Awesome National Geographic Feature on The Gospel of Judas

It’s a revelation conjuring heated debate: According to a recently translated ancient text called the Gospel of Judas, the disciple infamous for betraying Jesus may well have been Christ’s most faithful servant and—because the Savior asked him to—accepted perpetual disgrace to bring about Jesus' death. Explore the mysticism of early Gnostic thought expressed in words written on a 1,700-year-old leather-bound papyrus. Hear the interpretations of four biblical scholars. Follow this fragile document from its discovery in Egypt to its translation and ultimate presentation to the world.

Here is further detail on what the document reveals (from National Geographic):

“Lost for nearly 1,700 years, the Gospel of Judas came to light within an ancient, crumbling, leather-bound papyrus manuscript that was discovered in Middle Egypt during the 1970s and bought in 2000 by a Zürich antiquities dealer. Five years of conservation, transcription, and translation have revealed the gospel's radically different view of Judas Iscariot—usually understood to be a villain—and of Christ's teachings. Written by Christians called Gnostics decades after the canonical testimony of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, this gospel says that Jesus asked Judas to betray him; Jesus wanted to be killed so his soul could escape from the prison of his body. Other parts of the Judas gospel claim the world was not created by the true God, whose divine spark flickers within all human beings, but by a lesser deity—the vengeful God of the Old Testament. That is why, the gospel explains, creation is flawed and evil exists.”

“The second page of the Gospel of Judas presents a dramatically different retelling of a final meal Jesus shared with his disciples. "When he [approached] his disciples, [who had] gathered together and [were] seated and offering a prayer of thanksgiving over the bread, [he] laughed," reads the manuscript. "The disciples said to him, 'Master, why are you laughing at [our] prayer of thanksgiving? We have done what is right.' He answered and said to them, 'I am not laughing at you. [You] are not doing this because of your own will but because [it is through this that] your god [will be] praised.' " Jesus laughs, scholars say, because the disciples do not understand that the God of the Old Testament, to whom they direct their prayers, is not the true God. In this gospel, only Judas, the disciple reviled by orthodox Christians, understands God's true nature.”

RELATED LINKS

The Lost Gospel
www.nationalgeographic.com/lostgospel/
Visit National Geographic's official Gospel of Judas site for detailed accounts of the discovery of the codex, information on the conservation of the document, and an illustrated, interactive history of early Christianity.

The Gospel of Judas on NGC
www.nationalgeographic.com/channel/gospelofjudas/
Watch a preview and explore photos from this global television event. See the show on NGC on Sunday, April 9, 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT.

Coverage of the topic in The New Yorker
http://www.newyorker.com/critics/books/?060417crbo_books
This is the best article I've read on the subject!