The Gospel of Judas

by National Geographic Society and Anonymous

Book Overview

For 1,600 years its message lay hidden. When the bound papyrus pages of this lost gospel finally reached scholars who could unlock its meaning, they were astounded. Here was a gospel that had not been seen since the early days of Christianity, and which few experts had even thought existed-a gospel told from the perspective of Judas Iscariot, history's ultimate traitor. And far from being a villain, the Judas that emerges in its pages is a hero.

In...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1426200420
• ISBN13: 9781426200427
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: National Geographic Society
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

The forgotten gospel of Judas

One of the more amazing books you could get a hold of that will definitely make an impact on anyone. The gospel of Judas was one of the forgotten books of the bible that leaves everyone who reads it in shock. For millennia Judas was looked at as a traitor, this gives you things to consider. The book also talks of the Judas gospel's discovery and its journey to the light of discovery all with the help of National Geographic. If you're a Christian or just curious about history's greatest traitor, then read The Gospel of Judas.

Words of God

The National Geographical Society, along with the Waitt Institute for Human Discovery and an unparalled collection of scholars on early Christianity, are to be commended hugely for their roles in bringing "The Gospel of Judas" to us. Be sure to read the Publisher's Note at the end of this book to appreciate fully their contribution. I haven't found in one place so clear an introduction to Gnostic Christianity or as much evidence of an early Gnostic Christian response to Jesus. Whereas traditionally the disciples other than Judas have been presented as understanding Jesus well, in this gospel we find "Jesus said to them. 'How do you know me. Truly I say unto you, no generation of the people that are among you will me.' What are we to make of this? As noted by the publisher, scholars seem certain this gospel is not a fake. That doesn't mean it speaks for all Christians but it does seem to represent an early teaching of Sethian Gnostic Christianity. The commentaries tell about the recovery of the text and its message. Bart Ehrman writes: "For gnostics a person is not saved by faith in Christ or by doing good works, but by knowing the truth - the truth abotu the world we live in, about who the true God is, and especially about we ourselves are." Reading this gospel, however unsettling it may be in light of your current understanding of Christianity, can give you a good appreciation of what that knowledge is. This is challenging material. In his commentary, Wurst notes: "Characters from the Jewish Scriptures such as Esau, Korah, and the Sodomites - regarded by orthodox tradition as immoral and as rebels against the will of God - are considered here to be the servants of the one true God, the 'superior higher power.' It is difficult not to feel that divisions in the understanding of God have persisted from the earliest times of Christianity and even before as Jewish intellectuals wrestled with the different presentation of Jehovah in their scriptures. Due to the finding of this text, it seems more likely that Gnostics were active before 180 A.D. and also not unlikely they were active much earlier. Bauer's hypothesis that Gnosticism may have dated back to the earliest formative years of Christianity, seems better supported. Due to the questions raised by Jesus' life and teachings and our knowledge of human nature, it does not seem unreasonable to believe that during the very life of Jesus some people were understanding his life and teachings in a way consistent with "The Gospel of Judas" and the Nag Hammadi texts. Those responses seem most spiritually important and not which texts turn out to have been written first. Otherwise why not have stopped with the Old Testament? The commentaries by Kasser on the recovery of the text, by Ehrman on the vision presented in this gospel, by Wurst on the reaction of Iraneus to the Gnostics, and by Meyer on Sethian Gnosticism seem excellent. Most of all I appreciate the painstaking and gifted effort of Fl

Startling and informative

I'm not well versed in the history of Christianity, especially its early history. And, I admit, I'm not much for history of most kinds. This title, as a reputable piece of scholarship, was just too tittilating to pass up, though. I'm very glad I went for it. The Gospel itself is very brief, so the authors have added notes on how the codex was made available to the world and on the gospel's content. The former is positively nerve wracking for anyone with a trace of respect for antiquities; the latter helped put the codex into its proper historical and theological context. But it's the content of the Gospel itself that really command attention. This gives a strikingly different interpretation of Judas Iscariot's handing over of Jesus to the political authorities. In fact, the only solid reference to this gospel, for many years, was Irenaeus's declaration in 180 AD that it gave heretical interpretation to the betrayal. It also opens the door on a tradition with many divinities and orders (or "generations") of divinity - hardly the strict monotheism we know today. The most surprising among these beings sound remarkably like boddhisattvas: enlightened beings who sacrifice their own divinity, for a while, to benefit humankind. The presentation has a few flaws. For one, section numbers in the gospel are poorly marked, making it difficult to follow cross-references - perhaps the book's typographic designer was out sick that day. For another, the bibliography lacks the kind of commentary that would help me learn more about the gnostic tradition. Given the potential for academic infighting, a simple listing of sources is about all one can expect. Despite these minor flaws, this is clear and readable presentation of an important document, nearly lost to history, and of an important phase in development of today's church. //wiredweird

No matter what you believe, the information in this book is fascinating.

As a layperson, I am in no position to evaluate apostolic writings, dating of such works, or interpreting what the writings mean. I am, however, vastly interested in the history of Jesus, his disciples, his teachings, his impact on the world, and what the people of his time and historians, biblical and otherwise, have to say about his life and times. I have also long wondered if the prophecy of the death of Jesus existed from the beginning in order to establish the divinity of Jesus (which means someone had to betray him or the prophecy would go unfulfilled), or if the prophecy existed because God, knowing all, including the future, knew Jesus would be betrayed. These musings, of course, raise a host of other questions. With the severe damage to The Gospel of Judas, the answers are even less attainable, but let us be grateful for what has been saved. The Gospel of Judas tells of Judas's role in the death (betrayal) of Jesus and his place in the heart and mind of the Christian Savior. There is much conversation between Jesus and Judas with the resulting reactions of the other disciples to the apparent special admiration Jesus held for Judas, at least according to this gospel. Jesus laughs a lot in this gospel...very different from others. There is much discussion of Seth, the third son of Adam and Eve, and his place in the Christian and Jewish view. On a personal level, I was intrigued by the statements of Jesus that each of us has a heavenly star (guess there's no need to buy one then). This book is intriguing, to say the least. TGOJ is well put together with an Introduction by Marvin Meyer; the actual Gospel of Judas itself (though in tragically poor condition), meticulously footnoted; and followed by chapters of commentary by learned scholars Kasser, Ehrman, Wurst and Meyer. I was very impressed by the ubiquitous footnotes, which were very helpful. The endnotes are also substantial and very informative, and the two-and-a-half-page bibliography provides an abundance of related material to be studied by those who desire/need to do so. The publisher's note at the back of the book describes (also described in other parts of the book) the tragedy of the handling of the manuscript (codex) after it was first found buried in a bank of the Nile River in 1978, along with the heroic attempts in very recent years to save what's left of it. The Gospel of Judas, edited by Professors Rodolphe Kasser, Marvin Meyer and Gregor Wurst, was released on the same day (April 6, 2006) as The Lost Gospel: The Quest for the Gospel of Judas Iscariot by Bart D. Ehrman (who wrote a commentary in TGOJ) and Herbert Krosney (who is quoted in TGOJ). The Secrets of Judas: the Story of the Misunderstood Disciple and His Lost Gospel by James H. Robinson came out the next day. These books add to the considerable body of literature dealing with Judas Iscariot, the hated disciple, and his place in Christian lore. The latter two titles would make fascinating additional reading.