Judas Revealed

Knowing my antipathy towards the organised church; my beloved forwarded a bumper sticker to amuse me. It read:
I’ve got nothing against God; it’s his fan club I hate!
Now this isn’t actually about corruption, though there was alleged bribery and a mysterious suicide involved.
That was in the gem which followed later in the day with a report from National Geographic about the newly released details of the ‘Judas Gospel’. We’ve known for some years of the existence of this document. Like many of the ‘Dead Sea scrolls’ this document, found in Egypt, went through a translation and verification process.
The fun part now is going to be for that fan club mob. I know the arguments well; the first will be to deny its validity because it’s not part of the ‘Bible’.
If you throw back that the parts of the ‘Bible’, as we know it, were cobbled together by various early church councils; then suggest there were ulterior motives in that cobbling you will be met by furious denials:
“Those who put the Bible together were inspired directly by God!” That is probably the most common rebuttal.
Of course, like most of the fan club’s arguments, it lacks logic. For one thing it ignores the very political atmosphere in which the early church was formed. It also suggests that their God lost interest and stooped his personal inspiration and intervention after the bible was shaped.
It would be just as easy, of course, to argue that God inspired this find now at this point in history, to suit her own purposes. But as one who has serious misgivings about a meddling God, I won’t even visit that prospect.

I actually enjoyed studying the structure and history of the Bible in my younger days. It is pretty amazing how patches, additions and rewrites can readily be identified in the New Testament, and how stories in the Old Testament can be traced through various cultures dating back to the earliest written records.
The God of Israel was hardly a unique entity, and equally how many of the traditions of the modern church reflect or imitate those of other cultures. It seems their inspirational God is never one to waste a good idea.

Anyway, the Judas story should really put the cat among the gargoyles. According to the information released old Judas wasn’t such a bad guy after all. Jesus specifically wanted his best pal to do the dirty work. Seems he didn’t want an enemy to get all the fun and pleasure.
There is always hope that the release of the document will get members of the fan club actually thinking about the basis of their faith and belief. After all, there is life outside the confines of narrow, imperative of evangelism.
There is always hope, but I doubt if anything will make an impact on the bulk of the organised church.