© 2024 KOSU
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Gospel of Judas Prompts Re-Examination of Bible

Last week the National Geographic Society made the remarkable announcement that it had completed the translation of the Gospel of Judas. The five-year project required major efforts of restoration, authentication and translation. The text, believed to be 1,700 years old, was found three decades ago in Egypt.

Why was the Gospel of Judas not included in the Bible? There are other gospels that have been found over the last century that were not included -- among them, the Gospels of Thomas and Mary Magdalene. How different would the Bible be if they had been included, and why did some books make the cut while others didn't?

Guests:

Marvin Meyer, professor of Bible and Christian studies at Chapman University in California; one of the translators of the discovered manuscript The Gospel of Judas

Elaine Pagels, professor of religion at Princeton University

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

KOSU is nonprofit and independent. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Your support makes this news available to everyone.

Give today. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference.