While reading this, I noticed a number of inconsistencies between this text and all four Biblical Gospels which leads me to believe that this book is not a legitimate account of Jesus’ earthly ministry.
The first thing that catches my attention is the statement “Often he did not appear to his disciples as himself, but was found among them as a child.” Nowhere in any of the four Gospels or in Acts is Jesus said to take on the appearance of a child while teaching His disciples. If this is not an issue with translation, or meant to be read poetically, then it immediately lessens the credibility of this piece in my mind.
The next is when Judas says that Jesus is “from the immortal realm of Barbelo.” Not only is “Barbelo” not referenced anywhere in the Biblical Gospels, it’s not referenced anywhere in the Bible. Another knock against the book’s credibility.
The next passage begins with Jesus offering to share with Judas “the mysteries of the kingdom,” which, as I said in The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, is inconsistent with Jesus’ behavior in the Bible. Almost nowhere else in the Bible does Jesus share private knowledge with one of his disciples, and the fact that it seems most of this book is Him privately teaching Judas is a bit concerning.
The main thing in this book that limits its credibility in my eyes are the way Jesus’ personality and way of speaking are very different from all four Biblical Gospels. He speaks largely of ‘generations’ and ‘angels’ and ‘stars’, things are not common in any of the four Biblical Gospels. Indeed, in Judas’s Gospel, the word ‘generation’ is mentioned 43 times. In Matthew’s Gospel, the longest of the four Biblical Gospels, the word ‘generation’ appears a measly 13 times. One of the really cool things about the Biblical Gospels is that they all tell very similar narratives in different ways. The fact that Judas’s Gospel is so different from the four Biblical Gospels is too much of a knock against it for me to ignore.