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The Gospel of Judas.

The gospel in question is a Coptic (Egyptian) script, which should not be confused with the Nag Hammadi codices. Allthough the Gospel itself is a blatantly Gnostic text, and was presumably discovered in a similar region, this script is a seperate entity in its own right.

This text, in its barely surviving condition, is the only Gospel atributed to the infamous Judas Iscariot. I should also mention that the head translater of this long lost scroll is, Rodolphe Kasser. He is the athority on Coptic translation. There are a handful of people in the world who can fluently read and speak the language of ancient times, and he is one of those people.

It seems that the translated text has been divided into large sections. This may be due to both missing fragments of the papyrus and the fact that translation may not be complete. I have divided my evaluation of the text into the same sections.

The Earthly Ministry of Jesus.

I have found this to be a very summarized parallel of Mark 4. It has been stated that in Gnostic text Yeshua has often been seen to appear in different forms. In this fragment we see Yeshua appearing as a child. If I am to assume this passage is in fact a parallel of him explaining the parables then it is possible that the author was impling a childlike quality. Unfortunately, the fragment is too small and vague to decipher its true meaning.

The Prayer of the eucharist.

I currently have not found any reason to assume that this is the Passover or Last Supper as has been sugested by the translaters. Perhaps this is a different story alltogether? The Apostles converse with Yeshua in a very foriegn manner and there is no mention of Yeshuas' impeding death.

Of course the story becomes very Gnostic, from an early point. When the Apostles start a common prayer Yeshua begins laughing. This is a prime example of where the Orthodox and Gnostic ideaologies differ.

The Spirit and The Self-Generated

• I find it interesting that Yeshua uses the word angel quite liberally through out. I have always defined angel by it's literal meaning: messenger.
  
• I have come to the conclusion that the 'spirit' is a reference to the father, 'the one who will not be named'.
  
• The "luminous cloud" could be an allusion to the cosmos. I cna't really say at this point.
  
• The "Self-Generated" (autogenes) is used differently through out texts. In this gospel the author seems to be using the word to desribe the aeon or realm of Barbelos. Interesting however; is the use of the word angel here. Is he claiming the Self-Generated to be a messenger?
  
• It is obvious that Yeshua in this section is explaining the creation of the emanations, which, not so ironicaly happens to resemble Greek and Babylonian creation concepts.

To be continued...