"The Gospel of Judas"

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The Gospel of Judas is an ancient Christian apocryphal manuscript in Coptic, part of the papyrus Codex Chakos, found in Egypt in 1978 and dated 220-340 years by radiocarbon analysis. The modern translation was first published in 2006. The manuscript is defined as a number of Gnostic apocryphal (non-canonical) gospels. In the text Judas Iscariot is shown as the only disciple to whom Jesus Christ revealed all the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven and taught cosmology.

On the basis of textual expertise concerning the peculiarities of dialectal and borrowed Greek words, the found text is a possible Coptic translation of the lost ancient Greek original, dated 130-170 years. It is not known whether this manuscript is related to the texts of the same name, which were criticized by representatives of Orthodox Christianity Irenaeus of Lyons and Epiphany of Cyprus in the struggle against Gnosticism.

History

Information of the Church Fathers on the Gospel of Judas
Before the discovery of the text about the Gospel of Judas was known only from the works of the authors of the second century – Irenaeus of Lyons and Epiphanius of Cyprus, who wrote about it in connection with the Gnostic sect of the Cainites (Cainians). According to Irenaeus of Lyon, Cainians are taught that

Because Judas alone knew the truth, he committed the mystery of treachery, and through him, they say, all the things of the earth and the heavens were settled. They also give away a fictional story of this kind, calling it the “Gospel of Judas.”

Epiphanius reports:

To him (Judah) they attribute an excess of knowledge and even give out on his behalf some composition, which is called the Gospel of Judah. Some say that Christ was betrayed to Judas because he was evil and wanted to overthrow the statutes of the Law. They praise, as I said, Cain and Judas, and say, “Because he betrayed him, because he wanted to destroy the good teachings.” Others do not say this, but rather say that although Christ is good, Judas gave Him up according to heavenly knowledge.

History of the find

After its discovery in 1978, the manuscript was often transferred from one owner to another and was in poor condition. The text was mostly restored and published in 2006.

Dating
The Chacos Papyrus Codex, containing the Gospel of Judas, was dated 220-340 by radiocarbon method, and the textual examination of Swiss scientists established the turn of the III and IV centuries. According to some researchers, the Coptic text of the Gospel is a translation of the lost Greek original, dating from the middle - 2nd half of the II century. The Gnostic theology of the book, as well as the author’s obvious acquaintance with the text of the canonical Gospels, do not allow dating it to an earlier time. If we identify the Gospel of Judas mentioned by Irenaeus of Lyons (Refutation of Heresies, I:31, 1) with the book found, then the Greek text dates no later than 175-185, when the work of Irenaeus was written.

Gospel text

Title
The Gospel of Judas (Coptic). ) signed on the last page of the papyrus manuscript found. In the name of use