[jude24]

This is from Irenaeus' Against Heresies, a work completed by the early second century (and so would be roughly contemporary with the alleged Gospel of Judas). The fact that the now-found text of the Gospel of Judas was precisely as Irenaeus described it vindicates this man as a debator who accurately presented the beliefs of his opponents.

The Gospel of Judas is suprising only to those who are unaware of the process by which the New Testament canon was crystallized. This comes as a shock to those who assume the New Testament was always an integrated whole, unaware of the Church's role in identifying and collating authoritative, authentic, inspired Scripture from among the hundreds if not thousands of Christian writings with varying degrees of orthodoxy.

[jude24]

Ping

[floridaobserver]

Was Irenaeus alive during Jesus' lifetime? Of course not.

His views of the facts regarding the relationship of Judas and Jesus are thus unimportant.

It is true that the earliest Gospel (Mark) was the least anti- Judas story. As each successsor Gospel was written 20-30 years later, Judas was transformed into an evil figure, tansformed into a figure that was intended to defame Jews in general. This was to serve Rome's interests.

I saw the documentary on the National Geographic Channel, and was quie impressed. There is even talk of declaring Judas a saint. Food for thought.

How many untruths have we been taught all these years?

[redgolum]

Thanks for posting this. I was talking about this with a friend, and remembered that Iraneus had mentioned it, but wasn't sure where.