The ThirteenApostle April DeConick.doc

8/21/2019 The ThirteenApostle April DeConick.doc

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I have just finished reading April DeConick's new book, The Thirteenth Apostle:

What the ospel of !udas "eall# $a#s% $o &an# co&&ents need to be &ade directed

at so &an# interests:

The following is fro& blog where I have &ore posts discussing the contents andargu&ent of this book% $ee %%%(

)% *irstl#, the book is easil# accessible to the la# reader even though it discusses

technical translation issues of the Coptic, as well as so&e of the histor# of the

scholarship relating to the ospel of !udas and its broader conte+t%

% $econdl#, for &ost of us who have read the -ational eographic translation of the

ospel of !udas, be prepared for a radical re.think of what we have read there% The

-ational eographic translation depicts !udas as the onl# true saint/ DeConick's, as

the arch de&on hi&self .. or at least destined to join with hi& in the end%

0% Which i&&ediatel# raises the 1uestion: Wh# would a gospel &ake the central

character a de&on2 DeConick shows how the apparent structure and the&atic

develop&ent of the gospel aligns it with an agenda opposing that Christianit# that

traced its genealog# back to the Twelve Apostles% 3ike the ospel of 4ark, the

ospel of !udas was a parod# and attack on apostolic Christianit# and its doctrine of

the atoning sacrifice of !esus%

5% *ourthl#, April DeConick proposes several reasons to e+plain such oppositionaltranslations:

i% $he e+plains in eas# to read ter&s the condition of the te+t and possible variations

in how the original Coptic could be read/

ii% $he suggests with 6rofessor 3ouis 6ainchaud that since World War and the

7olocaust, and the widespread anti.$e&itis& preceding those #ears, there has been a

powerful cultural need to absolve our collective guilt over the treat&ent of the !ews%

And this co&pulsion has led us to reappraise our portra#als of the bad!ew8!udah8!udas e&bedded in our foundational Christian th% $o &uch for 4alone#

and Archer's collaboration on their fictional cu& theological treatise of their !udas

gospel9

iii% DeConick even has an interesting section that surve#s the different fil&s of !esus

before and since World War and co&pares particularl# the portra#al of !udas in

those pre. and those post.7olocaust &ovies .. in the pre.war &ovies he was alwa#s

an evil villain through and through/ in the post.war &ovies he has been depicted with

&ore understanding and co&passion .. a well.&eaning idealist who just happened notto think the sa&e wa# as !esus/


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iv% DeConick gives enough infor&ation about the trans&ission of the te+t and the role

of -ational eographic in its initial public translation to alert the reader to possible

&otives and controls at work other than those nor&all# associated with scholarl#

professionalis&%

% The book gives a clear overview of the nature of the Christian world in the second

centur#, showing that Apostolic Christianit# ;clai&ing descent fro& the Twelve

Apostles< was onl# one branch/ others e+plained are 4arcionites, =bionites, the

Church of the -ew 6rophec# ;4ontanis&< and those diverse others traditionall#

labeled nostics%

>% $i+thl#, the book gives one of the &ost readable introductions to the intricacies of

;$ethian< gnosticis& I have ever read% An#one who has started out cold and atte&pted

to grasp the cos&olog# of the $ethian gnostics fro& the -ag 7a&&adi te+ts alone as

the# are presented in the &ost accessible translations will appreciate this the &ost%

?% *or ospel of 4ark lovers such as self I was especiall# interested in

DeConick's co&parisons with the theolog# and attitudes towards the Twelve

Disciples in the ospel of 4ark% 4# &ind cartwheeled as I read% What needs to be

worked through, I was thinking, was not just the si&ilarities between the !udas and

4ark ospels' dis&issiveness of the Twelve, but the fact that both gospels are

addressing in &an# wa#s the sa&e theological ;and church genealogical< issues%

Could the# reall# be separated b# as &uch as )@@ #ears as orthodo+ datings propose2

.. i% Also closel# related to the ospel of 4ark is the wa# both that gospel and the

!udas gospel de&onstrate that it is the de&ons who have the superior understanding

of who !esus reall# was% ;=ven 6eter's confession appears tainted with so&e for& of

de&on.possession given that !esus calls hi& $atan at the sa&e &o&ent as his

confession%< =ven the de&ons understand &ore than the apostles9

% DeConick provides a clear and eas# to read account of the Borthodo+B reaction to

the theolog# e+pressed in the ospel of !udas% This cul&inated with rigen's

for&ulation of the doctrine of !esus' sacrifice as a ranso& and atone&ent to trick theDevil and rescue hu&anit# fro& his power%

% The Thirteenth ospel was one of the ver# few books where I was drawn to read

all the appendices:

i% DeConick's annotated bibliograph# of the ospel of !udas, second.centur#

Christianit#, the -ew Testa&ent Apocr#pha and nosis and the nostics/

ii% her annotated s#nopsis of $ethian ospel literature/

iii% her annotated citations of the testi&on# fro& the Church *athers on the ospel of


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!udas/

iv% and finall# a EFA section with April DeConick% This su&&ed up so&e of the

co&&on 1uestions asked about the ospel of !udas ;wh# is it appearing onl# now,

wh# such opposing translations, what is the position of other scholars given suchopposing translations, earl# Christianit# and the role of !udas% % % %<

I can see self returning regularl# to this book in future references on this blog%

;=speciall# in relation to special interest in studies relating to the ospel of 4ark

and Christian origins%<

Al&ost forgot .. Ges, the book contains a co&plete and new translation .. with

co&&entar# .. of the ospel of !udas%

And I have &ore posts with detailed accounts of this book's contents and argu&ent on

Hridar blog %%%( Check the DeConick link in the ook "eviews section there%

di persone hanno trovato utile la seguente recensione

Euestioning a 6ositive !udas 0 ottobre @@?

Di !a&es D% Tabor . 6ubblicato su A&aJon%co&

*or&ato: Copertina rigida

Does the &uch publiciJed Bospel of !udas,B released in April, @@> b# the -ational

eographic, trul# portra# a positive view of !udas, the betra#er of !esus2 Dr% April

DeConick of "ice Kniversit# has 1uestioned this interpretation of the newl# released

te+t% $peaking at the iblical Archeolog# $ociet# $e&inar held this past weekend in$an Antonio, Te+as, Dr% DeConick, who holds a chair in iblical $tudies at "ice

Kniversit#, su&&ariJed her conclusions based on her translation and anal#sis of the

original Coptic te+t% According to Dr% DeConick the idea of a positive !udas, friend

and confident of !esus, who receives a high heavenl# reward for his betra#al of !esus,

is based on a series of fault# &isreadings and &istranslations of the original te+t% Dr%

DeConick argues that the Bospel of !udas,B turns out to portra# a !udas that is far

&ore de&onic than in an# other piece of earl# Christian literature, including the

traditional accounts in the -ew Testa&ent ospels%

The book surve#s the stor# of the !udas ospel's discover# and release and includes

Dr% DeConick's translation of the Coptic as well as her anal#sis of the translation

issues upon which a positive or negative interpretation of !udas turn% It further relates

the te+t to its historical setting, na&el# the thought world of an earl# Christian group

of nostics known as the $ethians% Chapter , titled BA nostic Catechis&,B is one of

the clearest e+positions on nosticis& written for the non.specialist that I have ever

seen% The book also contains three invaluable appendices: A &arvelousl# clear and

co&plete annotated surve# of B*urther "eading,B a s#nopsis of $ethian literature, and

a EFA with Dr% DeConick in which she relates her e+cite&ent at the initial publication of the te+t and how she reluctantl# ca&e to 1uestion its interpretation as

represented in the books and docu&entar# produced b# the -ational eographic


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$ociet#%

I highl# reco&&end this new book and I look forward to the continued discussion of

this fascinating ancient te+t%

!a&es D% Tabor, author, The !esus D#nast#: The 7idden 7istor# of !esus, 7is "o#al

*a&il#, and the irth of Christianit#

di )@ persone hanno trovato utile la seguente recensione

An i&portant part of the puJJle febbraio @@

Di 6aul $tevenson . 6ubblicato su A&aJon%co&

*or&ato: Copertina rigida

April DeConick's book is addressed to the general public, though it includes &uch

infor&ation useful to scholars, such as her discussion of blatant &isinterpretations of

the Coptic b# the original -ational eographic tea&% ;$o&e of these errors have been

corrected in the &ore recentl# published The ospel of !udas, Critical =dition/ the

*rench translation in that book is superior to the =nglish one%<

Another reviewer has offered &an# details of the content of the book, so I need not

repeat an# of the&% What I would like to offer is a caveat% 4# care in approaching

this book is the result of having just finished stud#ing the ospel of !udas in a

graduate Coptic class, in which we not onl# read the book in Coptic but also read

so&e of the scholarl# literature that has co&e out since the rather rushed initial

translation published b# -ational eographic% April DeConick's views are an

i&portant part of the &i+% $cholars have e+pressed a range of views on this gospel% A&ajorit# see& to reject the -ational eographic view% ther views are co&ing out,

and Dr% DeConick's view is an i&portant alternative view, but not the onl# one% "ead

her book but also read other literature% Articles published in scholarl# journals are

particularl# helpful, if #ou have access to the&%

ut regardless of what #ou read now, be aware that the stud# of this gospel is onl#

two #ears old, and it is still in a state of rapid fer&ent and develop&ent% 6erhaps in

five #ears a &ore considered consensus &a# e&erge, so keep #our e#e on it% Co&e

back in ten or twent# #ears, if #ou can% Gou will see a considerable bod# of literatureand &ore full# developed views% 4an# detailed studies of &an# aspects of this

gospel will be needed in order to interpret it thoroughl#% This just takes ti&e, as

scholars work on the& in the ti&e the# have between teaching classes, which is how

&ost of the& &ake their living% ut the# are working on this gospel and will continue

to do so, as the issues it raises are co&pelling%

) di ? persone hanno trovato utile la seguente recensione

The# *orgot nostic 4#tholog# ) ottobre @@?

Di The $pinoJanator . 6ubblicato su A&aJon%co&

*or&ato: Copertina rigida!udas, the good gu#2 -o, indeed9 7e is even worse than previousl# thought% A closer

translation and a thorough knowledge of gnostic tholog#, derived partiall# fro&


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6lato, shows hi& to be a secret agent of the devil%

The ospel of !udas is a parod#, written b# so&eone fro& the $ethian subgroup of

nostic Christians . to &ake &ainstrea& Christians of the second centur# look

asinine for rel#ing on a de&on ruler ;!udas< and his &inions ;the twelve< for theirteachings and practices% A &ore specific goal of the ospel of !udas, according to

DeConick, is to blast the doctrine of atone&ent and the effectiveness of the eucharist,

on account of !udas's involve&ent%

ther authors rushed in to write books last #ear, rel#ing on the ;erroneous2< coptic

translations of the -ational eographic tea&% It will be interesting to see how this

controvers# falls, but I'& betting on DeConick%

di > persone hanno trovato utile la seguente recensione

The ospel of !udas, Take Two aprile @@

Di $teve . 6ubblicato su A&aJon%co&

*or&ato: Copertina rigida Ac1uisto verificato

*ollowing the initial work on the ospel of !udas fro& the -ational eographic tea&

and the publishing of the Coptic transcription, other scholars have had a crack at

translation and interpretation and so&e differing and contrar# opinions are e&erging%

A ver# different take has been offered b# April DeConick in her recent book%%

DeConick, a biblical studies scholar who also has an active and interesting blog,

believes that the -ational eographic tea& &ade several translation errors which led

to an overall erroneous interpretation of the &essage of the gospel ;please note thatno scholar believes this te+t has an# historical value regarding the actual events of

!esus' life/ rather the interest is in what the te+t tells us about the beliefs of one of the

&an# earl# Christian co&&unities opposed to the BapostolicB or proto.orthodo+

church in the centuries before the ti&e of Constantine


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The book itself has additional &erit for those la# readers who are interested in the

subject% DeConick includes a ver# clear discussion of the various BgnosticB

co&&unities in pla# in earl# Christianit#% $he is ver# good specificall# on the $ethian

&ove&ent, to which the author of the ospel of !udas belongs% 7er e+position of the

co&ple+ $ethian cos&olog# was ver# good . I had previousl# found this to be prett#confusing% The book also includes her co&plete translation, which provides the

reader the conte+t for the interpretative debate%

Documents

The ThirteenApostle April DeConick.doc