Re: Gospel of Judas

I'm struck by how many of these "secret" gospels follow the theme of
"Jesus told me something you don't know" (accompanied by appropriate
nose-thumbing). The canonical gospels have this too -- the disciples
arguing over who is the greatest, being resentful of each other as they
jockey for priveleged position -- inner circle being favored to
witness transfiguration, etc. The difference, though, is that in the
gospels Jesus calls it for what it is and informs them that if they want
to be great they must be a slave of all. And he had a child stand in
their midst ... I'm not seeing any of this reprimand in these
other "gospels". The gospel of Thomas even has Thomas informing the
rest that if they knew the secrets revealed to Thomas, they would
die! This is real secret code, secret society stuff! I just
finished reading the Da Vinci code, and for something purporting to be
critical of the organized church (in some valid ways even), it sure is
full of secret society intrigue and power-grubbing heirarchy. No
matter how much the truth is pounded into us, our humanity shows
through. Who of us as children (and more recently) hasn't fantasized
about having priveleged status of information and power? With a
condescending magnanimity we survey the "ignorant" masses, and jockey
among our own peers -- my dad can beat up your dad! The authentic
gospels have some pretty pointed reprimands for such thinking. Unlike
Pagels, et all, I think Irenaeous and the others had some pretty valid
reasons for rejecting some of these other gospels. The spirit they
exude doesn't ring true.

--merv

Randy Isaac wrote:

> I'm not sure why National Geographic is getting involved in this. Is
> this really novel?
> http://www.theolympian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060406/NEWS/60406077
> Maybe it's marginal for our list too.
>
> Randy
>
>
> National Geographic reassembles 1,700-year-old 'Gospel of Judas'
>
> THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
>
> WASHINGTON -- For 2,000 years Judas has been reviled for betraying
> Jesus. Now a newly translated ancient document seeks to tell his side
> of the story.
>
> The "Gospel of Judas" tells a far different tale from the four gospels
> in the New Testament. It portrays Judas as a favored disciple who was
> given special knowledge by Jesus -- and who turned him in at Jesus'
> request.
>
> "You will be cursed by the other generations -- and you will come to
> rule over them," Jesus tells Judas in the document made public today.
>
> The text, one of several ancient documents found in the Egyptian
> desert in 1970, was preserved and translated by a team of scholars. It
> was made public in an English translation by the National Geographic
> Society.
>
> .........
Received on Fri Apr 7 08:13:17 2006