Parallel
Interesting stories today. Two stories so parallel that you'd think that they had been planted together.
First, the announcement of the completed translation and authentication of the Gospel of Judas. Yes, the Gospel of Judas. For those of you Christianity followers who thought that there were only four Gospels, you got another thing coming. Actually, there are at least two others besides Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. There is one from Thomas and one from Mary Magdalene.
No, I'm not referring to the Da Vinci Code. Actual authentic gospels from real apostles.
And this one now from Judas shows that Jesus asked Judas to turn him in to the (bloody) Romans so he could sacrifice himself. Rather than a sign that Judas was a traitor, his act of betrayal was a crucial event in the development of the religion that only Jesus' top guy could be trusted to do properly.
Some time in the dark ages (250-350 CE) the proto-Catholic church decided which Gospels they would accept and which they would reject. But why should they get that choice? And so what that these rejected Gospels are considered 'Gnostic?' Does that make them less Christian if they are contemporaneous with the other Gospels.
Okay, they were written a bit later, but not much later, than the other Gospels. In the dismissive terms of mainstream Christianity:
He [Ben Witherington III, professor of New Testament interpretation at Asbury Theological Seminary] said that unlike the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, which were written in Christianity's first century, Gnostic works were produced in the second century and afterward. To say that the Gospel of Judas reveals anything factual about Judas, Dr. Witherington said, "is like saying a document written 150 years after George Washington died tells us the inside truth about George Washington."
But what if all other Washington documents were between 50 and 150 years after his life? Wouldn't that put the 150 year old stuff in the same general category of correctness?
What seems odd to me about this whole thing is that it's being treated as 'no biggie' by the powers that be. The whole thing is a bit of archeological antiquarianism rather than a major upheaval in Christianity.
And on the same day the Gospel of Judas is presented to the world, our own Scooter Libby testifies under other that he was ordered to 'out' Valerie Plame by Georgie himself, through the voice of the master, Dick Cheney.
For years, since the 'smear Joe Wilson' operation started in earnest, Georgie has been talking about how leakers were bad and nobody knew who leaked what and all that. Which still may be true - Georgie can't remember what he did five minutes ago at any point in his life, so hew could have forgotten that he ordered the move.
Libby probably thinks that since Georgie, as president, can make documents un-classified just by saying so, he can't get Georgie into trouble by revealing the order. But did Georgie actually de-classify the documents? Wouldn't he actually have to do that before he orders the leaked?
And does this make Scooter the Judas, or is Georgie still the American Judas for betraying our sacred trust and turning America into a name-only democracy reviled globally? Or maybe Scooter is Judas and Georgie is Satan. That makes a bit more sense.
Either way, those two stories were meant to come out today and share the same front page. It's almost enough to make your religious.
First, the announcement of the completed translation and authentication of the Gospel of Judas. Yes, the Gospel of Judas. For those of you Christianity followers who thought that there were only four Gospels, you got another thing coming. Actually, there are at least two others besides Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. There is one from Thomas and one from Mary Magdalene.
No, I'm not referring to the Da Vinci Code. Actual authentic gospels from real apostles.
And this one now from Judas shows that Jesus asked Judas to turn him in to the (bloody) Romans so he could sacrifice himself. Rather than a sign that Judas was a traitor, his act of betrayal was a crucial event in the development of the religion that only Jesus' top guy could be trusted to do properly.
Some time in the dark ages (250-350 CE) the proto-Catholic church decided which Gospels they would accept and which they would reject. But why should they get that choice? And so what that these rejected Gospels are considered 'Gnostic?' Does that make them less Christian if they are contemporaneous with the other Gospels.
Okay, they were written a bit later, but not much later, than the other Gospels. In the dismissive terms of mainstream Christianity:
He [Ben Witherington III, professor of New Testament interpretation at Asbury Theological Seminary] said that unlike the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, which were written in Christianity's first century, Gnostic works were produced in the second century and afterward. To say that the Gospel of Judas reveals anything factual about Judas, Dr. Witherington said, "is like saying a document written 150 years after George Washington died tells us the inside truth about George Washington."
But what if all other Washington documents were between 50 and 150 years after his life? Wouldn't that put the 150 year old stuff in the same general category of correctness?
What seems odd to me about this whole thing is that it's being treated as 'no biggie' by the powers that be. The whole thing is a bit of archeological antiquarianism rather than a major upheaval in Christianity.
And on the same day the Gospel of Judas is presented to the world, our own Scooter Libby testifies under other that he was ordered to 'out' Valerie Plame by Georgie himself, through the voice of the master, Dick Cheney.
For years, since the 'smear Joe Wilson' operation started in earnest, Georgie has been talking about how leakers were bad and nobody knew who leaked what and all that. Which still may be true - Georgie can't remember what he did five minutes ago at any point in his life, so hew could have forgotten that he ordered the move.
Libby probably thinks that since Georgie, as president, can make documents un-classified just by saying so, he can't get Georgie into trouble by revealing the order. But did Georgie actually de-classify the documents? Wouldn't he actually have to do that before he orders the leaked?
And does this make Scooter the Judas, or is Georgie still the American Judas for betraying our sacred trust and turning America into a name-only democracy reviled globally? Or maybe Scooter is Judas and Georgie is Satan. That makes a bit more sense.
Either way, those two stories were meant to come out today and share the same front page. It's almost enough to make your religious.
posted by fiduciary at 9:24 AM
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