The Gospel of Judas

[thistlechaser]

As non-religious as I am, it probably would surprise folks how much I enjoy learning about the history and background of the Bible and such. Happily I caught The Gospel of Judas today -- it was the most interesting religious-ish thing I've seen in a long time.

I had had no idea that there were 30 or more gospels, and that one man picked which four would be in the Bible. (Four because there are four directions and four winds.) I'm sort of surprised that doesn't worry religious folks -- it very much would me. One person getting to pick what the One True Truth you believe?

Also, the various gospels were written 60-80 years after the actual events. Could you imagine a newspaper story written 60-80 years later? How accurate would it be? ursulav (found through a link in juliansinger's journal) worded this idea well (and very amusingly):

In many ways, I've always thought the early gospels resemble Jesus fanfic. You all get one character who was cool, and some canonical events, but how it proceeds after that was up to the individual writer

One of the reasons that The Gospel of Judas appealed so much is that the story just hadn't worked for me as-is. Judas was Jesus' friend, a close and trusted fellow, and he betrayed him why? For some money? "Just because he was evil"? As a story, it makes more sense that either he'd betray for a good reason or that he wouldn't betray at all.

For a long time I liked the way Jesus Christ Superstar handled it (Judas betrayed Jesus to save him), but the Gospel of Judas works even better for me: Judas did it because Jesus ordered him to. (The reason why Jesus would do that is way too long and complex for me to fully explain why here, but basically it was that the body didn't matter.)

Ha ha, come back to the posting window an hour or so later... Need to wrap this up, so I'll end this by saying that it didn't hurt the show at all that their actor for Judas was seriously hot. Sorry for the small screenshots, I couldn't find his name online with a quick search:

One picture.

Two.

Three.

Comments

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

It doesn't bother me, at least, because the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit through man, so it doesn't matter who wrote it, what's in it is what's supposed to be there, written in the same spirit.

Ah! I think I understand how we see it different. To your way of thinking, God's hand (or will or whatever) guided the events and the four books that were meant to be in the Bible ended up in it? It doesn't matter who picked it or how they picked it or why, the right ones would have gotten in there?

For example: Jesus telling Judas to get him killed doesn't make any sense when compared in context to when Jesus was begging God to let the burden pass from him, were it possible. That... doesn't line up to me.

Oh, see, but that lines up perfectly for me, and I love that part. No matter if Jesus knew he had to die (asked Judas to betray him), when it came down to the wire he was weak. It hurt. Like anyone, he'd want the pain to stop. (I don't call him weak as an insult, instead I mean he was weak like any human would be.) That he begged in the end makes him more realistic to me, a more "believable character".

[loneguardian.livejournal.com]

It doesn't matter who picked it or how they picked it or why, the right ones would have gotten in there?

More or less, yes. :3 And for why I believe it, it's much to do with personal experience. Sometimes I'll just -know- something I couldn't have possibly known. And sometimes talking religion with you, even, I'll say stuff, read it later and be all like.. that came out of ME? :o So... Eh, again, it's a matter of faith. I know people will have problems accepting that, and that's fine, I can't -make- anyone believe, but I can hope it does at least explain just a little bit of what goes on in my head. ;3


No matter if Jesus knew he had to die (asked Judas to betray him), when it came down to the wire he was weak. It hurt. Like anyone, he'd want the pain to stop. (I don't call him weak as an insult, instead I mean he was weak like any human would be.)

All humans have weakness. :3 And like Dad always says, Jesus was all God, -and- all man, so he would indeed have been going through those feelings and just wanting it all to stop. It's not a bad thing to feel that way sometimes, it's how you act on it! But anywho. Hrm. I'm still not sure I go for the whole Jesus asking Judas to betray him, but he did know ahead of time someone would, that much I'll agree with. I can't debate a definate yes or no without researching it myself at this point, aside from expressing my opinion that it doesn't make much sense to me, still. XD That's ok tho, we'll find out the truth someday. :3