Gospel of Judas

The Gospel of Judas is a non-canonical Gnostic gospel. The content consists of conversations between Jesus and Judas Iscariot. Given that it includes late 2nd-century theology, it is widely thought to have been composed in the 2nd century (prior to 180 AD) by Gnostic Christians, rather than the historic Judas himself. The only copy of it known to exist is a Coptic language text that has been carbon dated to 280 AD, plus or minus 60 years. It has been suggested that the text derives from an earlier manuscript in the Greek language. An English translation was first published in early 2006 by the National Geographic Society. According to Science Magazine, the gospel of Judas, in contrast to the canonical gospels which paint Judas as a betrayer who delivered Jesus to the authorities for crucifixion in exchange for money, portrays Judas's actions as done in obedience to instructions given to him by Jesus. The gospel asserts that the other disciples had not learned the true Gospel, which Jesus taught only to Judas, the sole follower belonging to (or set apart from) the "holy generation" among the disciples. However, Dr. April Deconick unsuccessfully challenges the National Geographic interpretation of the Gospel of Judas, contending instead that the text was written by a group of Sethians as a parody about a "demon" Judas. There is however no credible basis to regard either the text as a Sethian production of any kind, primary or secondary. Its concurrence with Sethianism derived from being one of a number of generally accepted Gnostic cosmogeny. The Sethians were not known for their parodisical sense of humor. A leather-bound Coptic language papyrus document surfaced during the 1970s near Beni Masar, Egypt. It was named Codex Tchacos by its penultimate owner, antiquities dealer Frieda Nussberger-Tchacos, in honor of her father, Dimaratos Tchacos. The antiquities dealer became concerned with the manuscript's deteriorating condition and transferred possession to the Maecenas Foundation for Ancient Art in Basel, Switzerland, in 2000, to oversee its preservation, translation and hopeful sale.

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Related concepts (16)

First Apocalypse of James

The First Apocalypse of James is a Gnostic apocalyptic writing. Its initially rediscovery was a Coptic translation as the third tractate of Codex V in the Nag Hammadi library. Additional copies were later found in Coptic as part of the Codex Tchacos and in Greek among the Oxyrhynchus Papyri. The text uses Valentinian theologoumena, leading to the belief that the original document was written in c. 200 AD. The content of the text is a dialogue between Jesus and James the Just.

Sethianism

The Sethians were one of the main currents of Gnosticism during the 2nd and 3rd century CE, along with Valentinianism and Basilideanism. According to John D. Turner, it originated in the 2nd century CE as a fusion of two distinct Hellenistic Judaic philosophies and was influenced by Christianity and Middle Platonism. However, the exact origin of Sethianism is not properly understood. The Sethians (Latin Sethoitae) are first mentioned, alongside the Ophites, in the 2nd century, by Irenaeus (who was antagonistic towards gnosticism) and in Pseudo-Tertullian (Ch.

Biblical canon

A biblical canon is a set of texts (also called "books") which a particular Jewish or Christian religious community regards as part of the Bible. The English word canon comes from the Greek κανών kanōn, meaning "rule" or "measuring stick". The use of the word "canon" to refer to a set of religious scriptures was first used by David Ruhnken, in the 18th century. Various biblical canons have developed through debate and agreement on the part of the religious authorities of their respective faiths and denominations.