Comments on: The Secret Gospel of Judas

By: The Last Temptation of Christ - Pop Occulture Magazine

The Last Temptation of Christ - Pop Occulture Magazine — Sun, 08 Oct 2006 23:44:49 +0000

[...] 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. [...]

By: hebrides

hebrides — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 12:55:34 +0000

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.

By: eyensane

eyensane — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 20:07:30 +0000

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

By: Fatima

Fatima — Sun, 09 Apr 2006 01:20:22 +0000

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.

By: Tim Boucher

Tim Boucher — Sat, 08 Apr 2006 00:23:46 +0000

I work the other way around: I listen to my gut, then get peopleâ€™s feedback. But to be honest, I almost never use peopleâ€™s feedback unless it jives with things Iâ€™ve already felt.

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

By: ddddd

ddddd — Sat, 08 Apr 2006 00:09:07 +0000

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.

By: james

james — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 23:26:47 +0000

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.

By: whatacharacter

whatacharacter — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 22:52:45 +0000

One of the things I find weird about this, is that people are acting like this is a new idea.

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!

answer the underlying question of why the Da Vinci Code itself succeeded so wildly

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?!?