A group of researchers led by the renowned American microscopist Joseph Bareib was able to confirm its authenticity based on the results of the analysis of the ink used to write the ancient manuscript of the Gospel of Judas.
According to this text, Judas was not a traitor and acted at the request of Jesus. This makes us look differently at biblical events and at the person who allegedly betrayed the Teacher for 30 pieces of silver.
MANUSCRIPTS DO NOT BURN
The Gospel of Judas, mentioned by Christian apologists in the early 3rd century AD e., for a long time was considered lost forever. But in 1970, in a cave on the banks of the Nile, not far from the town of Nag Hammadi, a manuscript with early Christian texts written in ancient Egyptian, more precisely, Coptic, was discovered.
It has undoubtedly survived to this day only because the Copts were forbidden to destroy texts containing the word "God". And also because the climate of Middle Egypt, where the treasure was found, is humid enough to preserve the papyrus.
Over the years, the artifact changed owners, who, without attaching great importance to it, did not particularly stand on ceremony with it: they kept it in a bank safe, dried in the sun, frozen, which made the manuscript in a very deplorable state. It is strange that none of the owners was interested in the text on the papyrus. More precisely, one of them made such an attempt. He gave the artifact to a certain "scientist" who took it to the USA and there he decided to sell it in parts.
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Only at the beginning of the XXI century, the new owner of the papyrus, Mrs. Frida Nussberger-Chakos, seeing the state of her acquisition, was very upset and transferred it to the University of Geneva for restoration and transfer. She also gave it the name in honor of her father "Codex Chakos". This work was funded by the US National Geographic Society. It took 5 years to restore the document, as 62 pages of it split into more than a thousand fragments.
As it turned out, the manuscript contains three documents. Two of them are known: the Epistle of the Apostle Peter to the Apostle Philip and the First Apocalypse of James, but the third is the very Gospel of Judas. Scientists do not exclude the possibility that the manuscript was rewritten from the original, written in ancient Greek in the 1st century, after the death of Jesus Christ.
DEVIL'S LAWYERS
After the restoration of the manuscript was completed and preliminary studies were carried out, Joseph Bareib, lead microscopist and researcher at McCrone Associates, offered to confirm or deny its authenticity by comparing Codex ink to that of documents dated at the same time.
I must say that on account of Bareib there were already several "brought to light" biblical writings, as well as exposed forgeries of ancient documents and objects of art.
So, in 2010, the American Chemical Society began a new study, which has now been completed. How it was?
Earlier radiocarbon analysis made it possible to assert that the manuscript is genuine and belongs to the turn of the 2nd-3rd centuries A. D. e. The final touch remained: the ink comparison. For this, Egyptian documents dating back to the 3rd-4th centuries AD were raised from the vaults. e.
At that time, a mixture of iron sulfate and tannic acids obtained from growths on oak leaves - ink nuts - was used to make ink. The composition of the ink, which was used to write "Codex Chakos", also included soot and gum arabic resin. But there was no sulfur, a characteristic component of iron gallic ink used before the early 17th century. Instead, they contained copper. For a while, the study came to a standstill.
However, it turned out that at the beginning of the 20th century, French scientists had already carried out a similar analysis of Egyptian documents, namely, marriage and land contracts dating back to the 3rd-4th centuries. The results indicated that when writing such documents, then ink was used with little or no sulfur, but containing copper.
To confirm this version, samples of this ink were taken in the laboratory at the Louvre and compared with samples from the Codex. Based on the comparison, the scientists came to the conclusion that the ink is absolutely identical in chemical composition. The Gospel of Judas turned out to be genuine!
Joseph Bareib himself said in an interview: “This was the most exciting research in my life! I could not sleep at night - we called up with colleagues at 5 am and tried to find answers to our questions. And when we found ink samples and they coincided with ours, a stone fell from our souls - we felt incredible peace! Although none of us doubted that the manuscript was not a forgery."
GUILTY WITHOUT WINE
The found artifact caused a new wave of interest in the almost forgotten Gospel of Judas, and in the personality of Judas himself. The word “Gospel” means “the good news of the coming of the Kingdom of God,” that is, the text of the manuscript was supposed to contain information about the miraculous resurrection of Christ.
However, the story begins with “The secret message of revelation that Jesus gave in a conversation with Judas Iscariot during the week three days before the Passover,” and ends with the moment when Jesus was in the hands of the high priests.
The name Judas has long become synonymous with betrayal and duplicity. It follows from the text that Jesus talked a lot and confidentially with Judas, clearly giving him preference over other disciples. Maybe it's time to rehabilitate the name of the beloved disciple of the Son of God? No one argues with the canonical Gospels, which say that Judas Iscariot sold the Teacher for 30 pieces of silver, but, as the researchers assure, it was not greed that moved him, but the plan of God, that is, Jesus himself told him so.
Of course, he did not call on Judas to betray, but his words “you will surpass everyone, for you will sacrifice the person that is clothed in me” can be interpreted quite like that. Perhaps Christ knew what was going to happen and pushed Judas to this.
Otherwise, what was said at the Last Supper could be interpreted in a different way: “Truly, truly, I say to you that one of you will betray Me … the one to whom I, having dipped a piece of bread, will give. And, dipping a piece, he gave it to Judas Iscariot Simonov”(canonical Gospel of John 13: 21-26). And further: “… he said to him, what you are doing, do quickly” (Gospel of John 13:27).
If from the canonical texts it is not entirely clear why at the Last Supper all of a sudden there was talk of betrayal, then with the found Gospel of Judas the picture becomes complete, as if a missing puzzle was inserted.
It must be said that in all four canonical Gospels very little attention is paid to the act of Judas. A completely unambiguous picture is emerging: flattered by the money, he agreed on payment and pointed to Jesus to the clergy. And not just pointed out, but kissed him, thus giving a secret sign. Well, how can you relate to a person's deed? Kiss of Judas - and that's it. But after reading the manuscript, Judas's act is seen in a completely different light: three days before the Jewish Passover, Jesus himself instructed Judas that he must be betrayed.
Moreover, the instructions were quite detailed - right down to how to do it. Maybe that's why Judas presented the case as if he was motivated exclusively by self-interest? And how it was in reality is difficult to say today. And again, the common noun "kiss of Judas" appears in a completely different light. Judas did not give a sign, but said goodbye to the Teacher, knowing about his imminent death.
After all, it is no coincidence that Judas hanged himself. Why he did this remains a mystery. Perhaps he was horrified to learn what torments he had doomed Jesus, even if at his request. Or maybe he began to doubt the correctness of his understanding of the Teacher's words. Moreover, he did not believe in the miracle of the resurrection. In fact, he did not live to see Jesus resurrected.
BELIEVE OR NOT?
Even if we take into account that the authenticity of the manuscript was checked by various methods known to science and was established, there are still blank spots. For example, what about the fact that the original was written in Greek, and the artifact contains only its translation into Coptic? It is difficult to judge how accurate he was.
However, all this does not prevent modern scholars from considering the Gospel of Judas the most important find after the Qumran manuscripts. After all, disputes about the truth of the content of the manuscript have nothing to do with science.
Galina BELYSHEVA