Posted on 04/04/2005 10:11:49 AM PDT by robowombat
2005-03-30 Gospel of Judas back in spotlight after 20 centuries Swiss foundation seeks to shed light on controversial Christian text named after apostle said to have betrayed Jesus. By Patrick Baert - GENEVA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About 2,000 years after the Gospel according to Judas sowed discord among early Christians, a Swiss foundation says it is translating for the first time the controversial text named after the apostle said to have betrayed Jesus Christ.
The 62-page papyrus manuscript of the text was uncovered in Egypt during the 1950s or 1960s, but its owners did not fully comprehend its significance until recently, according to the Maecenas Foundation in Basel.
The manuscript written in the ancient dialect of Egypt's Coptic Christian community will be translated into English, French and German in about a year, the foundation specialising in antique culture said on Tuesday.
"We have just received the results of carbon dating: the text is older than we thought and dates back to a period between the beginning of the third and fourth centuries," foundation director Mario Jean Roberty said.
The existence of a Gospel of Judas, which was originally written in Greek, was outlined by a bishop, Saint Irenee, when he denounced the text as heretical during the second century.
"It's the only clear source that allows us to know that such a Gospel did exist," Roberty explained.
The foundation declined to say what account Judas is said to give in his alleged gospel.
According to Christian tradition, Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus Christ by helping the Romans to find him before he was crucified.
"We do not want to reveal the exceptional side of what we have," Roberty said.
The author of the text is unknown.
"No one can clearly state that Judas wrote it himself," Roberty said, while pointing out that the other gospels were probably not written by their supposed authors either.
The four recognised gospels of the New Testament describe the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and are said to record his teachings from the eyes of four of his disciples, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
The Roman Catholic Church limited the recognised gospels to the four in 325, under the guidance of the first Christian Roman emperor, Constantine.
Thirty other texts - some of which have been uncovered - were sidelined because "they were difficult to reconcile with what Constantine wanted as a political doctrine," according to Roberty.
The foundation's director said the Judas Iscariot text called into question some of the political principles of Christian doctrine.
It could also to some extent rehabilitate Judas, whose name has often come to symbolise the accusation of deicide - God-killing - levelled by some Christian teachings against the Jewish people, he added.
After the manuscript is restored, the text is due to be translated and analysed by a team of specialists in Coptic history led by a former professor at the University of Geneva, Rudolf Kasser.
Jean-Daniel Kaestli, an expert on gospels who has seen the manuscript, said the discovery was "very interesting", although the papyrus was in a bad state.
He added that it was not going to lead to a revolutionary change in the vision of the Bible, although it could shed some new light on parts of Christianity's holy text.
The Maecenas Foundation, which aims to protect archaeological relics found in poor countries, hopes to organise exhibitions around the manuscript and to produce a documentary on the process of unravelling the text.
The full launch is due in Easter 2006.
Gospel of Judas back in spotlight after 20 centuries Swiss foundation seeks to shed light on controversial Christian text named after apostle said to have betrayed Jesus. By Patrick Baert - GENEVA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About 2,000 years after the Gospel according to Judas sowed discord among early Christians, a Swiss foundation says it is translating for the first time the controversial text named after the apostle said to have betrayed Jesus Christ.
The 62-page papyrus manuscript of the text was uncovered in Egypt during the 1950s or 1960s, but its owners did not fully comprehend its significance until recently, according to the Maecenas Foundation in Basel.
The manuscript written in the ancient dialect of Egypt's Coptic Christian community will be translated into English, French and German in about a year, the foundation specialising in antique culture said on Tuesday.
"We have just received the results of carbon dating: the text is older than we thought and dates back to a period between the beginning of the third and fourth centuries," foundation director Mario Jean Roberty said.
The existence of a Gospel of Judas, which was originally written in Greek, was outlined by a bishop, Saint Irenee, when he denounced the text as heretical during the second century.
"It's the only clear source that allows us to know that such a Gospel did exist," Roberty explained.
The foundation declined to say what account Judas is said to give in his alleged gospel.
According to Christian tradition, Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus Christ by helping the Romans to find him before he was crucified.
"We do not want to reveal the exceptional side of what we have," Roberty said.
The author of the text is unknown.
"No one can clearly state that Judas wrote it himself," Roberty said, while pointing out that the other gospels were probably not written by their supposed authors either.
The four recognised gospels of the New Testament describe the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and are said to record his teachings from the eyes of four of his disciples, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
The Roman Catholic Church limited the recognised gospels to the four in 325, under the guidance of the first Christian Roman emperor, Constantine.
Thirty other texts - some of which have been uncovered - were sidelined because "they were difficult to reconcile with what Constantine wanted as a political doctrine," according to Roberty.
The foundation's director said the Judas Iscariot text called into question some of the political principles of Christian doctrine.
It could also to some extent rehabilitate Judas, whose name has often come to symbolise the accusation of deicide - God-killing - levelled by some Christian teachings against the Jewish people, he added.
After the manuscript is restored, the text is due to be translated and analysed by a team of specialists in Coptic history led by a former professor at the University of Geneva, Rudolf Kasser.
Jean-Daniel Kaestli, an expert on gospels who has seen the manuscript, said the discovery was "very interesting", although the papyrus was in a bad state.
He added that it was not going to lead to a revolutionary change in the vision of the Bible, although it could shed some new light on parts of Christianity's holy text.
The Maecenas Foundation, which aims to protect archaeological relics found in poor countries, hopes to organise exhibitions around the manuscript and to produce a documentary on the process of unravelling the text.
The full launch is due in Easter 2006.
(s)a lo written unto the word that algore will win the 2000 election after the crucifiction. Only an evil republican can steal the election.(/s)
Seriously, history is repleat with forgeries and fakes. How many french churches claim to have the holy relic of the jesus' foreskin?
I think so. About as dead as our exchange. C-YA!
Did too...
Pilate was educated.. mostly only romans spoke Latin.. the world (in them there parts) spoke koine greek.. so did Pilate so the "people" would understand him.. Most/many rabbis probably spoke latin, Greek and hebrew.. Iesus <- Greek for "Jesus".. more or less.. all the "J's" came during and after 313 ad when the Roman Catholic church was created.. d;-)
***For some very interesting info on these matters and related topics, read the book "Holy Blood, Holy Grail". It's fascinating.***
I read it all the way through. It is the first book that I tossed in the trash after finishing. It is crap.
Judas betrayed Jesus by helping the Jewish religious leaders (accompanied by Roman soldiers) find him at a time and place where he would not be surrounded by a large multitude of his followers.
**Read Eusebius. **
I agree. I have just finished his Ecclesiastical History for the second time.
I have also read the LOST BOOKS OF THE BIBLE and FORGOTTEN BOOKS OF EDEN. You can immediatly see the difference as to why these were NOT included in the bible.
One question about the GOSPEL OF THOMAS, did Mary become a man, as Jesus told Peter she would, after he preached to her?
***The Gospel According to Thomas is a good example, it fits well into the synoptic gospels. ***
Not so! Peter became upset Mary was with them as she was not a man. Jesus tells Peter that he will teach Mary and she will become a man!
Did this first "sex change really take place?"
Faith is a funny thing, isn't it?
Can you point me to the scientific proof that Jesus was the Son of God and was resurrected as told in the Bible?
I'd even settle for scientific proof that he lived.
No opinions, please. Just scientific proof.
I have proof. Otherwise I never would have left atheism. But you cannot prove something to someone if it happened 2000 years ago. They have to find it for themselves.
"What are your opinions on these extra gospels? I have hear about them but never read them." ~ kingsurfer
You can find out a lot about the early heretics in the church by just going on google. For instance, one of the earliest heretics who lived at the time of the apostle John was Cerinthus. Here is the tip of the iceber of what we find on him, alone:
Web Results 1 - 10 of about 948 for early heretic cerinthus. (0.37 seconds)
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=early+heretic+cerinthus&btnG=Google+Search
Early History of Millennium Teaching
... reign of a thousand years; who think, that is to say, with the heretic Cerinthus.
... But how did the early church regard the doctrine of Cerinthus ? ...
www.scionofzion.com/ehmt.htm - 13k - Cached - Similar pages
I don't think so!
Well, it obviously frosts some folks here that it might be authentic, so I'm not gonna push it one way or another. But it is interesting that in the reference section (where it is cross referenced to the other gospels an books of the NT) there are no references to ACTS or anything later, since these are the Logia, or "sayings" of Jesus that makes sense, but IMHO it shows it is not obviously a fraud.
Many of these document intros talk about something called "Q", or "Quelle" en Francais, I am unsure exactly what all of it means.
I imagine there is stuff in the Vatican that could clear alot of this up, but we'll never see it...
"We have just received the results of carbon dating: the text is older than we thought and dates back to a period between the beginning of the third and fourth centuries," foundation director Mario Jean Roberty said."
300-400 AD
"No one can clearly state that Judas wrote it himself,"
Unless the dude did not kill himself AND lived to be 300-400 years old, I can bet that he did not write it.
***Can you point me to the scientific proof that Jesus was the Son of God and was resurrected as told in the Bible? ***
Can you prove to me that Julius Caesar was a real person and not the creation of some fevered imagination? Maybe someone faked the tales and others then added him to the scrolls of histories. Maybe others made statues of what he "Might" have looked like.
Or maybe his Opus?
LOL good point !
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