Novel challenges readers to view gospel through the eyes of Judas

Posted: 4/13/07

Novel challenges readers to view
gospel through the eyes of Judas

By Francis X. Rocca

Religion News Service

ROME (RNS)—A new book by a colorful British author and an Australian New Testament scholar offers a sympathetic portrayal of Judas as the unwitting betrayer of Christ.

The Gospel According to Judas, by Benjamin Iscariot, published simultaneously in eight languages, is a work of fiction presented in the form of Scripture, complete with numbered verses, pages in gold trim and key passages highlighted in red ink.

The unlikely co-authors are best-selling novelist Jeffrey Archer, known since 1992 as Lord Archer of Weston-Super-Mare, and Francis J. Moloney, former dean of the School of Theology and Religious Studies at Catholic University of America in Washington.

Their account of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ is based on the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but it deviates from the standard narrative on certain important points—most significantly in asserting that Judas unintentionally abetted the capture of Jesus that led to his crucifixion.

In this new version, Judas hands Jesus over to Jewish leaders in the mistaken belief that they will save him from death at the hands of the Romans.

In the fictional version, Judas does not receive 30 pieces of silver.

The book portrays Judas as disillusioned when Jesus turns out not to be the warrior king he expected, even as he continues to venerate him as a prophet.

Following the death of Christ, the book’s Judas does not hang himself as recounted in the Gospel of Matthew. Instead, he joins a community of ascetic Jews near the Dead Sea, living there until he was crucified by the Romans at the age of 70.

Archer, who is listed as the book’s principal author, said he sought out an academic collaborator at the behest of his publisher and agreed to give Moloney a veto on any material that did not meet scholarly standards.

The authors have taken pains to distinguish their Gospel According to Judas from The Gospel of Judas published last year. That book was based a third-century manuscript never accepted as part of the Christian canon of Scripture.

“We’re telling the traditional story, through the eyes of Judas,” said Moloney. He acknowledged “a few details in the book that may bother traditional Christian readers.”

For example, Archer and Moloney portray Jesus performing healing miracles, but they quote Judas as dismissing reports that Jesus walked on water or turned water into wine.

Archer is a past master at generating controversy. A former Conservative member of Parliament, he was convicted in 2001 of perjury in a libel trial and spent two years in prison, an experience he used as the basis for three volumes of Prison Diaries.