Since you asked...
Around Easter I saw a TV program on "The Gospel of Judas." What is this "gospel," and why isn’t it in the Bible?
This month with Fr. James Garneau
Recently, the media made much mention of the so-called Gospel of Judas, a document
discovered in Egypt in the 1970s, suggesting that its discovery might change our
understanding of Christianity. The prestigious National Geographic Society (see
www9.nationalgeographic.com/lostgospel/) states, "The Gospel of Judas
gives a different view of the relationship between Jesus and Judas, offering new
insights into the disciple who betrayed Jesus. Unlike the accounts in the canonical
Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, in which Judas is portrayed as a reviled
traitor, this newly discovered Gospel portrays Judas as acting at Jesus' request
when he hands Jesus over to the authorities." Moreover, there has also been much
interest in other, supposedly "hidden," gospels (e.g., The Gospel of Thomas) which
have been presented as important new sources, offering us information and perspectives
about Jesus Christ and the Apostles. What does all of this mean for Catholics? Over the years, I have seen that people leave the church (take a "vacation," so to speak) for various reasons. They usually can tell you why they did not attend Mass the first, second or third Sunday in a row. After that, a habit of not going to church was established. Sometimes, a person has felt hurt by a priest, religious, or lay minister and has not been practicing.
For well-formed Catholics, it doesn't mean much. At best, it might be an opportunity
for us to learn about the complex realities of early Church history, in which the
Catholic Church faced persecution from imperial authorities as well as false teachings,
some of which were fabricated by those who had once been members of the Catholic
Church but had since broken away from her. But for the ill-informed Catholic (and
non-Catholic), the presentation of "new gospels" can be dangerous to whatever incipient
faith they might have, and so, it is important to clarify and share our religion
with the many friends and neighbors, including not a few baptized Catholics, who
have little or no understanding of it. In other words, rather than viewing the interest
in a reputed "rehabilitation" of Judas in entirely negative terms, we might perceive
a "teaching opportunity."
The Gospel of Judas was the work of an heretical sect, generally referred to as
Gnostics, whose philosophical and theological beliefs were far removed from those
of the Church established by Jesus Christ, that is, the Catholic Church. If the
codex (ancient manuscript) recently presented with much fanfare is a copy of the same one referred to by St. Irenaeus, who wrote around 180 A.D., then the original
edition was probably produced at some point in the middle of the second century
A.D. Irenaeus condemned the writing as antithetical to Christianity, a product of
a Gnostic sect known as the Cainites. There were numerous Gnostic groups in the
first centuries of the Church's existence. They did not constitute a united organization
or movement and so a simple summary of their beliefs and practices is difficult
to provide. They combined various philosophical ideas from the East with a strong
sense of Platonic dualism, and all that cloaked in Biblical imagery. Similar to
much of the contemporary "New Age" philosophies, they often included a belief in
competing deities (dark/light, good/bad, creator of the spiritual realm/creator
of the material world), a denial of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, and an emphasis
on "hidden knowledge" for "wholeness" or salvation.
All of this leads to an important question, namely, on whose authority do we accept
the Scriptures? The answer, as St. Augustine indicated, is that we accept the Gospels
(and other books of the Bible) as divinely revealed because the Church tells us
to. In other words, it is not the Scriptures which pre-date and direct us to the
Church of Jesus Christ, but rather the Catholic Church which guarantees the orthodox
faith in which we are saved, and so indicates which writings are divinely inspired
and how they ought to be interpreted. The Bible did not drop down to us from the
sky. It was revealed to us by the Church. The writings that were rejected by the
Church from the first centuries are not "hidden revelations," but false teachings.
The Da Vinci Code has done much to popularize the notion that the Catholic
Church has kept certain texts which it knows to contain wisdom and truth hidden
through the centuries. The fact is that approximately 21 Gnostic writings (including
fragments) have come down to us, known by the Fathers of the Church as well as by
scholars throughout the succeeding generations, which style themselves as "gospels."
They do not offer additional revelation. They offer false views. While they can
provide historical insight into the life and struggles of the early centuries of
Christianity, as well as knowledge of the varieties of second-century Gnosticism,
they do not provide new information that touches upon divine revelation, change
the truth that the Catholic Church embraces and teaches, or affect our possibility
of salvation.
To the extent that professed and practicing Catholics are confused, beguiled, or
bewildered by "new information," we have a pretty good measure of how poorly the
Catholic faith has been taught and preached in recent times. Wherever the Word of
God has been presented as a text to be critically deconstructed, the way has been
paved for the confusion that now exists with regard to the authority of the Gospels
that the Church has declared to be inspired. Our Catholic faith has been revealed
by God and is taught by the Church. Archeological discoveries can neither add to
nor subtract from it.
Rev. James F. Garneau, Ph.D.
Mount Olive, N.C.