`Judas'' is synonymous with `traitor''. But a newly-discovered ancient text of the Gospel of Judas offers a picture of Judas Iscariot radically different from the Church''s traditional understanding of him, and maintains that far from being the infamous betrayer, Judas was actually Jesus'' trusted friend and the recipient of secret revelation. Simon Gathercole''s new book includes a translation of the ancient Egyptian text of the Gospel of Judas and a running commentary, and offers new translations of all the ancient evidence about Judas Iscariot and the Gospel attributed to him. It gets behind the hype which the Gospel of Judas has attracted, and looks at why the group which produced the work were in such bitter conflict with the mainstream Christian church, and shows how the document provides us with a window into the turbulent world of Christianity and Gnosticism in the century after Jesus.
