Synopses & Reviews
Judas Iscariot.
He's been hated and reviled through the ages as Jesus Christ's betrayer-the close friend who sells him out for 30 pieces of silver.
But history also records other information about Judas Iscariot. One such reference was written in 180 by an influential Church Father named St. Irenaeus who railed against the Gospel of Judas for depicting the last days of Jesus from the perspective of the disgraced apostle. In its pages, Judas is Christ's favorite.
It's a startlingly different story than the one handed down through the ages. Once it was denounced as heresy, the Gospel of Judas faded from sight. It became one of history's forgotten manuscripts.
Until now.
In this compelling and exhaustively researched account, Herbert Krosney unravels how the Gospel of Judas was found and its meaning painstakingly teased from the ancient Coptic script that had hid its message for centuries. With all the skills of an investigative journalist and master storyteller, Krosney traces the forgotten gospel's improbable journey across three continents, a trek that would take it through the netherworld of the international antiquities trade, until the crumbling papyrus is finally made to give up its secrets. The race to discover the Gospel of Judas will go down as one of the great detective stories of biblical archaeology.
Synopsis
On best-seller lists nationwide:
New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and the
Washington Post. This compelling and exhaustively researched account reveals the truth behind one of the greatest Judeo Christian archaeology of the centurya 1,600-year-old papyrus manuscript, or codex, containing the only known surviving Gospel of Judas. With all the skills of an investigative journalist and master storyteller, Herbert Krosney traces the forgotten gospel's improbable journey from the sands of the Egyptian desert across three continentsa trek that would take it through the netherworld of the international antiquities tradeuntil the crumbling papyrus is finally made to give up its secrets.
Sold twice, lost once and hidden in a safe-deposit box in Long Island for sixteen years, the story of The Gospel of Judas's amazing trek from the cavern near the banks of the Nile River reads like a "plot from a Hollywood mystery." Was one of history's greatest villains really one of its greatest heroes? Was Judas Iscariot really Jesus Christ's betrayer? With the discovery of the 1,600-year-old Gospel, you can now decide for yourself.
About the Author
Herbert Krosney is an award-winning writer and documentary filmmaker. He has worked for
BBC, PBS, and the
History Channel, as well as
National Geographic. He is the author of
Beyond Welfare: Poverty in the Supercity; Deadly Business: Legal Deals and Outlaw Weapons; and co-author of
The Islamic Bomb: the Nuclear Threat to Israel and the Middle East. He divides his time between New York and Jerusalem.
Bart D. Ehrman is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and is an expert on the history of early Christianity. He is the autor of 19 books including the bestselling Misquoting Jesus: the Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why.