Just in time for Easter was the revealing of the so-called Gospel of Judas. The story, an account of the gospel of Jesus Christ written around 180 A.D., got semi-heavy play in the mainstream media. Essentially, this new gospel paints a different picture of Judas, the betrayer of Jesus who has long been seen as one of the great villains of history by Christians. Judas is present in the innermost circle of hell in Dante’s fictional “The Divine Comedy” – the circle reserved for the greatest traitors in history.

The Gospel of Judas paints a very different story: that Judas was only acting as Jesus commanded him to, and that without Judas, the Lord would never have been crucified.

The convenient thing about this story is that scholars have long known that such a gospel existed, despite the fact that the Coptic translation of this gospel from 300 A.D. has just been recently been published by The National Geographic Society. The whole story broke during the holiest of Christian seasons and falls smack dab in the middle of “The Da Vinci Code” craze. I don’t want to say that it’s anything more than convenient simply because, unlike Dan Brown’s pseudo-intellectual disciples, I really don’t like conspiracy theories.

Of course, this has not stopped some from making what would seem like ridiculous statements. Newsweek reported that Marvin Meyer, a religion professor from Chapman University, said, “We will be talking about this Gospel for generations to come.”

Now, I’m no religion professor, so my statements may not carry the same weight as Mr. Meyer’s, or anyone making similar statements – or better yet, proclaiming the death of Christianity as we know it. I would say that the remarkable thing about the Gospel of Judas is how thoroughly unremarkable it is.

As far back as 180 A.D. we have the church father Irenaeus condemning this gospel as “fictional.” No one disputes that the Gospel of Judas exists. What is in dispute is whether or not it provides an accurate account of the Jesus of Nazareth’s life and trials. The year 180 A.D. is basically the first we hear about it, meaning that this gospel came into existence almost 150 years after the death of Jesus. Of the four canonical gospels, one of them (John) was written by a compatriot of Jesus, albeit much later in life. It’s very hard to take the Gospel of Judas seriously when it conflicts so heavily with what was determined to be canon by the earliest leaders of the Church.

You can chalk this all up to a huge conspiracy theory but like I said, I’m not a fan. A disturbing lack of facts not only drives most conspiracy theories but also testifies to their ridiculousness.

The Gospel of Judas is probably yet another of the Gnostics’ reinterpretations of the true Gospel (that found in the Bible). The Gnostics, you will recall, are also featured heavily in Brown’s tale. The funny thing about a group of people whose name implies that they hold “hidden knowledge,” is their disturbing lack of it. No one has taken the Gnostics seriously since the time immediately after Christ’s death because they were thoroughly trounced by the church fathers. Visit any church that professes the Nicene Creed – the very definition of Christianity – and try preaching this Gnostic nonsense; the reaction will not be positive.

Why is this? It’s not because the Council of Nicea was a pagan power move by the Roman emperor that has robbed all future generations of the true meaning of Christianity, as people such as Dan Brown will assert. Any legitimate historical account will dispute that claim. Instead, the Council affirmed what everyone already believed and gave Christianity a more unified body in keeping with Jesus’ instructions.

What’s the point of all this? I didn’t want to have to devote another 650 words to examine yet another example of Gnostic heresy. Christianity is simply so misunderstood by non-Christians and secularists that it was inevitable that someone would use this fake gospel as evidence of Christianity’s falseness.

I don’t seek to deny a modern-day Gnostic his right to his own religion; I simply insist that he refrain from trying to hijack Christianity.

John Ostrowski is a junior in Communications. His column appears Tuesdays. He can be reached at [email protected].