The 4 Gospels that are included in the New Testament talk not only about the pass over and there after but also about the teachings of Jesus, whereas the gospel of Judas is confined only to the talk prior to the betrayal. In short it is only an effort to Justify the betrayer!!
215723
While millions were celebrating the memory of the passion and death of the savior the National Geographic Society unveiled the first modern translation of the third-century Coptic translation of the Gospel of Judas on April 6 in Washington. \nThe Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John focus on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and include events supposedly related to the life of Jesus. \nHowever, the Gospel of Judas and the others, the text of which was always been known, in whole or in part, really are texts attempting to bolster the importance of the personalities they are named after, not of Jesus. It is therefore really amazing that it is being given such a level of credence.\nWe are in the age of the media and the media are more interested in novelty and money but least in truth. Consider the media reports regarding the Pope’s Homily on Maundy Thursday. The headlines screamed “POPE BANISHES GOSPEL OF JUDAS, PORTRAYS HIM AS DOUBLE-CROSSER.”\nDid they expect him to adopt the Gospel of Judas forthwith and banish the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in a jiffy!!!\nDoes it really matter the circumstances that surround the death of Jesus? Does it change who He was or what He did for us? \nThere are some people around the world who seem to be constantly seeking to discredit the Church in some form or the other. The challenges before the Church today are no different from those faced by the early Christians after Jesus died.\nFalse/sensationalistic reports spread like wildfire, fuelled by unprincipled journalism.\nHowever, responding to such malicious slander is not productive. But it doesn’t mean that one should never respond. The important thing is how one responds. If your response is of anger and in self-defense then you are only walking into the trap but your response should be gentle, firm, respectful, and in defense of the truth.
10269
The new guy has obviously been influenced by the _da_Vinci_Code_ or other, similar works that posit that Jesus was married (most likely to Mary Magdalene), and likely had children through that union.\n\nThere are a couple verses in the gospels (depending on your translation - I'm looking at the New International Version) where Jesus is referred to as having brothers; I'd look specifically at Matthew 13:54-56, which says \n\n"54 Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?" they asked. 55 "Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? 56 Aren't all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?"\n\nWhile scholars have argued that "brother" might actually mean "cousin" or "other close male relative", the text wouldn't directly support that.\n\nThe wife and children thing can't be disproved Biblically - but neither can it be proven.  Some take the absense of direct reference to a wife as proof, while say that any man referred to as a rabbi/teacher would need to be married to have that status (as per the culture of the time).  Either way, there isn't anything that can be used definitively either way.
153177
:]\nThe copy of the Gospel of Judas was in Egyptian, therefore a copy from the original language (Greek). It is a single manuscript copied about 300AD, the only other knowledge that we have of its existence is that one of the Church fathers spoke against the veracity of a book by the same claimed author in 160 AD.\nIt's amazing to me that the same people who doubt the New Testament (24000 ancient manuscripts) would jump to accept this.\nWe know that Judas died in about 33 ad and would probably not have had enough time or the mental and emotional stability to write anything like a new gospel in the short time he lived after the events (included in that gospel) regarding the death of  Christ.\nWhat we have is a single manuscript, in the wrong language, dating to more than 250 years after the death of the claimed   author. a denial of it veracity and tons of scriptural evidence against it, and the integrity of it's alleged author\nsome prefer to suspect that the holy spirit made a significant error of omission in assembling the word that Jesus had promised would be sure and would pass away even if heaven and earth did.\nNo I relegate it to the same shelf of malarkey as i do the other gospels (Thomas, Phillip, Barnabas, Mary and any others )
213615
well i read somewhere that judas was meant to betray jesus in order for him to be put on the cross and forsake himself for out sins. intresting theory i thought.
567312
I would say to be militant about it is a little strong, but Jesus says that we are to go into the world teaching and preaching the gospel, baptizing in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  So, I would think it should make a great deal of difference to you what someone believes; as he also said I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Light - NO man cometh unto the Father, but by me.  The capitals are not yelling but for emphasis and I don't know how to make emphasis without using capitals - so if you are saved and you don't feel an unction to spread the gospel, then what good is your salvation?  I'm not judging you, I'm simply posing a thought pondering question to you.  I can't tell you what is sin and what is not - Jesus can - a reference you might find helpful is James 4:17.
166963
It's baloney! (Bologna for you German members :) They can say Jesus walked on Ice, rather than Water. They can say that Jesus asked Judas to betray him. They can say anything they want and even back it up with their scientific propaganda but what they can never change is faith and Christianity. It states in the Bible that nothing should be taken away or added to His Word, I'm stickin' to that.
612281
I know and to be a gospel it had to be written by one of the disciples or their assistant.  The gos[pel of Thomas, Judas etc, were NOT written by them.  The stuff that people will believe!
473610
True, and it is what I've been saying all along. When I was a Christian, I still didn't believe in the letters of Paul. Was it not the prophets of the ancient times that brought laws and the word of G-d through revelation (ie. a burning bush, the direct voice of G-d)? Then years later, the "new" testament is revealed through letters and secondary sources written by people who weren't even there.  Another great point, thanks for the question.
45592
For the first part it is simple ...\nThink about this: we are all God's creation and one way or another we carry on God's will. One of the assets given to us is free-will, the will to do as we choose. God's purpose now is to guide us on the right path, but it is us who must walk it. Judas did not know God's will at the time, it was much later that people were aware of what Jesus' death actually ment.\nThe fact that God intended it doesn't excuse Judas' act. It was Judas' choice to betray his teacher and this alone makes his act evil, just like any treason. God doesn't mind-control anyone. He chose to betray Jesus to the romans, thus he is a traitor and his treachery is ten-fold since we are talking about the Son of God (something Judas really believed or he wouldn't be an Apostle).\nAlso the fact that he's a traitor doesn't mean christians should hold a grudge against Judas. After all, he was forgiven for his actions did lead on the right path.\n\nAs for the accusations against the Jews, whatever they had done then, it's all done and it subscribes to the same things I've said above.
648178
"The Gospel of Judas, however, gives a very different account. \n\nThe text begins by announcing that it is the "secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot during a week, three days before he celebrated Passover." \n\nIt goes on to describe Judas as Jesus' closest friend, someone who understands Christ's true message and is singled out for special status among Jesus' disciples. \n\nIn the key passage Jesus tells Judas, "'you will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me.'" \n\nKasser, the translation-project leader, offers an interpretation: "Jesus says it is necessary for someone to free him finally from his human body, and he prefers that this liberation be done by a friend rather than by an enemy. \n\n"So he asks Judas, who is his friend, to sell him out, to betray him. It's treason to the general public, but between Jesus and Judas it's not treachery." \n\n-------\nhttp://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/04/0406_060406_judas_2.html\n\nread it , its very interesting. Judas did love Jesus, but most accounts see him as opposite. He was not a traitor as we see in plain eyes, but the carrier of what Jesus knew had to happen in order to die for us. The kiss yes its a symbol, saying goodby and leading the executors to fullfill prophecy. Christ redemption of our sins.
659878
No, Judas was set up to make it appear that he betrayed Jesus. He was framed.
354426
I think that verse reveals a lot of modern evanglicalism to be out of step with Scripture. We have a very friendly, easy gospel preached in America where salvation is all up to us. John 6 teaches its not up to us at all in fact we contribute nothing to our own salvation including the will to believe. We are so totally depraved in our sin that we cannot even worship God unless he makes us worshippers. Very humbling.
68620
I say sure, why not!  You will of course never get that widely accepted, but for your personal spiritual life, you can use those.  In the early days of Christianity, different communities had different writings that they held sacred.  It was not until quite late that our modern-day canon was chosen and then enforced.  And when that canon was chosen, it was chosen by what were considered "Orthodox" Christians, but who is to say that just because they styled themselves "Orthodox" that they represented the true, or only version of Christianity?  There may indeed be much of value in the Gnostic Gospels, and there is no need to get rid of the Canonical Gospels in order to benefit from them, in my opinion.
182969
Judas killed himself as one supposes he realised his sin and thought he was beyond redemption.  If as the Judas text suggests, Jesus put him up to the sin, why would Judas then kill himself.
230540
For me the most important part of the Christian scripture are the Gospels.  Historians say that there could have been as many as 30 different "Gospels" but they have said that the 4 in the New Testament are the simplest, and I think the earliest too.  One could argue as a non-Christian that the Bible is not real or authentic but I do believe that the spirit of the Gospels is valid.  As a non-religionist in general, you could argue this about every single one of the world's religions up to and including Islam, but you would also have a hard time underestimating the positive influence of religion in general.
254424
I don't think we'll ever be able to make a good judgement because we'll never see all the evidence about the Gospel of Judas. Those who want to use it to change Christianity are only going to show what they can use to help them. Also, so much of the Gospel is gone, it is like trying to read the bible skipping every 2 paragraphs or so.
163062
I found the language of the show to be quite interesting. Fore instance, during the first half of the show, they kept asking the question: "Is it real?" This isn't really what they meant, what they meant was "Is it old?" To me, they were implying that "real" = "true".\n\nThey also did not mention several Gnostic beliefs that would have discredited the movement in many people's eyes. You remember the scene at the last supper when they talked about Jesus laughing because the disciples were worshipping the wrong God, that the God who created the universe was actually an inferior God that was not worthy to be worshipped. What they didn't say was that Gnostics believed that this was the God of the Old Testament, so they ignored the Old Testament.\n\nAnother thing that stuck out to me was the phrase "When Jesus appeared on the Earth." Because they believed that the material world was evil, they had what is known as a Docetic view of Jesus. That is, that Jesus only appeared to be human, because God would have never become human and contaminated himself with the material world.\n\nI strongly agree with the speaker at the end who said that the Gospel of Judas provides valuable historical information about the history of Christianity and the movements within it. It shows us that there was never one single Christianity being practiced.  People have beein arguing about who Jesus was since a few minutes after he died.  With that being said, I do not personally believe it provides a historically accurate picture of the characters of Jesus and Judas.\n\nFinally, they seemed to think the fact that there were many Christianities unique. I have to disagree with that. There are many different versions of the Christian faith today, with different holy texts, etc. The book of Mormon is a prime example.\n\nIf you read the other Gnostic texts, you will find they have a lot in common with the Gospel of Judas.  For instance, both the Gospel of Judas and the Gospel of Thomas elevate one of the Disciples above the others.  The Gospel of Mary Magdalene does the same thing for Mary.  None of the four canonical gospels does this for their author.\n\nAnother thing that absolutely amazes me is that we have 4 gospels that tell very similar stories.  There are some minor differences in the order of events or the events included, but they are consistant for the most part.  One new gospel is found that offers a different story and many people jump on that and say, "Wow!  This is the real story."  It just doesn't make any sense.