Classical Club of St. Louis: What is the Gospel of Judas?

In sharp contrast to the biblical Gospels, the Gospel of Judas criticizes Jesus’s twelve disciples for worshipping a false god and for leading a multitude astray. Unsurprisingly then, its unique theology and critical interpretation of Jesus’s closest followers was condemned as heresy by Christian bishops in the second century, and its text was successfully suppressed. The Gospel of Judas became known to modern readers only in 2006 when the National Geographic Society published the first English translation, followed by the first printing of the Coptic text in 2007. This talk will introduce the text’s modern publication history, its heretical theology and critical depiction of Jesus’s twelve disciples, and offer a historical explanation for its story as one controversial voice from the ancient church.

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