Posted on 04/07/2006 6:38:55 AM PDT by presidio9
The National Geographic Society released the manuscript of what is called "The Gospel of Judas" yesterday. By National Geographic's own account, a team first assembled by the Maecenas Foundation has been working on the text since 2001. As a result of press releases tied to publication of the text, widespread coverage has repeated the claim that this is an authentic and unique representation of the historical relationship between Jesus and Judas, and that Jesus encouraged Judas to betray him.
Despite the careful work by scholars that has gone into a document of obvious interest, I have to express disappointment when I see National Geographic stoop so low into hyperbole as to distort the significance of this discovery.
In its release, National Geographic repeatedly states that it has "authenticated" the document. Several press outlets have simply repeated those claims. But "authentic" turns out to be a slippery term as used by the National Geographic Society. No scholar associated with the find argues this is a first century document, or that it derives from Judas. The release says the document was "copied down in Coptic probably around A.D. 300," although later that is changed to "let's say around the year 400." This amounts to saying that "The Gospel of Judas" is an authentic fabrication produced by a group of Gnostics in Egypt. Gnostics believed that their direct knowledge of heaven permitted them to understand what no one else knew, or could know by historical knowledge. For ancient Gnostics to believe in their own powers of divination is charming; for their flights of imagination to be passed off as historical knowledge in our time is dishonest or self-deceived.
During the second century, a theologian of the Catholic Church named Irenaeus referred to a writing named "The Gospel of Judas." Was that
(Excerpt) Read more at nysun.com ...
Fake but accurate?
Very interesting. Thanks for posting this. Certain quarters won't be satisfied until they've reduced Jesus to a common rabble-rouser. Once we've dumped the "Son of God" notion, we can get on with multiculturalism in earnest.
Mary Mapes long lost ancestors........
Laughed so hard my minidachs fell off my lap.
Fake but fake.
Just witness how enthralled the idiot press and those who follow them are, still, over The DaVinci Codes.
Katie Couric brought them up this morning, in a discussion about this silly Judas gospel.
One of the participants had to point out to her that "Katie, the DaVinci Codes are a work of fiction."
Gnostics (no matter what their stripe, or how Christian they seemed at first glance, and the philosophy predates the Christian faith) believed:The God of the world was more or less evil because he made things out of matter.
The True God is only spirit, and each level of being, is less spiritual and more contaminated by matter.
That you have to have the secret gnosis to get out of the matter realm and into the spirit realm.
The Christian sounding gnostics didn't believe that Jesus came here in a real body, because that would mean he was contaminated with Matter.
It gets weird and interesting, and farther and farther away from what most people think of as Christianity the more you get into it.
So why should we really care. There are a lot of gnostic texts out there, easy to get hold of. They have no more validity as scripture to Christians than the Golden Ass does, except that they use a framework of Christian names to spout off what has a lot in common with the Golden Ass and other mystery religions like the Orphic traditions.
Authentic Fabrication....does that mean Real Fake
National Geographic places their own desires for confirmation of THEIR presuppositions ahead of actual fact. That's why they got caught with their pants down a couple of years ago when they trumpeted a fossil that showed a flying dinosaur. They wanted to believe it was true, so they did. They got burned big time and issued a rather haughty mea culpa.
Too bad they didn't learn their lesson.
Translation of a copy of a fake............
Actually, they know the name of the Coptic monk who "found" the original manuscript in the early 4th century: Ratericos Danilos. It was revealed as a forgery because it was created using a stylus that hadn't been invented until AD 378.
Real Fake, as in those damn Rolex junk spam e-mails..........
It's as legitimate as "The Hitler Diaries."
It's just accepted as the Gospel truth. Amazing!
I don't think any of the New Testament is derived from first century documents or is an original.
Tempest in a teacup
Mountain out of a molehill
There are lots of addtional "gosepels"
see www.earlychristianwritings.com
The Bible in its current form is the Word of God. Always has been always will be.
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