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The National Geographic: The Gospel of Judas

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National Geographic's "The Gospel of Judas" is the documentary companion to the books the Society has recently published concerning this recently rediscovered ancient text that purports to tell the story of Judas Iscariot, traditionally the Great Betrayer of the New Testament, from a decidedly different view. The story of the discovery of the text, its appearance and disappearance on the antiquities market, and its ultimate restoration and translation is itself quite fascinating.

The Gospel of Judas is believed to be a late 3rd century Coptic manuscript copy of an earlier Greek original that probably dates to around the middle of the 2nd century. The documentary chronicles the story of the text from its suppression by orthodox Christians to its rediscovery in the 1970s by grave robbers in southern Egypt. The papyrus manuscript, literally falling to pieces during years of poor handling and lack of preservation, finds its way into the hands of a Swiss antiquities dealer who, after several failed attempts to sell it for big bucks, made a deal with National Geographic to preserve, restore, and translate the codex.

The film also makes extensive and effective use of dramatizations that highlight some of the rather controversial subject matter contained in the Judas Gospel that suggests that Judas, far from being the evil betrayer depicted in the canonical gospels, was actually the greatest of Jesus' disciples. Here, Judas is told by Jesus himself to turn him over to the Romans for execution so as to fulfill his ultimate destiny as Messiah and savior. It is important to keep in mind that the Gospel of Judas was deliberately excluded from the orthodox Bible because of its Gnostic teachings, something that connects it to the Nag Hammadi texts discovered in Egypt in 1945. Many of these texts, like the Judas Gospel, were hidden away so that they would not be destroyed by fanatical rival Christian factions that sought to obliterate Gnostic texts that they considered heretical. Though most scholars reject the idea that the Judas Gospel contains genuine historical revelations about Jesus or Judas, it does clearly show that there were many competing gospels that were used by different sects and factions of Christians vying for power and influence in the ancient world.

This documentary is a good introduction to this material and would be especially recommended to anyone interested in the history of religion and early Christianity.

I don't know where National Geographic gets these actors who do the dramatizations but they are really top notch. It brings a realism to the subject matter that you don't see with other documentaries.

Overall, I thought it was a great video. They focused on the facts, didn't stray too much from the actual research & background of the codex.

Good stuff.

When I watch documentaries covering the discovery of an ancient script or artifact, I prefer to know the facts of the discovery, what is known about authenticity and, in this case, what the script says. The creepy violin music and the highly dramatic reenactments are elements that I could have definitely done without. I realize that science and facts have no razzle dazzle and are difficult to sell, I just wish that not everything was geared toward entertainment. I found myself skipping through a lot of scenes.

This is the usual well done, a little slow, Nat. Geog. piece about an arcane piece of antiquity which may or may not be relevant to modern Christians depending on their current beliefs.
Those who believe the current published Bible is the infallible, complete word of God will be understandably upset by the way this program basically sets the Gnostic gospels up as "missing parts" or edited parts. Controversy sells.
There was an obvious, missed opportunity to discuss some of Peter's letters where he tells early churches to stop doing many of the practices that the Gnostics continued. Practices which are referred to here as collateral information on different sects in the early church. These sects DID exist, but they were fringe groups even at that time, and Peter's letters said those practices were not of God. A missed opportunity for full information.
As with most Nat. Geog. specials, the focus here is on the scientific testing of the papyrus, the "ink"... all fascinating forensic stuff, if you like that. I do.
Where this fits or not into your religious viewpoint is what becomes contentious. There ARE multiple views expressed here, most of which think this "Judas Gospel" is irrelevant, except for the one woman who speaks in almost every "bible history" special because what she says is very fringe theology, and she makes people angry, which ramps up viewership.
If you believe Jesus was/is the omnipotent Lord, then it isn't a stretch to believe that he allready knew what Judas would do, and died for Judas' sins just as he did for everyone. So Judas alone is not that controversial (which is why they had to drop in the other Gnostic stuff).
IF you watch this DVD, be SURE to watch ALL the special feature interviews: each historians and biblical scholars gets his full (edited) say. MUCH more informative than just what was broadcasted.
If you are not interested in forensic sciences, this will be a bore, or extremely vexing. View it only as something to augment your "comparative religion" studies.

This is a good companion to the book on the story of the Gospel of Judas. It allows you to put a face on the people mentioned in the book. It amazes me how close we were to completely losing this piece of history. I wish we could have gotten to it sooner so we could have a better idea of what was written in the Gospel. This is a wonderful documentary on the history of the Gospel though. I think the reenactments are a good thing; they are almost necessary. I think anyone with an interest in Christianity or religion should pick this up and watch it.

Judas Iscariot has always fascinated me, even as a child. I never believed that he was possessed by Satan and betrayed Jesus. In my own innocent way, I believed that Judas was meant to betray Jesus as part of His divine plan. The scriptures, centuries before Christ was born, told that the messiah would be betrayed. Then this leads us to two ideas, either we are predetermined in what we do and have no say in the matter (even though we think we know what we are doing), or Judas was told to do this by Jesus so the crucifiction and the resurrection could occur. The most chilling of all Bible quotes is when Jesus says "Lo that the man would be better that he were never born, than to betray the Son of Man."

In the Book of John it is said that Judas was possessed by Satan and betrayed Jesus, later hanging himself, and is now in the lowest pits of hell. If this is so, then doesn't it make sense that Judas has indeed paid the ultimate price for human redemption? Yes Jesus was crucified and was raised on the thrid day, but if Judas has been burning in hell for over 2000 years and will burn for eternity, didn't he suffer more for mankind?

It is this line of thinking that makes this subject so fascinating to me. If Judas was possessed by Satan and betrayed Jesus, Jesus would have already known this thrre years prior and allowed it to happen by letting Judas become a disciple.

This DVD does not tell as much about the contents of The Gospel of Judas as it does the history and restoration of the document itself. The document dates plus of minus 50 years from the year 280 AD and is 85% intact. The document was found be a fortune seeking farmer. It was sold in Egypt and then stolen. After the owner got it back he tried to sell it, but could not get the price he asked for. It then sat in a safety deposit box in New York for 16 years, causing much more damage to the document.

The DVD also talks about the Gnostics and how the early church did away with over 30 Gospels and decided that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were the only Books worthy of being in the Bible.

There are some very good re-enactments of Jesus and his disciples speaking in their native tongue. Also there is a bit on the Romans torturing and killing Christians. I had never heard of the 'hot seat' before as a torture device, but it looked very unpleasant.

If you want to read or know the actual contents of the Gospel of Judas, I suggest buying it and reading it yourself. This DVD concentrates most on the actual history of the document itself.

This is a compelling film by National Geographic about the discovery and restoration of one of the lost gnostic gospels, The Gospel of Judas.

Thanks to another smear campaign by the Church, Judas, for centuries has been labeled one of history's most evil and hated men. As we learn from this film, it's actually illegal to name your child "Judas" in Germany. So, imagine the Church's reaction when the Gospel of Judas was "accidentally" found by a poor Egyptian farmer. This codex book then made its way to several book collectors until it sat in a bank safe deposit box for nearly 16 years! None of these book collectors knew what they had until one took the book to Yale University and was told that she possessed the Gospel of Judas.

The film is fascinating as some of the top experts of history and restoration gather together to try and save this book which was in terrible condition.

Once restored and legible to read, the Gospel of Judas offers some extremely compelling information about the relationship between Judas and Jesus. What if for all of these centuries, we've had it wrong? What if Judas wasn't a villain, but actually one of Jesus's greatest and most advanced disciples? What if Jesus actually asked Judas to play a role; to betray him so that his mission could be carried out to completion?

Just as Mary Magdalene has been subjected to stories of her being a sinner and a prostitute, so has Judas been bombarded with accusations of betrayal and his very name synonomous with evil itself. However, Jesus seems to predict this as he tells Judas that his very name shall be cursed through the ages for what Jesus is asking Judas to do. But, he's asking, because he knows that Judas is the only one of the twelve who KNOWS who he is! Perhaps he realizes that Judas is the only one who could carry out this role.

However, even with this knowledge, the grief (and Jesus predicts this as well) is too much for Judas to bare after having "betrayed" his Master, he ultimately commits suicide.

So many questions are coming to light now. So many secrets have obviously been buried by the Church for centuries, and they are now, finally, beginning to come back to light. No secret can stay hidden forever. There are more than 30 Gnostic Gospels which contain much more information about the teachings of Jesus. Were they cast aside because they conflicted with what the Church thought everyone should be learning? Were they cast aside because some felt they were too difficult to understand, given the level of man's understanding at that point in history?

These are interesting questions. Ultimately, each individual person must answer them for his/herself. The Church has used fear as a basis for control over its followers; fear of knowledge is their own fear.

After watching this film and reading the Gospel of Judas, you may find yourself questioning the validity and veracity of all you have ever been told is truth, and finally discovering for your Self, the truth.

There are startling, powerful ideas revealed somewhat effortlessly, through this documentary. While the ideas may not be new to a very small fraction of the general public, the majority of us will be served well by such a compact introduction to gnosticism, and it's hidden role in our own history. Indeed, it is amazing how this history continues to struggle to make it's self heard.

If anyone has ever taken an Eastern Religion class and wondered why our religion, Christianity, seems so blunt by comparison, the discovery of the Gnosticism will serve as a sort of missing link, to a story-chain that didn't quite add up.

I have to concure with some of the earlier reviewers, National Geographic is a tad goofy in their production style, but they still have that great theme song! so I'm standing by them.

They say that truth is stranger than fiction, and this movie proves it. The story of the Gospel of Judas isn't just one story, its several interlocking stories, with more twists and turns than "the Da Vinci Code". There's the story of the grave robbers who found a long-lost codex in a tomb in Egypt. There's the story of the Gnostic Christian who wrote the Gospel of Judas. There's the story of Irenaeus and the proto-orthodox church who formed the New Testament cannon, excluding the Gospel of Judas. There's the story of the intrigue of the antiquities markets: theft, recovery, and dealings of various shades of legality.

But amazingly, this movie talks about even more--what are the implications of the Gospel of Judas? What does this gospel mean for us today? How does the Gospel of Judas portray the character of Judas? How does that compare with how the 4 gospels of the New Testament portray Judas?

How do these stories tie in with world events? Some of the most disturbing scenes of the film are 2nd-century christians being led into the arena to be burned alive, and 20th-century Jews being led into concentration camps. In a very sensitive way, this movie does an excellent job of drawing the connection between these two events, and how this thread runs through how the character of Judas has been perceived through the ages.

So what does the Gospel of Judas mean for us today? As the movie makes clear, the Gospel of Judas really doesn't shed any light on the historical Jesus. It was clearly written after the 4 gospels of the New Testament were written. In fact, it is clearly written in reaction to them. Moreover, it would be unthinkable to add the Gospel of Judas to the New Testament cannon, as it just doesn't cohere with the 4 canonical gospels. It would be a much better fit with Nag Hammadi library, sharing as it does the Gnostic comology and world-view.

For me, the biggest takeaway message is that the story of the Gospel of Judas really is a mirror into which we can view the story of humanity as a whole. Can we define our relation to The Divine without demonizing each other? Can we live consecrated lives without killing each other?

We have our answer in the Gospel of Judas. For me, the story of the Gospel of Judas is the story of a devout Christian living sometime in the second century, who read the 4 canonical gospels, and saw something potentially very dangerous in how the character of Judas was being portrayed. The author of the Gospel of Judas seems to me to be saying "yes, its true that we are different from Judeism. But we can be different from Judeism without being antisemitic." This is a message from the Gospel of Judas which is as valid today as it was in the 2nd century.

This movie shows us just how close this message of the Gospel of Judas came to being snuffed out--and it shows the heroic efforts made by scholars and conservationists who have saved it for us and for the ages.

This video was an excellent example of how religion cannot be trusted. What right does the "Church" (early church or modern) have to declare ancient historical texts as heresy or unfit to be studied? This find along with other historical texts goes to prove that the Christian religion holds its own agenda, and that agenda is not to "save our souls". Anyone who is interested in religious studies should see this film.