from articles about the
Gospel of Judas

This page:

Marvin Meyer

Gesine Schenke Robinson

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scripture

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The articles quoted here are packaged with The Gospel of Judas, Second Edition. I found nothing particularly worth retaining in the translated text.

Judas and the Gnostic Connection

by Marvin Meyer

Copyright © 2006, 2008 National Geographic Society

The story of Judas, like the story of Sophia, recalls the story of the soul of any gnostic who is in this world and longs for transcendence. The Gospel of Judas may be understood to portray Judas as the type and image of wisdom and of the gnostic, and the text proclaims how salvation may be realized—not, it is emphasized, through a theology of the cross and the experience of sacrifice but through gnosis and insight into the nature of the divine and the presence of the divine in the inner lives of people of knowledge.

text checked (see note) May 2010

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Judas, a Hero or a Villain?

by Gesine Schenke Robinson

Copyright © 2006, 2008 National Geographic Society

Moreover, the Gospel of Judas, albeit anti-orthodox, is a strong Christian-gnostic text, whereas Sethianism is basically a non-Christian, Jewish-gnostic movement. In general, Sethian writings deal with notorious Old Testament figures by means of reinterpreting their purpose and function in the Hebrew Scriptures, and reassessing their reputation in Judaism; they do not employ New Testament characters. In contrast, non-Sethian Christian-gnostic texts favor personages that are marginalized in the orthodox church and give them a different role and meaning. While Sethianism came in contact with Christianity, and its texts were subjected to various degrees of Christianization, the Gospel of Judas apparently went the other way and appropriated Sethian material.

text checked (see note) May 2010

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