What Is the "Gospel of Judas"?

THE FIGURE OF JUDAS IN THIS GOSPEL-A DEBATE AMONG SCHOLARS

In the "Gospel of Judas," Jesus laughs scornfully when his disciples display their lack of proper knowledge.  But Judas is the only one o the 12 apostles who shows an understanding of Jesus' true nature.  Therefore, Jesus privately shares with him "the mysteries of the kingdom." 

The initial textual reconstruction by the team of scholars was heavily influenced by Irenaeus' description of the gospel.  In their translation, Judas is favored by Jesus as the one disciple who would understand the mysteries and "reach" the kingdom."  The misled apostles  would name a replacement for Judas, but he would then become the "thirteenth spirit," which would  "exceed all [the other disciples]" because, says Jesus,  "you will sacrifice the man that clothes me."

Best-selling authors, such as Bart Ehrman and Elaine Pagels, who are also prominent scholars of early Christianity and Gnosticism, quickly published their own analysis and commentaries of the "Gospel of Judas" that  substantially followed the textual reconstruction by the original team.  However,  shortly thereafter, other scholars, such as April DeConick and Birger Pearson, expressed concern.  They claimed that in its bid  for a  media exclusive, the National Geographic Society rushed the publication of the ancient text. Additionally, the normal academic process of thorough analysis and prepublication peer review was bypassed, as the team was required to sign nondisclosuure agreements.

Working independently, DeConick and Pearson both concluded that some of the key sections of the fragmentary codex had  been mistranslated by the previous scholars. According to DeConick's  reconstruction of the text, Jesus calls Judas the  "Thirteenth Demon," not the "thirteenth spirit."  Jesus also tells Judas unequivocally that he will not ascend to the "kingdom."  Rather  than 'exceeding' the other disciples, Jesus says to Judas:  "You will do worse than all of them.  For the man that clothes me, you will sacrifice him." in DeConick's view, the "Gospel of Judas" is an ancient Gnostic  parody that mocks all the apostles.  The definitive conclusion held by DeConick and Pearson is that in this "Gospel of Judas," Judas is no hero.  

Note: This is the correct version above.  

Next time: What Is the "Gospel of Judas"? -WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THE "GOSPEL OF JUDAS"? 

From the jw.org publication