The author's inspiration.

Use this forum to discuss the May 2019 Book of the month, "Misreading Judas" by Robert Wahler
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Katherine Smith
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Re: The author's inspiration.

Post by Katherine Smith »

I think that the primary aim of the author was two fold. First, he wanted to show Christians and nonbelievers that the Bible isn't fact, but one viewpoint from early Christianity. Secondly, the author wanted to explain this point by pulling in the views of the Gnostics and other early Christian groups who were different from the mainline Church.
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Post by Sahansdal »

Chrystal Oaks wrote: 18 May 2019, 01:34
Sahansdal wrote: 06 May 2019, 23:23
srividyag1 wrote: 04 May 2019, 21:30 I think the author is interested in presenting his findings, like a research. The effort and time he has put into this work is evident. And the book reads like a scientific paper with references. Considering this, I think the author's inspiration would probably have been the deep rooted hatred of a single man and the curiosity whether he actually was hateful - whether Judas actually deserves the way he is treated. That being said, the author also connects Christianity to gnostic thoughts, so perhaps he was also inspired by their spiritual teaching.
I am a Satsangi with the Radha Soami Satsang Beas, and have been since 1975. That's a long time. My understanding of mysticism has only grown since then. I was a Christian before that, and a 24/7 one, living with brothers in a brothers house. I don't do anything halfway! The teachings of RSSB are IDENTICAL to Gnostic teachings, right down to the words they use, if you will believe it. Anami Desh of the Sant Mat Masters, the Region with no name, is "the region never called by any name" in the Gospel of Judas. How is that for a match! Yes the cosmology is the same. Even Paul "knew a man" (likely James, not himself, as so many may think) who went to the third heaven. Sant Mat and Gnostic teaching hold that there are seven heavens. The ticket to ride is the Word (Bible), or Unspoken Melody (Sant Mat), the Apophasis Logos of the gnostic Gospels of Thomas and Judas. Btw, this is the Name of the Lord in the Tanak (Old Testament). It is all the same teaching!!!
I wish you could have added an "About the Author" page in this book. I found the above info. on your Amazon page, but for some reason it didn't make sense to me. What you wrote above made better sense to me and relatable.

Is it possible to start a new thread/topic (ask the author)? I have some questions I want to ask; some of the things you wrote left me confused.
Well, sure. It seems like we are doing it here. You can always email me from my website email, at bottom of the columns.
judaswasjames [dot] com
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Post by Nerea »

It could be to voice out his opinion to the readers. And it would have made a lot of sense if the book could have been categorized under other fiction books and not non-fiction.
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Post by jlrinc »

His obvious inspiration is Robert Eisenman who wrote the book James the Lords Brother. It is not held in high regard by most New Testament scholars. It is over 1000 pages long, 800 hundred of highly implausible conjecture and 200 pages of some of the most interesting New Testament Scholarship of the last century. The author of Misreading Judas takes all the worst parts of Eisenmans book as his starting point. The title of Misreading Judas is an homage to Dr. Bart Erhmans book Misquoting Jesus. A more honest title would be Misreading Sources since the author seems to misunderstand virtually every book he refers to. Its written in a way that if you have no background in Gnosticism it sounds like he's really done his homework, but he mentions in his book how he has received no responses from his inquiries to the translators of the Gospel of Judas which I completely understand. It would be like trying to get Neil Degrass Tyson to comment on your theory proving the world is shaped like a soup can.
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Post by jlrinc »

:tiphat: Thank you, I'll be here all week!
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Post by OliviaLouise »

I suppose Judas meant something significant to the author which made him look into Judas more. From there, he felt he had something worth sharing.
Maybe he just wanted to change the way the world looks at things.
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Post by Amystl26 »

WaryReader wrote: 03 May 2019, 10:42 I think he just wants to get his unorthodox opinion out there. If he knows anything about the Christian faith, he should know that his book conveys a pretty controversial message, but maybe he wants to express something that he found profound and worthwhile in a professional way. :techie-reference:
Not only do I like and agree with your response, but I respect it: "but maybe he want to express something that he found profound and worthwhile in a professional way." Well put!
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Post by Amystl26 »

WaryReader wrote: 03 May 2019, 10:42 I think he just wants to get his unorthodox opinion out there. If he knows anything about the Christian faith, he should know that his book conveys a pretty controversial message, but maybe he wants to express something that he found profound and worthwhile in a professional way. :techie-reference:
Not only do I like and agree with your response, but I respect it: "but maybe he want to express something that he found profound and worthwhile in a professional way." Well put!
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Post by Washboard »

Sahansdal wrote: 04 May 2019, 09:17
Ellylion wrote: 03 May 2019, 14:43 The author is not the first one to start a controversial discussion addressing Gnostic beliefs. I guess Dan Brown made them a popular trend still years ago :)
I am no to be compared to Dan Brown. I hate that! He writes fiction. I'm interested in explaining in the best way possible what is really happening with the ancient texts and what the Church did.
I think it is fair to make a distinction here. Dan Brown used religion as an inspiration to tell fiction, and never claimed it was real. This author on the other hand is reinterpreting these documents in order to tell a different version of the truth. While Dan Brown's writing maybe helped set the stage for the layperson to be more interested in a book such as this, I think they cannot be categorized together.
“Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood.” ― George Orwell, 1984.
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Post by eastandalchemy »

Like so many before me have said, it's important to question everything, even the things we've been taught to blindly follow in the name of faith.
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Post by Sahansdal »

Washboard wrote: 23 May 2019, 23:14
Sahansdal wrote: 04 May 2019, 09:17
Ellylion wrote: 03 May 2019, 14:43 The author is not the first one to start a controversial discussion addressing Gnostic beliefs. I guess Dan Brown made them a popular trend still years ago :)
I am no to be compared to Dan Brown. I hate that! He writes fiction. I'm interested in explaining in the best way possible what is really happening with the ancient texts and what the Church did.
I think it is fair to make a distinction here. Dan Brown used religion as an inspiration to tell fiction, and never claimed it was real. This author on the other hand is reinterpreting these documents in order to tell a different version of the truth. While Dan Brown's writing maybe helped set the stage for the layperson to be more interested in a book such as this, I think they cannot be categorized together.
Washboard,
Nor is there "a different version" of the truth. I endeavored to show that my interpretation of The Betrayal, and the Gospel of Judas, is provably correct from textual comparison to the Apocalypses of Nag Hammadi.
Do you think I succeeded?
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Post by colorsparkle »

I think he’s challenging others to rethink their religious beliefs instead of accepting what they’ve been told.
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Post by iced_sunshine »

There are two sides to every story and with this, I think the author was just trying to tell the side that had been ignored and twisted for so long. In a way, he was trying to set the record straight.
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Post by Claudia DCD »

Inspired? Well, I mean if you read the newly discovered Gospel of Judas and came to this conclusion, that Judas wasn't guilt, wouldn't you want to share it with the world? The Dead Sea Scrolls are interesting because they're the oldest text not yet edited and changed, so we get a closer to the truth picture of the Bible and the time period it comes from. The idea of the Dead Sea Scrolls being translated and interpreted today, with our cultural values of authenticity and truth, historical truth, means that there might be less mistranslation, less interpretation to suit needs and just the raw truth. The Gospel of Judas, as well as the Gospel of Thomas, points some accusatory fingers at the current version of the Bible. I don't quite agree with where the author went with it, but I do see that any differences between the current Bible and the newly discovered gospels should be emphasized.
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Post by The_book_of_t »

Writing about controversial religious beliefs is not a first and this book will be succeeded by a new vision. I do like the fact that author’s can and do discuss controversial topics to inspire the thoughts of author’s after them. As they themselves were inspired by those before them.
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