Gospel of Judas
| "I didn't find a sublime Judas. I found a Judas more demonic than any Judas I know in any other piece of early Christian literature." -April DeConick
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Read April DeConick's New York Times Op. Ed. on the Gospel of Judas
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In 2006, National Geographic released the first English translation of the Gospel of Judas, a second-century text discovered in Egypt in the 1970s. The translation caused a sensation because it seemed to overturn the popular image of Judas the betrayer and instead presented a benevolent Judas who was a friend of Jesus.
- Writers and academics have been quick to seize the opportunity to "rehabilitate" Judas as to re-examine our assumptions about this archetypal figure.
- In The Thirteenth Apostle April DeConick offers a new translation of the Gospel of Judas which seriously challenges the National Geographic interpretation of a good Judas.
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| Gospel of Judas Conference, Sorbonne, Paris 2006 |
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- DeConick contends that the Gospel of Judas is not about
a “good” Judas, or even a “poor old” Judas. It is a gospel parody about
a “demon” Judas written by a particular group of Gnostic Christians –
the Sethians. Whilst many other leading scholars have toed the
National Geographic line, Professor DeConick is the first leading
scholar to challenge this ‘official’ version. In doing so, she is sure
to inspire the fresh debate around this most infamous of biblical
figures.
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An Interview with April DeConick about the Gospel of Judas
Can you tell me 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. |
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| Photo by Jeff Fitlow, Rice University |
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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 legible 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 scraps 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.
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.
What makes your interpretation so different from the National Geographic 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.
Why do you think that the National Geographic 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.
Why do think so many scholars and writers have been inspired by the National Geographic 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.
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.
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.
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.
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Recommended Reading on the Gospel of Judas
Andrew Cockburn, May 2006. “The Judas Gospel.” Pages 78-95 in National Geographic Magazine.
This
is National Geographic’s story of the year, perhaps of the century. Mr.
Cockburn, a National Geographic author, writes an overview of the
discovery and restoration of the Gospel of Judas in fine journalistic
style. Beautiful photographs by Kenneth Garrett grace the pages. 17
pages.
Bart D. Ehrman, 2006. The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot: A New Look at Betrayer and Betrayed (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
Professor
Ehrman discusses his own involvement in National Geographic’s project
to analyze the Gospel of Judas along with the tale of the discovery of
Judas. He describes the contents of the gospel, its relationship to the
New Testament gospels, suggesting that it presents a unique view of
Jesus, the twelve disciples, and Judas who is the only one who remains
faithful to Jesus even to his death. 198 pages.
Rodolphe Kasser, Marvin Meyer, and Gregor Wurst, with additional commentary by Bart D. Ehrman, 2006. The Gospel of Judas (Washington D.C.; National Geographic).
The
original publication of the English translation of the Gospel of Judas
made by Professors Rodolphe Kasser, Marvin Meyer, and Gregor Wurst, in
collaboration with François Gaudard. It includes chapters of commentary
on the story of the Tchacos Codex (by Kasser), Judas as a typical
Gnostic text and alternative vision of Judas (by Ehrman), early
mentions of the Gospel of Judas by the Church Fathers (by Wurst), and
Judas as a Sethian gospel (by Meyer). 185 pages.
Herbert Krosney, 2006. The Lost Gospel of Judas: The Quest for the Gospel of Judas Iscariot (Washington D.C.: National Geographic).
Herbert
Krosney is an investigative journalist who traces in his book what can
be known about the discovery, recovery, and restoration of the Gospel
of Judas. Includes a brief foreword by Bart Ehrman and an epilogue by
Marvin Meyer. 309 pages.
Nicholas Perrin, 2006. The Judas Gospel (Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press).
Nicholas
Perrin provides us with a brief history of the discovery of the Gospel
of Judas in this pamphlet. He makes an overview of the contents as a
second century Gnostic gospel. He argues that the text has little
historical value in terms of telling us anything about Jesus and Judas.
Rather its value comes from what it reveals about gnostic alternatives
to what Perrin understands as "authentic" Christianity. 32 pages.
James Robinson, 2006. The Secrets of Judas: The Story of the Misunderstood Disciple and his Lost Gospel (San Francisco: Harper).
Professor
James Robinson discusses what can be known about the historical Judas
from the Bible and other ancient Christian texts. He recounts the story
of the discovery of the Gospel of Judas and its sensationalistic
release by National Geographic, criticizing the way in which the
publication of the text has been handled. 192 pages.
N. T. Wright, 2006. Judas and the Gospel of Jesus: Have We Missed the Truth about Christianity? (Grand Rapids: Baker Books).
Bishop
Wright argues that the Gospel of Judas tells us nothing about the
historical Jesus or the historical Judas. Its rehabilitation of Judas
in this second century text cannot be linked to the real Judas who
betrayed Jesus. He thinks that the publication of this gospel is part
of a scholarly agenda to find an alternative Jesus, which has another
sensationalistic life in popular literature like The Da Vinci Code – financial profit. 155 pages.
Elaine Pagels and Karen L. King, 2007. Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity (New York: Viking).
This
book contains Karen King’s own English translation of the Gospel of
Judas, followed by a brief running commentary. The other chapters are
written collaboratively by Professors Pagels and King. These chapters
attempt to contextualize Judas within the milieu of early Christian
persecution and martyrdom, suggesting that the Christians who wrote
this gospel were condemning church leaders who were encouraging their
flock to die as sacrifices to God. 198 pages.
Craig A. Evans, 2006. Fabricating Jesus: How Modern Scholars Distort the Gospels (Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press).
Included
in the back of this book is a brief appendix, “What Should We Think
About the Gospel of Judas?” He mentions his own involvement on the
National Geographic team and the text’s recovery. He outlines the
contents of the Tchacos Codex yet to be published. This is followed by
a short description of the contents of the gospel and its meaning,
weighing in on the perspective of the Church Fathers – that the gospel
honored Judas because it was written by a Gnostic who revered all the
“evil” men in the scriptures. These villains like Judas were only
“evil” in the eyes of Yahweh the lesser god because they worked for the
God of light in his war against Yahweh. So in reality, the villains
were the good guys. 6 pages.
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