Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ:
I greet you all with the Paschal greeting, "Christ is Risen!"
and pray for our united journey on the road towards Holy Pascha
in the great joy and light of the Resurrection. I pray that
this Holy Pascha will strengthen you and all the faithful to
spread the spirit of philanthropy and self-sacrifice in Jesus'
Name, so that our Risen Lord Jesus Christ will always reign
in human hearts.
In spite of the avalanche of relentless anti-Christian and anti-Christ
news and publications, I am confident that you are standing
firm in your faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Battling for our
true Faith, we have to remain undismayed by attacks that the
Media launches against the truth of the four canonical Gospels
(the Gospels of Sts. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). The controversial
publication of the Gospel of Judas, just a week before Easter,
when the Resurrection is celebrated by Christians, is sure to
scandalize all faithful Christians.
The Media is interested in Gnostic ideas (Gnostics claim that
they possess "secret" knowledge of truth that surpasses
the Truth revealed to mankind by Christ Jesus in the Church).
These Gnostic ideas were also popular in early days of Christianity,
and they are becoming increasingly popular now. Orthodox Christians,
however, believe that the truth of the Gospel stands forever.
We retain strong confidence in the authenticity of the New Testament
and, in particular, of the four Gospels.
Unfortunately, any discovery of an ancient text, especially
something as inflammatory as the Gospel of Judas (which had
been rejected by the Church at the time of its origin) is lavished
with all kinds of media attention. This "gospel" --
or rather this "Judas document" -- is not a new discovery.
Although this ancient text was found by some Egyptian peasants
in the mid-1970s, it was well known by Early Fathers of the
Church. The Gospel of Judas, dating from the third or fourth
century, was refuted and condemned by our holy and God-fearing
Fathers.
There have been several ancient documents that have come to
light in recent years, however these are unable to distort the
inspired canonical Gospels. The Church, in the Ecumenical Councils,
has established the unchangeable canon of the Bible. For this
reason, the so called Gospel of Judas does not merit the name
"gospel" (Gospel means the "good news" of
the resurrection of Christ Jesus, and of His saving work in
our lives).
This document was written long after Judas' death by a group
of heretical Christians who had fallen away from the Truth.
In his book entitled, Against Heresies, Saint Ireneaus (c.125
- c.202 AD) the Orthodox Bishop of Lyons, mentions the doctrines
of this group of Gnostics, called the Cainites. They taught
that Cain derived his being from "the Power above."
The heresy of the Cainites declared that there are some sins
which Christ Jesus cannot cleanse with His blood, and that the
scars left by old transgressions on the body and the soul are
sometimes so deep that they cannot be effaced by the remedy
which He supplies in His Passion, Crucifixion, and Resurrection.
What else is this except to say that Christ has died in vain?
Saint Irenaeus confirms that this group produced the fictitious
Gospel of Judas. Additionally, the Cainites and some other Gnostic
groups created two other apocryphal books bearing the name of
Paul: The Ascension of Paul, and The Apocalypse of Paul. {Look
for them to be trumpeted in the Media in the next wave of anti-Christian
publicity -- just as soon as they "discover" them!}
The Gnostics put emphasis on the dualism between the material
and spiritual worlds. They taught that the body and the material
world are evil. For this reason, Judas, according to this "Gospel,"
is selected to free Jesus from his physical body, so that he
can enter the spiritual world. Judas performed a service to
Jesus by betraying Him to those who would then crucify Him.
Thus, Judas is a hero who liberated Jesus from his accursed
physical body, and freed Him to become a pure spirit. In this
Judas document, the resurrection of the body does not matter
but only that of the spirit. This is completely against the
true teaching of the Church.
Gnostics focus on secret and mysterious knowledge. In this document
it is said that Jesus reveals secrets to Judas that have been
kept hidden from the rest of humanity. In this Judas document,
Jesus uses Gnostic categories such as "aeons" and
an "eternal realm." He explains mysteries of the kingdom
that the other Apostles don't know. This document creates a
false fusion between ancient mythology and Christianity. It
is syncretistic, that is, it incorporated elements from different
religions and un-Biblical spiritualities into Christianity.
For this reason, this text is neither reliable nor authoritative,
and it contradicts historically and theologically the Apostolic
Faith. Simply put, this "Gospel of Judas" betrays
the Christian Faith as surely as Judas, himself, betrayed the
Son of God to godless men.
Saint Athanasius declared of the Gospels: "Let no man add
to these, neither let him take out from these." In celebrating
the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, my brothers and
sisters in Christ, we need to carry today's cross of Media aspersions.
But we know that without the Cross there is no Resurrection.
Our Biblical and Liturgical texts of the Holy Week are the greatest
reply we could give to the Gnostics of our time. Be assured
that the enemies of the canonical Gospels will be "scattered
like the smoke" and will "melt like the wax before
the holy fire!"
