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Dec 29th, 2019
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I am posting this for everyone's amusement. I am constantly amazed that an issue such as this has to be addressed. Who said heresies are dead? In IC XC, Father Anthony+ Code: ZE06011920
Date: 2006-01-19
A Drive to Clear Judas' Name? Hardly, Says Official
Monsignor Brandm�ller Calls Media Reports Baseless
VATICAN CITY, JAN. 19, 2006 (Zenit.org).- The Holy See has not launched a campaign to rehabilitate Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus, says a Vatican representative to whom the media have attributed words he never said.
The question arose after the news that the Swiss-based Maecenas Foundation for Ancient Art and U.S.-based National Geographic magazine intended to publish at Easter the content of a first-century manuscript, with the apocryphal gospel of Judas.
Until now, knowledge of this writing came only from the second-century bishop, St. Irenaeus.
The announced publication sparked a debate in Italy over the figure of Judas Iscariot.
The Turin newspaper La Stampa, for instance, reported Jan. 11 that some sources said the apocryphal manuscript would lead to a favorable re-evaluation of Judas.
In this connection, La Stampa quoted comments of writer Vittorio Messori and of Monsignor Walter Brandm�ller, president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences.
No foundation
On Jan. 12 an article in the Times newspaper of London claimed that Monsignor Brandm�ller is leading a campaign from the Vatican to convince believers of Judas' goodness.
The Times also stated that some biblical scholars believe that the negative view of Judas has been influenced by anti-Semitic texts.
But in statements to ZENIT, Monsignor Brandm�ller clarified that "this news has no foundation."
"Reading the Times I discovered that a campaign exists to rehabilitate Judas and that I am the leader," the Vatican official said. "I have not talked with the Times. I can't imagine where this idea came from.
"In regard to the manuscript, it must be emphasized that the apocryphal gospels belong in the main to a special literary genre, a sort of religious novel that cannot be considered as a documentary source for the historical figure of Judas."
Monsignor Brandm�ller continued: "We await the critical edition, which will certainly be interesting from the point of view of the history of ancient literature, but it is impossible to express judgments in advance."
2nd-century text
He added: "Around 180 A.D., Irenaeus of Lyon, [in] 'Against the Heretics,' I,31,1, spoke of an alleged apocryphal gospel of Judas. Later, Epiphanius and a pseudo-Tertullian spoke of it. According to these sources, the apocryphal gospel of Judas was a Greek text of Gnostic origin, written by the Cainites' sect, in the middle of the second century.
"The Gnostic sect of the Cainites attributed a positive value to all the negative figures of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, such as the tempter serpent, Cain -- hence their name -- Esau and Judas. In any case, the discovery of this manuscript is very interesting, from the point of view of knowledge of paleo-Christian literature."
Some observers maintain that an eventual rehabilitation of Judas would favor the dialogue with Jews.
Monsignor Brandm�ller responded: "The dialogue between the Holy See and the Jews continues profitably on other bases, as Benedict XVI mentioned in his visit to the Synagogue of Cologne, in the summer of 2005 during World Youth Day, and as he stressed last Monday in his meeting with the chief rabbi of Rome."
Everyone baptized into Christ should pass progressively through all the stages of Christ's own life, for in baptism he receives the power so to progress, and through the commandments he can discover and learn how to accomplish such progression. - Saint Gregory of Sinai
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Orthodox domilsean Member
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If anything, pseudo-Tertulian got mentioned in the press for the first time, like EVER.
Hasn't anyone stopped to wonder how Judas could write a Gospel after his death?
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Come one, domilsean - don't confuse scholarship with the facts!  It is a well known contention from no less a source than Q that Judas was part of the False-Witness Protection Program. He spent the remainder of his days sunning himself along the shores of the Aegean, sipping fruity umbrella drinks, fishing and surfing and doing odd jobs while writing the "All-Judean Novel"...  He could never get it past a first reading with the publishers, though, which is why it remained in obscurity until now. Thank goodness for the efforts to translate the truth, since enquiring minds want to know! 
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How about Pontius Pilate? He is a saint in some churches. There is an "Acts of Pilate."
Joe
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Yes, Pontius Pilate, and his wife are considered saints in the Ethiopian church. He repented as did St. Longinus (the centurion who pieced Our Lord's side). Even St. Peter denied Our Lord, but rependted. But alas, Judas did not.
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and Judas repented by taking his life.
So, what am I missing ?
I.F.
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OrthoDixieBoy Member
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and Judas repented by taking his life.
So, what am I missing ?
I.F. Very simply that suicide is an act of despair not of repentance. Jason
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I think an original copy of Judas' gospel surfaced on the antiques road show. The lady said she found them in northern Pennsylvania somewhere near Bradford, PA. No wait, that was another novel...er...tablet of ancient writing 
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Discussion on the final fate of Judas is not easy to do. John Paul II talked about how we can hope for his salvation. Judas was sorrowful, and clearly not in his right frame of mind. Certainly his betrayal seems to be less about a lack of faith in Jesus as much as trying to make Jesus act -- he wanted the kingdom to come, and thought he would force Jesus' hand. Of course, he was wrong in doing so, but it is one of the ways people re-encounter him. But there is another side. The fragments we have from Papias (a disciple of the Apostle John) suggest that Judas attempted suicide, but he did not die. He became a living-monster so to speak. Of course this is not the normative understanding of his fate, but it is a very early tradition about him which some people think has a ring of truth to it. "Judas walked about in this world a sad example of impiety; for his body having swollen to such an extent that he could not pass where a chariot could pass easily, he was crushed by the chariot, so that his bowels gushed out." In a footnote to this passage, we also can read: "Theophylact, after quoting this passage, adds other particulars, as if they were derived from Papias. He says that Judas' eyes were so swollen that they could not be seen, even by the optical instruments of physicians; and that the rest of his body was covered with runnings and worms. He further states, that he died in a solitary spot, which was left desolate until his time; and no one could pass the place without stopping up his nose with his hands." ( http://www.monachos.net/patristics/papias_frags.shtml#fn11)
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Originally posted by Pyrohy: I think an original copy of Judas' gospel surfaced on the antiques road show. The lady said she found them in northern Pennsylvania somewhere near Bradford, PA. No wait, that was another novel...er...tablet of ancient writing LOL!!! Isn't that the one she ran across at a neighbor's garage sale? I think it was in the 10 cent paperback section next to the romance novels! :p
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Originally posted by domilsean:
Hasn't anyone stopped to wonder how Judas could write a Gospel after his death? Oh I'm sure Satan figured out someway.....after death?...."minor" technicalities....
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Just because it's called the Gospel of Judas doesn't mean or even imply that Judas [allegedly] wrote it.
Don't most people think that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were not the authors of their respective gospels? In any case, just because one's name is in the title doesn't mean he wrote it.
Logos Teen
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Dear Friends,
As mentioned above, Pontius Pilate has a local cult in Christian Ethiopia but it is limited to that Church alone.
I once read a missionary who visited Ethiopia say that Balaam (who beat his donkey and was rebuked by an angel) was depicted on the walls of Ethiopian churches (which doesn't mean he is considered a saint). Also, I once read that the "Ethiopians, paying a find disrespect to time, have canonized Alexander the Great as a prophet." But that doesn't mean it's true. However, stained glass images of Alexander the Great being pulled to heaven in a basket by griffons were popular in Western cathedrals - some say it was a depiction of "pride personified." However, that type of image is also popular in Ethiopia . . .
It was the relatives of Barabbas who became Christian missionaries and Christianized, by tradition, the area of the Caucasus mountains, leading to the evangelization of the Georgians and the Armenians. But no movement ever developed to canonize Barabbas . . .
Judas Iscariot was often confused with St Jude Thaddeus, owing to their similar names. This is what led the latter Saint to be neglected in the Middle Ages, even though there is a real surge in his cult as "patron of hopeless cases" today.
It has also been popular in the medieval depiction of the "symbols" of the Apostles ie. keys for St Peter etc. to also depict the "symbols of Judas" i.e. a bag of gold and a noose. I've seen these in religious art books.
Any movement to "rehabilitate" Judas seems, to me, to be inspired by an Origenist "apokatastatis" impulse to see everyone as being taken to heaven.
One spiritual writer once wrote that Judas added damnation to tragedy by hanging himself, thinking that he was beyond salvation. He could and should have come to Christ on Golgotha to repent and seek forgiveness.
Alex
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Originally posted by Orthodox Catholic:
Any movement to "rehabilitate" Judas seems, to me, to be inspired by an Origenist "apokatastatis" impulse to see everyone as being taken to heaven. Blame that impulse on that one Cappadocian. Joe
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