Re: Gospel of Judas

A good point. One commentary on one of the gospel texts in which the
disciples are arguing about which was the greatest says "We can hardly
imagine grown men behaving like this." Huh? That's just how grown men
often do behave, though in our culture we're _sometimes_ more subtle about
it. & the various "secret gospels" are another illustration.

Shalom
George
http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mervin Bitikofer" <mrb22667@kansas.net>
To: <asa@calvin.edu>
Sent: Friday, April 07, 2006 8:07 AM
Subject: 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 09:23:33 2006