Gnostic Gospel of Judas, they say! Hot on the heels of
Christ On Ice and the, er,
"newly discovered" Gospel fragment, the news outlets are currently
drooling all over
National Geographic's recent conclusive dating and translation of surviving fragments of the
Apocryphal Gospel of Judas, now dated to about 300 CE. The text is classically
Gnostic, emphasizing a
duality splitting Christ's "spiritual" and "fleshly" natures, as opposed to Christian orthodoxy's belief in the
Incarnation. Looking beyond the wide-eyed "OMG THIS WILL REVOLUTIONIZE CHRISTIANITY AS WE KNOW IT" sensationalism, Internet Monk asks if a
300 year-old apocryphal biography of George Washington would be regarded as authentic were it discovered in 1970.
James F. Robinson, an expert on ancient Egyptian texts,
regards the Judas Gospel as mostly a dud, produced by Cainite Gnostics who took it upon themselves to "rehabilitate" villians of Bible mythos. Even if you don't believe in the
account of Judas, there's no denying his
contributions to the Christian narrative.
Truly a historical icon.
posted by brownpau
on Apr 6, 2006 -
42 comments
ABC last night ran a program examining the life of
Mary Magdalene and her role in Jesus' life as possible wife. The
Mary-as-whore idea was debunked some time ago, but is it possible that she was made into a whore by the church to explain her intimacy with Jesus? The novel
The da Vinci Code, on which this ABC program was based, explores the relationship between da Vinci and a
secret society protecting the blood line of Christ, who according to some theories fathered children with his wife, Mary Magdalene. If you look at the
Last Supper, the figure to the right of Jesus is so clearly a woman, and it is possible that the Holy Grail that gathered the blood of Christ is a metaphor for Magdalene's womb carrying Jesus' children. And according to Magdalene's
apocryphal gnostic gospel, she knew secrets that Jesus kept from the apostles.
posted by archimago
on Nov 4, 2003 -
60 comments
Out of the mist of the beginning of our era there looms a pageant of mythical figures whose vast, superhuman contours might people the walls of another Sistine Chapel. Their countenances and gestures, the roles in which they are cast, the drama which they enact, would yield images different from the biblical ones on which the imagination of the beholder was reared, yet strangely familiar to him and disturbingly moving. The stage would be the same, the theme as transcending: the creation of the world, the destiny of man, fall and redemption, the first and the last things. But how much more numerous would be the cast, how much more bizarre the symbolism, how much more extravagant the emotions!
Hans Jonas
Into the
Gnostic.
Of magicians, miracle workers, saints and sinners of early Christianities and other mystery religions--including but not limited to
Valentinus,
Simon Magus,
Mithras,
Marcion,
Manicheans,
Mandeans, the
Winged Hermes, the
Gospel of Thomas and the
Gospel of Mary, among many other
Apocrypha and
Pseudepigraphica, the
Cathars and
Apollonious of Tyana. Not to mention
Philip K. Dick.
posted by y2karl
on Nov 30, 2002 -
11 comments
