The Thirteenth Apostle: What the Gospel of Judas Really Says - Hardcover

DeConick, April D.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0826499643 ISBN 13: 9780826499646

Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic, 2007

Synopsis

The first book to challenge The National Geographic version of the Gospel of Judas, The Thirteenth Apostle is sure to inspire to fresh debate around this most infamous of biblical figures. In 2006 The National G eographic Society released the first English translation of the Gospel of Judas, a second-century text discovered in Egypt in the 1970s. The translationcaused a sensation because it seemed to overturn the popular image of Judas the betrayer and instead presented a benevolent Judas who was a friend of Jesus.In The Thirteenth Apostle, April DeConick offers a new translation of the Gospel of Judas that seriously challenges The National Geographic interpretation. Inspired by The National Geographic Society's efforts to piece together this ancientmanuscript, DeConick sought out the original Coptic text and began her own translation: "I didn't find the sublime Judas, at least not in Coptic. What I found were a series of English translation choices made by the National Geographic team, choices that permitted a different Judas to emerge in the English translation than in the Coptic original. Judas was not only not sublime, he was far more demonic than any JudasI know in any other piece of early Christian literature, Gnostic or otherwise." -April D. DeConick

About this title

About the Author:

April D. DeConick is the Isla Carroll and Percy E. Turner Professor of Biblical Studies in the Department of Religious Studies at Rice University (Houston, Texas). She specializes in early Christian history and theology, noncanonical Gospels, and gnostic and mystical traditions. Her books include Seek to See Him: Ascent and Vision Mysticism in the Gospel of Thomas (1996); Voices of the Mystics: Early Christian Discourse in the Gospels of John and Thomas and Other Ancient Christian Literature (Sheffield Academic, 2001); Recovering the Original Gospel of Thomas: A History of the Gospel and Its Growth (T. &T. Clark, 2005); and The Original Gospel of Thomas in Translation, with Commentary and New English Translation of the Complete Gospel (T. &T. Clark, 2006) and The Thirteenth Apostle: what the Gospel of Judas really says (Continuum, 2007). She has also edited the collection of papers, Paradise Now: Essays on Early Jewish and Christian Mysticism (SBL, 2006).

Review:

"April DeConick makes a brilliant contribution to the conversation about this puzzling gospel, whose Sethian "bitter voice" she hears as a sophisticated, ironic parody of apostolic Christianity's atonement-by-sacrifice theology and cultic activity. Engagement with the gospel of Mark and with movie versions of Judas bring first and second century sectarian conflicts into contemporary focus. I highly recommend this work for all scholars and students of the apocryphal and canonical gospels."
Jane D. Schaberg, Professor of Religious Studies, University of Detroit, Mercy, USA. (Jane Schaberg)

"'Yet you will do worse than all of them. For the man that clothes me, you will sacrifice him.' Thus speaks Jesus to Judas Iscariot, according to April DeConick's new translation of the Gospel of Judas. But far from being a demand addressed by Jesus to his favorite disciple, as the first editors of the Gospel of Judas claimed, this sentence is both a prediction of Judas' betrayal of Jesus, and a condemnation of it. In her discussions of this passage and many others, April DeConick's new book provides solutions to major issues raised by this fascinating but frequently misunderstood and misinterpreted text."
Louis Painchaud, Ph.D., Université Laval, Canada (Louis Painchaud, Ph.D., Université Laval, Canada)

"Turning upside down the most accepted understanding of the Gospel of Judas (Codex Tchacos), April DeConick gives a radically new reading of this Coptic apocryphon, based on her fresh, personal translation. She unveils the techniques of an ancient author, a Sethian Gnostic of the 2nd century CE, who used mockery and sarcasm to define Judas' role in relation to Jesus on one side and the Apostles on the other. A deep original sight is offered on the intense and troubled story of early Christianity with its rival, opponent streams. Those who are interested in the Gnostic adventure cannot miss The Thirteenth Apostle."
Professor Madeleine Scopello, Director of Research at the National Centre of Scientific Research Sorbonne, Paris (Professor Madeleine Scopello)

Introductory article and Q&A session on www.thesheepdip.co.uk

Mention- Chronicle of Higher Education, January 18, 2008

Review and Interview for National Geographic News, December 21st 2007

"This fascinating new book from April DeConick...takes issue with the recent translation and offers a wholly different interpretation, one that focuses on the various distinct sects of second and third century Christians but has much to say about our modern view of this infamous character." The Good Book Guide

"DeConick is not nearly so well known to the reading public as other Gospel of Judas scholars, such as Ehrman, King, and Pagels ... but DeConick's volume, offering as it does a substantial revision of the current consensus, deserves as much attention ... her book contains a vast amount of useful information, placing the Gospel in its historical and theological context in a manner that is very accessible to the general public. Additionally, many readers will appreciate her autobiographical sections, her analysis of contemporary Jesus films, and her annotated bibliography. As such, her book deserves a place in libraries along with other essential Judas publications." Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through faculty/ researchers; general readers. - L. J. Greenspoon, CHOICE, May 2008, Vol. 45 No. 09 (L. J. Greenspoon CHOICE)

"DeConick's exposition of Sethian Gnosticism is sympathetic and illuminating...her treatment of the Gospel of Judas is very helpful, and brings to a wide readership debates that are also taking place in academic conferences and the publications to which they will lead." Reviewed by Andrew Gregory in Church of England Newspaper, 2008

"[DeConick's] treatment of the Gospel of Jusas is very helpful and brings to a wide readership debates that are also taking place in academic conferences and the publications to which they will lead." - The Church of England Newspaper

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0826499643
• ISBN 13: 9780826499646
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224