Judas—Damned for All Time?

National Geographic is calling it One of the most significant biblical finds of the last century.

Winnipeg Sun columnist Charles Adler headlines his column What a Friend We Have in Judas.

The San Francisco Chronicle headlines it with 'Good Judas' idea provocative, but a tough sell

Google Blog Search reports that about 11,338 blogger have written about it.

A portion of the Gospel of Judas as reproduced on the National Geographic website.

The release of the discovery in the 1970s of the 1700 year old Gnostic Gospel of Judas is creating quite a bit of discussion among Christians. That the announcement was made just before the beginning of Holy Week in Western Christianity amplifies the discussion even more: Did Jesus instruct his disciple Judas to betray his whereabouts to the Sanhedrin to allow his arrest? Has Judas been disparage and defamed all of these centuries for following the instructions of his Teacher and Master?

I suggest that the Gospel of Judas has come as an unwelcome surprise to many Christians—with the exception of most Mainline New Testament Scholars. We have known of the existence of at the very least 15 Gnostic Gospels as ancient or older than The Gospel of Judas, from The Gospel of Thomas (my favorite), which is as old or older than three of the four New Testament Gospels, to the Gospel of Mary, of which only three fragments are known to have survived. (For a more complete list on the Internet see: Early Christian Writings: Gnostics, Gnostic Gospels, & Gnosticism).

I believe that the vast majority of Christians—Mainline and Fundamentalist alike—are unaware of the vast amount of early Christian literature that is beyond the canon of the New Testament. Nor are they aware that there were numerous groups who were believers in Jesus beyond those represented in the in New Testament. It was not until the late 4th Century that the books of the New Testament as we have come to know them were canonized—recognized is “sacred” or “more sacred” that the hundreds of other early Christian writings. Even then there was still an on-going debate as to whether the writings that we today identify with the author “John”—the Gospel and The Revelation should be included, even though the early Church Fathers identified the author with the Apostle John.

That is because the form that Western Christianity had developed was primarily Pauline in nature. The majority of the New Testament was written by Paul and his influence on is such that “many modern scholars consider Paul to be the founder of Christianity.” Thus, documents, including Gospels that did not coincide with Pauline theology, were usually destroyed by the Church. Thus it should be no surprise that the Gospel of Judas, which questions the “betrayer” status of that follower of Jesus should be hidden and not read for so many centuries.

Until I am able to actually read the Gospel of Judas I will make no comment upon it. From media reports I understand that it is a Gnostic gospel. As I stated above, today we know of several Gnostic gospels and have “discovered” at least fragments of several, Elaine Pagels is perhaps the foremost contemporary American authority on Gnosticism; The Gnostic Gospels, her 1979 book which was introduction to the Nag Hammadi library, brought to the attention of its many readers the existence of these early Christian writings. Other publications over the past twenty of so years, such as The Other Bible and The Lost Books of the Bible have enabled English to read some of these non-canonical early Christian writings. The translation and publication of the Gospel of Judas will make one more available.

I want to end this post with an observation on the timing of the announcement regarding the Gospel of Judas. I am certain that the proclamation of its existence was made just before Holy Week in the Western Church’s tradition to increase interest in it. This coming week, as millions of Christians attend services that re-tell the story of the last days of Jesus’ earthly life, the Gospel of Judas will be on the minds of many. This will be especially true on Maundy Thursday when the Eucharist service will include words such as “We remember that on the night of betrayal and desertion, Jesus took bread…”

I don’t consider that a “bad” thing. Whenever people are able and willing question and debate beliefs that they have taken for granted, positives often evolve. I shall write again about the Gospel of Judas after I have had a chance to read and study it. For now, may those who are believers have a blessed Palm Sunday and a spiritually enriching Holy Week!