The Gospel of Judas

I was reading something about this last week, but didn’t think it to be
terribly significant. Little did I know that National Geographic had
decided to create a TV special about it, so I thought that I would look
into it.

From what I have been able to find, the Gospel of Judas seems to have
been written about Judas Iscariot, not by him. Much of it comes from
old Cainite gnostic beliefs, where Judas was thought to have been the
only one who truly understand why Christ was going to die and therefore
he was a knowing instrument in bringing it about. Read more of it here.

Personally, I think the people who believe this to be true are kind of
off their nut. Anytime you have a story where there is only one person
who is completely enlightened, and that person is not God, then you
probably have issues in the story. Mormons believe that John Smith had
the only revelation of the truth. David Koresh’s followers thought he
was the only one with the truth. If what I read on the Gospel of Judas
is correct, those who believe it think Judas was the only one who
understood the complete truth.

While it might make an interesting argument, I don’t buy it. This looks
like it could be a year which is shaping up to be a battle in
Christianity. First this comes out, then later this year “The DaVinci
Code” will be in theaters. It’s going to be a long year.