A while back I predicted that the Gospel of Judas will be used to support any religious/scholarly position whatsoever, regardless of actual contents of the document. We haven't even had to wait for the text to be released for the first competitor to throw his hat into the ring.
Via Hypotyposeis, we learn that Hermann Detering has put an analysis of those fragments of Judas we've seen onto his Radikalkritik website. The full article (German PDF) is here, and a poorly-worded English summary is here. He argues against a historical Judas, against a historical betrayal, and in fact suggests that the mythologized figure of Judas is a later accretion to the gospels, added by the orthodox to slander the gnostic competition:
"Protestexegese" wurde also daher nicht von den Gnostikern, sondern den großkirchlichen Theologen betrieben. Das positive Judasbild der Kainiten war kein Protest gegen das Negativbild der Großkirche, sondern das negative Judasbild der Großkirche ein kirchlicher Protest gegen das positive Judasbild der Gnostiker verständlich vor dem allgemeinen Hintergrund einer Abgrenzung vom gnostischen Antinomismus.
Will traditional scholars respond? Will another radical knock off Detering's beret? How many more contestants will enter before Judas is even published? Keep tuned to Horizon to find out!
Posted by Ben Brumfield at May 30, 2005 11:42 AM