The Gospel Of Judas In Context

This book offers the papers presented at the First International Conference on the Coptic Gospel of Judas, held in Paris, University of Sorbonne, October 27th-28th 2006. Several crucial literary, historical and doctrinal issues related to this apocryphon of the 2nd century A.C. are explored as well as Judas' ambiguous figure.

The papers gathered in this book were presented at the First International Conference (held in Paris, University of Sorbonne, October 27th-28th 2006), devoted to the newly discovered Gospel of Judas, preserved in the 4th century Coptic Codex Tchacos. These essays explore several crucial literary, historical and doctrinal issues related to this gospel, composed in the second half of the 2nd century. This unexpected discovery sheds a new light on the role attributed to Judas by some Gnostic Christian movements. A hotly debated question is precisely the significance of Judas in this gospel: hero or villain? Special attention is given to the sources - Greek, Jewish, Christian and even Iranian - used by the unknown author. This book will be of special interest for historians of late Antiquity religions and scholars in New Testament studies, Gnosticism and Coptic literature.

For 1,600 years its message lay hidden. When the bound papyrus pages of this lost gospel finally reached scholars who could unlock its meaning, they were astounded. Here was a gospel that had not been seen since the early days of Christianity, and which few experts had even thought existed–a gospel told from the perspective of Judas Iscariot, history’s ultimate traitor. And far from being a villain, the Judas that emerges in its pages is a hero. In this radical reinterpretation, Jesus asks Judas to betray him. In contrast to the New Testament Gospels, Judas Iscariot is presented as a role model for all those who wish to be disciples of Jesus and is the one apostle who truly understands Jesus. Discovered by farmers in the 1970s in Middle Egypt, the codex containing the gospel was bought and sold by antiquities traders, secreted away, and carried across three continents, all the while suffering damage that reduced much of it to fragments. In 2001, it finally found its way into the hands of a team of experts who would painstakingly reassemble and restore it. The Gospel of Judas has been translated from its original Coptic to clear prose, and is accompanied by commentary that explains its fascinating history in the context of the early Church, offering a whole new way of understanding the message of Jesus Christ.

The instant New York Times bestseller interpreting the controversial long-lost gospel The recently unearthed Gospel of Judas is a source of fascination for biblical scholars and lay Christians alike. Now two leading experts on the Gnostic gospels tackle the important questions posed by its discovery, including: How could any Christian imagine Judas to be Jesus' favorite? And what kind of vision of God does the author offer? Working from Karen L. King's brilliant new translation, Elaine Pagels and King provide the context necessary for considering its meaning. Reading Judas plunges into the heart of Christianity itself and will stand as the definitive look at the gospel for years to come.

April DeConick offers a new translation of the Gospel of Judas, one which seriously challenges the National Geographic interpretation of a good Judas.

The biblical scholar recounts the events surrounding the discovery and handling of the Gospel of Judas, and provides an overview of its content, in which Judas is portrayed as a faithful disciple.

"The Anchor Yale Bible is a fresh approach to the world's greatest classic. Its object is to make the Bible accessible to the modern reader; its method is to arrive at the meaning of biblical literature through exact translation and extended exposition, and to reconstruct the ancient setting of the biblical story, as well as the circumstances of its transcription and the characteristics of its transcribers ... [It] is a project of international and interfaith scope: Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish scholars from many countries contribute individual volumes ... [and] is an effort to make available all the significant historical and linguistic knowledge which bears on the interpretation of the biblical record ... [It] is aimed at the general reader with no special formal training in biblical studies, yet it is written with the most exacting standards of scholarship, reflecting the highest technical accomplishment"--Vol. 1, p. [ii].

This fascinating books sifts the evidence and startlingly concludes that in the earliest sources Judas was not a traitor. While the name Judas Iscariot evokes horror among many people, Klassen argues persuasively that Judas may have meant no harm in handing over Jesus to the religious authorities. The book traces the ways in which Judas is portrayed by the four writers of the gospels, showing how the picture was increasingly demonized as the later gospels were written.This is the most important study in English of Judas within the context of first-century Judaism. Klassen shows by rich reference to literature of both the ancient period and later times how the concept of Judas as traitor emerged.