This is too interesting to let this slip by as a ‘Recent Link’ item: Today, The National Geographic channel will broadcast ‘The Gospel of Judas’ documentary, about a document lost for 1,700 years, that sheds a different light on the relationship between Judas and Jesus:
That Judas is entrusted with this task [ed. of betraying Jesus] is a sign of his special status. “Lift up your eyes and look at the cloud and the light within it and the stars surrounding it,†Jesus tells him encouragingly. “The star that leads the way is your star.†Ultimately, Judas has a revelation in which he enters a “luminous cloud.†People on the ground hear a voice from the cloud, though what it says may be forever unknown due to a tear in the papyrus
According to the National Geographic, The Judas Gospel may upset many Christians because it (first of all) reverses Judas role from traitor to hero. Secondly, the finding of the gospel illustrates how Christianity formed in those early days and how many of the gospels competed for inclusion into the ‘One Bible’, a book commissioned by the Roman emperor Constantine (this theme, yes, is heavily discussed in ‘The DaVinci Code’). (Wikipedia on Gnosticism, early Christian sects and The Gospels (also Wikipedia)).
I also mentions this because of this videoclip of a discussion at FOX about the Judas Gospels, where the main FOX anchor appears to go berzerk.
More discussion over at MetaFilter (previously)