There’s a new holiday tradition in North America. Ben Witherington wryly observes:
Right at Easter time, just as the dandelions are starting to appear in my yard, a new crop of theories about Jesus and the Gospels usually pop up as well, often rushed into the Easter market.
Two years ago, Canadian author Tom Harpur released The Pagan Christ just before Easter. Harpur, who was once an Anglican priest, now doubts that Jesus ever existed. In his view, the Jesus “myth” is merely a pale imitation of pagan traditions, drawn in particular from Egyptian wisdom literature.
Another Easter, another revisionist take on the Gospel. In fact, this year’s offering is a double feature!
Judas as Jesus’ saviour
First, scholars announced that they have reconstructed the Gospel of Judas.
No doubt, some people will claim that it is just as authoritative as the canonical Gospels. But please note, the Gospel of Judas cannot be traced any further back than 150 years after Jesus lived and died. (The only extant copy of the document is dated c. 300 A.D. The earliest reference to it comes from Irenaeus, c. 180 A.D.)
The Gospel of Judas sets out to rehabilitate Judas’s reputation. It presents Judas as Jesus’ co-conspirator — not a traitor.
According to the Gospel of Judas, Jesus wanted his spirit to be liberated from his body, and the crucifixion was a means to achieve that goal. Judas in effect saved Jesus from his earthly imprisonment. Witherington comments:
This document reflects the same sort of dualism that we find in many other Gnostic documents — matter or flesh is evil or tainted, spirit is good. …This of course is miles from early Jewish theology about the goodness of creation and the flesh, much less the belief that God intends to redeem the flesh by means of [bodily] resurrection.
Witherington’s point is this: the Gospel of Judas is simply wrong in the theology it ascribes to Jesus. Judaism and Christianity do not teach that human beings possess a divine spirit trapped in evil flesh.
Pilate as Jesus’ saviour
Second, the media are giving lots of publicity to Michael Baigent’s new book, The Jesus Papers: Exposing the Greatest Cover-Up in History.
For those of you who don’t recognize the author’s name, Baigent is indirectly responsible for Dan Brown’s best-seller, The Da Vinci Code. Brown lifted his revisionist account of Christian history from Holy Blood, Holy Grail, which was co-authored by Baigent in 1982.
(In fact, Baigent sued Brown for copyright infringement. He lost, in a verdict that came down just this week. But don’t feel too sorry for Baigent: sales of Holy Blood, Holy Grail have increased by 3500% because of the publicity associating his book with The Da Vinci Code.)
Baigent’s book contradicts the Gospel of Judas at various points. In fact, let’s compare all three of the books I mention in this post.
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