Sir Shred A Lot
Age : 78
Joined : 21 Apr 2007
Posts : 1509
 |  Subject: Gospel of Judas - Judas a Bad Guy After All  Tue Jul 24, 2007 4:44 pm | |
| You'll remember several months back when the discovery of the Gospel of Judas was announced and it was claimed that this gospel portrays Judas as a hero figure rather than the "bad guy" that he is in the New Testament gospels. Or at least this is all that was being reported in the mainstream media, which is how most people learned of this.
I mentioned back then that many scholars were doubting these claims about a "good" Judas being portrayed in the Gospel of Judas and said that a few books would be coming out arguing that Judas is still the "bad guy" in the Gospel of Judas. Now you won't be hearing much about these books in the mainstream media, since they aren't quite as sensational as something contrary to traditional Christianity, but I wanted to pass along some more info for anyone interested.
April DeConick, who is sort of a gnostic New Age-type Christian, but one of the foremost experts and scholars of ancient Gnosticism, is coming out with her book on the Gospel of Judas. In it she basically argues that the initial English translation of the Gospel of Judas, the one that everyone in the media has been talking about and was featured in the National Geographic TV special, is very poor. In fact, it's so poor that it misses the fact that Judas is not a very good character in this gospel. She has posted an informative interview on the gospel at her website: http://www.aprildeconick.com/gospelofjudas.html
| Quote: |
April DeConick: Q&A on the Gospel of Judas
The Thirteenth Apostle Q&A
1. Can you tell me a little about the background of the Gospel of Judas? When does it date from, where was it found?
The
manuscript was discovered in the 1970s in an ancient catacomb that was
being looted by local peasants living near the cliffs of the Jebel
Qarara. The Jebel Qarara hills are only a few minutes on foot from the
Nile River not far from El Minya, Egypt. Although we know that the
Gospel of Judas existed in the middle of the second century because
Bishop Irenaeus of Lyons mentions it (ca. 180), the manuscript that we
have is a fourth- or fifth-century Coptic translation. It was only one
text in a book of Gnostic Christian writings. It was buried along with
three other books that had been copied in the fourth- or fifth
centuries – a book of Paul’s letters in Coptic, the book of Exodus in
Greek, and a mathematical treatise in Greek. All four books had been
sealed in a white limestone box and buried in a family tomb. If nothing
else, their burial in this tomb points to their favoritism in the life
of an early Christian living in ancient Egypt, a Christian who seems to
have had esoteric leanings, and no difficulty studying canonical
favorites alongside the Gnostic Gospel of Judas. In fact, he appears to
have wanted to take them with him in death.
2. Why did it take so long to make the first English translation?
The
English translation wasn’t what took so long. What took the time was
recovering the text from the antiquities market, which finally was done
in the early 2000s.It also took time to restore the manuscript so that
it could be read. The book that contains the Gospel of Judas was in the
worst possible shape due to terrible handling once it left the grave.
It had been torn in parts to make quicker and more profitable sales.
The pages had been reshuffled so that the original pagination was gone.
It was brittle and crumbling thanks to a stay in someone’s freezer. The
ink was barely illegible because of exposure to the elements. Members
of the National Geographic team have told me that initially they
photocopied every fragment and then used the photocopies to piece
together the pages. They worked with tweezers to fit together the
shards of papyrus and also relied on state-of-the-art computer
technology. Once the restoration was complete, the manuscript could be
read. It is written in an old Egyptian language called Coptic. The
Coptic text had to be transcribed, which was no small job given the
fragmented nature of the restored pages and the eroded ink. After the
initial transcription was made, it was then translated into English.
3. What was it about the National Geographic translation that inspired you to make your own translation?
When
National Geographic finally released the transcription and translation
of the Gospel of Judas, I was enthusiastic because my area of expertise
is ancient Gnostic religiosity and early Christian mysticism. Most of
my career as a professor has been devoted to the study of the Nag
Hammadi texts. The Gospel of Judas came upon most of us out of a
whirlwind. I had heard whispers about the Gospel of Judas for years,
but nothing really concrete. Then there it was captured on film and on
the web. I was repelled by the sensationalism of its release, but still
attracted to the idea that here was a brand new Gnostic text that no
one has read for how many centuries?! I guess I wanted to know what
stories it had to tell us about the Christians who wrote it in the
second century. And once I started to work out my own translation, I
realized that I had an obligation to other scholars and to the public
to set the record straight about what the Gospel of Judas actually says.
4. What makes your interpretation so different from the NG version?
For
a long time, scholars have thought that the Gospel of Judas featured a
Judas hero because testimony from a couple of Church Fathers led us to
believe that there were a group of Gnostics known as Cainites. The
Cainites were said to believe that all the bad characters in the bible,
including Judas, were actually heroes. I tend to be extremely skeptical
of the testimony of the Church Fathers on these sorts of issues for the
sheer fact that the Fathers saw the Gnostics as their opponents and
they did everything they could to undermine them, including lying. So I
didn’t have an opinion on what the Gospel of Judas should say about
Judas. Once I started translating the Gospel of Judas and began to see
the types of translation choices that the National Geographic team had
made, I was startled and concerned. The text very clearly called Judas
a “demon.” Why did the team feel it necessary to translate this
“spirit”? The text very clearly says that Judas will be “separated
from” the Gnostics. Why did the team feel it necessary to translate
this “set apart for” the Gnostics? And so forth. I didn’t care if Judas
was good, bad or ugly. I just wanted to hear what the Sethian Gnostics
had to say about him, and make sense of the text as a whole.
5. Why do you think that the NG interpretation doesn’t work?
Not
only is this interpretation based on a problematic English translation,
rather than on what the Coptic actually says, but the opinion that
Judas is a hero and a good guy is nonsense in terms of the bigger
gospel narrative. For instance, this gospel berates sacrifice and
understands it to be a horrifying practice dedicated to the god who
wars against the supreme Father God. If this is the case, then Judas’
sacrifice of Jesus simply cannot be a good thing. To say it is, is to
rip apart the logic of what the text is saying as a whole.
6. Why do think so many scholars and writers have been inspired by the NG version?
I
have been truly amazed at the number of people who have jumped on this
bandwagon. One of my colleagues upon hearing my concerns at a
conference, stood up and said, “I just don’t see why Judas can’t be
good. We need a good Judas.” This really stopped me in my tracks and
took this discourse to an entirely new level for me. There is something
bigger going on here, in our modern communal psyche. I haven’t been
able to put my finger on it exactly, but it appears to have something
to do with our collective guilt about anti-Semitism and our need to
reform the relationship between Jews and Christians following World War
II. Judas has been a terrifying figure in our history, since he became
in the Middle Ages the archetypal Jew who was responsible for Jesus’
death. His story was abused for centuries as a justification to commit
atrocities against Jews. I wonder if one of the ways that our communal
psyche has handled this in recent decades is to try to erase or explain
the evil Judas, to remove from him the guilt of Jesus’ death. There are
many examples of this in pop fiction and film produced after World War
II. It seems to be that the National Geographic interpretation has
grown out of this collective need and has been well-received because of
it.
7. Why has no one challenged the NG version before now?
There
have been challenges, but they are just now beginning to be published
due to the year lag it takes to move something into press. Because the
National Geographic team had exclusive rights for publication, the
contents of the Gospel of Judas have been kept in strictest confidence
and secrecy. The members of the team were required to sign
non-disclosure statements in order to keep this secrecy until the
Gospel was published in April 2006. So the interpretation that this
team spun, is the only one that was allowed to emerge, and it did so as
“the” authoritative interpretation. Scholars all over the world
literally have been left behind by years because of this exclusivity.
This has robbed the academic community of the opportunity to freely
discuss this Gospel, offering different viewpoints, questioning
transcriptional and translation choices, and so forth, before the
release of a reliable critical edition. What is worse is that National
Geographic still has not released the photographs of the Gospel of
Judas, so even the Coptic transcription they have provided us on the
Web cannot be checked for accuracy. In June 2007, National Geographic
is supposed to release the critical edition with photographs, a project
that was accomplished with no input from scholars beyond National
Geographic’s team. Certainly National Geographic has had its exclusive,
an exclusive that may have been very profitable for National
Geographic, but it is a profit at the expense of our field, not only in
terms of what the Gospel of Judas actually says, but also in terms of
our reputation as professors and scholars.
8. Who do you think wrote the Gospel? Why do you think they wrote it?
The
Gospel of Judas was written by Gnostic Christians called Sethians in
the mid-second century. They wrote it to criticize Apostolic or
mainstream Christianity, which they understood to be a form of
Christianity that needed to reassess its faith. Particularly troubling
for these Gnostic Christians was the Apostolic belief in the atonement,
because this meant that God would have had to commit infanticide by
sacrificing the Son. They wrote the Gospel of Judas to prove that this
could not be the case. Why? Because Judas was a demon who worked for
another demon who rules this world and whose name is Ialdabaoth. How
did they know this? Because Jesus had revealed this to Judas before
Judas betrayed him. That is the bottom line. That is what this gospel
says.
9. What do you think this manuscript tells us about early Christianity? Why is the Gospel of Judas important?
This
gospel’s voice is different. It represents the opinions of Christians
in the second century who came to be labeled as “heretical” by later
bishops who wished to gain control of the religious landscape. Because
this is a Gnostic Christian tradition that did not survive, the chance
find of this gospel has let us tune into a second century discussion
about theology. And the voice we are hearing is the voice of the guy
who lost the debate. Not only is the recovery and integration of this
voice into our history important, but also its contribution to
Christian theology, which is enormous. The challenge against atonement
theology as it is presented in the Gospel of Judas is a challenge that
rocked the Apostolic Churches, forcing them to refine and recreate
their position. The end result is a doctrine of atonement that became
very popular in the Christian Church, a doctrine that understood the
sacrifice of Jesus as a ransom paid to the Devil. This doctrine exists
as a response to the Gnostic criticisms of atonement that we find in
the Gospel of Judas.
10. What do you think it is about the figure of Judas that seems to fascinate both scholars and the general reader?
Judas
Iscariot is a frightening figure. For Christians, he is the one who had
it all, and yet betrayed God to his death for a few dollars. He is the
archetype of human evil, the worst human being ever to live. He is the
antithesis of the true Christian. Because of this, his image works as a
religious control – he is someone the Christian never wants to become.
For Jews, he is terrifying, the man whom Christians associated with
Jewish people, whose story was used against them for centuries as a
religious justification for their abuse and slaughter. Even his name
“Judas” has been linked to “Jew,” due to their root similarities
(Judas/Judea/Jews). I think that Judas is someone whose shadow haunts
us.
Thanks to Robert Trebb of Continuum for sending me the interview.
The Thirteenth Apostle is due for release in October. |
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|
Orion Crystal Ice
Rider of the Astral Fire
Age : 23
Joined : 02 Jan 2007
Posts : 5880
| | Subject: Re: Gospel of Judas - Judas a Bad Guy After All Tue Jul 24, 2007 6:53 pm | |
| | Quote: | Certainly National Geographic has had its exclusive,
an exclusive that may have been very profitable for National
Geographic, but it is a profit at the expense of our field, not only in
terms of what the Gospel of Judas actually says, but also in terms of
our reputation as professors and scholars. |
Nahhhhhh.....NG would never ever do anything like that.. 
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Dark motions, black eyes, and mournful lust, the wings of solitude
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|
BackFromTheDawn
Age : 22
Joined : 18 May 2007
Posts : 3017
| | Subject: Re: Gospel of Judas - Judas a Bad Guy After All Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:23 pm | |
| very interesting stuff. thanks for posting it shred. i've heard stuff about this, but it's nice to read about it like this.
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"He had discovered Time and Death and God"-Aldous Huxley |
|
GODSWIZARD
Play it LOUD!!
Age : 51
Joined : 06 Jan 2007
Posts : 11691
| | Subject: Re: Gospel of Judas - Judas a Bad Guy After All Wed Jul 25, 2007 8:58 pm | |
| Fun and interesting read. 
A lot of the stuff quoted I know. 
A lot of the stuff quoted I did not know. 
Still......a great read.
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"The 'farce' is strong with Obama-Wan." words of Scourge.
One of the twins: I'm the one who likes it all.... |
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