Iscariot was carrying out God's will when he handed Christ over to his executioners. The manuscript could bring momentum to a broader academic movement that argues Judas has gotten a bum rap among both historians and theologians, as well as in popular culture.

The text doesn't portray Judas as a bad guy but rather as a misunderstood servant of God. According to scholars ...

... the codex was produced in the fourth or fifth century and reflects the theological traditions of a second-century sect of Gnostics, a community that believed true spirituality derived from a self-knowledge, or "gnosis."

Keep in mind that this heresy was not that far from the apostolic age ...

As early as the year 178, St. Irenaeus of Lyons, a heresy watchdog of the early church, targeted the community for declaring that "Judas the traitor...alone, knowing the truth as no others did, accomplished the mystery of the betrayal."

"They produce a fictitious history of this kind, which they style the Gospel of Judas," Irenaeus wrote in "Against Heresies." Scholars say it's possible Irenaeus was reading an earlier version of the soon-to-be-published transcript, but that point is speculation.

Regardless, I'm glad the guys in the ivory towers look into this stuff and write books about it so I can read them later.


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HT: Christian Headlines

TAGS: Coptic Christians, Gnosticism, Gospel of Judas,
Religion, Pseudepigraphia