Gospel of Judas and Theology 101

My friend Randy writes about the media frenzy over "The Gospel of Judas." Nothing new there, and nothing true there, but a choreographed media story to create more attention, not to shed more light or truth.

"I personally find the interpretation of Judas' actions in the gospel really interesting. Wow, talk about a spin job. You can see the prefiguring of gnosticism in some of Plato's work, and in contemporary forms of Buddhism. The idea that the body, or the material world, as a prison, is a long and distinguished doctrine, but historic Christianity cut it off at the knees through the doctrine of the incarnation. In saying that God became material, became a part of the physical universe, Christianity redeems the material world, and all of the pleasures that go with it. This is why theology 101 is really important."