Q: #106. What is the Gospel of Judas?
A: The Gospel of Judas was written in approximately the mid 2nd century, however, a copy of it was recently found in a cave in 1978. It has been given credibility in many circles since, but it contains many bad teachings.
It is what is called a pseudopigraphal book, meaning it claims to be written by Judas, but obviously was not, because of when it was written. Whoever did write it was greatly influenced by Gnosticism, which was a false teaching being spread in those days.
The teachings of Gnosticism are found all through the book, and contradict what our Bible teaches. For instance, Jesus chose Judas above all of the other disciples to receive “special knowledge.” Jesus told Judas to have Him crucified because He wanted out of His human body so He could go back to the spiritual realm. Because Judas did this, he is portrayed a hero, not a bad man as the Bible says.
Early Christians, as well as the early church fathers, were aware of this book, but considered it “heretical” (Irenaeus). It is an apocryphal book, and was never considered for inclusion in our Bible.