Once you start to look at the gospels one by one, you realize that followers of Jesus were trying to understand what had happened after he was arrested and killed. They knew Judas had handed him over to the people who arrested him.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the complexities of understanding historical events through personal perspectives, especially regarding faith and betrayal.
Elaine Pagels highlights the intricate process of trying to comprehend the events surrounding Jesus' arrest and death from the perspective of his followers. Their struggle to understand Judas's betrayal reveals the deep emotional and philosophical questions that arise in the face of tragedy and faith, making it clear that interpretation is subjective and deeply linked to personal experiences.
In practice
In a sermon discussing trust and betrayal, this quote can help illustrate the emotional turmoil experienced by the disciples.
I just have a sense that, you know, I'm curious about what is religion about, you know? Why do some of us still engage it? It's not because it's a set of old beliefs or old ideas. Or even, particularly, the view that this is the only true religion. Many of us no longer accept those views.
There are some kinds of Christianity that insist you have to believe literally in doctrine. The Gnostic gospels open out the complexity and multiplicity of approaches to this. If you think the story of the virgin birth is mistranslated, for instance, it doesn't mean you have to throw out the whole thing.
People who are comfortable with very clear boundaries and group definitions don't like the instability and ambiguity of people who say they are more advanced Christians, or they don't have to do what the bishop says.
Startling as the Gospel of Judas sounds, it amplifies hints we have long read in the Gospels of Mark and John that Jesus knew and even instigated the events of his passion, seeing them as part of a divine plan.
Rediscovering the controversies that occupied early Christianity sharpens our awareness of the major issue in the whole debate, then and now: What is the source of religious authority? For the Christian the question takes more specific form: What is the relation between the authority of ones own experience and that claimed for the scriptures, the ritual and the clergy?
I study religion because I find it fascinating and problematic. But I struggle with the idea of what religion is, what being religious means. A lot of people assume that if you write about early Christianity, you must be some kind of Sunday-school teacher.
I am Patrick, a sinner, most uncultivated and least of all the faithful and despised in the eyes of many.
Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals.
If you give people nothingness, they can ponder what can be achieved from that nothingness.
It is true that we are called to create a better world. But we are first of all called to a more immediate and exalted task: that of creating our own lives.
As there is a use in medicine for poisons, so the world cannot move without rogues.
Most nations, as well as people are impossible only in their youth; they become incorrigible as they grow older.
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