JUDAS: HISTORIC JEWISH HERO
By Rev. Ted Pike
18 Apr 06
To the many critics of the Book of Judas, produced by the National
Geographic Society (NGS), the NGS seems more interested in subverting
Christianity than presenting honest history.
The project’s panel of “experts” suggest the
New Testament gospels may have deceived us by vilifying Judas Iscariot.
Far from a traitor, they say, Judas may have been a slandered hero
who delivered Jesus to the Pharisees at Jesus’ own request.
Who at the NGS has the motives to cast such doubts upon Christianity?
Of the nine influential experts on the NGS’s Codex advisory
panel, five are probably Jewish. The Jewish Family Services’ sourcebook
for genealogy confirms that Bart Ehrman, Stephen Emmel, Jill Levine,
Marvin Meyer, and Elaine Pagels have Jewish names. Jewish names also
belong to Frieda Tchacos Nussberger, alleged owner of the Book
of Judas; Herb Krosney, the TV producer who brought the Book of Judas
to the NGS; and Sarah Laskin, Michael Rosenfeld, and Cheryl Zook,
members of the NGS Codex team.
History of Admiration for Judas
The NGS, under probable Jewish influence, is dramatizing an early
Gnostic “gospel” to the disadvantage of Christianity.
So it seems appropriate to consider another nearly forgotten “gospel.” It
wasn't found in an Egyptian cave, but a copy resides in the Judaic
section of the Library of Congress. It’s called the Toldoth
Jesu: the Gospel of the Jews, the Generations of Jesus.
The Toldoth Jesu was a frontline Jewish retort to the Christian
gospel. Its comforting message made this mock gospel extremely popular
with Jews for over a millennium. Persecuted by crusaders and the
Inquisition, the Toldoth encourages Jews to laugh at Christ. In a
fast moving, witty style, it glorifies Judas Iscariot and leads Jews
to identify with him as a heroic figure.
In 1823, a Jewish Toldoth editor, Solomon Bennet, boasted that
Jews still believed it as literally as Christians believe the New
Testament. Even the 1905 Jewish Encyclopedia repeatedly refers to
the Toldoth as an accurate representation of how historic Judaism
has viewed both Christ and Judas.
The Toldoth and its derisive approach were discarded by Jewish
apologists in the 20th century. But its content, as we shall see,
is still on their lips.
The Toldoth Speaks
Here is a condensed overview of the Toldoth story.
“There sprung up a certain profligate, worthless fellow by
the name of Joseph Pandera,” who lusted after Mary, a hairdresser.
Though she was engaged to another man, Joseph repeatedly had sex
with her. Out of their adulterous relationship, Jesus was born (ch.
1). The boy Jesus turned out to be so insolent that the Jewish elders “blew
300 trumpets and they proclaimed that he was born of an adulteress
and not fit to enter into the congregation. And they called his name
Jesus as a sign that he was a man whose name and memory ought to
perish.” (ch. 2)
Jesus, they said, sneaked into the temple in Jerusalem and, learned
the secret use of the Divine Name of God by which heaven and earth
can be created. He became a magician, deceiving the people. But for
the intervention of Judas Iscariot, Jesus’ deception and influence
might never have been contained. Judas resisted Jesus in an aerial
battle, the Toldoth says.
“And Jesus uttered the Great Name and a wind came and placed
him between the heaven and the earth. Then Judas also uttered the
same, and a wind came and placed him in like manner between the heaven
and the earth: and they were flying about in the regions of the air.
And all who saw them were greatly astonished...And when Judas saw
that he was not able to put a stop to the exploits of Jesus, he pissed
upon Jesus, and they became both unclean and fell to the earth...And
they sentenced Jesus with the sentence of death.” (ch.4)
The Toldoth says that even after death by stoning, Jesus had so
enchanted all the trees that He couldn’t be hung upon any of
them for crucifixion. Again, Judas comes to the rescue of Israel. “And
Judas saw that no tree would receive him, and he said to the wise
men, See, the heart of this bastard, for he has enchanted all the
trees so as not to receive him. And behold, there is in my garden
the stalk of a great cabbage. I will go and bring it, perhaps it
will receive him. And the wise men said, Go, do as you have spoken:
and Judas agreed, and brought the stalk, and Jesus was hanged upon
it...And they buried the bastard in the place where they had stoned
him. (ch. 6) And it came to pass in the middle of that night that
his disciples came and sat upon his sepulcher and lamented with a
great lamentation and wept over him.”
At this juncture, Judas again intervenes. He takes the body of
Jesus and uses it as a dam for irrigation in his garden. “And
Judas saw this thing, and he took the body and buried it in his garden,
in the place of a stream of water. For he turned the water one way
for a while and after he had buried him, he turned the stream of
water over him as it was at the beginning.”
The rabbis of Israel then came to Judas’ garden and, pulling
Jesus’ dead body from the mire, “they tied him to the
tail of a horse, and they drew him and brought him before the face
of the queen and said, Behold, this is the man of whom you said,
that he had ascended into the firmament...And as they brought him
by dragging him, the hair of his head was torn off; wherefore the
Christian priests now shave their hair in the middle of their heads
to remember the words of Jesus.” (ch.7)
The Toldoth ends by relating that, despite the deception of Jesus,
his wicked disciples “went into twelve kingdoms, and they spread
among them the prophecies of falsehood...And the wise men saw this
evil word, and it was very evil to them; for an abomination was done
Gnostic “Gospels” were Jewish
The NGS Book of Judas project suggests that this Gnostic “gospel” may
well have been one of many sincere efforts by early Gnostic Christians
to present the whole truth about Jesus and Judas.
Yet the Jewish Encyclopedia, in its article on “Gnosticism,” informs
us that Gnosticism itself was of Jewish origins. Continuing the Jewish
anti-Christianity recorded in the book of Acts, Jews in the early
centuries attempted to destroy Christianity with heresies. In fact,
some early church fathers blamed Jews for inventing all the heresies
plaguing the church. “It is a noteworthy fact that heads of
Gnostic schools and founders of Gnostic systems are distinguished
as Jews by early church fathers. Some derive all heresies, including
that of Gnosticism, from Judaism. The principle elements of Gnosticism
were derived from Jewish speculation. Since the second century BC,
Gnostic thought was bound up with Judaism, which had accepted Babylonian
and Syrian doctrines.” (Jewish Encyclopedia, “Gnosticism,” p.
Was the “Book of Judas” one of the Jewish-inspired
Gnostic heretical gospels?
St. Irenaeus, in the 2nd century, warned against a false gospel
very similar to the Book of Judas, exalting Judas Iscariot. No one
knows when the Toldoth Jesu, also exalting Judas, was conceived.
But its shared message of Judas glorification, mocking the New Testament
testimony against him, suggests a common origin in Judaic unbelief.
Jewish Anti-Christianity Continues
One thing we know for sure: Jewish anti-Christianity, whether in
the 1st century or the 21st, is undeniable. It motivates the words
and actions of Jewish “civil liberties” groups, top heavy
with Jews, which radiate from ADL/B’nai B’rith. These
include the Southern Poverty Law Center, People for the American
Way, and the ACLU.
Such anti-Christianity erupted in ADL's arrest of 11 Philadelphia
Christians in 2004 for the "hate crime" of preaching to
homosexuals. (See "Eleven
Christians Jailed for Criticizing Homosexualty")
It smolders beneath the Christian-entrapping legalese within ADL's
federal "anti-hate" bill, narrowly defeated in Congress
last fall. (See My
Analysis of the Federal Hate Bill and "New
Federal 'Hate' Bill Means Funeral of Free Speech")
Its smell is unmistakable in the arrogance of Rabbi Arnold Resnicoff,
who helped create US Air Force and Navy guidelines to forbid public
prayers in Jesus’ name. Resnicoff was empowered by lay Jewish
activist Mikey Weinstein, whose objections to Christian evangelism
at the Academy ultimately forced the Academy to restrain Christian
Jewish activism is also apparent in efforts by Senators Lieberman
and Levin, in their recent attempts to stifle grass-roots Christian
lobbying through “lobby reform.” (See "'Lobby
Reform' Bills Cripple Free Speech") ADL worked overtime last Christmas
to strip the holiday season of any public signs of Christianity.
Jewish anti-Christianity is evident also in the work of Jewish
writers and producers, like those who made NBC’s Book
of Daniel (See "Who's
Behind NBC's 'Book of Daniel?'"). Jewish anti-Christianity
also emanates from Sony Corporation of America, presided over by
Emily Susskind and a host of high-level Jews. Sony is featuring Jewish
Akiva Goldsman’s screenplay of the toxic Da
Vinci Code, soon
appearing in theaters and homes everywhere.
Churchill Warns Us
In 1918 Winston Churchill, in an article detailing how international
Jewish bankers and revolutionaries established communism in Russia,
wrote: “It may be that this same astounding race, may at the
present time be in the actual process of producing another system
of morals and philosophy as malevolent as Christianity was benevolent,
which, if not arrested, would shatter irretrievably all that Christianity
had rendered possible. It would almost seem as if the gospel of Christ
and the gospel of anti-Christ were destined to originate among the
same people.” (Illustrated Sunday Herald, Feb. 8, 1920)
Reviving the Toldoth Jesu?
During the era of ecumenical “tolerance” over the past
century, the Toldoth Jesu has not been a visible part of the arsenal
of Jewish anti-Christian polemics. Yet as the attacks of Jewish activism
intensify, its testimony against Christ is revived and dignified.
In a previous e-alert, I spoke of a CBS 48 Hours program about an “alternative
Jewish tradition,” a tradition in which Jesus was the offspring
of “Pantera.” In this documentary, Professor Elaine Pagels
gives credibility to none other than the Toldoth Jesu, the only source
that alleges “Pantera” or “Pandera” as the
father of Jesus. (See "More
Christian Bashing from Media this Easter") Pagels, who suggests that Jesus is a bastard, also
occupies a position as an “expert” on the NGS’s
Codex Advisory Panel.
How Do We Resist?
How do we combat such relentless and increasing anti-Christianity
from Jewish activists? One of the most fundamental laws of nature
is that every living creature must recognize its enemy. If the rabbit
doesn’t know that its enemy is the fox, it will soon be eaten.
Evangelical Christians, do you know your enemy? Or are you still
paralyzed by the unbiblical superstition that a divine curse will
come on those who criticize evil Jewish leaders and activists?
From ADL-inspired hate laws in Congress to the Book
the Book of Judas and the upcoming Da
Vinci Code film, the message
is clear: As Rabbi Daniel Lapin warned the church, liberal Jewish
activism is in “relentless attack upon Christianity.” (See "Rabbi
Lapin: Christians Under 'Relentless Attack' by 'Secular Judaism'")
How can Christians, at this very late hour, respond?
First, be at least as smart as a rabbit.