Curious if anyone here saw the morning news on Judas?

[cougarfan]

I just finished watching MSN news and saw that they found some old writings from 1st - 3rd century. According to these writings… they referenced that Judas hadnt betrayed Jesus via coins but that Jesus had asked him to betry him to fulfill the prophecy. Our church has dismissed this, as they should but they carbon dated these papers to the times after Jesus was nailed to the cross. Interesting if you are a historian and you dig these up!

 

[buffalo]

The Gospel of Judas has been known about for a long long time.

Gospel and Gospels

(2) Number of the Gospels

The name gospel, as designating a written account of Christ’s words and deeds, has been, and is still, applied to a large number of narratives connected with Christ’s life, which circulated both before and after the composition of our Third Gospel (cf. Luke 1:1-4). The titles of some fifty such works have come down to us, a fact which shows the intense interest which centred, at an early date, in the Person and work of Christ. it is only, however, in connexion with twenty of these “gospels” that some information has been preserved. Their names, as given by Harnack (Chronologie, I, 589 sqq.), are as follows: —

1-4. The Canonical Gospels.
5. The Gospel according to the Hebrews.
6. The Gospel of Peter.
7. The Gospel according to the Egyptians
8. The Gospel of Matthias.
9. The Gospel of Philip.
10. The Gospel of Thomas.
11. The Proto-Evangelium of James.
12. The Gospel of Nicodemus (Acta Pilati).
13.The Gospel of the Twelve Apostles.
14.The Gospel of Basilides.
15.The Gospel of Valentinus.
16.The Gospel of Marcion.
17.The Gospel of Eve.
18.The Gospel of Judas.
19.The writing Genna Marias.
20.The Gospel Teleioseos.

 

[beckers]

Thanks for the link. My co-worker and i were discussion this item this morning.

 

[rocklobster]

Even if Judas was supposed to betray Jesus, I still think something else should be considered: I doubt seriously that Jesus wanted him to commit suicide after betraying him.

 

[sea_oat]

Seems to me like some people/organizations are just trying to grab some scraps from the Da Vinci Code popularity table.

I’m not questioning the historic authenticity of the text, but I just question the timing of the popularity of this one, along with other Gnostic texts. I’ve seen National Geographic air and regurgitate documentaries numerous times within the past several months about Gnostic texts that have been around for who knows how long.

According to National Geographic’s website, this text has been in the hands of some rich private collector since early 2000. And by the way, the site also said a Yale scholar recognized that the text was probably the Gospel of Judas very shortly after it fell into the hands of the collector.

So if not many people cared about this stuff before, why do so many of them care now? No doubt for the same reason so many more people suddenly cared about the Titanic after the blockbuster 1997 movie.

By the way, if anyone wants to read an excellent editorial about the text, here’s the link:

news.inq7.net/opinion/index.php?index=2&story_id=72162&col=75

 

[jazzbaby1]

I saw that. My only question is ,“And?” How is that suppposed to “rock” my faith, exactly? Judas still had a choice in the matter. I don’t have a Bible handy but in the Last Supper scene it very clearly states that Jesus commented to Judas that he needed to go and do what had been arranged.

Then there’s this:
cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/world.jsp?floc=hp-tos-feat-i-01&feature=newz_0406crucifixion

There was also a teaser I saw about an excavation in the Holy Land that supposedly revealed the bones of Mary and the commentary of the host was “Jesus had a father.” No, really? Jesus had an earthly father you say? Let me guess, his name was Joseph and he was a carpenter, right? rolls eyes

What annoys me is that the media chooses to do this during Holy Week, knowing that they’re going to pick off some of the sick and weak (in faith) in the flock. There’s a few more brothers and sisters that might not make it thanks to this tripe and it ticks me off!

 

[stbruno]

This is just an exerpt of the Vatican link about the Judas gospel, to read the whole interview, just click on the zenit.org/english site and reference the April 5th release.
ZENIT asked Legionary Father Thomas D. Williams, dean of theology at the Regina Apostolorum university in Rome, to comment on the relevance of the discovery.

Q: What is the “Gospel of Judas”?

Father Williams: Though the manuscript still must be authenticated, it likely represents a fourth- or fifth-century text, and is a copy of an earlier document produced by a Gnostic sect called the Cainites.

The document paints Judas Iscariot in a positive light, and describes him as obeying a divine ordinance in handing over Jesus to the authorities for the salvation of the world.

It may well be a copy of the “Gospel of Judas” referred to by St. Irenaeus of Lyons in his work “Against the Heresies,” written around A.D. 180.

Q: If authentic, what challenge would this document pose to traditional Christian belief? Will it “shake Christianity to its foundations” as some press releases have suggested?

Father Williams: Certainly not. The Gnostic gospels, of which there are many besides this one, are not Christian documents per se, since they proceed from a syncretistic sect that incorporated elements from different religions, including Christianity.

From the moment of their appearance, the Christian community rejected these documents because of their incompatibility with the Christian faith.

The “Gospel of Judas” would be a document of this sort, which could have great historical value, since it contributes to our knowledge of the Gnostic movement, but it poses no direct challenge to Christianity.

Q: Is it true that the Church has tried to cover up this text and other apocryphal texts?

Father Williams: These are myths circulated by Dan Brown and other conspiracy theorists.

You can go to any Catholic bookstore and pick up a copy of the Gnostic gospels. Christians may not believe them to be true, but there is no attempt to hide them.

Q: But doesn’t an early document of this sort rival orthodox Christian sources, such as the four canonical Gospels?

Father Williams: Remember that Gnosticism arose in the middle of the second century, and the “Gospel of Judas,” if authentic, probably dates back to the mid- to late second century.

To put a historical perspective on things, that would be like you or me writing a text now on the American Civil War and having that text later used as a primary historical source on the war. The text could not have been written by eyewitnesses, the way at least two of the canonical Gospels were.