The Gospel of Judas<br/><br/>
“The Gospel of Judas” excavated in Egypt in the 1970’s was later purchased by the National Geographic Society. Recently, the Society produced a two-hour TV program based on this work and the premier will be launched in North America.<br/><br/>
In the early Church, there were many works that claimed to be Gospels, but only the Gospels of Matthew, Luke, Mark and John were judged by the Church to be authentic Gospels inspired by God. The others are considered apocryphal, including the 4th century work “The Gospel of Judas”.<br/><br/>
William Klassen is a retired professor of the New Testament at the University of Waterloo. He believes that this Gospel was not written by Judas himself, but by a different school of heretical who advocated that Christ’s salvation belongs to a small, chosen group. For example, this work described Judas as Jesus’ chosen one to complete His work for salvation.<br/><br/>
Fr. Murray Watson is a biblical scholar at the seminary of the diocese of London. He believes this work cannot be considered a gospel because it does not document Jesus’ birth, His life, His Passion and resurrection. He believes this book cannot impact the spiritual lives of the faithful.<br/><br/>
Fr. Thomas Rosica is a founder of the Salt and Light Television Network and also a biblical scholar. He pointed out Peter and Judas both betrayed Jesus, but the only difference is that Peter wept and repented, but Judas fell into despair and eventually hung himself. Nevertheless, whether Judas is in Hell is still uncertain because God’s mercy is greater than human transgression.