Judas did what Jesus wanted, document says

The only copy to survive destruction was found by looters in the 1970s.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
Judas Iscariot, long reviled as history's quintessential betrayer, was actually the best friend of Jesus and turned him over to authorities only because Jesus asked him to, according to the Gospel of Judas, a long-lost document revealed Thursday by the National Geographic Society.
The document, considered by some to be the most important archaeological find of the past 60 years, purports to record conversations between Jesus and Judas in the last week of their lives -- conversations in which Jesus shared religious secrets not known by the other disciples.
It was ruled heretical by early church leaders because of its disagreement with the conventionally accepted Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Most copies were destroyed. The sole known copy lay hidden in the Egyptian desert for nearly 1,700 years before it was discovered by looters in the 1970s.
The authentication and translation of the document will produce "a short-term sensation," said Rev. Donald Senior, president of the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, but its "impact on the lives of ordinary believers is going to be somewhat minimal."
Biblical scholars, however, hailed the new text because of the insight it will provide into the exceptionally turbulent period when competing ideologies sought to stake their own claims to the Jesus story, battling in oral stories and written texts until a single faction eventually won out.
Its publication "makes available a significant text in our cultural heritage," said biblical scholar Marvin Meyer, director of the Albert Einstein Institute at Chapman University in Orange. "It has been saved from destruction and is now offered to the world for further examination and study."
Copy made by Gnostics
The Gospel -- literally "good news" -- of Judas was originally written in Greek about 140 years after Jesus and Judas died. The current manuscript is a copy of the original text translated into the Coptic language by a professional scribe in a group known as the Gnostics.
Extensive analysis of the paper, ink, writing style and text all indicate that the copy was made about A.D. 300, according to Terry Garcia of the National Geographic Society. "We are confident that this is a genuine piece of ancient Christian apocryphal literature," he said.
The Gnostics were a sect "that emphasized knowledge [gnosis] but not the kind we think of today," said biblical scholar Gregor Wurst of the University of Augsburg in Germany.
They were interested in the spiritual knowledge of God and "the essential oneness of the inner self with God."
They considered the world a creation of lesser, inferior gods who imprisoned the inner self in a material body, a prison from which they hoped to escape. The Gospel of Judas clearly reflects this belief, which is in stark contrast to the version of Judas presented in the Bible.
"He's the good guy in this portrayal," said Bart Ehrman, a religion professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "He's the only apostle who understands Jesus."
In a key passage, Jesus compares Judas with the other disciples, saying, "You will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me."
By helping Jesus get rid of his flesh, Judas will help liberate the divine being within.
Several times, Jesus indicates the special status of Judas: "Step away from the others, and I shall tell you the mysteries of the kingdom. It is possible for you to reach it, but you will grieve a great deal."
Jesus also indicates that Judas will be despised by the other disciples. "You will be cursed by the other generations -- and you will come to rule over them."
The Gospel of Judas ends abruptly. "They [the arresting party] approached Judas and said to him, 'What are you doing here? You are Jesus' disciple.' Judas answered them as they wished. And he received some money and handed him over to them."
No mention is made of the Crucifixion or Resurrection.
Re-evaluation
The new text comes at a time when scholars have been re-evaluating the role of the supposed betrayer.
"Already, in the New Testament, there are more than a few hints that Judas was an esteemed and important part of the disciples, a member of the inner circle," Meyer said.
Some scholars argue that the Greek word paradidomi in the original texts of the Gospels, normally translated as "betray," actually means "to hand over," indicating that Judas was simply doing God's will.
The vilification of Judas may, in fact, have been part of a well-known campaign by St. Augustine and other early Christians to vilify the Jews because Judas is often seen as their representative.