Gospel of Judas said not likely to resolve any theological debates

Published: 2006-04-11

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Gospel of Judas, a gnostic gospel whose discovery was loudly trumpeted in early April, is not likely to resolve any ongoing theological debates about early Christianity, said Christopher Mount, a professor of early Christianity at Vincentian-run DePaul University in Chicago. But a theologian who has read the Gospel of Judas said it would be necessary to go through the text "line by line" to determine if any authentic teachings of Jesus were included. The theologian, Maryknoll Father Joseph Veneroso, who is also the publisher of Maryknoll magazine, noted that other gnostic texts -- rejected for use in the New Testament canon -- contain information the canonical Gospels lack, such as the names of Mary's parents, Joachim and Anna, as well as that of Veronica, the woman who wiped the face of Jesus as he was carrying the cross. "There's probably an element of truth to it (the Judas text). There are some traditions in Catholicism which we get from the gnostics," Father Veneroso said. "Then we get into a chicken-or-the-egg thing," whether inclusion in a text spurred the tradition, or vice versa, he added. Early Christians used the term "gnostic" to describe various sects that arose in the second century which exalted arcane knowledge, mixing Christian belief with pagan speculation and theories.

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