Did Jesus Ask Judas to Betray Him?

Was there ever a Gospel According to Judas? An ancient book found in an
Egyptian cave could be just that--and have an explosive message for
Christians.
About three decades ago, a 2,000-year-old mystery surfaced when a farmer
looking for treasure in an Egyptian cave instead found a decaying
leather-bound book, called a Codex, written in ancient Coptic. Not
realizing what he had, he sold it to an antiquities dealer.
Five years after the Codex was found, a scholar named Stephen Emmel was
asked to look at it, but under the condition he not photograph it or
make any notes. He told ABC's "Primetime" that he leafed through it and
spotted a dialogue between Jesus and Judas and his disciples. "The name
Judas came up again and again," he recalled. Then for 16 years it sat
crumbling in, of all places, a safe-deposit box in a Long Island, N.Y.,
Citibank. In 2000 it was sold to former antiquities dealer Frieda
Nussberger-Tchacos, who told "Primetime," "I think the circumstances of
this manuscript coming to me were predestined. Judas was asking me to do
something for him."
National Geographic and ABC News report scholars now think this is the
long lost Gospel of Judas that was banned by the early church as
blasphemous and ordered destroyed. Deciphering it was a monumental task
since the 13 pieces of papyrus were in more than 1,000 pieces. Swiss
restorer Florence Darbre and her partner painstakingly fit the tiny
pieces together like an ancient jigsaw puzzle. Then Emmel and another
scholar, Rodolphe Kasser, were called in to authenticate the text. "I've
looked at hundreds of papyri, Coptic papyri, in my career, and this is
absolutely typical of ancient Coptic manuscripts," Emmel told
"Primetime." "I'm completely convinced." The final task was to use radio
carbon-dating to authenticate it, which meant destroying tiny pieces of
the precious document. The result? The text was written between the
third and fourth century and is believed to be a copy of a much older
document written in Greek in the second century.
What it has to say could shake Christianity to its core: The Bible says
that Judas is the one who betrayed Jesus Christ for 30 pieces of silver,
handing him over for crucifixion, an act that damned him for all time.
But this Gospel of Judas tells it differently: Jesus asked Judas to
betray him.
"Now, the Gospel of Judas also has Judas say to Jesus in fear and terror
that he has a dream that the other disciples will hate him and will
stone him to death, will attack him, Elaine Pagels, a professor at
Princeton University and one of the world's foremost experts on ancient
religious texts, told "Primetime." "And Jesus says, 'Yes, in fact, they
will think that you are a terrible person because of what you did. This
is part of the burden that you bear. But they will be wrong about that.'
So it is an extraordinary transformation of the ordinary understanding
of Judas Iscariot."
What does it mean? Pagels says that it shows Judas's betrayal of Jesus
was not a reprehensible act or the act of a traitor. "It's a secret
mystery between him and Jesus."
Herbert Krosney, author of "The Lost Gospel: The Quest for the Gospel of
Judas Iscariot," goes even further. He calls Judas "the favored disciple
of Jesus," adding, "He is the one whose star shines in the heavens and
in the skies, and Judas, therefore, becomes unique. He is Jesus's best
friend rather than his betrayer."
Pagels admits there is no historical proof for the Gospel of Judas, just
as there is no historical proof for the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John. However, she is quick to say, "The Christian message is a
message about faith and hope and, you know, the relationship between God
and human beings. It's not a matter of historical fact."
--From the Editors at Netscape

figures Netscape would post that

I think the editors of netscape ought to focus on more relevant things
to their jobs

Yeah!

I guess they have nothing better to do then to post crap right.

Well, If I omitted the part about Netscape posting this article. I guess
you sir would have nothing better to do with your time either.

Thanks for the comment though.

Ghostrecon

your gay shut up

Who's gay Sara?

me?
I'm a lesbian I'll have you know.

I've heard that there was a Book of Judas, but whether there is or not I
don't think we'll ever truly know until THE day.
As far as Judas' act, I don't believe he was damned at all for it. Quite
the opposite, I believe Judas has a special place in Heaven. His
"betrayal" allowed the prophecy of the Son of God and the King of Kings
to come true. The entire Christian faith wouldn't exist if it wasn't for
what Judas did.
Jesus DID know that Judas would "betray" him however. You see this when
Jesus beseeches His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane(sp?)shortly
before the Romans came and got him. He knew Judas was bringing the
Romans to Him.
I have believed this long before I heard of "The Book of Judas".
Believe it or not, I actually starting thinking that after watching the
original Jesus Christ Superstar. Btw, that is ONE movie I highly
recommend Christian or not. The singing is absolutely AMAZING.
Especially the two that play Jesus and Judas. And the lyrics are
powerful without trying to shove anything down any one's throat. Believe
me, I watch it as much for the talent as for anything else. Check it out
and don't be worried about preachiness, cuz it isn't.

"Your gay shut up"
should be a bumper sticker
I love that....sarablui....very funny

As far as this topic goes. Who cares about Judas anyways. People seem to
think that jesus had no enemies and all his deciples were just singing
and dancing with flowers in thier hair. In that time if you lived
through the week you were doin pretty good. If it had not of been Judas
then it would have been Peter, (who Jesus Built the Church ON) and then
what would the people say. If their is a book of judas and it is done in
the name of Jesus Christ then oh goody. People have not learned enough
about themselves to realize how much we are alike Jesus's 12 deciples
all with our strengths and weeknesses. Able to take a life for money and
turn around an save life for mud in the face. We are Human and
incredably designed so why else would our very efficiant creator want to
come down and hang out with us? That's the question I would be a
askinn!!! Because....
God Thinks you are cool thats why!!! You are amazing to him.
Everything is not a scam.
And to answere the question, How would I Know if jesus asked Judas to
betray him?? What do you think about Jesus and Judas relationship....
Remember they also had Money of thier own so 30 pieces of silver might
have been lunch money to Judas.
I kinda hope that girl(sarabluie) tells me to shut up also...lol

"His
"betrayal" allowed the prophecy of the Son of God and the King of Kings
to come true. The entire Christian faith wouldn't exist if it wasn't for
what Judas did."

So Public.

Why wasn't Judas given any kind of status other then a traitor like
Benedict Arnold?

So he was just the fall guy like Oliver North. Not even Martyred.

Pitty pitty.
How sad. <sobbing>

Poor him, poor him.

John7771


Do you think the biblical people thought the sun rotated around the
earth or did they think the earth rotated around the sun?

Many Christians suppose the story of Joshua commanding the sun to stand
still, found in Joshua 10:12-14, means the earth's rotation stopped for
a day, while the Israelite warriors finished the slaughter of their
enemies, after which the earth resumed its regular rotation. The story
is in the Bible, and what is in the Bible must be true, right? To
question it would deny the doctrine of biblical inerrancy as taught by
many Christian leaders. So they assume miracles must have occurred on
that day.
For the earth to suddenly stop rotating would certainly involve a major
miracle. It violates the principle of conservation of angular momentum
of rotating bodies, a fundamental law. The kinetic energy of a rotating
body like the earth cannot just disappear; it must continue to exist;
the energy needed somewhere to go. Clearly a miracle is needed, if the
earth's rotation stopped, and then began again.

The earth's diameter is several kilometers greater at the equator, than
at the poles, because of the effects of rotation. What would maintain
the equatorial bulge, if rotation stopped?

The moon, also, cannot simply stop in its orbit; it would fall towards
the earth. So a miracle was involved, to keep the moon up when it
stopped, and for it to resume its orbital motion.

The ocean waters have momentum, and if the earth's crust beneath them
suddenly stopped, the waters of the oceans would overflow the eastern
coasts of the continents, in mighty tidal waves traveling hundreds of km
per hour. This would be a catastrophe probably greater in scale than
even the world wide flood of Noah's time! Similar flooding on the
western coasts would likely occur when rotation resumed. But geologic
evidence for such events has not been found.

The atmosphere has momentum, and if the earth's crust suddenly stopped,
winds of hundreds of km per hour would cause devastation around the
earth, but such drastic events do not appear to have happened, so
miracles must be invoked by those who believe the story of Joshua's long
day, to prevent all the widespread destruction.

For the ocean waters to remain in the ocean basins would requite the
miraculous suspension of the law of inertia that applies to every
particle in the oceans. Similarly, if the earth's atmosphere did not
keep revolving eastward when the earth stopped, countless miracles are
needed; one for every single molecule of air!

Lack of Confirmation of the Joshua Event in Other Scriptures
If the earth's rotation was halted in Joshua's time, why would it not be
mentioned in, say, the faith chapter, Hebrews 11? Either the writer of
Hebrews did not know about it, or perhaps he considered the story to be
untrue.
There is no mention of this tale in the Psalms, either. Surely in Psalm
136, where some of the mighty works of God are listed, the stopping of
the sun (or the earth's rotation) by Joshua would be mentioned, if it
were true. But it is not there. The creation of the earth's crust on the
second day is mentioned, the making of the great lights on the fourth
day is mentioned, the Exodus is mentioned, the dividing of the Red Sea
is mentioned, the victories of the Israelites are mentioned, but not the
story of Joshua commanding the sun and moon to stand still!

There is a possible reference to the Joshua story of the sun standing
still in Habakkuk 3:11.

In Genesis 8:22 God promised that "while the earth remaineth, seedtime
and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night
shall not cease." This is a promise of the future continuity of day and
night, as well as of the seasons. The assumption that the earth's
rotation stopped in Joshua's time implies an interruption of the
continuity of the earth's rotation, which would contradict the above
scripture in Genesis as well as the principle of conservation of angular
momentum of the earth.
The promise of God recorded in Genesis 8:22 is that the continuity of
day and night, and of the seasons, would not be interrupted. It
precludes even a "pause"; every day ceases when night occurs, and night
regularly gives way to day. So it is the continuity of the regular
sequence of day and night that forms the essence of the promise God gave
in Genesis 8:22. This promise would be violated if the earth's rotation
stopped when Joshua ordered the sun and moon to stand still.
Is it Scripture?
Because the story of Joshua telling the sun to stand still is in the
Bible, does that mean it is God's word? Scripture is given by the
inspiraton of God as Paul writes in 2nd Timothy 3:16. Paul was writing
about the Old Testament here. In 2 Peter 3:16, Peter refers to Paul's
writings as scripture too. John wrote in 1 John 2:21, "no lie is of the
truth."
The story about Joshua commanding the sun to stand still may be a "tall
tale" which has been inserted in our present versions of the Old
Testament. If so, it is not of the truth, but I don't believe that it
makes God a liar. Centuries ago, some priests or scribes were unfaithful
with the word of God, and inserted a "gloss" which has remained in
subsequent translations. To claim that if this has occurred, it would
make God a liar, makes no sense. It is itself a lie! But perhaps man's
doctrines about biblical inerrancy are flawed. Scripture itself gives us
plenty of reasons to reject this tale.

Quite possibly something could have been lost in the translation of that
story. It could quite well be that a solar eclipse occurred and thusly
would make it SEEM like the sun had stopped moving for a period of time
because the moon caught it up. That would also keep Gods promise to not
interrupt the passage of day into night, and explain why no other
mention of it appears in the Bible under Gods greatest works. I do
believe the stories of the old testament are inherently true, just that
concepts get confused or lost after several translations.
And again, exactly how long did the sun "stop" in the sky? Since the
concept of a 24 hour day is a recent development in the history of
mankind, who's to say how long the sun DID "stop" moving? Again, we're
trying to apply modern concepts to a period when those concepts were
non-existent.
The thing is, as science is used to disprove the Bible, science has also
proven several Biblical points. So even science isn't a very good
measuring tool for determining how true or false the Bible is.

I don't know what the biblical people got out of this.
I am sure there were a couple of people telling everyone how things
worked just like nowdays. And a couple of opposers to the then time
understanding. But I cannot find in the bible where it says the world is
the center of the universe and/or flat. Maybe they cut that part out to
make room for Judas...lol

Luke 17:34- He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,(could be
the earths orbit around the sun) and its people are like
grasshoppers.(talking about basketball players lol) He stretches out the
heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
(Isaiah 40:22)

Job 26:7 He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth
the earth upon nothing.
(Here is earth hanging in space just like the magnet thing that suspends
a ball bearing in mid air.)

So what if biblical people believed the world was flat and at the center
of the universe. And what of our beliefs now. Gohstrecon, I hope your
not depending on people to get your answeres from. I will always tell
you to ask God....
I was just poking a little fun at the fact that you may not believe
in the Holy bible, however, the book of Judas, also written by men, you
seem to quote.
If the holy bible is just a Tall Tale then what of the book of Judas.
You would have to at first consider the Holy Bible somewhat true in
order to add the book of Judas to it. lol

I think God would have had to stop the whole universe in order to stop
the earth from spnning around to night time. This universe is a machine
and contrained by many physics, not to mention the spiritual cogs in the
wheel. If one day where missing from the earth, then where did it Go?
Well my best guess is leapyear. lol

"It could quite well be that a solar eclipse occurred and thusly
would make it SEEM like the sun had stopped moving for a period of time
because the moon caught it up."

It would seem at that time if a solar eclipse occurred then they would
have probably thought that God was blocking the sun because they were
being bad somehow. So they probably would have done a lot of animal or
human scarifies to appease God to lift this strange assurance.

Much as they do when any natural occurrences happens.

You can't assume they understood the physical laws of the the planet
with the earths continental plates that would explain earth quakes.

A lot of phenomena back then may have had logical explanations. But due
to there lack of technology. They often assumed a deity must have caused
the termors or the blocking of the sun or the rise in the water or the
destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah or the 12 plagues of Egypt or the
Etc.....

" think God would have had to stop the whole universe in order to stop
the earth from spnning around to night time. This universe is a machine
and contrained by many physics, not to mention the spiritual cogs in the
wheel. If one day where missing from the earth, then where did it Go?
Well my best guess is leapyear. lol "

Well, near the equator, the earth's rotational velocity is around 1,000
miles per hour. In Joshua 10:12, god commands the sun to stand still.
Since we all know that it is not the sun that is moving, and that the
apparent movement of the sun is due to the earth's rotation, that means
that god must have abruptly stopped the earth's rotation. When that
happend, Joshua and all of his happy little army would have suddenly
found themselves bouncing along over the surface of the earth at about
950 miles per hour, until they slammed into the nearest object.
(History's worst case of 'road rash', ever.) All structures would have
disintigrated, and their component parts turn into deadly missiles. All
vegetation would have been uprooted. Everything would have become a
deadly missile. All of the waters of the earth would have been flung up
from their containments and flooded the earth. It is very unlikely that
a single creature living on the surface of the earth would have
survived.

Im not as educated as all of you, but I think that Judas was just a
human how gave into sin and betrayed his friend for that sin. It happens
ALL the time in our lives, so why couldn't it have been back then. All I
knoe is that Jesus loves us And Died for us and that is What the LORD
wanted us to know, So even if, I ask you What Would Jesus DO(WWJD)?

Yes Ghostrecon, good point. Since the earth is round and the sky is blue
and the physical controls our lives. But you forgot one little detail.
IT'S OPPOSITE DAY!!! lol

If I believe in a spiritual god that created a physical universe then
why the f**k could I not believe that he could change the constraints or
modify the mass of each little creature before he stopped the globe! He
might have warned them, he might have changed the rotation along with an
increadable sneeze that countered the complete object in motion
causing terminal velocitiy and they would never know it.
Now that I think about it, I do not find the God of Abraham
to be so far fetched.
And it is up to God to win you over, I have thrown in my sea
splitting, earth stopping, virgin mary, water into wine evidence to a
dark consuming hole AGAIN(!)lol, To what....some guy who rejects Jesus
Christ on MANS MERIT!(by the way, man has turned water into wine,
divided land larger than Moses's sea, flown into outer space, created
computers, predicted the weather as close as an hour, made nuclear
power, Air Travel at this volume Is just not likley(!), Automobiles that
will go at least 180mph and the George Forman Grill)!!
So, Where there is smoke there is fire!

I suppose if you had found the blueprint to any of these creations
mentioned you would have thrown it out saying "men drew it, so it must
be a tall tale" before trying it out.
Believing in the bible is physically risky and the more you believe,
the more you risk.
Actually, thinking outload, God could have just decelerated the earth
at such a very small value and then re-accelerated it the same way
minumizing the Tsunami effect and giving twelve more hours of light. lol

the way I see it, if God created all of this, then He sure as heck can
overstep the laws of physics to drive a point home to someone. LOL