Gospel of Judas – An Indictment against Organized Religion and False Sacrifice

Jesus replied, “It is he to whom I dip the piece of bread and give it to him.” Then after dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. And after the piece of bread, then Satan entered into him. Then Jesus said to him, “What you are doing, do quickly!”
(Joh 13:26-27 LEB)

They declare that Judas the traitor was thoroughly acquainted with these things, and that he alone, knowing the truth as no others did, accomplished the mystery of the betrayal; by him all things, both earthly and heavenly, were thus thrown into confusion. They produce a fictitious history of this kind, which they style the Gospel of Judas. (Ireneaus – Against Heresies 1.31.1)

22Judas said to him, “I know who you are and which place you came from—23you came from the realm of the immortal Barbelo—24but I am not worthy to proclaim the name of the one who sent you.” (Judas 2:22-24) Pagels, Elaine. Reading Judas . Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

3But when Jesus heard, he laughed. 4He said to him, “Why are you getting all worked up, thirteenth god? 5But you too speak, and I will hold you up.” (Judas 9:1-3) (Ibid)

I remember, my first association with Neo-Gnostics was a church called Rays of Light in Columbus, Ohio. This is a Christian Spiritualist Denomination following the teachings of a Spirit Teacher named “White Lily.” Like many Spiritualist churches, divine revelation comes from the “other side” by channelers. Bible passages that are taught come from inspiration from the spirit realm. Anyway, I asked the pastor if he believed Jesus crucifixion and resurrection. He said to me an emphatic “no.” The Gospel by which most Orthodox (Roman Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, and Charismatic) is the Gospel preached by Paul and is absent in the synoptic Gospels. The Gospel according to Paul is contained in 1 Corinthians 15:3, which says “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures.” This Gospel is denied or ignored by most Gnostic writings. Jesus death and resurrection was inconsequential to the writer of the Gospel of Judas. True enlightenment is perceived, “by seeking the spirit within themselves, they can overcome the rulers of chaos and oblivion, see God, and enter the heavenly house of God above. And they can do this even as they live in this world.” (Pagels and King, Kindle Location 1282)

The Gospel of Judas was discovered in Egypt in the late 1970’s near El-Minya, and had it’s coming out party in 2006 after years of acquiring the texts from antiquities dealers. The Gospel of Judas which is part of the Tchacos collection was dated to 280 CE. Like many of the ancient texts that didn’t make it into the New Testament Canon, there is a sense of mystery and controversy that surrounds it. Scholars were able to confirm the content of the text from what Irenaeus alluded to in his huge book entitled, “Against Heresies” one of the first books to be an apologetic against Gnostism by proto-orthodox. According to Pagels and King, the main questions that the author of the Gospel of Judas asks, is “who is God, and how are we to react to who God is.” (King and Pagels, page – Kindle Location 902)

There are many reasons why the text is controversial. First and foremost this Gnostic text turns Judas Iscariot into an anti-hero which makes Hollywood movies famous. Second, it is a Gnostic text probably attributed to the Sethian form of Gnosticism since it mentions Seth (Judas 11:5), Barbelo, the great mother (2:22-24), and has elements of the Gnostic Myth and cosmology (Judas 10-14). Third, it is controversial because it is an indictment against organized religion and apostolic succession which was promoted by the bishops of the proto-orthodox tradition. Lastly, it was controversial because it condemned the cult of the martyrs perpetuated by early Christian Fathers like Tertullian, Ireneaus, and Justin Martyr.

Organized religion centered around sacrifice whether it was the animal sacrifices of Second Temple Judaism, or the belief in Christ’s sacrifice was condemned by the author. They write:

51Jesus said to them, “You are the ones you saw receiving offerings at the altar. 2That is the ‘God’ you serve. 3And you are the twelve men whom you saw. 4And the domestic animals you saw being brought for sacrifice are the multitude you are leading astray upon that al[t]ar. 5[The ruler of chaos will es]tablish himself, 6and this is how he will make use of my name. 7And the race of the pious will adhere tenaciously to him. 8After this, another man will take the side of the for[n]ic[ators], 9and another one will stand with those who murder children, 10and yet another with those who lie with men, 11and those who fast, 12and all the rest of impurity and lawlessness and error, 13and those who say, ‘We are equal to angels’—14and they are the stars which bring everything to completion. 15For it has been said to the races of humans, ‘Behold God received your sacrifice from the hands of a priest’—that is to say, from the minister of error. 16But it is the Lord—the one who is the Lord over the entire universe—who commands that they will be put to shame at the end of days.” 17Jesus said [to them], “Cease sac[rificing…………]. 18Itis upon the alt[a]r that yo[u………] [for they are] over your stars and your angels, having already been completed there. 19Let them become [….] again right in front of you, and let them… (Judas 5 – Pagels, Elaine. Reading Judas . Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.)

The twelve priests that the disciples saw receiving sacrifices were themselves. They were the ones that led many astray. Jesus said they minister in error, and the god they praise is a false god, whom the writer calls Saklas, or the creator god from Genesis which is a clear sign that this text is Gnostic. Again, the writer is pointng out the false beliefs, rituals, and doctrine of proto-orthodoxy which will eventionally become the Roman Catholic Church and Greek Orthodox Church. Also, the sacrifices that the writer is indicting are not only the animal sacrifices of Second Temple Judaism, but also the martyrs of those Christians who give themselves up for the allegiance of Christ against the pagan Roman state. Martyrdom was put on a pedestal by the proto-orthodox and highly prized form of worship. Yet, both Gnostic Christians, and Proto-Orthodox Christians were indeed persecuted by the Roman State. According to Eusebius about Justin Martyr’s martyrdom:

1 About this time93 Justin, who was mentioned by us just above,94 after he had addressed a second work in behalf of our doctrines to the rulers already named,95 was crowned with divine martyrdom,96 in consequence of a plot laid against him by Crescens,97 a philosopher who emulated the life and manners of the Cynics, whose name he bore. After Justin had frequently refuted him in public discussions he won by his martyrdom the prize of victory, dying in behalf of the truth which he preached.
2 And he himself, a man most learned in the truth, in his Apology already referred to98 clearly predicts how this was about to happen to him, although it had not yet occurred. (Eusebius – Church History – E-Sword)

According to Elaine Pagels and Karen King, in their book entitled, Reading Judas,

So the problem for the author of the Gospel of Judas is not simply resistance to martyrdom. He does not criticize the martyrs themselves, nor does he say that dying as a martyr is a bad thing. Rather, he is angry at the meaning other Christians give to the deaths of Jesus and his followers, targeting those who claim that God desired Jesus’s death as a sacrifice that God not only wills but commands…And yet we now know that some Christians reacted with anger, vociferously objecting when others glorified martyrdom. The stakes were high, and the arguments intense. What we hear in the Gospel of Judas is a sharp, dissenting voice.

(Pagels, Elaine. Reading Judas . Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.)

The Gospel of Judas criticizes organized religion, primarily proto-orthodoxy as a false religion. It claims that the followers of Jesus descended from the disciples worship the false god, Saklas, and are bent upon sacrifice which is also a criticism of martyrdom. During the time that this gospel was written, it was dangerous to be a Christian, whether proto-orthodox or Gnostic. Also since this is a Gnostic text salvation is not found in the work of Jesus death and resurrection, but within wisdom of Jesus revelation of the mysteries of the kingdom, the knowledge of the universe, and the orders of the cosmos. (Judas 2:25-32).

The character of Judas within this Gnostic text is that of the anti-hero. Per Jesus instruction, he would hand Jesus over to be betrayed (Meyer 58, 9-29). He will be vindicated because he is the “thirteenth daimon (spirit, demon, god) and like Sophia in the Wisdom of Sophia will return to the “13th realm.” (Meyer, page 757). Judas is vindicated through grief and suffering, and will rule within his realm. Death is only the beginning of stepping into the infinite, not the end.