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The Secret Gospel of Judas
So everybody is talking about this newly released apocryphal (ie, suppressed) Secret Gospel of Judas. To give you the short version, it basically takes Judas - bad guy of bad guys - and re-casts him as something like Jesus’ closest disciple, and the one who enabled Jesus to fulfill the prophecies of old and complete his role as Savior of humanity.
One of the things I find weird about this, is that people are acting like this is a new idea. If you’ve ever seen the excellent Last Temptation of Christ, you’ll find this same basic plot-line carried out as well. It’s a really good take on the story of Jesus and his nutty cohorts. And it’s always interesting to read these alternate reality “what if” versions of classic stories.
I’ve been wondering a lot though, why are these things surging in popularity? Sure, this story is riding the wave created by the Da Vinci Code, which put forth the idea that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were lovers, had children, and Jesus even survived the Crucifixion. While that provides a precedent for the tremendous publicity boom surrounding the Secret Gospel of Judas, it doesn’t really answer the underlying question of why the Da Vinci Code itself succeeded so wildly (and continues to and will continue to).
What happens to us psychologically, emotionally, personally when we suddenly find out that a long held story has an alternate ending? What does that shift inside of us? And why is this type of story-pattern exploding so strongly right now? Is there some kind of hidden agenda at play, some kind of arcane conspiracy to further destabilize the hold of world religion? Or is this just evidence of the simple fact that for each person who hears a story, a new personalized version of that story spontaneously erupts and takes root in the world? What, at the end of the day, are we to do with all these completely differing, wildly ecstatically vibrating versions of the truth that are out there bombarding us?
I’ve recently been experiencing something similar with the re-design project for my website. I’ve been talking to lots of friends - designers, artists, “regular” people - and coming up with different visual concepts which capture the same underlying essence. And what I’ve found is that each person will tell you something different. One will tell you they like a particular shape. Another will tell you they hate the same shape. Who do you listen to? How do you decide? In my experience, the best way to do it is to constantly expose yourself to viewpoints that challenge your own, and when the dust settles, go with your gut. I recommend this same technique for exploring new and controversial (if only in the media and the church) documents such as the Gospel of Judas.
- Judas Horse
- The Holy Spirit in Secret
- But for those outside, everything comes in parables
- Well, it’s hardly a secret now, is it?
- Family means no one is left behind - or forgotten
- Prev: Graffiti from Outer Space
- Next: Benjamin Stove is GM!
April 7th, 2006 at 5:52 pm
Yeah but how many of ‘the people’ out there know their history? Mini-reformations occurred all the time, in different places. Even so this stuff abounds even more in our post-Nietzsche/Nag hammadhi era. We just don’t expect the spanish inquisition anymore!
personally I think it’s the alluring image of Mona on the cover. Everyone loves Mona … even after upon reading it and discovering all the a priori “facts” one has to swallow. Like putting both cream *and* lemon in their tea?!?
April 7th, 2006 at 6:26 pm
It’s more of an indication of how many Christians actually read the Bible, versus those who go to church and let the pastor read it for them.
Nowhere in the established Gospels is Judas’ betrayal portrayed as treachery (at least as far as I’ve read). Because he was paid, people assume that Judas did it for money. But if Christ was sent expressly to be a sacrifice, then he already knew that he was going to diw. And if he knew, then his announcement at the Last Supper that “one of you will betray me” was not meant to be an expose of Judas, but rather a statement of “fact”.
Recall that Jesus also told Peter that he would deny him three times before the cock crows. Peter disbelieved this until it actually came to pass.
Ever read Brendan Kennelly’s epic poem “The Book of Judas”? Bono from U2 used it as inspiration foir the song “Until The End Of The World” which paints a sympathetic picture of Judas.
“Who do you listen to? How do you decide? In my experience, the best way to do it is to constantly expose yourself to viewpoints that challenge your own, and when the dust settles, go with your gut.”
I work the other way around: I listen to my gut, then get people’s feedback. But to be honest, I almost never use people’s feedback unless it jives with things I’ve already felt.
April 7th, 2006 at 7:09 pm
What was the significance of Nietzche anyways? I know he said “God is dead.” and that he stoped believing in Chrisitianity after reading Strauss.
I believe the gnostic Jesus, the Jesus of mystery, or the Celtic Jesus are the ones closest to eternal reality and will replace the old. The Irish loved all the non-canonical gospels of Jesus. Irish spirituality is syncretic. St.Patrick could kill the pagans but he could not kill the celtic spirit merging with the spirit of Christ.
April 7th, 2006 at 7:23 pm
Yeah youre right. Thats what I do too. But I’ve gotten more into the process of bouncing stuff off people. Even if I don’t end up going with what they say, its still valuable
April 8th, 2006 at 8:20 pm
I know it sounds very new-agey and fluffy, but maybe we are at the dawn of a new era.
Everything seems to point towards that direction, i.e. the development of alternative takes on established religions, of new religions, revival of old ways, magick, magic, divination, “yoga” and all associated practices, reiki, all the self-help/self-development field etc… long list.
These are still under-currents but they all focus on the self, the individual, the development of one’s skills and talents, the whole ideal of surpassing oneself, acheiving one’s goals, finding one’s purpose, one’s personal mythology etc… In movies, in books, etc. What have you.
Therefore, it is not surprising that religious takes pushing the agenda that a portion of the divine is in you, all you have to do is reach within, know thyself etc. and bypass churches, authorities etc. would take on like that.
Maybe humanity as a whole is ready to graduate to the next level. When the student is ready, the master appears.
April 10th, 2006 at 3:07 pm
and christ laughed from the grave…………its f in awsome…. especially how the church has it panties in a wad about it…….did you read it….and jesus laughed…….he he ha ha
April 11th, 2006 at 7:55 am
Well, eye think the gospel of Judas makes for great potential new thinking on the parts of many people. It also seems to vindicate Gurdjieff a bit as it’s one of the teachings G. told the DeHartmann’s during the 20’s according to Our Life with Mr. Gurdjieff, that Judas had been the most faithful of the disciples and had been chosen to go down in history as a betrayer–to make that ultimate sacrifice of his own…it ties in nicely with the way of malamut, as well, if it’s true. (’Course, from what eye’ve read there’d been a reference to the gospel of judas and its contents in one of the church father’s writings against the gnostics, so G., having been at one time, trained for the Orthodox priesthood, may have come across the reference before his mystical wanderings…)
Now, eye’m waiting for that gospel to be “found” that suggests that they did actually drink blood and eat flesh at the last supper. (what would THAT do to people’s heads?)
One thing is interesting about the timing of this story, though, in that a scholar had recently published a book that speculated as to what the contents of the lost gospel of judas said and here we are, not even a month later, with an announcement of the real deal being all translated and everything. but, then, they did find the scraps a good many years ago and one may wonder if the gospel has been translated for quite a number of years and whether there may have resulted some decision as to when to time the revelation of this information.
October 8th, 2006 at 6:44 pm
[…] I also love in this movie that Jesus simply (and often) changes his mind during the course of it, and that it drives his followers - especially Judas - a little crazy trying to keep up. We often look at great figures in myth and history as these monolithic characters who are always at all times 100% logically consistent. But really, who lives like that? Nobody. Speaking of Judas too, the relationship between Jesus and him is awesome. Judas is portrayed as a soldier and an assassin of the radical Jewish sect, the Zealots. Originally sent to kill Jesus, he ends up following him and becoming best friends. Which makes it all the more bittersweet when Jesus ultimately asks Judas to intentionally betray him so that he can fulfill his destiny. This closeness and the reluctance of Judas to betray his master are excellent renditions of this story which are also born out by the recently popularized gnostic Gospel of Judas. […]