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'Gospel of Judas' Called An Authentic Fabrication
The New York Sun ^ | April 7, 2006 | BRUCE CHILTON

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 ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: authenticfabrication; crapola; elainepagels; epigraphyandlanguage; fabrication; fakebutaccurate; fakewhenitwaswritten; gnostic; gnosticgospels; gnosticism; godsgravesglyphs; gospelofjudas; ignorantmedia; irreligiousmedia; jeeznotthisagain; judas; judasiscariot; justsomegnosticcrap; letshavejerusalem; msmdontknowhistory; msmdontknowreligion; muchadoaboutnothing; wtfk
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1 posted on 04/07/2006 6:38:57 AM PDT by presidio9
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To: presidio9

Fake but accurate?


2 posted on 04/07/2006 6:43:23 AM PDT by BenLurkin (O beautiful for patriot dream - that sees beyond the years)
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To: presidio9

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.


3 posted on 04/07/2006 6:46:26 AM PDT by hershey
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To: presidio9

Mary Mapes long lost ancestors........


4 posted on 04/07/2006 6:46:29 AM PDT by Red Badger (I must not fear.Fear is the mind-killer.Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.....)
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To: Red Badger

Laughed so hard my minidachs fell off my lap.


5 posted on 04/07/2006 6:47:10 AM PDT by hershey
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To: BenLurkin

Fake but fake.


6 posted on 04/07/2006 6:49:14 AM PDT by formercalifornian (One nation, under whatever popular fad comes to mind at the moment, indivisible...)
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To: hershey
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.

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."

7 posted on 04/07/2006 6:49:57 AM PDT by sinkspur (Things are about to happen that will answer all your questions and solve all your problems.)
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To: BenLurkin
As another poster noted why Gnostics are not Christians:
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.


8 posted on 04/07/2006 6:51:38 AM PDT by FormerLib ("...the past ten years in Kosovo will be replayed here in what some call Aztlan.")
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To: presidio9

Authentic Fabrication....does that mean Real Fake


9 posted on 04/07/2006 6:53:02 AM PDT by Military family member (GO Colts!!)
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To: presidio9

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.


10 posted on 04/07/2006 6:54:01 AM PDT by Kieri (Dump "Dangerously Incompetent" Debbie, Support Keith Butler for Senate)
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To: formercalifornian

Translation of a copy of a fake............


11 posted on 04/07/2006 6:54:31 AM PDT by Red Badger (I must not fear.Fear is the mind-killer.Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.....)
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To: presidio9

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.


12 posted on 04/07/2006 6:54:47 AM PDT by Antoninus (I don't vote for liberals regardless of their party affiliation.)
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To: Military family member

Real Fake, as in those damn Rolex junk spam e-mails..........


13 posted on 04/07/2006 6:55:15 AM PDT by Red Badger (I must not fear.Fear is the mind-killer.Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.....)
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To: Antoninus
Ratericos Danilos.....Who had a secretary named Marius Mapeus.............
14 posted on 04/07/2006 6:56:46 AM PDT by Red Badger (I must not fear.Fear is the mind-killer.Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.....)
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To: presidio9

It's as legitimate as "The Hitler Diaries."


15 posted on 04/07/2006 6:57:21 AM PDT by dfwgator (Florida Gators - 2006 NCAA Men's Basketball Champions)
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To: presidio9
In its release, National Geographic repeatedly states that it has "authenticated" the document

Post the original and let the pajamahadeen authenticate the typewriter font :-)
16 posted on 04/07/2006 6:58:34 AM PDT by silverleaf (Fasten your seat belts- it's going to be a BUMPY ride.)
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To: presidio9
Great article. No one in the MSM covering this story has mentioned it could have been forged way back in the third or fourth centuries or how they are certain it was written by Judas.

It's just accepted as the Gospel truth. Amazing!

17 posted on 04/07/2006 6:59:01 AM PDT by TAdams8591
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To: presidio9

I don't think any of the New Testament is derived from first century documents or is an original.


18 posted on 04/07/2006 6:59:05 AM PDT by Dog Gone
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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.


19 posted on 04/07/2006 7:01:58 AM PDT by ejroth
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Comment #20 Removed by Moderator


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