chapter thirty-three
THE GOSPEL OF JUDAS AND EARLY CHRISTIAN EUCHARIST
Gerard Rouwhorst Faculty of Catholic Theology, University of Tilburg
SincethetextoftheGospelofJudashasbeenmadeaccessiblebyanedi- tion of the Coptic text and translations into numerous languages, it has met with the same fate as several other spectacular discoveries related to the origins and early history of Christianity. The hype and the initial sensationalism aroused by the magical aura surrounding the person of Judas, the betrayer of Jesus, in combination with the almost unbeliev- able vicissitudes of the manuscript once it had been discovered, are over. The short-lived expectation, often fuelled by the media, that the discov- ery of the Gospel of Judas might revolutionize the study of Christian ori- gins,almostimmediatelyprovedtobefalse.Contrarytotheexpectations sometimescreatedbythemedia,theGospelofJudasdoesnotshednew light on the historical person of Judas or the death of Jesus. More remark- ably, even the less spectacular view that this source points to the existence of a group of second century Christians who considered Judas as a hero, i.e., as an image of the true, enlightened Gnostic liberating the human Jesus from his bodily life as a good friend,1 is at this moment being ques- tioned by an increasing number of highly-qualified scholars.2 Actually, it
1 See especially The Gospel of Judas from Codex Tchacos,editedbyRodolpheKasser, Marvin Meyer, Gregor Wurst with additional commentary by Bart D. Ehrmann, National Geographic, Washington D.C., ; B. Ehrmann, The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot. A New Look at Betrayer and Betrayed, Oxford , especially –; E. Pagels and K. King, Reading Judas. The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity, Penguin Books , esp. –. 2 See in particular L. Painchaud, ‘Polemical Aspects of the Gospel of Judas’, i n : M . Scopello (ed.), The Gospel of Judas in Context. Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Gospel of Judas, Nag Hammadi and Manichaen Studies , Leiden – Boston , –; A. DeConick, ‘The Mystery of Betrayal. What Does the Gospel of Judas Really Say?’,idem, –; E. Thomassen, ‘Is Judas Really the Hero of the Gospel of Judas?’, idem, –; J. Turner, ‘The Place of the Gospel of Judas in Sethian Tradition’, idem, –. gerard rouwhorst turns out that this interpretation is founded upon a rather small number of difficult and ambiguous passages in the Coptic texts and several schol- ars have argued that these passages, if correctly reconstructed and inter- preted, present us with a totally different Judas, namely a tragic figure, asortoflackeyofthedemiurge,3 the victim of astral fatality,4 exceeding the other disciples in evil. Does this mean that the excitement about the discovery of the Gospel of Judas was nothing but a storm in a teacup? For those who were expecting a sort of revolution in early Christian studies the answer should be: yes. But it certainly does not hold for all those, scholars or otherwise, who are interested in obtaining a picture as objective and complete as possible of the diversity of communities, theological views and ritual practicesofearlyChristianity.Tothemitisdoubtlessofgreatrelevance. Clear evidence is provided by the scientific discussions which have been provoked by the Gospel of Judas since the Codex Tchacos has been published. They do not only relate to the question of the identity of JudasaspresentedbytheGospel,—whichofcourseremainsofprimary importance and a matter of excitement anyway—, but also to several other less spectacular issues. One of the intriguing questions which are raised by the text of the Gospel, is how it relates to the liturgical traditions of early Christianity and more specifically to the celebration of the Eucharist. Several scholars have argued that, according to the author, the Eucharist as celebrated by the orthodox or proto-orthodox Christian is closely connected with the notion of sacrifice which, for its part, is associated with the sacrificial death of Christ and, moreover, with the glorification of martyrdom. Since this entire sacrificial concept is strongly rejected by the Gospel of Judas, this source, so the argument goes, would contain a fierce attack on the early Christian Eucharist.5 This assertion should arouse both the curiosity and the suspicion of every scholar involved in the study of early Christian liturgy. In fact, if
3 Expression used by Marvin Meyer (‘Interpreting Judas: Ten Passages in the Gospel of Judas,in:Scopello,The Gospel of Judas in Context, –, here p. ) who himself seems to remain faithful to the positive view on Judas. 4 Painchaud, ‘Polemical Aspects’,. 5 See especially E. Pagels and K. King, Reading Judas, esp. –. Painchaud,‘Polem- ical Aspects’,–. –; A. van den Kerchove, ‘La maison, l’autel et les sacrifices: quelques remarques sur la polémique dans l’Evangile de Judas,in:Scopello,The Gospel of Judas in Context, –; F. Williams, ‘The Gospel of Judas: Its Polemic, its Exgesis, and its Place in Church History’, VigChr. (), –.