Posted on 04/06/2006 12:41:01 PM PDT by Justice
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Lost for almost 1,700 years, a manuscript entitled "Gospel of Judas" is putting a new spin on the case of the biblical bad guy, maintaining that Jesus actually asked disciple Judas to betray him.
The third- or fourth-century ancient Coptic manuscript -- authenticated, translated and displayed Thursday at National Geographic headquarters here -- paints a different picture of Judas and Jesus.
The papyrus manuscript known as a codex maintains, as the bible does not, that Jesus requested that Judas "betray" him by handing him to authorities, something it says pained Judas greatly.
"The codex has been authenticated as a genuine work of ancient Christian apocryphal literature on five fronts: radiocarbon dating, ink analysis, multispectral imaging, contextual evidence and paleographic evidence," said Terry Garcia, executive vice president for Mission Programs for the National Geographic Society.
"This dramatic discovery of an ancient non-biblical text -- considered by some to be the most significant in the past 60 years -- enhances our knowledge of the history and theological viewpoints of the early Christian period, and is worthy of study by historians, scholars and theologians," Garcia said.
"This process will take time and ongoing dialogue which has just begun."
The leather-bound papyrus text believed to have been copied down around 300 AD was located in the 1970s in the desert near El Minya, Egypt. It then moved among antiquities traders from Egypt to Europe and the United States.
It was purchased by Zurich-based antiquities dealer Frieda Nussberger-Tchacos in 2000, and now was to be returned to Egypt and housed at Cairo's Coptic Museum.
Says what is true exactly? What is your point. You're not clear.
If nothing else, more proof that Jesus did walk the Earth and He was betrayed, which set up the Crucifixion. It was already destined to happen, because God said it would happen, if not Judas and the Romans, then some other method would have occured.
Agreed.
This will be a fascinating document. It will shed some light on knows mysterious Gnostic groups that are alluded too in Early Church writings. Actually the story about how this text got out is pretty interesting. You could make a movie out of it. The shady world of ancient manuscripts and the people that deal with them is something to read about.
Justice
Since Apr 7, 1998
No zot, No peace.
Who cares about Judas, I want to know about Mary Magdelene!
Unless this new artifact contains clues about the Davinci Code, it is utterly useless. [sarcasm off]
(New ancient manuscript found)
Well, which is it? New or ancient?
Just a little humor.http://media.putfile.com/exterminator
And I want to know about Lilith, Adam's first wife.
(3) Chief Differences between Canonical and Apocryphal Gospels
From the outset, the four Gospels, the sacred character of which was thus recognized very early, differed in several respects from the numerous uncanonical Gospels which circulated during the first centuries of the Church. First of all, they commended themselves by their tone of simplicity and truthfulness, which stood in striking contrast with the trivial, absurd, or manifestly legendary character of many of those uncanonical productions. In the next place, they had an earlier origin than most of their apocryphal rivals, and indeed many of the latter productions were directly based on the canonical Gospels. A third feature in favour of our canonical records of Christ's life was the purity of their teachings, dogmatic and moral, over against the Jewish, Gnostic, or other heretical views with which not a few of the apocryphal gospels were tainted, and on account of which these unsound writings found favour among heretical bodies and, on the contrary, discredit in the eyes of Catholics. Lastly, and more particularly, the canonical Gospels were regarded as of Apostolic authority, two of them being ascribed to the Apostles St. Matthew and St. John, respectively, and two to St. Mark and St. Luke, the respective companions of St. Peter and St. Paul. Many other gospels indeed claimed Apostolic authority, but to none of them was this claim universally allowed in the early Church. The only apocryphal work which was at all generally received, and relied upon, in addition to our four canonical Gospels, is the "Gospel according to the Hebrews". It is a well-known fact that St. Jerome, speaking of this Gospel under the name of "The Gospel according to the Nazarenes", regards it as the Hebrew original of our Greek canonical Gospel according to St. Matthew. But, as far as can be judged from its fragments which have come down to us, it has no right to originality as compared with our first canonical Gospel. At a very early date, too, it was treated as devoid of Apostolic authority, and St. Jerome himself, who states that he had its Aramaic text at his disposal, does not assign it a place side by side with our canonical Gospels: all the authority which he ascribes to it is derived from his persuasion that it was the original text of our First Gospel, and not a distinct Gospel over and above the four universally received from time immemorial in the Catholic Church.
If Judas did indeed betray Christ as part of Christ's plan, then the suicide makes even more sense. Rather than killing himself for balated guilt at causing Jesus' death, he would have been terribly torn and conflicted at having done what was asked to such a terrible consequence. He might also have wanted to join his beloved Jesus in the afterlife. I think that this scenario would have been far more internally painful than the traditional one.
LOL I caught that myself as soon as I posted it.
Correction:
Newly found ancient manuscript!
How's that?
I sometimes wish that FR allowed one to go back and edit their posts.
Cheers.
HEre is a page that goes into more detail about these texts. Including all the shady manuscript dealers involved.
http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/manuscripts/gospel_of_judas/
Two of the current NYT Bestsellers are about the Templars - and ancient manuscripts/codexes found. Very well may be a movie about it soon.
Fake but true. What this means, of course, is that scientific tests have proven that this papyrus document is ancient, like the Gospel of Thomas or the Dead Sea Scrolls.
But, please. Let's keep in mind that it's also apocryphal. Which is to say that it has no authority. There were numerous heresies, in Judaism and Christianity, from the earliest days.
"Scientific biblical criticism" sometimes assumes that the early Christians made up the Church as they went along, and that the "real" story is quite different. That assumes that a large number of apparently virtuous people, willing to die for their beliefs, would get together around a lie.
If Christ had asked Judas to betray him, then the Apostles would have known about it, and the story would have survived in more than a dead manuscript. Sorry, but Occam's Razor argues that this is most unlikely. Some whacko or someone with a grudge wrote this, back whenever the evidence dates it to. That doesn't mean there is the least bit of truth in it. But naturally the MSM will jump all over it, as usual, because they just love the idea of undermining Christianity and/or the Bible.
IBTZ?
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