Conrad Gempf has no-holds barred take on the Gospel of Judas. I think his description of the Gospel’s importance as a window into the historical Jesus and Judas is great:
“What does the Gospel of Judas tell us about the historical Judas and Jesus? Well, sorry: nada. And it’s funny how some people who refuse to trust first century documents’ accounts of first century find room in their hearts to trust second and third century takes on first century events (provided they’re shocking). It’s like people a few centuries in the future watching DVDs of Disney’s Pocohontas to find out what motivated the British settlers.
“Even the most enthuiastic proponents of the Gospel of Judas acknowledge that the earliest it could have been written was over 100 years later. Written in a different language. By someone from a very different culture. And bearing distinctive marks of that different culture.
“So, let’s be clear. The Coptic Gospel of Judas is the historical equivalent of going to Japan and finding a document written last week in Japanese in which John Wilkes Booth has a conversation with President Lincoln who asks to be shot in order to join his honorable ancestors.”
You can read Part 1 and 2 of his Gospel of Judas posts here and here:
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