Judas

January 15, 2008
Interest in the Gospel of Judas was sparked in early 2006 with the National Geographic Society's preliminary translation of the newly discovered text, which appeared to show that Judas was Jesus's hero and friend, not his betrayer. Meyer (Chapman Univ.), a highly respected scholar of Gnosticism, presents yet another book on Judas. The advantages of this one include a fresh (if tentative) translation of the gospel, a comparison among conflicting references to Judas in the New Testament, references to traitors and the betrayed in the Hebrew Scriptures and other ancient texts, a long list of Gnostic texts mentioning Judas, and translations of other relevant documents. The bounty of material Meyer here excerptschiefly and in addition to the gospel, the Gnostic texts Dialogue of the Savior, The Concept of Our Great Power, and Round Dance of the Crossshows readers that, indeed, early Christianity engaged a wide variety of ideas and stories. Recommended for all libraries.James A. Overbeck, Atlanta-Fulton P.L.

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2007
Judas was the apostle who identified Jesus so that he could be arrested. Meyer, a leading scholar of Gnosticism, says that the Greek verb for what Judas did is most accurately translated as hand over. The implication that Judas betrayed Jesus came later, perhaps as Christians waxed impatient with Jewish resistance to Jesus as the Messiah. Indeed, the idea of Judas as traitor seems to arise with and then fuel growing anti-Semitism, and the noncanonical documents Meyer evenhandedly presents and clearly translates include several demonizing Judas and condemning ?the Jews.? Many more regard Judas quite differently, as Jesus? premier confidant and most faithful servant, who crucially helped Jesus fulfill his destiny. A few years ago, the most famous of these writings, the Gospel of Judas, raised a ruckus because many saw in it a threat to orthodoxy. But from its opening characterization of itself as a ?secret revelatory discourse,? it is unabashedly Gnostic: esoteric rather than popular, for an elite, not?as orthodoxy proclaims the good news of Jesus to be?for all.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)