For the past two days, cable TV in Singapore featured
The Gospel of Judas. I am not a debater of theology, but the hype of this finding is, in my humble opinion, going to be greater than that of Dan Brown's fictional
Da Vinci Code and may affect the minds (and hopefully not the faith) of many Christian believers and non-believers.
That the
Gospel of Judas has historical evidence in the form of the papyrus manuscript puzzled out, is sufficient proof for many to think that it is worth a second look at the faith. But is it really worth a second look?
All serious believers are always asked to examine the faith and study the Word of God and not be spiritual milkers only. We are asked to eat 'solids' so that we can know our faith in depth. So an examination of doctrines is good for strengthening the mind, restoring the faith and renewing the love for God and His Word.
But a further look at the documentary that was released really showed a lot of heretical claims. I take
Helen's point on one issue of authenticity of claims, in which I have extracted from
her blog:
Claim: In fact it is unclear whether the authors of any of the gospels — even the familiar four — actually witnessed the events they described. Evangelical biblical scholar Craig Evans of Acadia Divinity College says the canonical Gospels ultimately eclipsed the others because their version of Christ’s teachings and passion had the ring of truth.Response: Hello?? Did I hear correct?? This man is saying the 4 witnesses (John, Luke, Mark & Matthew) did not (possibly) witness the events they described? I am no bible scholar but, let's reason in secular terms. I don't need to be an expert to argue this on merit. It has been concluded that John was the last written gospel of the four. The Gospel of John was written in about late 80 or early 90AD. The other three gospels were written before 70AD. Jesus Christ was crucified in 30-33AD. The last gospel (John) was written about 53 years after the crucification of Christ. If, John, Luke, Mark and Matthew who undoubtedly lived when Jesus was still walking on earth, and are not credible witnesses to the events they wrote, then how credible is the Gospel of Judas written beween AD 220 to 340??
As I see it, that the
Gospel of Judas does not mention the crucifixion nor resurrection is already 'out of the faith'. Sure, maybe Judas had already committed suicide then, but Jesus had predicted his death even when he was alive with the disciples, so surely this inconsistency with the main four is not accepted. A 'gospel' of any truth can only be a gospel if there are consistencies, eye witnesses (of past eras) and proven legacies to exist. Moreover, Jesus' death and resurrection form the backbone of the Christian faith, so Judas's gospel is obviously off-tangent.
Another claim: The idea in this gospel is that Jesus, like all of us, is a trapped spirit, who is trapped in a material body. And salvation comes when we escape the materiality of our existence, and Judas is the one who makes it possible for him (Jesus) to escape by allowing for his body to be killed.I cannot believe that Jesus is so weak that He is not able to free himself from his 'trapped spirit', if at all. But at the Garden of Gethsamane, He chose to bear the cup of suffering, if only to fulfill His Father's will. It is heretical to even think that Jesus, both fully 100% man and 100% God, would need anyone to release or relief Him from the burden. But one must remember that the burden was great and grave, for the burdens of the sins of the world rested heavily on Him at Gethsamane and Golgatha.
In the programme, Jesus was telling Judas that he (Judas) would gain mystical knowledge and 'will exceed all of them'. At one point, Jesus was alone with Judas and pointed to the stars for Judas to 'look to the stars' which will guide him, guide him to betray Jesus, that is. Now, this part looks super astrological, which is against the idea of basic faith in Christ. My take is that even if Judas was guided by the stars, he was given the free will to choose. And we all know his choice.
Finally, right after the release by National Geographic, Elaine Pagels wrote profusely to get believers to think of a 'diferent version' of Christianity. Ms Pagels is the author of
The Gnostic Gospels, so her arguments are focused on persuading the audiences of the authenticity of the gnostic gospels, from which the new age theology stemmed. Christians have been and are still battling 'new age theology' (e.g. feminism, domestic goddesses, etc.) since the last decade so we don't need another gospel to prove her writing.
I am seriouly not a theologian, nor claim to be one. But markerters have not timed this better than to release the programme at the threshold of the Passion Week. Tomorrow, we celebrate the Good Friday, in remembrance of the death and passion of Jesus Christ. National Geographic could at least have some sensitivity on this matter. This begs the question of hype - is it worth a look at all?
Yes, but only because faith with the mind matters, to discern, to strengthen, to test out sound doctrine from wrong, and to distinguish intelligently.
Views expressed here are mere impressions of the documentary, The Gospel of Judas
and they belong to the author of this blog.
