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Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity | 
 enlarge | Authors: Elaine Pagels, Karen L. King
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  29 reviews
Sales Rank: 109647
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Media: Audio CD
Edition: Unabridged
Number Of Items: 3
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.9 x 5.1 x 0.7
Dewey Decimal Number: 229.8
ASIN: B00127QF04
Publication Date: March 6, 2007
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Product Description
The two leading, bestselling experts on the Gnostic Gospels weigh in on the meaning of the controversial newly discovered Gospel of Judas When the Gospel of Judas was published by the National Geographic Society in April 2006, it received extraordinary media attention and was immediately heralded as a major biblical discovery that rocked the world of scholars and laypeople alike. Elaine Pagels and Karen King are the first to reflect on this newfound text and its ramifications for telling the story of early Christianity. In Reading Judas, the two celebrated scholars illustrate how the newly discovered text provides a window onto understanding how Jesus followers understood his death, why Judas betrayed Jesus, and why God allowed it. Most contemporary readers will find passages in the ancient Gospel of Judas difficult to comprehend outside of its context in the ancient world. Reading Judas illuminates the intellectual assumptions behind Jesus teaching to Judas and shows how conflict among the disciples was a tool frequently used by early Christian authors to explore matters of doubt and disagreement. Presented with the elegance, insight, and accessibility that has made Pagels and King the leading voices in this field, this is a book for academics and popular audience both. Pagelss five previous books, including The New York Times bestseller Beyond Belief, and Kings The Gospel of Mary of Magdala prove that there is a considerable audience eager for this kind of informed and engaging writing.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 24 more reviews...
Downplays the Gnostic aspect a bit June 26, 2008
Pagels and King have produced a good translation of the Gospel of Judas, despite what some critics have said. One critic in particular has taken pains to cast aspersions on all translations of the Gospel of Judas, claiming that the text actually identifies Judas as a "demon" rather than a "spirit". Well, the original Coptic may have used the word "DAIMWN" rather than "PNEUMA", but that does not mean that Judas is supposed to be an evil spirit! Daimwn was a word that originally referred to "spirits" in a neutral way; for example, Socrates in his trial referred to the (benign) Daimwn that guided him to wisdom. The modern English word "demon" comes from the Greek Daimwn, but only where the Greek refers to an EVIL spirit (i.e. a kakodaimwn, or cacodemon).
That aside, this translation does seem pretty good. I took care to read the text of the Gospel first, and then the commentary, and I would advise all to do the same. My impression was that the text was clearly Gnostic. It is very similar to other Gnostic texts like the Gospel of Thomas and the Letter of Peter to Phillip. That is, a disciple or disciples are given secret teachings by Christ as to the true nature of the universe and of divine affairs - that the universe is a fake created by a mad god, and that penetration to the real universe can be achieved by true knowledge.
The fact that the disciple in question is Judas Iscariot does make this narrative rather unique.
The commentary by Elaine Pagels, in my opinion, downplays the Gnostic element of the Gospel of Judas by putting forward the thesis that the text is primarily to be read as a criticism of the cult of martyrs among Christians. To me, the martyrdom aspect of the Gospel is not very prominent compared with the revelations of the Gnostic universe. The Gospel should rather be seen as another example of a secret Gnostic revelation to a chosen disciple, albeit the one usually seen as the traitor.
The commentary also rambles on a bit. It is designed for the general reader, which makes it a bit too longwinded anyway. But Pagels also insists on comparing and contrasting the attitudes of the Gospel of Judas toward martyrs with every other non-canonical Christian work that mentions them. This, to me, wastes a good deal of space, though I always liked the Round Dance of the Cross.
On the up side, the discussions of Judas in the New Testament are interesting and informative, and the martyrdom aspect is indeed a part of the Gospel of Judas, even though I think Pagels harps on it far too much. On the whole, a fine translation of a newly discovered Gospel with some OK commentary.
 false teachers May 18, 2008
0 out of 13 found this review helpful
What with all the 5 star ratings I see around this book, I wonder where your heads are... especially if you profess to be Christian. If not, then ignore what I say because it's to be expected.
What I see are false teachers, that have dredged up, and are spewing 2000 year old garbage in an attempt to turn people away from true gospel of Jesus Christ. But, that's what false teachers do... falsify information, distort truth, destroy faith, lie, and cause confusion.
Judas had full access to Jesus, night and day, for 3.5 years... then he betrayed the Son of God with a kiss, for 30 pieces of silver. He was a traitor! Nothing more, nothing less.
"The Gospel of Judas" was not written by Judas Iscariot... it was written abt 120 years after his death by another of the many false teachers trying to destroy Christianity at the time. It's not the archeological find of the century... it's a fake.
 Misreading Judas April 20, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
The Gospel of Judas is pretty interesting. The concept of a gospel of Judas takes some getting used to, and the content of this gospel is also best understood by someone with some understanding of writings such as those found at Nag Hammadi.
One must be somewhat dispassionate to read a text like this. Can you read with an open mind? Can you read what's there, and not "read into" the text your assumptions about Judas, your reactions to him?
I'm disappointed in Pagels and King's book, especially with the main body of the text, which Pagels wrote.
She misreads the text badly, and the impression she forms of it is not about the text but about her failure. If she just misread, it'd be only her problem, but then she miswrites, as though she would make her disease contageous by virtue of her authority as an expert on this sort of text.
When she misreads so many things and finds the text's author to be full of anger and rage, I have to wonder whether the anger and rage are located in the text or its author, or whether they are projected by Pagels, her own.
One example of her misreading concerns a vision that Judas has. In a vision he reports to Jesus, he sees the 12 disciples stoning him to death.
Pagels says the author of this gospel accuses the other disciples of stoning Judas. That's not what it says. It says Judas had a vision. It also says that when he reports his vision to Jesus, Jesus informs him that he has been deceived. Since there was additional content in the vision and there are holes in the text, we cannot be 100% sure that Jesus was saying that Judas was deceived in his belief that they would stone him, but it appears plausible.
In any event, this gospel does not say the disciples stoned him. Its author does not accuse them of stoning him, as Pagels says. She cites this as an example of the author's "anger." If the gospel doesn't say what she says it says, where is this "anger" to be found?
There are quite a few errors like this. If you get sucked into thinking this text says what Pagels says it says, you'll miss what it says. The blind lead the blind into the ditch.
The thought expressed in this gospel is subtle. Pagels' misinterpretation is crude. I think she has some sort of inner turmoil that's clouding her vision, as she projects all this anger and hate onto the author.
She stones him... and she misses. Badly.
This is sad. I liked "The Gnostic Paul." I've been disappointed with this book and with her "Beyond Belief."
In spite of these criticisms, I find about a fifth of the book's text to contain information worth reading. And the Gospel of Judas is good reading.
Just don't let her mislead you about what the text says. I'm reading this book through for a second time to pick up whatever things are worth keeping, and I'm seeing that she sometimes cites chapter and verse to back up her assertions about what the text says. When I read them, they do not say what she says they say.
The gospel author's thought is subtle. Her emotional reactions cause her to distort the meaning.
Sad.
 Justifying Judas March 29, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
In Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity, Pagels and King explore the "Gospel of Judas" and the context in which it was written, to create a framework for the translation of the gospel in the second half of the book. Rather than ignore the gospel as heresy, they ask readers to consider the political forces at work. They argue that the gospel presents Judas not as a betrayer of Jesus, but as his greatest disciple. This challenges readers to reconsider traditional views of Judas, Jesus and the Church, perhaps even to forgive Judas and open their eyes to a larger view of Christianity.
Pagels and King explain that through the "Gospel of Judas" we can see that it is not the suffering of Jesus and the persecution of Christians that brings holiness. Rather, Christians must come to understand that Jesus did not die as a blood sacrifice but as a leader showing the way. The physical life is something to be overcome, not mourned.
Essentially, Pagels and King strive to overcome the bias with which we may approach the "Gospel of Judas." We must understand the context to see that the author is not simply trying to be inflammatory but reacting to the religious wars of his time. The book is very approachable, written for those who are not biblical scholars with a heavily annotated translation to help the reader in digestion of the gospel. Pagels and King offer a thorough explanation of the events leading to the gospel's conception as they explore other Christian works which lend support to its radical statements in the second section.
Reading Judas for salvation from Gnostics March 28, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Reading the combined, concise and beautiful work of "Reading Judas" by Prof King and Pagels is a pleasure in understanding the diversity and complexity of early Christianity. They explained the background historically, culturally and religiously the different sects in defining the truth and teaching of Jesus Christ. Belief in his death and resurrection started a new religion - Christianity. The Gnostic believed Jesus teaching brings eternal life without the medium of bishop and deacon.
It was a fascinating miracle that Gospel of Judas came back from oblivion after seventeen centuries. It is the lost puzzle in the interesting history of Christianity development. The translated Gospel of Judas offers the other side of story why Judas "handed over" Jesus for helping his lord achieve the mission with hints from the four Gospels. However, it raises the concerns on death and suffering of martyrs and eternal life - a strong motivation to Christians and extreme Moslems.
Reading this book helps reader understand early Christianity in Jesus and Judas, life and death, body and spirit, orthodox and heretics, history and myth, fears and hopes.
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