It
normally said that whenever anyone gets some theological doubts he should read
the religious scripts which would, they say, enlighten them; give them the clarity
and all that. But in my case things had so far gone the other way round. I had
little doubts. Tried to get answers. People said read the bible. I obliged a
little. But I also started not only reading but also analyzing. I went one
other "wrong step" too! I started reading the history of religion(s)
also. That almost put an end to all my questions. Got the enlightenment. Got my
eyes fully opened. Finally, I came back to my earlier conclusion - religion(s) cannot
stand against rationality.
Moreover, when we start knowing the religions and their origin and history (especially the Abrahamic religions) they simply lose their grounds to sensible questions.
In
Christianity this comes very much true. Its earlier period it was so competitive with
so many different groups and Paul had been on the steering wheel in his hand
and he manipulated the religion to his direction so well. What we have now as
an institutional religion, we come to know, has come through so many trials and
changes. Whether it was converting Jesus a god to the whole humankind or fixing
the date for Christmas … all these were made by a group of men.
The following essay is one such thing. Judas, always considered as an obnoxious villain changes to a different person who was so close with Jesus. This essay also mentions about the various groups in Christianity and how a stronger team writes the history of the religion. We are taught from childhood that the gospels are words of god. But in reality it is not so. Not even the names of the authors are true! They were written far later than the lifetime and death of Jesus. And they were written by somebody and named after some disciple later. It makes the statement - SUCCESSFUL MEN WRITE THE HISTORY - completely TRUE!
In the earliest period of Christianity, many gospels
were written and there were many competing groups among them. The group headed
by Irenaeus became the largest. In this group during the second and third
centuries. There were martyrs like Justin Martyr, and Tertullian in this group.
This group was known as Orthodox. When this group became dominant, a new
Christian history was written. (History, as we know, is
written always by the winners.) Only
the gospels they selected became the approved canonical gospels. Old books when
unearthed now show a different story proving that there were many groups in
early period. Gospel of Judas is one such book that gives a very different
content and it can even change it very much.
GOSPEL OF
JUDAS
Judas is one of the most
reviled men in history. But was Judas
only obeying his master's wishes when he betrayed Jesus with a kiss?
That's
what a newly revealed ancient Christian text says.
After being lost for nearly 1,700 years, the Gospel of
Judas was restored, authenticated, and translated. A
leather-bound Coptic language papyrus document that surfaced during the 1970s,
near Beni Masar, Egypt, was named the Codex Tchacos and
was first translated in the early 2000. The only copy of it known to exist is
a Coptic language text that has been carbon dated to 280 AD, plus or minus 60 years.
This research work on it was done by
Barabe and his colleagues for the National Geographic Society. Given
that it includes late 2nd century theology, it
is thought to have been composed in the 2nd century by Gnostic Christians. It
asserts that the other disciples had not learned the true Gospel, which Jesus
taught only to Judas Iscariot, the sole follower belonging to the "holy
generation" among the disciples. The Gospel of Judas is
a Gnostic gospel. The content consists of conversations between Jesus and Judas Iscariot.
============
Translated by
Rodolphe
Kasser, Marvin Meyer, and Gregor Wurst,
in collaboration with François Gaudard
INTRODUCTION:
The
secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas
Iscariot during three days before he celebrated Passover.
SCENE
1: Jesus dialogues with his disciples: The prayer of thanksgiving or the
eucharist:
They
said, “Master, you are […] the son of our god.” Jesus said to them, “How do you
know me? Truly [I] say to you, no generation of the people that are among you
will know me.” THE DISCIPLES BECOME ANGRY When his disciples heard this, they
started getting angry and infuriated and began blaspheming against him in their
hearts.(35)
But
their (disciples) spirits did not dare to stand before [him], except for Judas
Iscariot. He was able to stand before him, but he could not look him in the
eyes, and he turned his face away.
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."
Barbelo: Barbēlō (Greek) refers
to the first emanation of God in several forms of Gnostic cosmogony. Barbēlō is
often depicted as a supreme female principle.)
JESUS
SPEAKS TO JUDAS PRIVATELY Knowing that Judas was reflecting upon something that
was exalted, Jesus said to him, “Step away from the others and I shall tell you
the mysteries of the kingdom. It is possible for you to reach it, but you will
grieve a great deal.(36)
SCENE
2: Jesus appears to the disciples again The next morning, after this happened,
Jesus [appeared] to his disciples again. They said to him, “Master, where did
you go and what did you do when you left us?” Jesus said to them, “I went to
another great and holy generation.”
His
disciples said to him, “Lord, what is the great generation that is superior to
us and holier than us, that is not now in these realms?” When Jesus heard this,
he laughed and said to them, “Why are you thinking in your hearts about the
strong and holy generation? [37]
Truly
[I] say to you, no one born [of] this aeon will see that [generation], and no
host of angels of the stars will rule over that generation, and no person of
mortal birth can associate with it, because that generation does not come from
[…] which has become […]. The generation of people among [you] is from the
generation of humanity […] power, which [… the] other powers […] by [which] you
rule.” When [his] disciples heard this, they each were troubled in spirit. They
could not say a word. Another day Jesus came up to [them]. They said to [him],
“Master, we have seen you in a [vision], for we have had great [dreams …] night
[…].” [He said], “Why have [you … when] have gone into hiding?” [38]
THE
DISCIPLES SEE THE TEMPLE AND DISCUSS IT
They
[said, “We have seen] a great [house with a large] altar [in it, and] twelve
men— they are the priests, we would say—and a name; and a crowd of people is
waiting at that altar, [until] the priests [… and receive] the offerings. [But]
we kept waiting.”
JESUS
OFFERS AN ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION OF THE VISION OF THE TEMPLE
Jesus
said to them, “Why are you troubled? Truly I say to you, all the priests who
stand before that altar invoke my name. Again I say to you, my name has been
written on this […] of the generations of the stars through the human
generations. [And they] have planted trees without fruit, in my name, in a
shameful manner.”(45)
JUDAS
ASKS JESUS ABOUT THAT GENERATION AND HUMAN GENERATIONS
Judas
said to [him, “Rabb]i, what kind of fruit does this generation produce?” Jesus
said, “The souls of every human generation will die. When these people,
however, have completed the time of the kingdom and the spirit leaves them,
their bodies will die but their souls will be alive, and they will be taken
up.” Judas said, “And what will the rest of the human generations do?” Jesus
said, “It is impossible [44] to sow seed on [rock] and harvest its fruit.
[This] is also the way […] the [defiled] generation […] and corruptible Sophia
[…] the hand that has created mortal people, so that their souls go up to the
eternal realms above. [Truly] I say to you, […] angel […] power will be able to
see that […] these to whom […] holy generations […].” After Jesus said this, he
departed.
SCENE
3: Judas recounts a vision and Jesus responds
Judas
said, “Master, as you have listened to all of them, now also listen to me. For
I have seen a great vision.” When Jesus heard this, he laughed and said to him,
“You thirteenth spirit, why do you try so hard? But speak up, and I shall bear
with you.” Judas said to him, “In the vision I saw myself as the twelve
disciples were stoning me and [45] persecuting [me severely]. And I also came
to the place where […] after you. I saw [a house …], and my eyes could not
[comprehend] its size. Great people were surrounding it, and that house a roof
of greenery, and in the middle of the house was [a crowd—two lines missing—],
saying, ‘Master, take me in along with these people.’”
JUDAS
ASKS ABOUT HIS OWN FATE Judas said, “Master, could it be that my seed is under
the control of the rulers?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Come, that I [—two
lines missing—], but that you will grieve much when you see the kingdom and all
its generation.” When he heard this, Judas said to him, “What good is it that I
have received it? For you have set me apart for that generation.” Jesus
answered and said, “You will become the thirteenth, and you will be cursed by
the other generations—and you will come to rule over them. In the last days
they will curse your ascent [47] to the holy [generation].”
JESUS
TEACHES JUDAS ABOUT COSMOLOGY: THE SPIRIT AND THE SELF-GENERATED Jesus said,
“[Come], that I may teach you about [secrets] no person [has] ever seen. For
there exists a great and boundless realm, whose extent no generation of angels
has seen, [in which] there is [a] great invisible [Spirit],
THE
COSMOS, CHAOS, AND THE UNDERWORLD “The multitude of those immortals is called
the cosmos— that is, perdition—by the Father and the seventy-two luminaries who
are with the Self-Generated and his seventytwo aeons. In him the first human
appeared with his incorruptible powers. (51)
THE
CREATION OF HUMANITY
“Then
Saklas said to his angels, ‘Let us create a human being after the likeness and
after the image.’ They fashioned Adam and his wife Eve, who is called, in the
cloud, Zoe. (53)
JUDAS
ASKS ABOUT THE DESTINY OF ADAM AND HUMANITY
Judas
said to Jesus, “Does the human spirit die?”
the
Great One ordered Gabriel to grant spirits to the great generation with no
ruler over it—that is, the spirit and the soul. Therefore, the [rest] of the
souls [54] [—one line missing—].
CONCLUSION:
JUDAS BETRAYS JESUS
They
approached Judas and said to him, “What are you doing here? You are Jesus’
disciple.” Judas answered them as they wished. And he received some money and
handed him over to them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Judas
https://www.livescience.com/28506-gospel-judas-ink-authenticity.html
https://www.livescience.com/28506-gospel-judas-ink-authenticity.html
https:// www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2006.04/lost-gospel-Judas-revealed-jesus-archaeolgy/
=============
There were
some comments from the translators. Some excerpts from their essays are given:
1. THE STORY OF CODEX TCHACOS AND
THE GOSPEL OF JUDAS
EXCERPTS
FROM THE ESSAY OF RUDOLPHE KASSER
What
I could see from this initial perusal of the text showed it was written in a
Sahidic supralocal dilect of the Coptic language.(64)
The
papyrus had become so weakened that it didn't tolerate the last touching,
nearly all contact, as light as it was, threatened to leave it in dust. (65)
All
the folios of the manuscript had, alas, been broken brutally at (about)
two-thirds of their height by the deep fold previously mentioned. This rupture
had divided every page into two parts of unequal area.(68)
In
a satisfying manner, the "packet" of about thirty folios appeared to
conclude with the final title - titles then normally appearing at the end -
"GOSPEL OF JUDAS". (70)
…a
priceless document that was nearly lost to us has at last been saved.(75)
========================
CHRISTIANITY
TURNED ON ITS HEAD
THE
ALTERNATIVE VISIONOF THE
GOSPEL
OF JUDAS
EXCERPTS
FROM THE ESSAY OF BART D. EHRMAN
The
Dead Scrolls discovered in 1947 play a role in our collective popular
imagination still today.
The
scrolls do not contain any gospels about Jesus or indeed any reference at all
to early Christianity.(77)
Writings
of Nag Hammadi allegedly record teachings of Jesus himself, in words quite
different from those of the New Testament.(78)
The
Gospel of Judas is centered on a figure who is widely known, much maligned, and
broadly speculated about.(79)
Judas
is not the devil, corrupt, devil-inspired follower of Jesus; but instead he is
Jesus' closest intimate and friend, who understood Jesus better than anyone else,
who turned Jesus over to the authorities because Jesus wanted him to do so.
This
gospel has a completely different understanding of God, the world, Christ,
salvation and human existence.(80)
Most
of the these alternate gospels were eventually destroyed as heretical - that
is, for reaching the "wrong ideas" - or were lost in antiquity.
Finding them and learning what they have to say has become the obsession of
numerous scholars. (81)
This
surviving copy was targeted by one of the great authors of the early Christian
Church - Bishop Irenaeus, of modern France. In his work he named a number of
heretical groups and attacked them. One of the false writings he names was
Gospel of Judas. (82)
THE
GNOSTIC RELIGIONS
Irenaeus
was one of our chief sources of information about the various Gnostic groups of
the second century.(83)
For
Gnostics, a person is saved not by having faith in Christ or by doing good
works. Rather, a person is saved by knowing the truth- the truth about the
world we live in, about who the true God is, and especially about who are
ourselves are. (84)
Traditional
Christianity has taught, of course, that our world is the good creation of the
one true God. But that is not the view of Gnostics. How can anyone look at this
world and call it good?(85)
..
the ultimate divine being is completely removed from the world. This divine
being generated lots of offspring known as aeons who like him were spiritual
entities.(85)
Irenaeus'
five-volume refutation of Gnostics maligned their beliefs for being hopelessly
contradictory, ridiculously detailed and contrary to the teachings of Jesus'
own apostles.(88)
JUDAS
IN THE GOSPELS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
Mark
and John don't say anything about Judas' demise, nor does the Gospel of Luke.
But in the book of Acts - written by the author of Luke, as a kind of sequel to
his gospel - we learn another version of Judas' death. Judas bursts forth in
the midst and he spills his intestines on the ground, creating a bloody
mess.(96)
JUDAS
IN THE GOSPEL OF JUDAS
Jesus
reveals the secret to Judas Iscariot alone, his most intimate companion and the
only one in this gospel who understands the real truth of Jesus.(97)
Jesus
takes him aside, away from the ignorant others, to teach him "the mysteries
of the kingdom". Judas alone will receive the secret knowledge necessary
for salvation.(98)
Jesus
says, "You will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that
clothes me".(101)
UNUSUAL
THEOLOGICAL VIEWS OF THE GOSPEL OF JUDAS
The
creator of the world is not the one true God; this world is an evil place to be
escaped; Christ is not the son of the creator; salvation comes not through the
death and resurrection of Jesus, but through the revelation of secret knowledge
that he provides. (102)
There
was theological wars of the second and third centuries, when different
Christian groups maintained different systems of belief and doctrine. (103)
THE
VIEW OF GOD IN THE GOSPEL
God
of Jesus is not the creator god of the Jews. After their meals the disciples
start thanks giving ; but Jesus begins to laugh. The disciples don’t see what
is so funny. For this Jesus replies that
they don’t know what they are really doing. By giving thanks for their food,
they are praising their god - that is, not the God of Jesus. Now the disciples
are befuddled: "Master, you are … the son of our god". Jesus responds
that no one of their "generation" will know who he really is.(104)
Jesus
proceeds to upbraid them and speaks again about "your god who is within
you". (Is it the concept of "
AHAM BRAHMASMI"!!??)
Judas, the only one who truly
understands, declares that Jesus has come from "the immortal realm of
Barbelo," that is, from the realm of the true immortal living beings, not
from the lower realm of the creator god of the Jews. (105) A number of
Christian writings outside the new testament portray Jesus as “docetic”
being - that is, as one who looked human only because it was an
appearance.(107)
THE GOSPEL OF
JUDAS AND THE CANON OF SCRIPTURE
Orthodox
understanding of religion was not the only one in the second century of
Christianity. (119)
IRENAEUS OF
LYON AND THE GOSPEL OF JUDAS
EXCERPTS FROM THE ESSAY
OF GREGOR WURST
EARLY
WITNESSES
IRENAEUS
AND PSEUDO-TERTULLIAN
The
existence of a gospel of Judas is first attested by the second century Bishop
Irenaeus
of Lyon.(122)
According
to Irenaeus this group of gnostics argues for reevaluation of the Jewish and
orthodox Christian ideas of divine salvation.(123)
From
the beginning of the third century on, this group of gnostics was called ‘Cainites’
(followers of Cain) by Christian writers such as Clement of Alexandria.(124)
In
the newly discovered text there is no mention of Cain or the other antiheroes
from the Jewish scriptures mentioned by Irenaeus. As a result we would have to
assume the existence of more than one Gospel of Judas circulating within
gnostic communities in antiquity.(127)
COMPARISON
OF THE COPTIC GOSPEL OF JUDAS WITH IRENAEUS ACCOUNT
Judas
Iscariot is portrayed as having a special knowledge about Jesus’ true identity.
He appears for the first time on page 35, where he is presented as the
only disciple who is able to allow his inner spiritual personality to come to
expression before Jesus.(128)
To
Judas alone Jesus discloses that knowledge of the ‘great and boundless realm,
whose extent no generation of Angels has seen.
At
the end, Judas is a perfect gnostic, worthy to be in a sense
‘transfigured’ by ascending into the luminous cloud where he will receive his
vision of the divine.(129)
Judas’
task is to sacrifice the body of Jesus.(130)
Gospel
of Judas is referred in the book of Acts from the New Testament. On page
36, Jesus says to Judas: “For someone else will replace you in order that the
12 disciples may again come to completion with their God” - a clear allusion to
the selection of Matthias to replace Judas in the circle of the twelve
disciples. (Acts 1:15-26)
============================
JUDAS AND THE
GNOSTIC CONNECTION
EXCERPTS FROM THE ESSAY
OF MARVIN MEYER
There
is no historical evidence that any group of people within the early Christianity
call themselves Cainites; that name seems to be a nickname invented by
heresy hunters.(137)
Irenaeus
says that in fact certain religious groups refer to themselves as
“gnostics”. The knowledge claimed by these people is not worldly knowledge but
mystical knowledge, knowledge of God and self and the relationship
between God and self. In the Gospel of Judas the word ‘gnosis’ is used
twice.(50,54)
As
Bart Ehrman also points out in his essay, the Gospel of Judas and Jesus himself
in this Gospel thus proclaim salvation through knowledge, the self-knowledge of
the divine light within.(139)
The
phrase ‘the Immortal realm (or aeon) of Barbelo” is a familiar phrase in
Sethian texts.
The
origin of Barbelo and her name remains obscure, but it may come from the
ineffable four letter name of god, YHWH or YAHWEH - JEHOVAH - used in
Jewish scriptures and within Judaism. The Hebrew word for “four”, - arba
- may designate the holy name and the name of Barbelo may
derive from Hebrew for an expression like “God”.(140)
THE
GREAT ONE, BARBELO AND
AUTOGENES
THE SELF-GENERATED
The
transcendence of the Great One is emphasized in the Gospel of Judas.(144)
Autogenes,
the self generated, is discussed in Gospel of Judas 47-50 when Jesus reveals
the glorious manner in which the divine extends itself and comes to full
expression.
Autogenes
is a term commonly used in Sethian texts to characterize the offspring of Barbelo.(146)
Sethian
texts speak of divine wisdom personified as Sophia, whose shares traits with
Eve and falls into an error that would have grave consequences.
There
is only a single reference to Sophia in a fragmentary part of the text where
with little explanation she is called “corruptible Sophia”.(150)
SETH
AND THE CREATION OF ADAM AND EVE
The
figure of Seth, the third son of Adam and Eve, is a significant figure in the
Gospel of Judas. The Gospel of Judas lists Seth (also called Christ) as
an angelic ruler of the world.(157)
THE
GOSPEL OF JUDAS AS A CHRISTIAN SETHIAN TEXT
In
this essay, the Gospel of Judas appears to be an early Christian Sethian
Gospel with teachings of Jesus presented to Judas Iscariot to announce a way of
Salvation and Enlightenment based upon knowledge of self and the divine.(166)
Jesus says to Judas in Gospel of Judas 57, “Lift up your eyes
and look at the cloud and the light within it and the stars surrounding
it. The star that leads the way is your star. (169)
