By Schubert Ogden
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'Is
...
[this
...
depiction
...
of
...
Judas
...
]
...
closer
...
to
...
historical
...
reality
...
than
...
what
...
we
...
know
...
from
...
the
...
canonical
...
gospels?'
...
My
...
answer
...
[is
...
]
...
the
...
same
...
given
...
by
...
virtually
...
every
...
scholar:
...
'The
...
Gospel
...
of
...
Judas
...
is
...
unlikely
...
to
...
reveal
...
much
...
about
...
historical
...
events
...
leading
...
up
...
to
...
Jesus'
...
execution.'
...
No
...
doubt
...
the
...
Gospel
...
of
...
Judas
...
is
...
enormously
...
significant
...
for
...
our
...
understanding
...
of
...
early
...
Christianity,
...
especially
...
Egyptian
...
Christianity
...
of
...
the
...
second
...
and
...
third
...
centuries.
...
The
...
manuscript,
...
written
...
in
...
Coptic,
...
has
...
been
...
dated
...
to
...
the
...
third
...
century,
...
but
...
is
...
likely
...
a
...
translation
...
of
...
a
...
second
...
century
...
Greek
...
text.
...
But
...
the
...
Gospel
...
of
...
Judas
...
cannot
...
bring
...
us
...
any
...
closer
...
to
...
historical
...
'fact'
...
than
...
do
...
the
...
four
...
canonical
...
gospels.
...
The
...
gospels
...
of
...
Matthew,
...
Mark,
...
Luke,
...
John
...
and
...
Judas
...
were
...
not
...
written
...
as
...
history
...
of
...
the
...
sort
...
we
...
expect
...
from
...
modem
...
historians.
...
In
...
antiquity,
...
historians
...
wrote
...
to
...
convey
...
what
...
we
...
might
...
call
...
the
...
historical
...
essence
...
of
...
past
...
events.
...
They
...
couldn't
...
imagine simply
...
reporting
...
the
...
'facts.'
...
Ancient
...
writers
...
and
...
readers
...
certainly
...
had
...
standards
...
for
...
determining
...
the
...
legitimacy
...
of
...
historical
...
accounts.
...
But
...
a
...
good
...
account
...
was
...
measured
...
by
...
whether
...
it
...
captured
...
the
...
essence
...
of
...
the
...
past
...
so
...
as
...
to
...
provide
...
readers
...
with
...
a
...
meaningful
...
reflection
...
on
...
it
...
("New
...
Insights
...
into
...
Judas?"
...
The
...
Denver
...
Post,
...
Guest
...
Commentary).
6 May 2006
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