The Judas Gospel
BY: A.R. Schaffer
© 2006
The
recent translation of the Gospel of Judas is an exciting revelation in the
history in the development of the Christian faith. In actually reading the Gospel itself, there is too much missing text
from document to get a complete idea of what its author was actually trying to
say for it is obvious that the depth of the manuscript goes far beyond the
innocence of Judas. What is obvious, is this early
Christian sect held far different beliefs from the dogmas and theologies of
today, and that tells us that Jesus was far
more complex and thought provoking than the pictures we have of him today. Christianity in its early years, despite being
closer to the time of Jesus, was even more diverse in its thought than it has
become in this present age. This is a clear indication that Jesus’ teachings
were not as clear and concise as many of our Christian ministers declare them
to be today. One might say with a degree
of certainty that the writings about Jesus for the first two centuries reflect
more the perception of the authors than the facts surrounding this unique
individual, and this probably applies to what are accepted writings as well as
what is not. The religious
interpretation of the life of Jesus and the
spiritual interpretations of his teachings are often the view of the
interpreters, not necessarily the intent of Jesus. Over the
centuries the writings accepted by the faithful express the agendas of those
who accepted them.
The
orthodox believers of that period seen the Gnostics as heretics and the
Gnostics seen the orthodox as unenlightened or blinded to the truth. The orthodox believers eventually gaining the
power of the state behind them in the rule of Constantine won the
battle of ideas and effectively wiped out the Gnostic concepts, setting the
tone for how Jesus is viewed overall today. The major
difference between these two groups (diverse even within themselves in their
early concepts) was in one’s relationship with God and pursuit of holiness or
salvation. The orthodox perceived such a
journey through Christ and his ministers (an institutional
church with clergy) as mediators with the Divine; whereas, the Gnostic approach
was a personal journey thorough the Divine within (more mystical in
nature). The Orthodox eventually came
to agree upon the concept that the crucifixion was the source of our
Redemption, where as the Gnostics seem to conclude that the emulation of Jesus was the
road to perfection. While it is much
more complex than this rather simple definition, it would be safe to say that
these approaches rooted the diverse and complex faiths evolving within the two
groups.
This
relatively newly translated Gospel, added to those which have been discovered
in the past 50 years, demonstrates the diverse thoughts which existed about
this man from Nazareth in the first and second century after his death. If nothing else it should serve to remind us
that beliefs are evolving concepts and not the clear and concise revelation of
absolute truths as so often portrayed by theologians and clergy.
Much of the
controversy surrounding this newly translated text has to do with the idea that
Judas was carrying out the instructions of Jesus in the
betrayal at Gethsemane.
In many respects one might question ‘Why’ traditional theologians would
be so shocked by the idea that Judas was doing what Jesus wanted him to do in
the betrayal. Their own theology teaches
that the salvation of mankind was achieved in the crucifixion. According to their own teachings, this
salvation plan was put in place after the sin of Adam and
prophesized repeatedly in the Old Testament.
Thus, it would only logically follow that if this plan was preordained
in some way since the time of Adam, Judas was
only carrying out the will of God --- as well as the Jews and Romans in
crucifying Jesus.
If one were to follow this line of thinking with the crucifixion event a
preordained salvation plan; those involved would have little control over their
involvement.
Contrary
to many of the traditionalists’ arguments, the four Gospels do not rule out the
possibility that Jesus knew and approved of Judas’
mission. If one reads those Gospels it
is evident that Jesus knew he was going to be betrayed and by
whom. And, at least in one canonical
gospel during the last supper Jesus tells
Judas, “Do quickly what you have to do.” ( John 13:28). As far as the lines in the gospels
that proclaim about the betrayer, “…it would be better that that man would have
never been born”: Jesus might have
been referring to the awful disgrace history would eventually cast upon that
man we know as Judas.
Of course
this is all speculation for all the accounts of that week are somewhat
differing. And, if we are to adhere to Jesus’ teachings,
none of us have he right to sit in judgment of Judas to begin with. So why such a stink? That has to do with challenging what has been
taught and accepted for years. Here we
have a group of Christians who seen Judas in a differing light who wrote a
manuscript that questions accepted views.
True absolutists would never entertain the idea that they might be in
error in their pronouncements no matter what the evidence for that may lead to
doubt among their followers about their ability to speak for God. Keep in mind that there are literalists who
proclaim the earth is six thousand years old and that mankind walked with the dinosaur
despite all the science which challenges such a fact.
One of the
awful consequences of casting Judas in this “Christ betraying
role” was it put Jesus’ execution directly in the hands of a
Jew who conspired with Jewish leaders to have him crucified. Much of the persecution of the Jewish people
has been justified in its time under the rationalization that they were
responsible for Jesus’ crucifixion. The cry to the Romans ‘his blood be upon us and our children’ (Matt 27:25)
became a
justification for terrible atrocities against an entire people. In Nazi Germany Jews were
often referred to as Christ killers! If for no other reason, responsible Christian
theology should not be to harsh on this newly discovered Gospel’s assertion
that Judas was faithful to Jesus and doing
what his master instructed. Surely there
is no harm in taking such a position and giving Judas the benefit of a
doubt. After all, Jesus forgave
those who nailed him to the cross from the cross.
But there
is another threat to established religions in giving any credibility to any
ideas expressed in this, or any other gospel; it comes from the content of those rejected works. While
fragmented and missing large blocks of text, it is clear that the author
is attacking some of the orthodox views of that period. And in light of some of the darker periods of
Christian history like the Crusade, Inquisition and some of the scandals
regarding a few of the clergy today; to some it might almost be prophetic. For traditionalists to even consider the
possible integrity of such work would bring about possible questions to the
credibility of their absolutism. The sad
part about this scenario is that any ancient work that may challenge existing
theology would be discredited no matter how inspired such a manuscript would
be. Single mindedness is not a quality
when it comes to approaching the inspiration or the Nature of God.
So what might
an Eclectic Perspective be toward this Gospel as well as other newly discovered
documents past and future. First off such documents give us tremendous
insight into the minds of the people during the formation of our religious
heritage and the diversity of thought that existed in the period. Understanding
the complexities of history is an asset to any social order. But perhaps one of the better observations
about these types of manuscript come from Rodolphe Kasser one of the translators of the document
in an interview with Swissinfo:
“As an archaeologist, the one thing I really find regrettable is when
archaeological objects,
which are always a source of information, are destroyed
without being examined. It’s like
having a witness that no one wants to listen to. Even if there is a strong possibility that
the witness is a liar you have to give them a chance to
speak. And now Judas has been given
opportunity. (Swissinfo-interview: Adam Beaumont in
Geneva April 22,2006)
We cannot ignore the past for it happened. Writings such as these have a direct bearing
on what is believed today in that some of the articles of faith held today are
pronouncements made as oppositional statements to writings such as these.
There is
yet another angle which comes to mind in all the talk about Judas which this
manuscript has stirred. Maybe it should cause us to pause and reflect about the
betrayal of the message of Jesus. One hears so many Christians today calling
for revenge upon our enemies, the death penalty, all sorts of judgments about
the lifestyles of others, encouraging the cutting of social programs, the
condemnations of other people’s religious faiths, calls to battle with
preemptive wars: it seems hard to justify such talk in the Name of an
individual who commanded us to love one another as he loved us, who told us not
to judge, who proclaimed feeding the hungry as a prerequisite to enter the
kingdom of God, whose birth was announced by the words “peace on Earth!”.
Given the
state of our society today, the politics and actions of leaders who claim to be
Christians and saved by Jesus, the exploitation
of human beings by market forces: there seems to be a complete betrayal of the
message Jesus preached. Perhaps writings such as these could help us
to find a fuller understanding of Jesus’ message to
human kind. The self salvation message
has become so entrenched in our religious thinking we have lost sight of the primacy
of Jesus’ message of LOVE!
Ultimately it
is God who judges the actions of Judas, not Pope Benedict, the
theologians, evangelists or you and I. A
question more relevant to our lives might be: ‘are we betraying what we profess
to believe?’ Hypocrisy is a betrayal to
the self, one of the most mentioned faults by Jesus in the
traditional Gospels. Love and compassion
were the essence of Jesus’ life and
teaching, to claim faith in him and not overtly express these virtues is a
betrayal to what he stood for.
ÞÞÞ
Link to PDF
copy of the The Gospel of Judas from National Geographic