How do we accept Christianity when there are entire gospels that were left out? Christians advertise the Bible as well, the Bible. It’s truth is absolute. It’s words are ones to live by. It’s legitimacy is called into question by the discovery of the Gospel of Judas. This ancient gospel tells a radically different story as compared to what’s found in the Bible today.
In resurfacing, the Gospel of Judas sheds light on the many gospels that existed in the early stages of Christianity. As gospels were weeded out and erased from history, the kind of Christianity that we know today began to take shape. I’m no longer religious, but I went to church when I was younger, and I understand that the Bible is supposed to be the word of God. Having read the Gospel of Judas, I see that the word of God was handpicked by humans, which takes away from the “holy,” prophetic feel that scripture had for me before.
Christianity has been carefully crafted and structured in order to communicate a cohesive story. It’s got good guys and bad guys, good and evil, right and wrong. I personally struggle with the Bible’s definitions of these things, and some bitter part of me relishes in the Gospel of Judas- not necessarily it’s teachings, but the way in which it contradicts a text that people treat as undeniable truth, used to deny the humanity of selected groups of people. The conviction with which people condemn others is based on a foundation that’s no longer concrete; it’s built on sand rather than stone.
Truth is often so much more than what is presented to us. There’s always another perspective to be heard, one that doesn’t align with yours, one that can shift the way the world works. If the Gospel of Judas had been preserved and added to the Bible that we now follow today, Christian theology would be entirely different. It really could be entirely different right now. Christians have the opportunity to rework their understanding of the Bible, but instead the Gospel of Judas is dismissed by the pope himself. The Christian community is collectively deciding to reject what very well may be authentic. There is no reason for the Gospel of Judas to be wrong and those of other disciples like Mark and Luke to be right other than that people don’t like it. I think that speaks to the power of people as well as their sheer hypocriticalness. The most divine text of Christianity, given to humanity by God, is constricted by what humanity prefers to believe.
I’m attaching links to the sources of documents I used to learn more about the Gospel of Judas below:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Judas
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5327692