LOTS MORE ON THE GOSPEL OF JUDAS: I'm getting on a plane this evening and don't have much time to blog. But here are some of the many current articles on the Coptic Gospel of Judas, with a little commentary. The media coverage seems to me generally to have been thoughtful and accurate. The National Geographic Society is to be commended for its handling of the publicity.

In Ancient Document, Judas, Minus the Betrayal (New York Times)

Note the following therefrom:

The 66-page codex also contains a text titled James, a letter by Peter and pages provisionally called Book of Allogenes, or Book of Strangers.

Allogenes was known from Porphyry's Life of Plotinus 16 as one of the works of the Gnostics whom Plotinus opposed. A copy also survives in the Nag Hammadi Library. I believe Allogenes means 'stranger" or "alien," singular rather than plural.

Also, I notice that the NYT has put a prominent correction at the bottom of this article which corrects a mistake in a related earlier article, which is good practice.

Document Is Genuine, but Is Its Story True? (NYT)

I'm surprised to hear that Craig Evans thinks that there could be an historical basis to the idea in The Gospel of Judas that Jesus gave Judas private instruction. That strikes me as exceedingly unlikely.

Finally, the Philadelphia Inquirer has some grassroots reactions from Christians. No one seems much impressed from a theological perspective, which I would say is the correct reaction (although, of course the new text is very exciting from the perspective of the history of Gnosticism and second-century apocryphal gospels).

Skepticism over a long-lost text.

Enjoy the documentary if you get to see it tomorrow. I probably won't have anything more to say today. I'll try to let you know when I get home on Sunday, but otherwise I expect to be back in my office on Monday, with a class to teach at 11:00 am. Look for somewhat jet-lagged blogging to resume then.

UPDATE: Geza Vermes on Judas in The Times:

Iscariot and the dark path to the Field of Blood