***The Gospel of Judas Stirs up Controversy

by Gordon Govier

The "Gospel of Judas" looks like a hot new controversy. In reality it's old church history and offers no new information on the ministry of Jesus. More accurately it helps us understand a little more about early church history and what’s called the Gnostic movement. And it may reveal more about religious viewpoints in modern America than about Christianity itself.
The "Gospel of Judas" is part of an ancient codex that was discovered in Egypt several decades ago. It has been conserved and restored and then harnessed to a huge publicity machine. The National Geographic Society put it on the cover of its May 2006 issue, published two books on it, produced a two hour television special and placed several pages of it on display at its headquarters in Washington D.C. National Geographic has not been known as a faith-friendly publication.

All of this occurred at the beginning of the most holy time of the year for Christians, the Easter season. Thus it was timed for maximum exposure and those who are not familiar with church history may have been fooled into thinking that it could change Christian theology. However, much of the news coverage was one-sided in favor of progressive scholars and failed to include traditional Christian viewpoints. In fact, the "Gospel of Judas" was well known to early Christians and rejected as illegitimate.

The “Gospel of Judas” does seem to be historically authentic. It’s 1700-1800-years old but it was most assuredly not written by Judas. In its age, appearance and content the “Gospel of Judas” resembles the Nag Hammadi texts, which were discovered in Egypt in the 1940's. Like the Nag Hammadi texts, including one called the "Gospel of Thomas," the "Gospel of Judas" comes from a heretical sect called the Gnostics.

Gnosticism (from the Greek word for knowledge, gnosis) promoted a mystical faith that favored those who were privy to the secret knowledge. Thus, in "The Gospel of Judas," Jesus is depicted with a special relationship to Judas. As the New York Times reported, "The most revealing passages in the Judas manuscript begins, 'The secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot during a week, three days before he celebrated Passover.'" Judas, in this version, was the only disciple who "got it."

The Gnostics were roundly condemned by early church leaders, including Irenaeus (A.D. 130-202), who specifically dismissed the "Gospel of Judas," among other works. It contains no reliable historical information. By contrast, the four Gospels of the New Testament canon are strongly rooted in verifiable historical facts.

One other perspective on the “Gospel of Judas” was covered in articles by the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. The process by which it was discovered, marketed and ultimately delivered to the National Geographic Society disturbs those who worry about illegal Antiquities trading. What some people call rescuing an ancient manuscript is called looting by others. It’s obvious that controversy can drive up the price of such objects and in this case it was certainly true.The “Gospel of Judas” appeals to people who are looking for another version, an alternative to the four gospels of the New Testament. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said there would always be people looking for loopholes. “Small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it [NIV].”