DaVinci upstaged by Judas

I had to chuckle when I heard the news of "recent" discovery of an ancient biblical document which could prove more dangerous to the Church than the Da Vinci Codes...the Gospel of Judas. Just some basic facts about the history of this document seems to make the timing of this world-wide release more akin to release of Titanic than the Dead Sea Scrolls. With the renewed interest in church history, created by the nearing release of the movie "The Da Vinci Code" and in the spirit of "Seeking the Truth" it appears that Judas might be upstaging DaVinci in the public box office.

But what should you make of the Gospel of Judas? Here are a few resources that will fill you in on some details.

Read the Gospel of Judas yourself
"Will the Real Judas Please Stand Up?"by Darrell Bock
Scott McKnight's Blog: Judas 1, Judas 2
Mark Goodacre's Blog

The document begins, "The secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot…” We all like a good secret don't we? But Bill Brown, President of Cedarville University, has done a nice job addressing some of the popular hype about this "Lost Gospel" in his recent blog posting. Here is what Dr. Brown said....

"A lot of people have asked about the "new discovery" of the Gospel of Judas. I am disappointed at how naive the press, the average person and even the average Christian are about these so-called "gospels." The manuscript was actually found almost thirty years ago and is written in Coptic, the language of first century Egypt. It dates from sometime in the fourth century, about 300 years after Christ (and Judas). It may be a translation of an earlier third century manuscript. Of course, it has nothing historical to say about Judas or Jesus but reinterprets the story to fit a theological belief at odds with Christianity. It parallels the teachings of another popular book, The Da Vinci Code. How surprising that the Gospel of Judas is being released now!

The Gospel of Judas is not really a gospel at all but part of the Gnostic literature that arose in the second - third century after Christ. They were all composed so long after the apostles and the early church and were never considered inspired and a part of God's revelation of the New Testament, which was completed before the end of the first century. The Gnostics held unusual beliefs about Jesus Christ and the world, beliefs that are today held by many of the Transcendental/New Age groups. They taught that salvation was obtained by "secret knowledge" rather than Christ's death for sins on the cross. The highly spiritual approach by gnosticism made many of them teach that a person could live any way they wanted. The material world, especially the human body, was evil and prone to immoral acts that had no effect on a person's spiritual state. You can see the very early stages of this belief in Colossians 2:8; Jude 3-4; and 2 John 7-9. Notice how many high profile celebrities flock to modern versions of gnosticism, like Scientology and the Kabbalah. Some of the benefits of spirituality with none of the responsibility. The "natural bent of the human mind," says C. S. Lewis."

What strikes me is that this is nothing new. There have been many non-canonical writings (i.e Gospel of Thomas) which have been circulating for years which have never been accepted by the Church, because they have never been affirmed to be inspired. This "lost gospel" of Judas has been around for years and NOW is garnishing paparazzi status solely because of the public hype of the DaVinci Code.