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The Gospel of Judas, Part 1: The Basics

04/15/2006 01:09 PM Filed in: Theology
Judas 4
About a week ago news reports began to spring up concerning a newly discovered document that dates back to the fourth century. The document, entitled The Gospel of Judas, has been a hot topic of conversation around the world. You can read it here. If you’re new to the topic, these are the facts:

  1. The document is over 1,700 years old.
  2. The document is a copy, not an original. The original is thought to date back to the second century.
  3. The document is likely mentioned in the writings of Irenaeus, an early church father in a text called Against Heresies, authored around the year 180. In the text, Irenaeus speaks out against Gnostics; at one point in his diatribe Irenaeus writes, “They produce a fictitious history of this kind, which they style The Gospel of Judas.”
  4. The document portrays Judas Iscariot not as the one who betrayed Christ, but as the only disciple who truly understood Jesus’ message. Jesus tells Judas that he will exceed the others because Judas will be the one to help Christ “sacrifice the man that clothes me,” then gives him the command to turn Him over to the Romans.

So what is a Christian believer to do with this new discovery? Well, I suppose we could run for the hills, hole up in caves, sing a rousing chorus of When We All Get to Heaven, and prepare ourselves for the second coming while we avoid the rest of the evil outside world that seeks to destroy everything that we hold dear.

I’d like to think that’s not the best option.

Judas has been a great topic of Christian interest for almost 2,000 years. The man lived and traveled with Jesus just as the other apostles did. And yet, when the time came, he chose to betray the most influential figure to ever walk the face of the earth. That is a fascinating fact to say the least.

Christians have often wondered what would cause Judas to do such a thing. The thought process that must have gone through his mind is something we can only speculate about. And speculate we have. The Gospel of Judas isn’t the only place we find the examination of why or how Judas betrayed the Son of Man:

  1. Dante’s Inferno portrays Judas as being condemned to the lowest circle of hell where he is punished for all eternity by being chewed in the mouth of a three-headed Satan.
  2. Jorge Luis Borges’ short story Three Versions of Judas gives several interpretations of Judas’ story, one of which concludes that Judas is the true savior of humanity.
  3. Edward Elgar’s large-scale musical work, The Apostles, depicts Judas as wanting to force Jesus to declare his divinity and establish the kingdom on earth.
  4. Several early church fathers and notable theologians, including the aforementioned Irenaeus, Origen, Thomas Aquinas, etc. wrote notably long examinations of Judas.
  5. The Last Temptation of Christ, an extremely controversial film released in 1988, portrayed Judas in much the same way as The Gospel of Judas. It shows a close follower of Christ who is asked by Jesus to give Him up to the Romans. Judas is tormented about doing this, but ultimately succumbs to his Master’s wishes.
  6. In the film Dracula 2000, we are told that Dracula is actually Judas Iscariot. After betraying Christ he was damned to roam the earth for all eternity a restless wanderer (this is arguably my weakest source…haha).

The Gospel of Judas, however, is being seen as a very important discovery. National Geographic deemed it, “The most significant ancient, nonbiblical text to be found in the past 60 years,” and several news sources wrote articles giving the impression that this find was incredibly damaging to Christians and Christianity.

This, however, is simply not the case. The Gospel of Judas, properly understood, is an interesting piece of writing that simply has no historical or spiritual value. Though it’s remarkable reading material, one finds its theology and its narrative to be completely out of place when set into a biblical context. Because of this, The Gospel of Judas may be difficult to understand for those unacquainted with the theology and the philosophy behind its words.

To understand the writing we must first understand its authors. The Gospel of Judas was written by a group of Cainite Gnostics who, according to Irenaeus, made a name for themselves by rehabilitating disgraced biblical characters such as Cain, the Sodomites, and of course, Judas.

Check back soon for Part 2 of The Gospel of Judas, where we’ll take a closer look at the Gnostics who wrote this book.

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