The Gospel of Judas - An Exercise in Proving Too Much

The much-hyped, recently discovered and translated "Gospel of Judas" has certainly given the Christian heresy hungry media fuel for their spin engines. But is there really anything that this manuscript can add to the critique of classical Christian? I suggest not, and taking this thing too seriously would actually be counterproductive to the stance of most skeptics.

The first thing to point out is that this is not an unknown piece of literature. It was referenced by Irenaeus around 180 AD, who wrote against it as an example of heretical Gnostic thinking. Having a copy of the document in our possession adds nothing to its authority. In fact, it only confirms its Gnostic character and demonstrates that Irenaeus was accurate in his assessment of it.

The second thing to note is that this manuscript dates to around 300 AD, and the original, from which it is assumed to originate, cannot be placed much before 180 AD. This hardly makes this "testimony" of Jesus a credible competitor to the canonical Gospels, which even most critical scholars place in the first century.

But let's pretend for the moment that the Gospel of Judas does represent a more authentic portrait of what Jesus was about and what Judas' role was in all this. Isn't this the idea being proposed? But if this is so, why stop at vindicating Judas as a good guy, why not look at what else this book claims Jesus taught as the truth about reality?

Let's just review a few excerpts from the so called Gospel of Judas.

The secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot during a week three days before he celebrated Passover.

Right off the bat this document distinguishes itself as Gnostic. Gnosticism teaches that there are deeper, hidden truths that only those in the know can comprehend or are worthy to receive. The mainstream Gospels document only the truth fit for the average man. Not a very egalitarian belief system, and kind of hard to falsify when it's based on sayings that are too private to make it into common oral and written tradition.

When Jesus appeared on earth, he performed miracles and great wonders for the salvation of humanity.

Uh oh, miracles and "salvation" talk. Even the Gnostics claim that Jesus was something beyond a merely inspired teacher. Liberals will have to look elsewhere for their support of the notion of a non-supernatural Jesus.

[Jesus] began to speak with them about the mysteries beyond the world and what would take place at the end. Often he did not appear to his disciples as himself, but he was found among them as a child.

This goes even beyond what the four Gospels teach regarding the humanity of Jesus. Gnosticism has real issues with a genuinely human Jesus, since it holds matter to be evil. Often I see the Gnostic competition of orthodox Christianity referenced as though it lends support for a more palatable Jesus. Certain Gnostic conceptions, such as our having the "divine spark," are attractive and the main point of focus, but what is forgotten in the shuffle is that the Gnostics did not craft a more human Jesus, they rejected His humanity and had Him fully divine. He might be described by some Gnostics more as a spirit having only the appearance of human form.

Judas [said] to him, “I know who you are and where you have come from. You are from the immortal realm of Barbelo. And I am not worthy to utter the name of the one who has sent you.”

The Gnostics had Jesus preexisting this earthly visitation and arriving from the heavens. In many essential points of data they agreed with the orthodox writings. It was often simply a matter of detail and interpretation of what that meant. For example, here they would differ on where and who Jesus was prior to being "sent" to earth and in what manner and form He was sent.

[Jesus said], “What are [the priests] like?”

They [said, “Some …] two weeks; [some] sacrifice their own children, others their wives, in praise [and] humility with each other; some sleep with men; some are involved in [slaughter]; some commit a multitude of sins and deeds of lawlessness. And the men who stand [before] the altar invoke your [name], [39] and in all the deeds of their deficiency, the sacrifices are brought to completion […].”

Strong words against the priests! They seem to be committing sins and lawless deeds. Unfortunately, even this Gnostic writer has issues with men (the priests) sleeping with other men. No help here for the pro-homosexual crowd.

Jesus said, “[Come], that I may teach you about [secrets] no person [has] ever seen. . . . A great angel, the enlightened divine Self-Generated, emerged from the cloud. Because of him, four other angels came into being from another cloud, and they became attendants for the angelic Self-Generated. The Self-Generated said, [48] ‘Let […] come into being […],’ and it came into being […]. And he [created] the first luminary to reign over him. He said, ‘Let angels come into being to serve [him],’ and myriads without number came into being. He said, ‘[Let] an enlightened aeon come into being,’ and he came into being. He created the second luminary [to] reign over him, together with myriads of angels without number, to offer service. That is how he created the rest of the enlightened aeons. He made them reign over them, and he created for them myriads of angels without number, to assist them."

It goes on to discuss luminaries and angels creating more like themselves, with Christ (called Seth here) being somewhere down the chain, and that humans are merely the creation of one of the lower-order angels, Saklas. This metaphysic is no better than the Christian model for those who are inclined toward liberalism. It is far more convoluted, in fact, and demonstrates only the radical difference between the Gnostic and canon documents, which have Christ being eternal and co-creator of ALL things in the universe. Gnosticism isn't a "deeper" truth; it is a different truth.

So, what does this "Gospel" prove? I think the most that can be said of it is what was expressed in this National Geographic News article.

"To today's biblical scholars, the Gospel of Judas illustrates the multitude of opinions and beliefs in the early Christian church."

While this is certainly true, it is not as though diversity was previously unknown to informed Christians. One has only to read the Church Fathers to see their writings against the various heresies. But the early date of the canon Gospels, their apostolic pedigree, their overwhelming support by the global church, and the fact that even most heretics used them as their starting point makes the eventual rise and defeat of diversity a mere historical curiosity.

It is truly ironic that skeptics will receive with open arms even the most spurious and eccentric of materials while going above and beyond the normal means of discernment for anything that smacks of orthodoxy.