The Gospel of Judas: The hidden version of the last week of Jesus

“The Gospel of Judas does not claim to be a traitor; it reveals the complexity of the human soul in front of the divine mystery.”

1. What is the Gospel of Judas

The so-called “Gospel of Judas” is an apocryphal gospel of character gnostic, transmitted in coptic (egyptian christian) in the so-called Codex Tchacos. It is a “gospel”dialog: a series of conversations between Jesus and the disciples, and especially Jesus and Judas Iscariot, which develop a few days before the crucifixion.

Basic points:

• This is not a text of the first century, or a direct testimony of Judas: the majority of specialists are among 130-180 d.C.in a christian environment gnostic Greek language.
• The manuscript that we have is a translation coptic from the original Greek, copied to the century III–IV d.C. (carbon-14 dating of the codex around 280 d.C. ± 60 years).
• It was known already in Antiquity: Irenaeus of Lyon (ca. 180 d.C.) mentioned a “Gospel of Judas” in Against heresies 1.31.1, attributed to a group of gnostic called cainitasthat they elevated to biblical figures “bad” as Cain and Judas.

2. Modern history of the manuscript (Codex Tchacos)

2.1 Discovery and journey

• The codex was found in the 70s in Egypt mediumprobably in a cave or tomb.
• Passed through the hands of anticuaristas, suffered from years of improper storage (one box of safety in EE. UU., humidity, fungus), was fragmented and heavily deteriorated.
• It was finally acquired by the swiss foundation Maecenas Foundation for Ancient Art, who commissioned its restoration and editing.

2.2 Publication and project National Geographic

• In 2006, the National Geographic Society publicly presented the text as restored, with critical edition, translation, and a tv documentary.
• The volume academic major was edited by Rodolphe Kasser, Marvin Meyer, and Gregor Wurst, The Gospel of Judas from Codex Tchacos.
• There were disputes: some specialists (for example, April DeConick) criticized the first popular translation by filing a “Judas good” and accused the National Geographic of errors of translation and emphasis of the media.

2.3 Content of the Codex Tchacos

The codex does not contain only the Gospel of Judas:

• Letter of Peter to Philip (gnostic)
• First Apocalypse of James (different version to Nag Hammadi)
• Gospel of Judas
• An anonymous text (sometimes called Book of Alógenes or similar, depending on the assumptions).

“In this text, Judas is not a villain: is the dark mirror where the gnosis reflects its contradictions.”

3. Literary genre and structure of the Gospel

3.1 Gospel of dialogue

It is not a “life of Jesus” in the style Mark or Luke; it is a revelatory text:

• Jesus appears as a developer gnosticwho is laughing at the disciples because they do not understand the true reality.
• The plot is organized in four appearances of Jesus, along about eight days before the Passover, with dialogues with Twelve or with Judas in private.

3.2 basic Structure (summary)

1. Introduction: Jesus was manifested to his disciples, performs signs and miracles, but they don't understand him.
2. Scene of the laughing Jesus: Jesus laughs of the cult disciples to offer to God, because he is directed to the wrong god (the demiurge, not the supreme Father).
3. Call of Judas: Judas is separated from the others and acknowledges that Jesus is coming of the kingdom of the great invisible Spirit; Jesus reveals the special secrets.
4. Great revelation of cosmological: Jesus explains the origin of the universe, the aeons, angels, the demiurge and the human generations, in key setiana.
5. Fate of Judas: it was announced that Judas “will overcome” to the other disciples, but also to suffer marginalization.
6. Closing narrative: the chief priests discussed how to turn to Jesus; Judas presents to give to Jesus and the story closes with this action, without narrating the crucifixion.

4. Content theological and cosmological

4.1 Context of gnostic and setiano

The majority of specialists consider it a gospel gnostic setiano:

• It exalts the “race” or seed Set, the son of Adam is associated with the spiritual lineage authentic; this connects the text with other writings setians of Nag Hammadi.
• A distinction is made between the Supreme god of the invisible and archons/angels creators (including an inferior god who rules this material world).

Topics typically gnostics:

• The material world is the product of a inferior god ignorant or malignant.
• Salvation is receiving gnosis (revealed knowledge), which allow the soul to return to the kingdom of light.

4.2 Vision of Jesus

• Jesus appears as emanation or messenger of the higher realm, not so much as the jewish Messiah historical.
• There are indications of a christology doceta: the emphasis is on the spiritual being of Jesus, not his flesh, and the text ignores passion, death and resurrection.

4.3 The figure of Judas

This is the core controversial:

• Judas is the only disciple understand the true origin of Jesus.
• Jesus says that it will be “the thirteenth”, separated from the other, and that will surpass because it will offer “the man who I was” (that is to say, the material body of Jesus) for compliance with the plan.
• Irenaeus already said that the cainitas worshipped Judas as a hero gnostic, because when you surrender to Jesus would have allowed the release of the spirit of the Saviour of the material world.

What Judas is “good”? There are two major lines performing:

1. Read “rehabilitative” (first wave media): Judas acts in obedience to Jesus and meets a secret mission, so that his betrayal is not treason, but of collaboration.
2. Critical reading later (DeConick, and others): the Judas of the gospel remains negative; it is the disciple who is associated with the rulers of the astral and his “star” is bound up with the fate of the demons; it is rather a “esoteric wrong” that ends up serving the god below.

The discussion depends on nuances and philological: for example, if certain terms are translated as “thou shalt be exalted”, or “you'll be the paragraph/damn,” etc.

“The biggest secret of the Gospel of Judas, not Judas, but the image of a Jesus who laughs at the ignorance of the world.”

5. Compared to the canonical Gospels

5.1 Differences narratives

• The canonical gospels presents Judas as the traitor moved by greed, and the influence of Satan or the fulfillment of the Scriptures (Mc 14; Mt 26-27; Luke 22; John 13).
• The Gospel of Judas it does not speak about the psychological motivation or repentance; simply integrates the delivery of Jesus in a plan of revelation gnostic.

Key points of contrast:

• The absence of passion and resurrection: the text ends before the crucifixion, do not speak of resurrection, and this is why the scholars consider it a document heretical christian who does not share the kerygma basic.
• The absence of sacraments: criticizes the cult of the eucharist and the liturgy of the disciples, seen as sacrifices to the god below.
• Church and apostles: the text seems to be how to debate against Great Church century II (leaders, bishops, martyrs), presenting the Twelve figures deceived, serving the cosmos lower.

5.2 canonical Status

• It was never considered canonical by the churches from the majority.
• Already in the second century, Irenaeus complaint explicitly as a “fictional history” (fictional history), and as the gospel of a heretic group.
• The non-inclusion in the canon not due to a conspiracy late, but that was a text late, in such and theologically incompatible with the preaching of the majority.

6. Reception old: the cainitas and other gnostic

According to Irenaeus, and other patristic sources:

• The gospel would have been used by the cainitas, group a gnostic who revered characters “cursed” AT: Cain, the sodomites, etc, as the elect of Wisdom (Sophia) against the inferior god.
• In that logic, Judas would be a “started” that breaks up the plan of the demiurge, and collaborates with, consciously or not, with the plan of the upper God.

The Fathers of the Church are cited only for refuting it:

• Irenaeus, Against heresies 1.31.1
• Later, Epiphanius, and other catalogues of heresies mentioned gospels “Judas” or similar, always on a polemical.

7. Rediscovery and contemporary academic debates

7.1 historical Value

Almost all the specialists serious match in:

• Historically, it tells us nothing new about the Judas of the century I, or about Jesus as a historical character.
• Yes it is a source of the first order on the gnostic christianity of the second centuryespecially the setianismo.

In other words: it's not “historical” in regard to the life of Jesus, but very important to understand the evolution of the christian ideas.

7.2 The controversy about the “rehabilitation” of Judas

• The release of 2006 he insisted on a reading of “Judas” hero, exploited by media and documentaries.
• April DeConick (The Thirteenth Apostle.), and others showed that several translations key can read more negatively:
  • where the popular version said, “thou shalt be exalted above all”, some of the manuscripts and contexts allow you to read “you'll be separated from all the generations” or phrases equivalent.
• Today the majority consensus is that the text does not convert to Judas in a holybut that shows it as a figure of ambiguous or even tragic: you have access to a revelation superior, but at the same time is linked to the lower powers and a destiny grim.

“The Judas gnostic does not betray: run a destiny written in the stars.”

8. Key topics for a background analysis

8.1 Criticism of the cult and the institutional church

• The passage where Jesus laughs of the sacrifice that the disciples believe offer the “God of Israel” is a direct criticism of the cult of sacrifice and the eucharist in the great Church.
• The church leaders that promote martyrdom and liturgy would be, for the author, servants of the god creator and lower, not of the supreme Father.

8.2 The occasion of the “star of Judas”

• Jesus says to Judas, “the star that leads the way is your star,” astral image that links to a cosmic destiny particular.
• The stars represent eons, generations or souls; Judas is the figure of a generation that will play a role transgressor within the cosmic drama.

8.3 The rejection of martyrdom

• In contrast with the christian literature of the second century that exalts the martyrdom, the Gospel of Judas it rejects the martyrdom physical: to die for the god of the material world would be, for the author, an error occurred.
• The true salvation does not pass through shed blood, but to receive the gnosis and escape to the domain of the archons.

9. Status of the text: gaps, problems and philological

• The manuscript is highly fragmented and presents many gaps; there are passages with reconstructions of the hypothetical.
• The first edition of Kasser–Meyer–Wurst already included extensive notes on alternative readings; subsequent investigations have proposed corrections in several verses key (especially those that affect the role of Judas).
• There are now multiple translations to English and other languages (some with free access), which reflect these discussions.

10. Value theological and hermeneutical

From the point of view of the theology mainstream christian (catholic, orthodox, protestant):

• The Gospel of Judas is considered text heretical, late and unreliable historicallybut helpful to understand the deviations gnostic of the second century.
• Shows how certain groups reinterpretaron the apostolic tradition in key dualistic extreme:
  • God of the OT = demiurge bottom
  • Supreme god of the NT = Father of Jesus, other than the creator
  • Apostles = representatives ambivalent of the church “psychic” or “carnal”
  • Judas = figure liminal, linked to secret knowledge.

In studies of the history of religions:

• It is a key piece to map the plurality of primitive christianity and the competition between discourses: proto-orthodox, gnostics, setians, valentinians, etc