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Thursday, April 13th, 2006

The Gospel of Judas papyrus televised on National Geographic

The Gospel of Judas tells a riveting story that many people find new. It says that Jesus asked Judas to betray him, thus setting the Passion into motion. But the gospel’s provenance shows that some things don’t change in a couple of millenniums, except for inflation. Thirty pieces of silver then, or $1.5 million now: It’s still about money.

Ordinarily, the discovery of something like the Judas gospel would be announced in a scholarly publication as a probable addition to the Gnostic Gospels — early Christian writings that were rejected by the church hierarchy. Instead, National Geographic gave it a public splash that rang more of commercial zing than scholarly thoughtfulness, with a glitzy TV special, two books and an exhibit timed for the week before Easter.

The 1,700-year-old papyrus was breathlessly described as possibly turning Christianity on its head. And the codex is an exciting archeological find. But the concept of Judas playing out a role that he perceives as Jesus’ desire isn’t particularly new, as anyone who ever watched “Jesus Christ Superstar” can attest.

The National Geographic Society’s involvement did help restore the papyrus and bring it to public light, and back to Egypt.

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