The Gospel was already under criticism before 180 CE, when Irenaeus, the Bishop of Lyons, included it in his list of heresies, "Adversus Haereses".
The only existing copy is in a Sahidic Coptic version from around 280 CE, though this is thought to have been a translation from an original Greek text.
Quite rightly, in the humble Jewish opinion of this commentator, "The Gospel of Judas" rejects the view of Judas as a traitor, and defends his actions as being carried out in obedience to instructions given by Christ, who had planned the course of events which led to his death, because he knew that Crucifixion was necessary to the fulfillment of the prophecies and his own mission; Jesus even tells Judas that he will be "cursed for generations", but then adds that he "will come to rule over them", and "will exceed all of them, for you will sacrifice the man that clothes me" (an apparent contradiction given that, as below, Jesus was opposed to any form of sacrifice).
Quite rightly, in the humble Jewish opinion of this commentator, "The Gospel of Judas" rejects the view of Judas as a traitor, and defends his actions as being carried out in obedience to instructions given by Christ, who had planned the course of events which led to his death, because he knew that Crucifixion was necessary to the fulfillment of the prophecies and his own mission; Jesus even tells Judas that he will be "cursed for generations", but then adds that he "will come to rule over them", and "will exceed all of them, for you will sacrifice the man that clothes me" (an apparent contradiction given that, as below, Jesus was opposed to any form of sacrifice).
For more on this idea, see my tale "St Judas of the Holy Betrayal" in "The Captive Bride".
This, however, is not the orthodox Christian understanding of Judas' position - whence Irenaeus' declaration of heresy. Needing to sustain the Judas-the-traitor myth, and simultaneously needing to counter the threat of Gnosticism, Christian scholars prefer to regard it as a portrayal of the Gnostic notion that the human form is a spiritual prison, and that Judas thus served Christ by helping to release Christ's soul from its physical constraints.
This then furthers the argument against a second Gnostic belief, that two kinds of human beings exist, those furnished with an immortal soul "from the eternal realms" which "will abide there always" ("the strong and holy generation... with no ruler over it", to whom Judas belongs), and the remainder, the majority of Humankind, who are mortal, and therefore unable to reach salvation.
"The Gospel of Judas" does not claim that the other disciples knew about Jesus' "true" teachings, but rather it contends that Jesus simply never taught them the true Gospel, because he knew they would resist his Crucifixion, and even try forcibly to prevent it.
The sixteen chapters of the book have little narrative, save only the stoning to death of Judas by the other disciples after they learn of his involvement in the Crucifixion - that, rather than the suicidal hanging of Matthew 27, or the statement at the beginning of Acts (1:18) that he "purchased a field with the reward of his iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out."
Mostly "The Gospel of Judas" deals with theological matters, and is far from being in agreement with the Christian orthodoxy of its day. It describes the deity as a "luminous cloud of light" that exists in an "imperishable realm", and Adamas, the spiritual father of all humanity, as a creature in God's image who dwelled in that imperishable realm.
On Creation, it imagines God creating a number of angels and lower gods, whose task was to create the physical universe; these lower angels were themselves imperfect beings, which is why the world was created imperfectly, full of pain and suffering - a strangely maleficent decision of the deity's this, somewhat undermining of the traditional view of him as Almighty Goodness.
Like the Roman and Wagnerian demi-gods, these angels are models of pettiness, and endlessly demand sacrifices from humanity. The world as we know it!
Though human Adam was an incarnation of divine Adamas, he quickly forgot his divine origins, and his descendants therefore did not acquire a full knowledge of the deity, and the imperishable realm; to correct this, Jesus was sent as the Son of the true God, rather than one of the lesser gods; his mission was to show that salvation lies in connecting with the God within the man, so that Man, by embracing the internal God, can return to the imperishable realm.
According to this gospel, eleven of the disciples whom Jesus chose to spread his message misunderstood, or were never taught, the central tenets of his teaching, but were concerned with the material world of the senses, continued to practice animal sacrifice, and thereby pleased the lower gods without making the deeper connection to the "true God". They wrongly taught that those martyred in the name of Christ would be physically resurrected. Only Judas knew the "true message", which was why he was given the honour and privilege of ensuring that the Crucufixion happened.
A full account of the discovery of the document, and all the various machinations that preceded and ensued that quite probable forgery, can be found in my essay "The Gospel of Judas", in "Travels In Familiar Lands"
Such text as still exists of "The Gospel of Judas" can be found here.
On Creation, it imagines God creating a number of angels and lower gods, whose task was to create the physical universe; these lower angels were themselves imperfect beings, which is why the world was created imperfectly, full of pain and suffering - a strangely maleficent decision of the deity's this, somewhat undermining of the traditional view of him as Almighty Goodness.
Like the Roman and Wagnerian demi-gods, these angels are models of pettiness, and endlessly demand sacrifices from humanity. The world as we know it!
Though human Adam was an incarnation of divine Adamas, he quickly forgot his divine origins, and his descendants therefore did not acquire a full knowledge of the deity, and the imperishable realm; to correct this, Jesus was sent as the Son of the true God, rather than one of the lesser gods; his mission was to show that salvation lies in connecting with the God within the man, so that Man, by embracing the internal God, can return to the imperishable realm.
According to this gospel, eleven of the disciples whom Jesus chose to spread his message misunderstood, or were never taught, the central tenets of his teaching, but were concerned with the material world of the senses, continued to practice animal sacrifice, and thereby pleased the lower gods without making the deeper connection to the "true God". They wrongly taught that those martyred in the name of Christ would be physically resurrected. Only Judas knew the "true message", which was why he was given the honour and privilege of ensuring that the Crucufixion happened.A full account of the discovery of the document, and all the various machinations that preceded and ensued that quite probable forgery, can be found in my essay "The Gospel of Judas", in "Travels In Familiar Lands"
Such text as still exists of "The Gospel of Judas" can be found here.
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