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May, 2006
After thirty-five years of discovering the artifacts of the “Gospel of Judas” in a cave along the Nile River, its story began to surface a couple of weeks ago. The artifacts are currently being exhibited at the headquarters of the National Geographic Society in
I’ll leave it for the “experts” to determine the age and authenticity and other archeological findings, such as the missing pages and fragments. According to a partial content of the document, Judas was portrayed as the “good guy” who helped Jesus get rid of his flesh in order to liberate the divine being within. Therefore, Judas should be considered as Jesus’ friend, and not a traitor. Just as the fictional book DaVinci Code, this kind of new “revelation” certainly will stir interest from many regardless of their religious background. Is there any “truth” to what was written? If it was true, our Faith would be shaken, if not crumbled.
Regardless of the authenticity of the “Gospel according to Judas,” as Christians, how should we look at these kinds of “facts”? After all, DaVinci did paint a picture of a woman sitting next Jesus, and apparently Judas (or his confidant) wrote about his special relationship with Jesus. First, we shouldn’t be surprised with these kinds of writings. The rest of the apostles wrote to the early churches to guard against false teachings such as these. In the early church age, there were many false teachings infiltrated into the churches. Therefore, it is only expected that these documents be found sooner or later. Second, we need to realize that what is authentic isn’t necessarily the truth. Similar to the complaint about the church suppressing the DaVinci painting, Judas’ teachings were ruled heretical by early church leaders. It would be a great disservice to the truths if the church would allow these kinds of false teachings to exist within the church. I tend to believe that every Chinese who knows about history would denounce the textbook used in
I imagine there will be more doubts cast to shake up Christians’ faith. Therefore, we must stand firm in faith and at the same time, have a full grasp of the Truths by being familiar with the Scripture. The Bible always warns that the most dangerous Christian is an ignorant Christian. Before I sign off, I would also like to say that this is a great opportunity for us to dialogue with those who question our Faith. Hold on to the Truths and grasp the opportunities to share how the Truths have changed your lives.
Pastor Larry
在尼羅河附近的山洞出土的〝猶大福音〞古卷被發現的卅年後，它的故事在數星期前開始公諸於世，這古卷及其他的發現正在首都華盛頓的〝全國地理學會〞中展覽。當這故事面世後，我們知道更多事件背後有關如何發現的經過。例如文件如何被掠奪和其後被歸還；文件如何因為被放在冰櫃後而部份受損；當然還有就是文件本身的內容，它如何揭露真正的加略人猶大。
我會讓〝專家〞們去決定它的年份和真實性，和其他有關考古學的發現，例如失去的部份和零碎。根據部份文件的內容，猶大被描繪為一個〝好人〞幫助耶穌擺脫他的肉體以至可以釋放他內裏的神性；所以，猶大應該被視為耶穌的朋友而非叛徒。就如小說〝達文西的密碼〞一樣，無論人們的宗教背景如何，這一類的新〝揭露〞肯定會引起很多人的興趣。究竟這些著作有沒有什麼真理依據呢？如果它是真的話，我們信心可能會因此而被搖動，甚至會完全崩潰。
不論〝猶大福音〞的真實性如何，我們作為基督徒應該如何面對這一類的〝事實〞呢？畢竟達文西的確繪了一幅有一個婦人坐在耶穌身旁的圖畫；同樣明顯地，猶大﹝或他的知己﹞寫下有關他和耶穌的特別關係。首先，對這些著述我們不應該覺得奇怪，因為其他的使徒們都寫信給早期教會，提醒他們防備好像這樣的假教導。在早期教會時代有很多的假教導滲入教會中，所以，這一類的文件被發現是遲早的問題而已。其次，我們應該明白〝文件寫作的確實性〞並不一定就是真實的報導或〝真理〞，就好像教會壓制達文西油畫的投訴；猶大的教導被早期教會領袖定為異端等。如果教會容讓這一類的假教導存在教會中，會對真理造成嚴重的傷害。我相信每一個了解歷史的中國人，都會評擊日本在他們使用的教科書中描述與中國在南京的一場戰役是不正確的教導。日本人視這事件為有〝有必要的入侵〞；而中國人則認為是一項〝大屠殺〞。寫作的描述是真實的，但它不並不是真實的報導，更加不是真理。
我想像將會有更多的疑惑出現來搖動基督徒的信心，所以，我們一定要堅定我們的信心，同時要熟識聖經以至可以抓緊真理。聖經時常的警告我們，最危險的基督徒是一個無知的基督徒。所以在我擱筆前，我願提醒大家，這是一個很好的機會與那些對我們的信仰有疑問的人對話；抓緊真理，同時抓緊機會分享這真理如何改變了你的生命。
唐若愚牧師
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