The Gospel of Judas is definitely a strange read. The legacy of Judas being synonymous with betrayal, the very existence of this text is contradictory to the Bible. Not only does it recontextualize Judas, but it also practically reinvents Christianity. It reinvents the origin of God and humanity, establishes the angels as lesser Gods, creates a new concept of the afterlife unique to this writing, condemns Communion, and denies the sacrifice of Jesus for the sins of humanity. This text is almost surgical in its denial of Christian beliefs. My family are Methodist (I unfortunately always need to mention my support for the LGBTQ community when I mention this, because the Methodist Church, which is largely based in Russia and many African nations, recently adopted a policy that is strongly against the LGBTQ community and gay marriage), and in Methodism, Communion is considered the most important of the sacraments. We believe that Jesus is present during Communion in a metaphorical or spiritual sense, but we aren’t actually eating Jesus. I’m not certain, but I believe that in Catholicism, they treat the ritual more literally and actually treat the event as if they are consuming the body of Christ. Regardless, the passage denouncing Communion as cannibalism definitely contradicts Christian beliefs and the significance of one of the sacraments. It also denies the significance of the core of Christianity: the sacrifice of Jesus. In a grand sense, the main aspect of Christianity is Jesus Christ’s actions, role as the son of God, and his crucifixion for the sins of humanity. There’s a million different opinions of Jesus, but in nearly every sect of Christianity, this is consistently the center of the belief. This could never have been part of the Bible, as it contradicts everything in Christian teachings. Unlike the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, which fostered debate regarding reasons for its absence from the Bible, the reasons for abandoning this Gospel to be forgotten are clear: it completely contradicts, or otherwise denies, the most major aspect of Christian teaching. The sacrifice of Jesus is nullified, Communion is denounced, Heaven is denied, and Judas’ betrayal of Christ is completely recontextualized. Given the current state of the Bible, the very existence of this Gospel barely makes sense. It is certainly interesting to consider when and how it was written, and its implications for the development of the Christian faith.