The Lost Gospel of Judas

The four canonical gospels in the Bible (Mark, Matthew, Luke and John) are the only ones officially recognized by the major sects of Christianity, but not the only ones in existence. This is not to be understood as a vicissitude of the historical process, however, but as a deliberate effort on the part of some scholars to bring together various disparate sects of Christianity and exclude others, for various reasons.

In the past century, a few ancient books have resurfaced after almost two thousand years. The stories these books tell about Jesus provide a very different series of interpretations on his life and impact. The gospel of Judas is one of them.

Of course, the fact that this gospel differs from the four canonical ones does not fully explain why it was excluded, since the canonical books already contain irreconcilable differences with each other. You won't find the ascension of Jesus into heaven in all of them, for instance, and that's not the insignificant kind of detail that could be explained away easily.

What these findings suggest to me is that the more we learn about the historical Jesus, the less we actually know about him... maybe one day an authentic gospel will be discovered that reveals that Jesus admitted that the whole thing was a practical joke on the gullibility of his community. Wouldn't that be something? :)

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