I've just finished reading the newly released translation of The Gospel of Judas
(HT to edmund at Becoming for the link)
I'm not going to speak to the authenticity of this document, because I have far too little information (or scholarly background) to put forth any sort of informed opinion on the matter. Instead, I want to write about something that bothered me about the translation itself.
The document is very difficult to read, because there are many gaps, presumably because the source material is fragmentary. But the portions that you can follow have, for lack of a better word, a very "modern" feel. (I mean "modern" in the usual sense, as in "current," rather than it's use in the modern vs post-modern discussions). That is to say, most of the dialog that goes on wouldn't seem out of place today. My first reaction to that realization was to think to myself that this couldn't possibly be authentic. However, I rejected that, as I have no other reason to doubt the dating procedures that were done, placing this as a 4th century document.
