A Question of Faith
4.12.2006
Below is an excerpt of a discussion I am having with my blogkada on the "Gospel of Judas" after it was aired on National Geographic.
The gospel according to Judas, having been authenticated* as an ancient document merely confirms the reality of a division among us. Our church forefathers then thought it to be to the best interest of the then emerging church to limit the books and combine them to a bible (to homogenize the faith and clarify the message = a.k.a. create a sociopolitical bloc to combat persecution and "dissent /aka heresy". There is politics there mixed with a spiritual purpose, we must not deny that.
Over the centuries however, fact got muddled in the arbitrariness of interpretation, ritual, and tradition. Under the dark shroud of history, we become slaves to what we know to be "true".
Shall we christians repeat the mistakes of the Pharisees then by denying even the posibility of a revelation of a clearer message? The jews did not do anything wrong by denying Christ; according to christ's teaching "they do not know what they are doing". Philosophically, the intention of their action was good (St. Thomas) - they want to protect their Church.
I do not suppose the 'gospel' itself to be factual history (which separates me from our fundamentalist brothers) however, I cannot discount the posibility of philosophical truth in the message of Judas' gospel. This philosophical truth I speak of is about the heretics then --- do they not think of themselves christians during that time? In the same way, are there not non-christians living more christian lives than us? How could a concept of mercy for the Gentiles not extend to even the worst kind of men? Is not the nature of mercy that of eternity?
The Church cannot impose on these truths, it could merely be guardian of the law of men and God and how we interpret it. Interpretation of the gospels (small g vs. synoptics, i.e., Big G), while reserved to them must not be taken as Gospel. Even the churches (at least among the humble ones) must acknowlede that ultimately, even the Church, which is of men, cannot claim truth, methinks.
How far is the church now from the ministry that Christ wanted to establish then? I could not claim to know.
What's interesting here is what remains consistent: then and now, christians all over will NOT argue about christ=messiah that the jews didnt believe; that's what seperates christians from our jewish brothers. The devil that separates us is always in the details of his ministry and purpose. Then till now, we are divided by doctrine and by-laws of our own making.
What I couldn't be certain is whether these laws are according to God's will. That said, it seems to me an interesting point: our faith in God, is ultimately also a question of faith in Man.
*The Gospel of Judas as the Codex was authenticated by the National Geographic Society as the same ancient document cited by Bishop Iranaeus in 180AD, in deciding which gospels are to be considered inthe Christian bible. The TV feature says, the 4 Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke & John can very well be the most popular during those times.
Related post: "Judas: Traitor or Pawn in God’s Plan?".
Labels: Musings
posted by Jdavies @ 4/12/2006,
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J.Davies
Jdavies lives in Quezon City, Philippines and has been blogging since 2002. A brand manager in a leading technology company and a freelance new media/web strategy consultant, he has refocused his blogging from personal, political & sociological observations, to marketing-related efforts and Internet trends that are relevant to his career and branding advocacies.
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