Judas priest!
It's funny - I read this story yesterday and thought it was neat but not all THAT exciting. And here it is, today, on the front page of my local rag.
Although it's taken a few years to accurately date and make presentable, the upshot is that this document was found in the 1970s and it dates back about 1,700 years and contains a narrative of Jesus' death in which Judas ain't such a bad guy.
In fact, he is portrayed as the most important apostle whose "betrayal" of Jesus was actually requested by Jesus himself.
This really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who has more than a cursory knowledge of early Christianity. The Gospels, which are the prime narratives of whatever Jesus' actual life might have been are both inter- and intra- condtradictory, not to mention filled with varying degrees of anti-Semitism. Also, they were written 300-400 years after his death by people with political agendas and, at best, fourth or fifth-hand knowledge of the man himself. They may well contain truth, but they are not THE Truth.
So it's not surprising that another contradictory narrative should surface.
Interestingly, the Judas revealed in the manuscript isn't all that different from the man protrayed in the book and film of The Last Temptation of Christ. Though the film in particular was underappreciated due to the protests of the self-appointed guardians of Christianity, it's a far more interesting, probing and spiritual exploration of what Jesus' life must have been like than certain other more recent, more successful films.
Last Temptation's Judas is the fulcrum upon which Jesus' sacrifice depends. He is, among all the apostles, the man who sees Jesus best, in all his glory and all his flaws. He is torn to pieces when Jesus tells him that God's plan, and Jesus' crucifixion cannot come to be without Judas making the greatest sacrifice. It's a powerful idea - it rings truer to history than the obviously anti-Jewish interpretation that has dominated Christian teachings.
If you are a Christian (which I am not) it should much more meaning to Jesus' death and sacrifice than the idea that he knew his death was inevitable and necessary and yet that it is the physical torture and death which are most deserving of further exploration and revelry.
That's enough seemingly off-topic ranting for the day.
If you care about this stuff at all - be it religion, archeology or how this affects your next viewing of Jesus Christ Superstar, it's worth reading an article or two about it. If the Da Vinci Code is the only book you've read about the relationship between Jesus' actual life and The Church, you might benifit from this as well.
Although it's taken a few years to accurately date and make presentable, the upshot is that this document was found in the 1970s and it dates back about 1,700 years and contains a narrative of Jesus' death in which Judas ain't such a bad guy.
In fact, he is portrayed as the most important apostle whose "betrayal" of Jesus was actually requested by Jesus himself.
This really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who has more than a cursory knowledge of early Christianity. The Gospels, which are the prime narratives of whatever Jesus' actual life might have been are both inter- and intra- condtradictory, not to mention filled with varying degrees of anti-Semitism. Also, they were written 300-400 years after his death by people with political agendas and, at best, fourth or fifth-hand knowledge of the man himself. They may well contain truth, but they are not THE Truth.
So it's not surprising that another contradictory narrative should surface.
Interestingly, the Judas revealed in the manuscript isn't all that different from the man protrayed in the book and film of The Last Temptation of Christ. Though the film in particular was underappreciated due to the protests of the self-appointed guardians of Christianity, it's a far more interesting, probing and spiritual exploration of what Jesus' life must have been like than certain other more recent, more successful films.
Last Temptation's Judas is the fulcrum upon which Jesus' sacrifice depends. He is, among all the apostles, the man who sees Jesus best, in all his glory and all his flaws. He is torn to pieces when Jesus tells him that God's plan, and Jesus' crucifixion cannot come to be without Judas making the greatest sacrifice. It's a powerful idea - it rings truer to history than the obviously anti-Jewish interpretation that has dominated Christian teachings.
If you are a Christian (which I am not) it should much more meaning to Jesus' death and sacrifice than the idea that he knew his death was inevitable and necessary and yet that it is the physical torture and death which are most deserving of further exploration and revelry.
That's enough seemingly off-topic ranting for the day.
If you care about this stuff at all - be it religion, archeology or how this affects your next viewing of Jesus Christ Superstar, it's worth reading an article or two about it. If the Da Vinci Code is the only book you've read about the relationship between Jesus' actual life and The Church, you might benifit from this as well.
posted by Heavy Early at 9:05 AM
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