Translation and Comments on Gospel of Judas - Chapter 13

[Guest guest]

(P.147) Chapters 10-14 of the 'Gospel of Judas' contain the core of Jesus's

teaching. Many things Jesus has only hinted at before are presented here more

systematically. [17] We can best understand the thinking underlying the 'Gospel

of Judas' by grasping some of the core presuppositions the author assumes. The

author of the 'Gospel of Judas', like other early Christians, turned first to

the biblical book of 'Genesis' to answer questions about human nature, moral

order, and their relationship to God. But even as people today read their sacred

stories in terms of what they know about science, so too ancient Christians

interpreted 'Genesis' in the light of ancient philosophical and scientific

thinking, especially astronomy, as well as Jewish interpretations of Scripture.

Ideas from all these sources appear in the 'Gospel of Judas', as we will see.

Another presupposition is that the world we live in was patterned after a

higher, perfect realm of God above. These Christians read 'Genesis' knowing that

the account of the creation of the lower world would contain hints about that

heavenly realm, since this world is patterned upon it. They therefore not only

read 'Genesis' to learn about the nature of this world but also sought clues in

it about the nature of the transcendent realm of God above. In chapters 10-11,

Jesus describes that realm to Judas.

 

Reading Judas - The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity,

('Comments on the Translation' Pg. 147)

 

 

 

 

A./ 'English Translation of the Gospel of Judas'

 

Chapter 13:

 

(P.119) [1] " Then Saklas said to his angels, 'Let us create a human being

[ac]cording to the likeness and according to the image.' [2] Then they formed

Adam and his wife, Eve. [3] But in the cloud, she was called 'Zoe' ('Life'). [4]

For in this name all the races shall seek after it (life), [5] and each one of

them calls her by their names.

 

[6] " But [sa]klas did not com[mand .......] exce[pt ...........] the ra[ce]s

[.........] this one [..............]. [7] And the [ruler] said to him, 'Your

life and that of your children will last (only) for a season.' "

 

[8] Judas said to Jesus, " [What] is the longest that a human being might live? "

 

[9] Jesus said, " Why are you surprised that the lifespan of Adam and his race is

numbered in this place? [10] It is in this place that he received his kingdom,

with its ruler, for a (limited) number. "

 

[11] Judas said to Jesus, " Does the human spirit die? "

 

[12] Jesus said, " This is the way it is: God commanded Michael to loan the

spirits of human beings to them so they might worship (him). [13] Then the Great

One commanded Gabriel to give the spirit with the soul to the spirits of the

great undominated race. (P.120) [14] Because of this, the re[mai]ning souls

will... ['about one and a half lines are untranslatable'] ... light ... ['about

one and a half lines are untranslatable'] ... [15] to seek [after the] spirit

within you (pl.) [which y]ou make to dwell in this [fle]sh among the races of

the an[gel]s. [16] Then God required knowledge [to be given] to Adam and those

with him [17] in order that the rulers of chaos and oblivion should not lord it

over them. "

 

('English Translation of the Gospel of Judas' - Pg. 119-120)

 

 

 

 

B./ 'Comments on the Translation' (Gospel of Judas) - Chapter 13

 

[1]-[7] of Chapter 13

 

(P.119) " Then Saklas said to his angels, 'Let us create a human being

[ac]cording to the likeness and according to the image.' Then they formed Adam

and his wife, Eve. But in the cloud, she was called 'Zoe' ('Life'). For in this

name all the races shall seek after it (life), and each one of them calls her by

their names.

 

" But [sa]klas did not com[mand .......] exce[pt ...........] the ra[ce]s

[.........] this one [..............]. And the [ruler] said to him, 'Your life

and that of your children will last (only) for a season.' "

 

Comments:

 

(P.156) Here we learn that it was Saklas and his angels who created humanity.

(P.157) They formed Adam and Eve according to the image and likeness of the

divine world above. But because these erring angels are the " Gods " who formed

Adam and Eve, humanity lives under their rule and shares their character flaws

and their mortal nature. Not only are people capable of unrighteousness and

error; their lifespans are also limited, as Saklas told them: " Your life and

that of your children will last (only) for a season. " It is likely that the

missing portion of the text at 13:6 contained Saklas's command not to eat of the

tree of paradise, following the story in 'Genesis' 2:15-17 and 3:1-24. There,

God commands Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but

when Eve and Adam do eat of it, God casts them out of paradise lest they should

eat of the tree of life and live forever. The consequence in both 'Genesis' and

the 'Gospel of Judas' is the same: All human beings now have limited lifespans.

 

This reading of 'Genesis' may seem to conflict with the literal meaning of the

text, but it does solve several problems that ancient readers had, and it

conforms to the highest philosophical standards of its time. Jews and Christians

in this period were all struggling with certain problems in 'Genesis', notably

the portrait of God as a limited being who " walks in the garden in the cool of

the day " and has to ask Adam and Eve where they were - as though he didn't know.

They also had to account for the plural in 'Genesis' 1:26, where God says, " let

'us' make humankind in 'our' image. " Who is this " we " if there is only one true

God? Portraying the creator as Saklas and his angelic friends solved the

problems for the author of the 'Gospel of Judas'.

 

Moreover, the 'Gospel of Judas' draws on the thinking of Plato and his

followers. Offering his own version of the story of creation, Plato suggested

that the transcendent God delegated the task of forming the material world to a

lower creator, called the Demiurge, and to " the younger gods " who were with him.

In creating this world, they looked to the eternal, spiritual realm above and

stamped its form upon the chaotic matter with which they had to work, giving

order and beauty to all that they made. (P.158) The immortal souls of humans

originally resided in the stars, a vantage point from which they could

comprehend the whole cosmos. But when the lower gods placed them into human

bodies, they forgot everything they had known before. Plato tells this story to

teach his students what he sees as the goal of human life: to remember the truth

about ourselves and our origin, so that when death releases the righteous soul

from the prison of the body, it can return to the immortal stars and regain the

knowledge of the universe that it originally had - the memory that we lost to

oblivion when we were born into this world. [27]

 

The 'Gospel of Judas' - and indeed most Christian views of the universe - drew

heavily upon the philosophy of Plato and his followers. Many Christians accepted

the dualistic view that human beings are souls residing in physical bodies. Like

Plato, they understood God as a transcendent Being far beyond the material world

of chaos and death, a Being who relegated contact with the material world to

lower angels.

 

 

 

 

[8]-[10] of Chapter 13

 

(P.119) Judas said to Jesus, " [What] is the longest that a human being might

live? "

 

Jesus said, " Why are you surprised that the lifespan of Adam and his race is

numbered in this place? It is in this place that he received his kingdom, with

its ruler, for a (limited) number. "

 

Comments:

 

(P.158) As soon as Jesus reveals that Saklas has limited the human lifespan,

Judas immediately wants to know how long people can live. But again Jesus

rebukes him: " Why are you surprised that the lifespan of Adam and his race is

numbered in this place? It is in this place that he received his kingdom, with

its ruler, for a (limited) number. " Again, Judas does not yet grasp that

anything that lives in the world below is destined to perish at the end of time.

The lifespans of Adam and his race are limited on earth. God appointed Adam (and

his children) to rule here (i.e., " he received his kingdom, in this place " ),

following 'Genesis' 1:28, in which God gives Adam dominion over the earth and

every living thing in it. But Jesus points out to Judas that this place also has

its ruler - Saklas, for according to 'Genesis' 1:16-18, God gave the rule of the

heavens over to the heavenly luminaries. (P.159) So both the lifespan of human

beings and their dominion on earth is 'numbered' (given a fixed measure). By

referring twice to Adam's life and rule being literally " in a number, " the

author stresses again that everything that happens follows a mathematical

reckoning set by the true God above, even in the world of chaos and oblivion,

since all number and orderliness ultimately comes from the true God. In this

case, the numbers set limits both upon human lifespan and upon dominion over the

earth. Jesus now has to make it clear to Judas that this dominion was not meant

to be permanent. It is only temporary - and that should come as no surprise to

Judas given what Jesus has just revealed to him about the origin of the world.

 

 

 

 

[11]-[17] of Chapter 13

 

(P.119) Judas said to Jesus, " Does the human spirit die? "

 

Jesus said, " This is the way it is: God commanded Michael to loan the spirits of

human beings to them so they might worship (him). Then the Great One commanded

Gabriel to give the spirit with the soul to the spirits of the great undominated

race. (P.120) Because of this, the re[mai]ning souls will... ['about one and a

half lines are untranslatable'] ... light ... ['about one and a half lines are

untranslatable'] ... to seek [after the] spirit within you (pl.) [which y]ou

make to dwell in this [fle]sh among the races of the an[gel]s. Then God required

knowledge [to be given] to Adam and those with him in order that the rulers of

chaos and oblivion should not lord it over them. "

 

Comments:

 

(P.159) Judas's next question, " Does the human spirit die?, " shows that he is

beginning to understand. The body will die and the world will perish, but the

spirit does not belong to this perishable realm but to the world above. What

will happen to it at the end of time? The divine spirit cannot perish, but the

'Gospel of Judas' assumes the death of the physical body and its finality.

Moreover, it teaches that even souls are mortal unless they are joined with

immortal spirits. Jesus has already told Judas that the souls of everyone who

belongs solely to the human race will die (8:2). But here Judas asks about the

spirit, not the body or the soul. Jesus's answer to his question is complex. He

says that God commanded the angel Michael only to loan spirits to human beings,

so that they might worship God for the time allotted to their kingdom (with its

ruler). But when that time is over, their worship comes to an end and they die

(body and soul). But, Jesus says, others receive a spirit from another angel,

Gabriel, so that when their bodies die, their souls remain alive and are lifted

up to the heavenly realm. These received the spirits of the great undominated

race: that is to say, spirits from the kingdom above, where the rulers of chaos

cannot lord over them. Those with immortal spirits will dwell above forever in

the holy place reserved for them (8:3-4; 13:12-13). Thus, in the end, the souls

of those who worship the angelic rulers of the lower world perish along with

them, while the souls of those who turn toward the world above remain united

with the spirit and are lifted up to join the holy race on high.

 

Although throughout the gospel Jesus speaks about 'two' races - the mortal and

immortal - making it sound like people are predestined for either death or

eternal life, that is not an accurate reading of the 'Gospel of Judas'. Rather,

what we see are two perspectives intertwined. From the viewpoint of the final

judgment at the end of time, people can be divided into these two groups. As

Jesus explains it, all people have received spirits from God, but some people

only have them on " loan, " while others possess spirits of the " great undominated

race. " Although this sounds deterministic, he goes on to call upon souls to seek

the spirit within. People, Jesus teaches, are the ones who cause the spirit to

dwell in the flesh, for God gave humanity (Adam and those with him) the

knowledge they need to escape the domination of the world rulers. Thus Jesus

makes it clear that everyone is created in the image of the divine Adamas, and

everyone has a spirit from God. Whether they lose their divine spirits when they

die or whether they ascend to the eternal realm above depends on what they do in

this life. If people turn inward and come to know their inner spirit, they

surpass the rule of the lower angels, and when their bodies perish, their souls

live on with the immortal spirit given by God. If, however, they refuse to

follow Jesus's teaching and persist in their false piety, following the violent

path of the world rulers, at death they perish entirely, bodies and souls, for

their spirits leave them as they ascend back to God. So from the perspective of

the present time, salvation is a possibility for everyone. (P.161) The true

nature of individuals - whether they belong to the mortal human race or the

great undominated race - will only become clear at the end.

 

Reading Judas - The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity,

'Comments on the Translation' Pg. 147; 156-161

Elaine Pagels and Karen L. King

Penguin Group - London, England

ISBN 978-0-713-99984-6

 

Notes:

 

[17] Many elements of the theology and cosmology of the 'Gospel of Judas' are

similar to a set of newly discovered writings found in Egypt that scholars

classify as " Sethian Gnosticism " or simply " Sethianism. " One of these is 'The

Secret Revelation of John', with which several scholars have compared the

'Gospel of Judas', notably Marvin Meyer ( " Judas and the Gnostic Connection " in

Kasser, Meyer, and Wurst, editors, 'The Gospel of Judas', op. cit. Not only are

there important similarities, crucial differences also appear. For example, in

'The Secret Revelation of John', the true God is not responsible for appointing

the lower beings who shape the material world, but rather against God's will,

the world comes into being at the hand of an ignorant and arrogant pretender

god. An extensive episode tells of how this happens when a divine being, named

Sophia ( " Wisdom " ) acts without the permission of the Invisible Spirit and her

male consort, thus setting in motion the creation of the lower world and the

enslavement of humanity to its wicked rulers. For more on these topics, see

Karen L. King, 'The Secret Revelation of John', op.cit., for more on Sethianism,

see Karen L. King, 'What is Gnosticism'?, pp.154-169.

 

[27] See Plato, 'Timaeus' 27d-30b; 37d; 41c-42e, in 'Plato', translated by R.G.

Bury, Vol. IX, Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,

1929).

[Guest guest]

If people turn inward and come to know their inner spirit ... their

souls live on with the immortal spirit given by God.

 

http://www.adishakti.org/forum/mortal_and_immortal_race_10-02-2008.htm

 

>

> Comments:

>

> (P.159) Judas's next question, " Does the human spirit die?, " shows

that he is beginning to understand. The body will die and the world

will perish, but the spirit does not belong to this perishable realm

but to the world above. What will happen to it at the end of time?

The divine spirit cannot perish, but the 'Gospel of Judas' assumes

the death of the physical body and its finality. Moreover, it teaches

that even souls are mortal unless they are joined with immortal

spirits. Jesus has already told Judas that the souls of everyone who

belongs solely to the human race will die (8:2). But here Judas asks

about the spirit, not the body or the soul. Jesus's answer to his

question is complex. He says that God commanded the angel Michael

only to loan spirits to human beings, so that they might worship God

for the time allotted to their kingdom (with its ruler). But when

that time is over, their worship comes to an end and they die (body

and soul). But, Jesus says, others receive a spirit from another

angel, Gabriel, so that when their bodies die, their souls remain

alive and are lifted up to the heavenly realm. These received the

spirits of the great undominated race: that is to say, spirits from

the kingdom above, where the rulers of chaos cannot lord over them.

Those with immortal spirits will dwell above forever in the holy

place reserved for them (8:3-4; 13:12-13). Thus, in the end, the

souls of those who worship the angelic rulers of the lower world

perish along with them, while the souls of those who turn toward the

world above remain united with the spirit and are lifted up to join

the holy race on high.

>

> Although throughout the gospel Jesus speaks about 'two' races - the

mortal and immortal - making it sound like people are predestined for

either death or eternal life, that is not an accurate reading of

the 'Gospel of Judas'. Rather, what we see are two perspectives

intertwined. From the viewpoint of the final judgment at the end of

time, people can be divided into these two groups. As Jesus explains

it, all people have received spirits from God, but some people only

have them on " loan, " while others possess spirits of the " great

undominated race. " Although this sounds deterministic, he goes on to

call upon souls to seek the spirit within. People, Jesus teaches, are

the ones who cause the spirit to dwell in the flesh, for God gave

humanity (Adam and those with him) the knowledge they need to escape

the domination of the world rulers. Thus Jesus makes it clear that

everyone is created in the image of the divine Adamas, and everyone

has a spirit from God. Whether they lose their divine spirits when

they die or whether they ascend to the eternal realm above depends on

what they do in this life. If people turn inward and come to know

their inner spirit, they surpass the rule of the lower angels, and

when their bodies perish, their souls live on with the immortal

spirit given by God. If, however, they refuse to follow Jesus's

teaching and persist in their false piety, following the violent path

of the world rulers, at death they perish entirely, bodies and souls,

for their spirits leave them as they ascend back to God. So from the

perspective of the present time, salvation is a possibility for

everyone. (P.161) The true nature of individuals - whether they

belong to the mortal human race or the great undominated race - will

only become clear at the end.

>

> Reading Judas - The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity,

> 'Comments on the Translation' Pg. 147; 156-161

> Elaine Pagels and Karen L. King

> Penguin Group - London, England

> ISBN 978-0-713-99984-6

>

[Guest guest]

Like Plato, they understood God as a transcendent Being far beyond

the material world of chaos and death, a Being who relegated contact

with the material world to lower angels.

 

http://www.adishakti.org/forum/when_jesus_and_shri_mataji_talk_about_god_almight\

y_you_9-05-2008.htm

 

>

> B./ 'Comments on the Translation' (Gospel of Judas) - Chapter 13

>

> [1]-[7] of Chapter 13

>

> (P.119) " Then Saklas said to his angels, 'Let us create a human

being [ac]cording to the likeness and according to the image.' Then

they formed Adam and his wife, Eve. But in the cloud, she was

called 'Zoe' ('Life'). For in this name all the races shall seek

after it (life), and each one of them calls her by their names.

>

> " But [sa]klas did not com[mand .......] exce[pt ...........] the ra

[ce]s [.........] this one [..............]. And the [ruler] said to

him, 'Your life and that of your children will last (only) for a

season.' "

>

> Comments:

>

> (P.156) Here we learn that it was Saklas and his angels who created

humanity. (P.157) They formed Adam and Eve according to the image and

likeness of the divine world above. But because these erring angels

are the " Gods " who formed Adam and Eve, humanity lives under their

rule and shares their character flaws and their mortal nature. Not

only are people capable of unrighteousness and error; their lifespans

are also limited, as Saklas told them: " Your life and that of your

children will last (only) for a season. " It is likely that the

missing portion of the text at 13:6 contained Saklas's command not to

eat of the tree of paradise, following the story in 'Genesis' 2:15-17

and 3:1-24. There, God commands Adam not to eat of the tree of the

knowledge of good and evil, but when Eve and Adam do eat of it, God

casts them out of paradise lest they should eat of the tree of life

and live forever. The consequence in both 'Genesis' and the 'Gospel

of Judas' is the same: All human beings now have limited lifespans.

>

> This reading of 'Genesis' may seem to conflict with the literal

meaning of the text, but it does solve several problems that ancient

readers had, and it conforms to the highest philosophical standards

of its time. Jews and Christians in this period were all struggling

with certain problems in 'Genesis', notably the portrait of God as a

limited being who " walks in the garden in the cool of the day " and

has to ask Adam and Eve where they were - as though he didn't know.

They also had to account for the plural in 'Genesis' 1:26, where God

says, " let 'us' make humankind in 'our' image. " Who is this " we " if

there is only one true God? Portraying the creator as Saklas and his

angelic friends solved the problems for the author of the 'Gospel of

Judas'.

>

> Moreover, the 'Gospel of Judas' draws on the thinking of Plato and

his followers. Offering his own version of the story of creation,

Plato suggested that the transcendent God delegated the task of

forming the material world to a lower creator, called the Demiurge,

and to " the younger gods " who were with him. In creating this world,

they looked to the eternal, spiritual realm above and stamped its

form upon the chaotic matter with which they had to work, giving

order and beauty to all that they made. (P.158) The immortal souls of

humans originally resided in the stars, a vantage point from which

they could comprehend the whole cosmos. But when the lower gods

placed them into human bodies, they forgot everything they had known

before. Plato tells this story to teach his students what he sees as

the goal of human life: to remember the truth about ourselves and our

origin, so that when death releases the righteous soul from the

prison of the body, it can return to the immortal stars and regain

the knowledge of the universe that it originally had - the memory

that we lost to oblivion when we were born into this world. [27]

>

> The 'Gospel of Judas' - and indeed most Christian views of the

universe - drew heavily upon the philosophy of Plato and his

followers. Many Christians accepted the dualistic view that human

beings are souls residing in physical bodies. Like Plato, they

understood God as a transcendent Being far beyond the material world

of chaos and death, a Being who relegated contact with the material

world to lower angels.

>

>

>