Designs of Betrayal and the Sign of Faith

(A long read)

I doubt if anyone would ever tag me as "religious." I would like to believe I am "spiritual" instead - with a greater openness to other religions (some use the word "tolerance" which to me in this context gives such a negative vibe). I try to listen and understand other religions as much as I can as long as it is a religion that does not harm life in any manner. (Note: I have switched to a semi-vegetarian, lacto-ovo diet at the start of the year, a continuation of what I did about two years ago hopefully to prepare me for an all vegetarian diet before I hit 50 :)

Gnosticism interests me deeply. Eversince the discovery and publication of the contents of the Nag Hammadi codices, I have found myself opening up to a deeper level of spirituality in redefining me with regards to my faith or what I believe in. Most of my Christian friends found and labelled it "New Age" stuff and counted it as but part of my idiosyncrasies - something the "creative" people suffer from occassionally. ~lol.

They have been waiting for me to grow tired of the "fad" for close to two decades already with some resigned and quietly admitting that perhaps I've found my "spiritual peace" with it.

The codex of Mary Magdalene, Thomas and Philip complimented by the recent brouhaha over Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code (I loooovvveee Dan Brown's works! Great fiction with a capital F!) has increased my need to get as much reading as I can on gnostic books. Its quite fortunate that both my dad and I share this "need" to learn as much as we can, understand and integrate those we find priceless into out beings and openly discuss them over dinner or coffee about our latest "gems." (I'm a "daddy's girl!").

It would therefore come as no surprise to those who know me (including my hubby) that I refused to go out anywhere but infront of my tv waiting for about 3 hours for the National Geographic Special about the Gospel of Judas.

And I wasn't disappointed a bit.


Researchers stand at caves in the area north and east of El Minya, Egypt, near where the manuscript containing the "Gospel of Judas" was found.

The codex of Judas written in Coptic (the manuscript is carbon dated to be around 300AD) "offered" the following "idea" (am using the "safe" terms so as not to "upset" those whose faith or sensibilities run strongly against the man who condemed Jesus to death): Judas betrayed Jesus upon the instruction of the former so the passion, death and resurrection comes into fruition. The lost gospel asserts that somehow, in betraying Jesus, Judas was acting in accordance with God's plan.

Quite a big chunk to swallow, honestly, though it does makes sense - without the betrayal, The Passion wouldnt have happened. Without the crucifixion, there wont be any Resurrection.

The Bible as we have it today is composed of 4 books - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. During Christianity's early beginnings, there were as much as 30 books being read by the faithful. Bishop Ireneous "chose" the four, discarded the rest and even labelled the others that are classified as "gnostic" as "heretical" - the gospel of Judas included.

What the documentary successfully shows is that the early Christian faith is rich and diverse and not "one" with a set of beliefs as we do now. There are some, like me, who would like to read more on what was NOT included and see if these do make me question or even leave my faith. I would like to be able to think for myself, believing that if my faith is strong enough to withstand questioning ("assault" is a term that others often use), then it is a faith worth "keeping."

In the end, National Geopgraphic offers that instead of being occupied in "thinking" what to believe in, one should ask oneself why we believe the things we do.

Beautiful.

In deep reflection, the Gospel of Judas does not make me question my faith. It deepens it - for I cannot imagine my God who had made such a supreme sacrifice, leave anything to chance including the betrayal of His Son. Everything was as how He planned it. Divine Plan - its a matter of faith that one gets to believe. But its a deeper kind of faith (spirituality would be a more appropriate word I think) if one continues to believe long after so much searching and questioning has passed.

"The idea in this gospel is that Jesus, like all of us, is a trapped spirit, who is trapped in a material body," Ehrman said. "And salvation comes when we escape the materiality of our existence, and Judas is the one who makes it possible for him to escape by allowing for his body to be killed."
- Bart Ehrman, Religion Professor, University of North Carolina

Think about what you believe in.
Better yet, think about WHY you do.

Now if I can just get my hands on the books! :)
Have a meaningful Holy Week ahead with time for reflection and introspection.


*****

Is there a copy in the Vatican?

"Explosive," that is the only comment made about the content of the Gospel of Judas by Mario Roberty, president of the Maecenas Foundation. "First we assumed the document to be fourth or fifth century. But research proved that this is one of the earliest documents of Early Christianity. That is what makes this discovery so exceptional."

Roberty does not rule out at all that the Vatican owns a copy of their own all this time, securely locked away. "In those days the Church decided for political reasons to include the Gospels of Luke, Marc, Matthew and John in the Bible. The other gospels were banned. It is highly logical that the Catholic Church would have kept a copy of the forbidden gospels. Sadly, the Vatican does not want to clarify further. Their policy has been the same for years: "No further comment."

Roberty hopes passionately that one day another copy of the Gospel of Judas will turn up, because the copy as owned by the Maecenas Foundation is only 65 to 70 percent complete. "We assume that some fragments are still wondering around on the market here and there, but I am afraid that a quarter of the manuscript has been lost for ever."

*****

Further readings:
A Primer!
Read JUST this if you dont have the time to read through it all.
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