New Gospel Tells Different Tale of Judas Iscariot

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    By Brittany Leonard

    A new religious manuscript known as the Gospel of Judas was presented to the public last week by the National Geographic Society, offering a different perspective on the most famous traitor of all time.

    Thomas Wayment, professor of ancient scripture at BYU said the text has both historical value and the power to interest people in the life of Jesus.

    “Regardless of whether it”s accurate or not, the good thing is that it”s getting everyone excited about Jesus,” Wayment said.

    The manuscript, copied in 300 A.D. from the original Greek document, is a Gnostic text and differs from the four gospels in the New Testament, painting Judas as a favored disciple who betrayed Jesus under his own request.

    The text is only seven pages long but has already encouraged substantial discussion by scholars and the public alike. The National Geographic Society has released two books discussing the text and numerous television programs focusing on the text and its history.

    Most religious scholars already knew about the existence of the Gospel of Judas because of a historical refer from the second century. Bishop Irenaeus of Lyon, a French religious official denounced the manuscript as heresy in 180A.D.

    The document was widely believed to be lost until last week.

    “We have known about it for a long time, but we have never had the real text until now,” said Thomas Wayment, professor of ancient scripture at BYU. “We know it is an early text – but I don”t think it was authored by Judas.”

    The text was discovered over 30 years ago in the Egyptian desert and was passed around the underworld of antiquities trading before being handed over to the National Geographic society for preservation and research. The society put together a research team who translated the document into English from the original Coptic and authenticated it through radiocarbon and ink analysis.

    The text becomes part of the growing Gnostic collection, writings from an early Christian sect who put a special emphasis on wisdom and mysticism. Other Gnostic texts include the Gospels of Mary Magdalene and Thomas.

    “The Gnostic texts are written by ”different thinkers” and they raise some different religious questions, but they are probably written later than canonical scripture,” Wayment said. “They are important, they are valuable-but are they on par with the New Testaments canons? No.”

    The document begins with the text: “The secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot.”

    One of the key passages that has sparked controversy over the apostle”s role as a traitor rather a disciple quotes Jesus saying to Judas, “”You will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me.”

    The manuscript, which is papyrus and leather bound into a codex, was kept in a safety deposit box for several years and had begun to deteriorate before conservators started restoring the 1,000 pieces.

    The material will eventually be donated to the Coptic Musesum in Cairo, Egypt after being on display for a brief time at the National Geographic Museum at Explorers Hall in Washington, D.C.

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