READING JUDAS raises compelling issues––about the nature of God, the meaning of Jesus's death, the suffering of martyrs, and much else––issues as important today as they were nineteen centuries ago. The Gospel of Judas, along with other newly discovered writings, restores the vibrant and tumultuous picture of early Christianity, a time of intense reflection, experimentation, and struggle involving every fundamental issue of human life. Rather than ignore the gospel as heresy, they ask readers to consider the political forces at work. This short but difficult book is in two parts. Reading Judas plunges into the heart of Christianity itself and will stand as the definitive look at the gospel for years to come. Working from Karen King's brilliant new translation of the fragmentary gospel, Elaine Pagels and King give us the context we need for considering its meaning. In Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity, Pagels and King explore the 'Gospel of Judas' and the context in which it was written, to create a framework for the translation of the gospel in the second half of the book. King's brilliant new translation, Elaine Pagels and King provide the context necessary for considering its meaning. The answers lead deep into the agonizing disputes and exultant visions of God that ultimately came to shape Christianity. Now two leading experts on the Gnostic gospels tackle the important questions posed by this exciting discovery. The unveiling of the long-lost Gospel of Judas has stirred controversy not just among biblical scholars and those interested in the gospels that were excluded from the New Testament but among all those brought up on the story of Judas as the ultimate betrayer.

Reading Judas by Elaine Pagels