BRIEF RESPONSE TO THE GOSPEL OF JUDASJohn 13:2 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him; Luke 22:3 Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. 4 And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him unto them.
Mat 26:24 The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.
John 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the Scripture might be fulfilled. Gill commentary: Luk 22:3 - Then entered Satan into Judas,.... At the same time that the sanhedrim were sitting, and consulting about the death of Christ, Satan, or the adversary, as the word signifies, the devil, who is the enemy of the Messiah, the woman's seed, entered into Judas; not corporeally, as he did into those that were possessed by him; but he entered "into his heart", as the Ethiopic version renders it; he put it into his heart to betray him, as it is said in Joh_13:2 he stirred up, and worked upon the corruptions of his heart; suggested evil things to his mind, and baited his temptations agreeable to his malice and covetousness: and this man was My Comment: According to the Scriptures quoted above, I REJECT the Gospel of Judas as being a true account of what happened between Jesus and Judas. Jesus did NOT tell Judas to betray Him to fulfil prophesy! Jesus does not want anyone to land in hell, but people can CHOOSE to reject Him as Judas did. Even if a document is old, it does not automatically mean that it speaks the truth! Nowhere in Scripture does it say that Judas turned in repentance toward God and asked for the forgiveness of his sins. While Jesus did know what Judas would do from the start, it does not mean that Judas was made to do anything by Jesus. Judas, in opposition to Jesus, betrayed Him. I will do more research on this topic as the information becomes available. In any case, none of this changes my faith in any way, as I believe that the canon of Scripture is already COMPLETE and has been so for many centuries. 2Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness... UPDATE : I found a translation of this "gospel" A few extracts from the English translation of the Gospel of Judas ( Translated by Rodolphe Kasser, Marvin Meyer, and Gregor Wurst, in collaboration with François Gaudard; taken from http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/manuscripts) Just after the introduction: "Often he did not appear to his disciples as himself, but he was found among them as a child." Come again????? As a child? He only called His disciples once He was a man. Already near the beginning we have a clue that this document is rubbish! Authenticity does not mean truth!Skipping some nonsense about Jesus laughing after a prayer of thanksgiving and a few other scenes, we get:a section on the Cosmos: "And look, from the cloud there appeared an [angel] whose face flashed with fire and whose appearance was defiled with blood. His name was Nebro, which means ‘rebel’; others call him Yaldabaoth. Another angel, Saklas, also came from the cloud. So Nebro created six angels----as well as Saklas----to be assistants, and these produced twelve angels in the heavens, with each one receiving a portion in the heavens." "Then Saklas said to his angels, ‘Let us create a human being after the likeness and after the image.’ They fashioned Adam and his wife Eve, who is called, in the cloud, Zoe."WHAT NONSENSE!!!!! THE WORD OF GOD, THE BIBLE, SAYS THAT GOD CREATED MAN!!!!!! "Truly [I] say to you, Judas, [those who] offer sacrifices to Saklas […] God [----three lines missing----] everything that is evil. “But you will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me. Already your horn has been raised, your wrath has been kindled, your star has shown brightly, and your heart has […]. “Truly […] your last […] become [----about two and a half lines missing----], grieve [----about two lines missing----] the ruler, since he will be destroyed. And then the image of the great generation of Adam will be exalted, for prior to heaven, earth, and the angels, that generation, which is from the eternal realms, exists. Look, you have been told everything. " Judas is portrayed in a mostly good way, as one who would become great. Just a thought. We have over 5000 (FIVE THOUSAND) existing copies of the manuscripts (excluding other portions, which takes the total higher) from which the New Testament is translated, many of them are ancient. Now we have ONE, I REPEAT, ONE, document which, while not a forgery, contradicts a great many authentic and accepted texts. Do we base our doctrine on one fragmented document, or on all other known documents which formed the New Testament? Our New Testament was accepted as true by all ( except by a few heretics) true Christians, including the Church Fathers, who quoted extensively from many of these accepted documents; even in the early to middle second century. Do we accept this document, written a little less than 300 years after the events described therein? ALL the books/ letters/ Gospels in our New Testament were completed and accepted BEFORE the close of the first century AD! (Written between (about) 40 AD to 90 AD.) Final thought. This "gospel" ignores the TRUE GOSPEL, which is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1Cor 15:1-4). All of this is covered in the true gospels of the New Testament. In any case, to close, I quote the apostle Paul, who wrote his letters in the first century AD: Gal 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. Gal 1:9 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
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