The Gospel of Judas, Second Edition (alkuperäinen julkaisuvuosi 2006; vuoden 2008 painos)

" Tu les surpasseras tous. Car tu sacrifieras l'homme qui me sert d'enveloppe charnelle. " Ce sont là les paroles que Jésus adresse à Judas, dans un évangile inconnu, arraché aux sables égyptiens. Un évangile doublement caché, à la fois par dix-sept siècles d'oubli mais aussi par la condamnation officielle de l'Eglise. Ecrit en copte, ce codex, qui a miraculeusement traversé les âges, a dû être rédigé lors du IIe siècle de notre ère. Son message est bouleversant, qui voit en Judas l'homme choisi par le Christ pour accomplir Son destin. C'est là tout l'univers fascinant des croyances qui s'ouvre, réservées jusqu'alors aux initiés qui luttèrent contre l'Eglise lors de la création de la chrétienté. Le manuscrit original est ici intégralement livré au public, avec un double appareil critique complet qui offrira à chaque lecteur de cheminer à son gré dans les profondeurs de ce texte troublant.

It's only fair to read his side of the story, isn't it? After all, he did exactly as he was supposed to do, but obviously he'd have a different take. Parts are missing, which isn't surprising, and it's certainly controversial. Nevertheless, one should at least read it before rending any judgement on the man. ( )

A translation of the "Gospel of Judas" manuscript, with notable contextual essays by Kasser, Ehrman, Wurst, and Meyer. Like the companion volume this one seemed a bit rushed into print, but Kasser's essay in particular provides a succinct account of the manuscript's handling and mishandling over time. ( )

A collection of papers, including the translated gospel known as the Gospel of Judas. Following the translation, biblical scholars discuss what we learned from the gospel, and how it fits into the group of religious practices lumped together under the term 'gnostic'. These writers posit that The Gospel of Judas is a work of the Sethian gnostics, and explain the basics of this particular believe system. Judas here is seen as a heroic figure, one who released Jesus from his earthly prison to return to his home among the divine. The book is well written, with only a minimum of jargon, so it is accessible by lay readers who don't have a graduate degree in theology. The chapter that discusses the finding of the gospel, and the subsequent abuse it went through that rendered it much less readable, is an interesting look at the practice of antiquarians, but adds little to the theological discussion; still, in this context, it is interesting to see how they are attempting to preserve what is left of this ancient document, and where they believe it came from. Other papers discuss the theology of the gospel, and contrast it to the theological views that came to be termed orthodox. This gospel was not a totally unknown entity prior to its discovery, having been mentioned in the works of Irenaeus, but now the authors compare what Irenaeus said in his work Against Heresies and the actual document. At least one of the authors concludes that this document is likely the same document Irenaeus was speaking against; this has helped them put a second century date on the writing, though the papyrus itself dates from sometime around the fourth century. Overall, an interesting work, and a relatively easy read. ( )

Jury definitely still out on this one ..... ( )