The Book Of Judas Iscariot

[stone]

Ok, basically i was flipping through the channels on the t.v. the other day and i saw a national geographic channnel thing. It went something like this:

Intro music:

DUHHN-DUHHN-DUUHHNNN

***

:D

they said that over the last 100 hundred years christianity has been troubled by this lost gospel and that it would change the way all christians view Judas and his ministry-


sooo-


I have never heard of it. Is this some sci-fi thing that the national geographic atheist are makeing up, like some other stuff i have seen come out of them,

or

is this true?

:scratch:

[BrEnDiNo99]

ya i saw it too i was all "woah man"

[stone]

What if Jesus arranged his own
execution? One of the most hated men in history
sheds new light on the last days of Christ.
See the contents of one of the most controversial
discoveries revealed for the first time.


http://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/explore/judas/index.aspx

[stone]

cnn is haveing a report on this in about 3 minutes

[stone]

ok, so it was 1 minute,

they spent about 30 seconds on this.

says that the text has been authenticated, and that the main theme for most is that Judas acted out according to Y-shua's will to assist Y-shua in sheding his earthly flesh.

[Talmidah]

I'd heard about this awhile back, that there is mention of it from sometime around 150 CE. I can't comment on the broadcast because I don't have TV.

[visionary]

150Ad is 120 years too late for Judas to write it.

[Talmidah]

150Ad is 120 years too late for Judas to write it.

I didn't say it was written in 150CE, I said there was some kind of mention of it around that time, it may have been 180. It was mentioned by one of the early 'church fathers'. Have no idea when it might have been written and no knowledge beyond that. Sorry.

[simchat_torah]

I believe the Egyptian document dates to 300 ce. I'm not sure when it was supposed to have been originally penned, this is just the date of the document in existence.

But the only thing I have to say about it is:
BUWAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[stone]

lol, ok, that was funny, and shouldn't it have been on a scroll rather than in a book form?

***


yea, i saw something in the national geographic article about it dateing to around 150 ad or whatever.

There was just some news interviews about it. Some are asking questions like, what do you think will change if anything at all.

They talked about how the different groups would respond to it differently.

[visionary]

Followers of the Gospel of Judas were Kainites, an early Christian sect, according to Irenaeus. In part I of his 'Against Heresy', paragraph 31.1 he wrote: '(Some) stated that Cain owes his existence to the highest power, while Esau, Korak, the Sodomites and all other men are dependants of each other. (..) They believe that Judas the Betrayer was fully informed of these things and that only he understanding the truth like no one else fulfilled the secret of betrayal that confused all things, both in heaven and on earth. They invented their own history called the Gospel of Judas.'

The big question is why this manuscript remained hidden for such a long time after it was discovered. Almost no one wanted to get their fingers burned according to Bruce Ferrini, an art dealer of Akron, Ohio. He himself was offered the documents in 2000 by Frieda Tchakos a gallery owner in Geneva who bought the materials the year prior to that. Before that Tchakos offered the manuscript to the famous Beinecke Library of the Yale University, but they declined the offer after long negotiations. Ferrini: "It was not the authenticity; every one was convinced that the manuscript was real."

The problem was the 'bad provenance', its obscure origin. Tchakos and Roberty told Ferrini that farmers discovered the books in the mid-seventies in a stone box in Megaga, Upper-Egypt. But others heard that the documents were already found in 1947. The place of discovery was al-Minya in Middle-Egypt.

Ferrini: "Frieda told me that the documents were obtained by a Greek trader, Nikolas Koutoulakis who had supposedly stolen them from Hannah, an Egyptian Jeweller. Koutoulakis smuggled them into Geneva. Frieda alleges that Hannah followed him by travelling to Geneva to reclaim the documents. A Coptic priest would have accompanied Hannah afterwards to New York where the documents were held in a safe in Hicksville's Citibank. They remained there till the end of nineties when they were purchased by Frieda."

Ferrini suspects that in the meantime several single pages of the manuscript were put on the market. "When I saw the work for the first time in 1999, only 25 pages remained intact, so at least half of them were missing. I cannot be absolutely sure if the manuscript was found incomplete or if its writing was never finished. But from time to time new pages would appear. Five or six different documents in total without page numbers, it was just a mess." Ferrini hesitated for a long time. He signed the deal, but then refrained from purchasing. "Frieda and Roberty could not provide him with any clear indication about its origin. We didn't buy the manuscript, because we didn't buy their story."

Tchakos and Roberty decided to end their efforts to sell the manuscript and placed it with a foundation, the Maecenas Foundation for them to negotiate in peace and quiet with the Egyptian government how to return the documents.

They were unpleasantly surprised when in January 2001 Michel van Rijn, a Dutch art dealer was the first to mention the 'priceless historical documents on his website, to be only comparable to the discovery of the Nag Hammadi-writings and the Dead Sea Scrolls in Qumran about half a century ago. Van Rijn warned dealers not to take any risks given the sinister origin: 'You buy? You touch? You will be prosecuted!'

The Maecenas Foundation does not want to reveal the prices of the purchase. But the London antique dealer who acted on behalf of Frieda Tchakos claims that she did not pay more than 300,000 dollar for the documents. "Next to nothing", says Michel Van Rijn, "this manuscript is unique, priceless. The fact that it is the Gospel of Judas that has been forbidden by the Church for centuries, makes it of interest to the general public. This is material for books and films, forget the Da Vinci Code, this is the real work!"

Stephen Emmel, coptologist, talks about an 'unusual find' that will cause a lot of commotion. "From an historical point of view this find is as important as the Nag Hammadi-writings discovered half a century ago. Everything tells us that we are dealing with the Gospel of Judas referred to by Irenaeus in the second century AD. It is fantastic that something like that re-appears after 1800 years."

But Emmel calls it 'shameful' that a document of this importance remained hidden for such a long time after its discovery: "Every one with a little Greek or Coptic knowledge was able to recognise the words 'Gospel of Judas'. But the people who had it were only after money. That is why the manuscript suffered great damage and many important parts were missing. But publishing it finally will be a good thing.

After 1983 I feared that the documents would have been lost forever."
http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/manuscripts/gospel_of_judas/#images

[stone]

Lu 22:1Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover.
Lu 22:2And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him; for they feared the people.
Lu 22:3Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.
Lu 22:4And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him unto them.
Lu 22:5And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money.
Lu 22:6And he promised, and sought opportunity to betray him unto them in the absence of the multitude.
Lu 22:7Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed.
*****


Maybe this is some kind of an atheist passover gag?

[BrEnDiNo99]

it looks like something that would decieve people anyway.

[stone]

I'd like to see what the Iraneus guy says about a gospel of Judas? However, i really can't say what i think about that on this forum.

[stone]

it looks like something that would decieve people anyway.

probably it's purpose i suspect

[stone]

thanks for the link Vis! I'll check that out in the morning. Going to bed, gotta get up early. :sleep:

[Amora]

it made the first page of the Friday edition of Maariv. first thing i did was come here to hear this forums take on it...

ill admit i thought it would be of more importance than it seems to be handled with here...

[shmuel]

As has been previously noted, Iranaeus addressed this in Book I of Against Heresies, which was written ca 180 CE. There were all sorts of Gnostic sects during this period. The concept of canon developed to establish which books represented the orthodox Christian faith and which were heretical. I quoted from Book V of this work in the Daniel thread to establish what was the orthodox view of the end times during this period of church history. Irenaeus is truly a great source. People ought to read his writings. Unfortunately most protestants eschew anything that uses tradition and end up trying to "reinvent the wheel". The full text of Chapter 31 of Book 5 is quoted below.

1. Others again declare that Cain derived his being from the Power above, and acknowledge that Esau, Korah, the Sodomites, and all such persons, are related to themselves. On this account, they add, they have been assailed by the Creator, yet no one of them has suffered injury. For Sophia was in the habit of carrying off that which belonged to her from them to herself. They declare that Judas the traitor was thoroughly acquainted with these things, and that he alone, knowing the truth as no others did, accomplished the mystery of the betrayal; by him all things, both earthly and heavenly, were thus thrown into confusion. They produce a fictitious history of this kind, which they style the Gospel of Judas.

2. I have also made a collection of their writings in which they advocate the abolition of the doings of Hystera. Moreover, they call this Hystera the creator of heaven and earth. They also hold, like Carpocrates, that men cannot be saved until they have gone through all kinds of experience. An angel, they maintain, attends them in every one of their sinful and abominable actions, and urges them to venture on audacity and incur pollution. Whatever may be the nature of the action, they declare that they do it in the name of the angel, saying, "O thou angel, I use thy work; O thou power, I accomplish thy operation!" And they maintain that this is "perfect knowledge," without shrinking to rush into such actions as it is not lawful even to name.

3. It was necessary clearly to prove, that, as their very opinions and regulations exhibit them, those who are of the school of Valentinus derive their origin from such mothers, fathers, and ancestors, and also to bring forward their doctrines, with the hope that perchance some of them, exercising repentance and returning to the only Creator, and God the Former of the universe, may obtain salvation, and that others may not henceforth be drown away by their wicked, although plausible, persuasions, imagining that they will obtain from them the knowledge of some greater and more sublime mysteries. But let them rather, learning to good effect from us the wicked tenets of these men, look with contempt upon their doctrines, while at the same time they pity those who, still cleaving to these miserable and baseless fables, have reached such a pitch of arrogance as to reckon themselves superior to all others on account of such knowledge, or, as it should rather be called, ignorance. They have now been fully exposed; and simply to exhibit their sentiments, is to obtain a victory over them.

4. Wherefore I have laboured to bring forward, and make clearly manifest, the utterly ill-conditioned carcase of this miserable little fox. For there will not now be need of many words to overturn their system of doctrine, when it has been made manifest to all. It is as when, on a beast hiding itself in a wood, and by rushing forth from it is in the habit of destroying multitudes, one who beats round the wood and thoroughly explores it, so as to compel the animal to break cover, does not strive to capture it, seeing that it is truly a ferocious beast; but those present can then watch and avoid its assaults, and can cast darts at it from all sides, and wound it, and finally slay that destructive brute. So, in our case, since we have brought their hidden mysteries, which they keep in silence among themselves, to the light, it will not now be necessary to use many words in destroying their system of opinions. For it is now in thy power, and in the power of all thy associates, to familiarize yourselves with what has been said, to overthrow their wicked and undigested doctrines, and to set forth doctrines agreeable to the truth. Since then the case is so, I shall, according to promise, and as my ability serves, labour to overthrow them, by refuting them all in the following book. Even to give an account of them is a tedious affair, as thou seest. But I shall furnish means for overthrowing them, by meeting all their opinions in the order in which they have been described, that I may not only expose the wild beast to view, but may inflict wounds upon it from every side.

http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/pix/mroonspm.gif

[stone]

He appears familiar with hunting wild boars.


This topic is getting hot in the media quickly.

[Yovel]

I read this article in the New York Times yesterday.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/06/science/06cnd-judas.html?ex=1144987200&en=7f6939d321b374c6&ei=5070&emc=eta1

[insaneinthebrain]

I read this article in the New York Times yesterday.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/06/science/06cnd-judas.html?ex=1144987200&en=7f6939d321b374c6&ei=5070&emc=eta1
From the article:
The account goes on to relate that Jesus refers to the other disciples, telling Judas "you will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me." By that, scholars familiar with Gnostic thinking said, Jesus meant that by helping him get rid of his physical flesh, Judas will act to liberate the true spiritual self or divine being within Jesus.
I've never found gnosticism to be compatible with Judaism, and doubt it would be taught by the Jewish Messiah.

I do find the interest in these gnostic gospels a bit alarming, however. It seems that people aren't happy with the Bible we have, and are looking for "secret knowledge" that isn't there. I've actually seen instances where people claim The Gospel of Thomas (http://earlychristianwritings.com/thomas.html)(not to be confused with the Infancy Gospel of Thomas (http://earlychristianwritings.com/infancythomas.html)) is just as inspired as the canonical Gospels! Crazy stuff!

Something I recently observed, though I'm not sure what it's saying: A few months back, I asked koilias what he would recommend reading in the way of "Old Testament" apochryphal/psedepigraphal writings. Not that I consider any of them inspired, but I do think they're useful for analyzing Jewish religious thought in the inter-testamental period. Anyway, he gave me a list, and I decided that I'd rather have them in book form as opposed to reading off of my computer. So, I headed to a couple of book stores. I couldn't find one book containing any of the writings I wanted, but there are literally shelves containing these gnostic "gospels," most labeling them as "lost books of the New Testament." I just don't get the fascination.

As for the topic of this thread, I think the "Gospel" of Judas would be useful if you were researching "Gnostic Christians," but I doubt it's even worth half the hype it'll receive, and suspect it'll be a best seller once published.

[shmuel]

You make good points IIB. I have noted that people who are conspiratorial minded eat this stuff up. They are sure that "the powers that be" are keeping something from the rest of us. I am afraid that that does include at least a few who label themselves Messianic. Of course, it has nothing to do with mainstream Messianic Judaism.

[stone]

the authentation of the text is proven.

I also see that there have been gospels of the other apostles as well.

Where are these other books they speak of like Thomas?

It makes sense that nothing happens in this world without father allowing it, so in that sense the things i hear tonight on the program make sense.

I have heard of gnostics, but have no idea where to find them. I'm sure they don't have this book or else it would have been mentioned just like Enoch and i have seen refferences from new testament text that refferrences books that are not official cannon.

Whether or not i choose to believe what is written in that book is irrelevant, what is true is that it vanished from history and the last mention of it is in material from the ancient congregational leaders. It raises my suspicion of these ancient church leaders.

[insaneinthebrain]

the authentation of the text is proven.

I also see that there have been gospels of the other apostles as well.

Where are these other books they speak of like Thomas?

It makes sense that nothing happens in this world without father allowing it, so in that sense the things i hear tonight on the program make sense.

I have heard of gnostics, but have no idea where to find them. I'm sure they don't have this book or else it would have been mentioned just like Enoch and i have seen refferences from new testament text that refferrences books that are not official cannon.

Whether or not i choose to believe what is written in that book is irrelevant, what is true is that it vanished from history and the last mention of it is in material from the ancient congregational leaders. It raises my suspicion of these ancient church leaders.
This post worries me...

It's true that nothing happens without the Father allowing it. Ever wonder why these books never made the biblical canon to begin with? ;)

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. - 2 Timothy 4:3-4

[stone]

This post worries me...

It's true that nothing happens without the Father allowing it. Ever wonder why these books never made the biblical canon to begin with? ;)

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. - 2 Timothy 4:3-4

There were 12 APOSTLES , why are the writeings of 4 apostles cannon? and where does this cannon we have come from? The source of this canon says alot.

[stone]

sound doctrine is torah based, straying from torah has already fulfilled that prophecy

[insaneinthebrain]

There were 12 APOSTLES , why are the writeings of 4 apostles cannon? and where does this cannon we have come from? The source of this canon says alot.
You know what it means when one of these things is "authenticated?" It simply means they've determined it to be really old. In other words, some college students didn't leave it out in the desert as a joke. There's no proof Judas wrote it, nor will there ever be. If you want to doubt the people that compiled the Bible, that's your choice, though I think you're headed down a slippery slope (just my opinion, I could be wrong). However, this is a gnostic gospel, and gnosticism (http://www.christianforums.com/t2656340-wiki-gnosticism.html)isn't something a Jewish Messiah would teach.

[stone]

I'm only curious is all. Anyrate, with Y-shua at my side i don't worry about any slopes, slippery or whatever. I've faced them all and i'm still alive.

This only confirms the wickedness of the *-censored for rules-* for me.

Torah is the foundation of all doctrine, there are over 90% of today's teachings from christian leaders that teach lawlessness.

I'm curious if these other apostle teachings make it clear, that Y-shua did not abolish the law and the prophets.

I did hear something from the program last night that rang a bell with the teachings of Enoch.

[LittleLambofJesus]

Since this thread concerns Judas, I was wondering how others view this passage in Acts. Is this a literal event or "symbolic". Thanks.

Acts 1:16 "Men [and] brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus; 17 "for he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry." 18 (Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out. 19 And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem; so that field is called in their own language, Akel Dama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 "For it is written in the book of Psalms: 'Let his dwelling place be desolate, And let no one live in it'; and, 'Let another take his office.'

[stone]

Being an apostle of Y-shua, Judas would have been exspelling demons as well as the others. He would have been with Y-shua and it is written when satan entered into him.

I bet these kinds of questions haven't been asked for over 1000 years.

[woobadooba]

Ok, basically i was flipping through the channels on the t.v. the other day and i saw a national geographic channnel thing. It went something like this:

Intro music:

DUHHN-DUHHN-DUUHHNNN

***

:D

they said that over the last 100 hundred years christianity has been troubled by this lost gospel and that it would change the way all christians view Judas and his ministry-


sooo-


I have never heard of it. Is this some sci-fi thing that the national geographic atheist are makeing up, like some other stuff i have seen come out of them,

or

is this true?

:scratch:

I know I'm not supposed to post in here, but I can't keep silent about this.

Does it really make sense that if in fact Judas was aware of Jesus plot to use him for this purpose, that He would refer to Judas as a devil? "Then Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!" Jn. 6:70

Also, if Jesus was responsible for Judas' betrayal of Him, why then does the Bible say, "The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus." Jn. 13:2?

Notice how it was the devil, and not Jesus, who influenced Judas to betray Jesus.

Also, if Judas knew that Jesus was just simply using him to fulfill this purpose, that he should be betrayed and thus be crucified for the sins of the world, why then was Judas stricken with such grief that he would kill himself?

"Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people came to the decision to put Jesus to death. They bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.

When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. "I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood."

"What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility." So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

Also, notice how Judas killed Himself on the same day Jesus died. How could he have had the time to write a book?

Let me tell you what is happening here with these so-called missing gospels, especially the one concerning Judas. They are devised by the devil to create confusion, and cause Christians to look away from the inspired word of God, to see it as being self-contradictory so that they would eventually renounce their faith and succumb to the baneful tenets of atheism.

We mustn't buy into their lies! Instead, we need to affirm our faith with the inspired word of God.

Besides, even if he did write the book, which it is obvious that he didn't, since he didn't have the time to, why should we take the word of a betrayer who was the cause of our Savior being crucified, over the words of the Apostles who, for the most part, died for their faith? And they never commended Judas for what he did.

It just doesn't measure up to reason.

[stone]

the fact is that it's a story of one of the apostles that had been deliberately destroyed along with all the others i suspect.

No one is going to change their views according to what is written in these text and i would suggest that folks only use this as a source of insight from those times.


What we do have written and confirmed as scripture tells us that torah is the foundation of all things to be considered scripture, and we have much scripture interpretted today with no torah. so you see, it's too late, it's already happened.

The nations have been deceived and there is no turning back to correct it.

[woobadooba]

the fact is that it's a story of one of the apostles that had been deliberately destroyed along with all the others i suspect.

No one is going to change their views according to what is written in these text and i would suggest that folks only use this as a source of insight from those times.


What we do have written and confirmed as scripture tells us that torah is the foundation of all things to be considered scripture, and we have much scripture interpretted today with no torah. so you see, it's too late, it's already happened.

The nations have been deceived and there is no turning back to correct it.

Again, Judas didn't have the time to write it, so it is a forgery, and therefore it can't be trusted.

As for sources of insight, what good are such sources of so-called insight when they are replete with lies?

All ideas concerning God must conform to His inspired word. If they don't, they should be rejected.

By the way, there is always hope for the few that are willing to be hopeful.

[stone]

that's a good point. that he couldn't have written it, as he died at the same time of the discussion was suppose to have taken place, or soon after.

that was never my point here anyway. i never said that one should take this as truth,

the truth remains that it was destroyed and there would have been a system in place to destroy the writeings.

Now where are the writeing from the others? I imagine that they were destroyed as well along with this one.

Is there some place one can find the gospels of the other apostles?

Judas didn't have to be alive to write what happened to him, he only had to mention it to someone while it was takeing place.

Again, no one is going to believe this as truth, what should be looked at here, is the system that was used to remove it from existence.

[insaneinthebrain]

Now where are the writeing from the others?
There probably aren't any. If I'm not mistaken, memorization and oral transmission were preferred to writing things down at that time. However, I can't remember where I saw that, so I could be wrong.

Either way, you're making a HUGE assumption that all of Yeshua's disciples wrote a "Gospel," which is an assuption with no basis.

[woobadooba]

There probably aren't any. If I'm not mistaken, memorization and oral transmission were preferred to writing things down at that time. However, I can't remember where I saw that, so I could be wrong.

Either way, you're making a HUGE assumption that all of Yeshua's disciples wrote a "Gospel," which is an assuption with no basis.

Agreed.

And if it was transmitted by word of mouth to anyone it most certainly would have been given to the disciples,
since they were closer to Jesus and each other more than anyone else, and used each other at times to record certain ideas about Jesus, so as to disclose them in their gospel narratives, as well as Luke's account in the book of Acts.

And since Peter condemned Judas' act--Acts 1:25, it is quite obvious that Judas was not acting in cooperation with Jesus' so-called plot to have him betray Him. Surely he, of all people, would have known about this after the fact.

And besides, there are other reasons that I pointed out in my post which indicate that this plot can't be true, such as Judas' being so filled with grief that he killed himself. Why would he be filled with grief if he were just simply working in cooperation with Jesus, and knowingly so nonetheless?

Again, we have good reason to believe that this gospel from Judas is not authentic.

[visionary]

It is like saying that it all was writting in greek first. Maybe the gospels we have today were originally written in aramaic and those were destroyed so that all we have left are the greek translations. The setting is right for the hebrew and aramaic texts orginials to be destroyed along with the jewish believers of the first and second century.

[stone]

well...

this has turned out to be a really good thread.

of course i am not going to take to heart these writeings, what's important to see here is the system used to destroy the book, whether it be Judas or the book of John the baptist. There must have been a very powerful roman empire system in place to remove unwanted things.

[BarbB]

Stone, nobody DESTROYED the book, except maybe for G-d! We only have maybe 1% of all that was written from 1 AD to 300 AD. Can't we trust G-d to preserve his book? I certainly do.

Quite frankly, the "ick" factor kicks in and I can't even abide glancing at these supposed "gospels". :(

[stone]

Stone, nobody DESTROYED the book, except maybe for G-d! We only have maybe 1% of all that was written from 1 AD to 300 AD. Can't we trust G-d to preserve his book? I certainly do.



absolutely

[BarbB]

absolutely

Whew - you had me going there for awhile, brother! :hug: :D

[stone]

sorry, sometimes my methods can appear a bit aggressive, but i think we succedded in takeing the deception out of this thing.

[shmuel]

I believe that it is worth noting that these heretical books were declared to be heretical at a time when Rome was still persecuting Christians. Irenaeus who was bishop of Lyons condemned the gospel of Judas (ca 180 CE) only a short time after the persecution that occurred at Lyons.

Chapter 3: The Martyrdom of Prominent Martyrs of Lyons and Vienne, by M. Reginold


Introduction and Historical background:

In 177 AD. there existed a Christian community in Southern France in the two towns of Lyons and Vienne. This paper attempts to portray within its limitations the tragic story of the trials, sufferings and persecutions which have become a part of our history of the early church.
Most of the early Christians living in Lyons and Vienne were Greeks who had migrated from Asia. Although the persecution broke out in Lyons, most of the description and account of the persecutions was. probably written in Vienne without which we could never have got a clear picture about what really happened. (Bruno, Chenu, et. al., The Book of Christian Martyrs, London: SCM Press, 1990, p. 44.)

Shortly after the persecutions and the martyrdom of many great men and women, the surviving community of Lyons sent a letter to the churches of Asia, and this letter was preserved by Eusebius of Caesaria in his writings of Ecclesiastical history. This documentary evidence is valuable because it is not only a story of heroism, but because it gives us an idea of how the Christian community then understood ‘Martyrdom’. It also helps us to see what the official policy of the empire was towards the church, thus it provides a starting point for the study on the ‘Clash of cultures’ that divided the ancient world. (Ibid., p. 44.)

The two churches:

The two churches of Lyons and Vienne were founded just before the actual persecution started and it is possible that the founders may also have been involved in the actual persecution. But it is not very clear how the two churches were related to each other and how they organized themselves; for example, did the two churches form a single ecclesiastical diocese, under one bishop, or were they separate? Eusebius, however, mentions that ‘Pothinus’ and ‘Ireneus’ were both bishops of Lyons, but there are indications that say that Ireneus was bishop of a number of communities and it is possible that ‘Vienne’ which is twenty miles from Lyons may have been one of the these. But there is a serious objection to this because these two cities never got on well with each other and there was intense rivalry between these two cities. There was also a civil war between them. (Frend, W.H.C. Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church, p. l.)

The two churches in Asia Minor, the letter written after persecution was sent to the churches in Asia minor and most of the martyrs mentioned by Eusebius and Jerome were Asiatics. All the names of the martyrs indicate Greek of Asiatic origins and the fact that they addressed themselves to the churches of the provinces of Asia and Phrygia in their hour of need strengthens the Assumption that most of the martyrs were from Asia. W.H.C Frend claims that the foreigners who came from Asia and Phrygia brought along with them their religions and one of them was Christianity
These foreigners came, settled and prospered in various avenues of life and so they became rich and influential, and in one way or the other, they aroused hatred and jealousy in the general population. (Ibid., p. 2.)

Reasons for persecution:

We do not know exactly how the trouble started but one reason that may have been a significant one is that the emperor Marcus Aurelius wanted to relieve the rich landlords of the high expenses involved in procuring professional gladiators who used to fight and kill for their amusement. The emperor allowed the rich landlords to acquire victims in the form of condemned criminals at 1/10 of the price they actually had to pay for the gladiators. So the rich landlords quickly grabbed this opportunity and pounced on the Christians because, Christians were at that time already charged with murder, incest and cannibalism. The elite section of the society found this a great opportunity to save the money in their pockets, and at the same time could get rid of this alien and hateful group of people called ‘Christians’.

The persecutions:

Hatred against the Christians increased until it was at its peak in 177 AD. At first they were subjected to all kinds of social restrictions, they were heated as outcastes and polluted persons, they were banned from showing themselves at the baths and market places and finally they were excluded from all public places, essentially places where they worshipped their gods, because they believed that the very presence of these outcastes violated the place of their gods. At a time when the governor was away, the mob broke loose, Christians were hounded and attacked openly, they were treated as public enemies, and they were assaulted, beaten up and stoned. (Ibid., p. 5.) Finally, on the orders of the city magistrates, there was a wholesale arrest of Christians in Lyons, they were flung into prison where they lay in their own filth and excrement, some died and some lived.

The Governor who came back ordered a public trial of the Christians. During this trial, they were tortured in every possible way. At the first hearing, an influential person called "Vetlius Epagathus" voiced out his protest. He claimed that the judgements that were pronounced were unjust and that there was nothing godless about Christians, but everyone shouted him down and the governor did not allow the just claim he put forward. Then they asked him whether he was also a Christian. He confessed and was also put into prison.

The public not having any solid charge, brought the non-Christian slaves of the Christian prisoners and tortured them. This was done to make the slaves confess that their masters indulged in incest, cannibalism and murder. Some of the slaves unable to bear the agony and pain of torture, confessed. But these charges were angrily denied by the Christians. But for most people the admissions of the slaves to the indulgence of their masters in incest, murder and cannibalism, confirmed their worst suspicions. The trials went on, though admitting that one is a Christian was sufficient to convict a person. The procedure took many hours, every threat was employed and horrible tortures, were applied in order to break the will of the Christians. (Ibid., p. 5,6.)

Some of the martyrs refused to give even their names to the torturers. For example, Sanctus, finally when there was nothing more that they could do to him, they applied metal plates that were burned till they were red hot, to the most tender parts of his body, his body became swollen and enflamed but he did not yield. For every question they put to him, he had only one answer ‘I am a Christian’. (Bruno, Chenu, op.cit. p. 47.)

There was a woman named Biblias. Fellow Christians thought that since she was a frail and timid person, she would succumb when tortured, but she surprised them when she vehemently shouted against her torturers, saying "How can people like us eat children who are forbidden to drink the blood of brute beasts". (Ibid., p. 48.)

Pothinus who was the bishop of Lyons was a very sick person and was over ninety years old, but still the enraged crowd dragged him to the tribunal, the governor asked him "who was the God of Christians", the bishop only replied ‘If you are worthy, you shall know’. People kicked him and slapped him but he endured without saying anything, two days later he died. (Ibid., pp. 48-39.)

Marturus, Sanctus, Blandina and Attalus were condemned to the beasts, but that did not satisfy the angry crowd, they were forced to sit on red hot chairs, the crowd wanted to break their resistance but finally realizing that they failed in doing so, they cut their throats. (Ibid., p. 50.) Blandina was hung on a stake as food for wild beasts. But the beasts did not touch her at that time, she was taken down from the stake and was tortured. Attalus was a popular and well respected person in the society He was dragged into, the amphitheatre with a placard in front of him on which was written, "This is Attalus, the Christian’. But the Governor found out that he was a Roman citizen. So he sent a dispatch to Caesar asking for further instructions. Caesar ordered that he should be be-headed. But upon the demand of the crowd, he was placed on the red-hot chair. When they asked him what was the name of his God, he answered "God has no name as human beings have." (Ibid., p. 52.) Again Blandina and a fifteen year old boy named Ponticus were thrown to the beasts, but Blandina encouraged Ponticus to be strong. He endured every kind of torture and expired. Blandina was whipped and cast before the beasts, was made to sit on the red-hot chair. She was at last thrown into a net and cast before a bull, having no further sense of what was happening. She herself had her throat cut. Finally all the bodies of the martyrs were exposed for six days and then they were burnt and their ashes were thrown into the river Rhone.


From: http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=1570&C=1457

[shmuel]

Although the argument sounds strange to our modern ears, it was clearly the orthodox belief in 180 CE that there were four Gospels and only four Gospels.

From chapter 11, Book III of Against Heresies by Irenaeus of Lyons:

8. It is not possible that the Gospels can be either more or fewer in number than they are. For, since there are four zones of the world in which we live, and four principal winds, while the Church is scattered throughout all the world, and the "pillar and ground" of the Church is the Gospel and the spirit of life; it is fitting that she should have four pillars, breathing out immortality on every side, and vivifying men afresh. From which fact, it is evident that the Word, the Artificer of all, He that sitteth upon the cherubim, and contains all things, He who was manifested to men, has given us the Gospel under four aspects, but bound together by one Spirit. As also David says, when entreating His manifestation, "Thou that sittest between the cherubim, shine forth." For the cherubim, too, were four-faced, and their faces were images of the dispensation of the Son of God. For, [as the Scripture] says, "The first living creature was like a lion,"symbolizing His effectual working, His leadership, and royal power; the second [living creature] was like a calf, signifying [His] sacrificial and sacerdotal order; but "the third had, as it were, the face as of a man,"-an evident description of His advent as a human being; "the fourth was like a flying eagle," pointing out the gift of the Spirit hovering with His wings over the Church. And therefore the Gospels are in accord with these things, among which Christ Jesus is seated.

For that according to John relates His original, effectual, and glorious generation from the Father, thus declaring, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Also, "all things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made." For this reason, too, is that Gospel full of all confidence, for such is His person.

But that according to Luke, taking up [His] priestly character, commenced with Zacharias the priest offering sacrifice to God. For now was made ready the fatted calf, about to be immolated for the finding again of the younger son.

Matthew, again, relates His generation as a man, saying, "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham; " and also, "The birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise." This, then, is the Gospel of His humanity; for which reason it is, too, that [the character of] a humble and meek man is kept up through the whole Gospel.

Mark, on the other hand, commences with [a reference to] the prophetical spirit coming down from on high to men, saying, "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as it is written in Esaias the prophet," pointing to the winged aspect of the Gospel; and on this account he made a compendious and cursory narrative, for such is the prophetical character. And the Word of God Himself used to converse with the ante-Mosaic patriarchs, in accordance with His divinity and glory; but for those under the law he instituted a sacerdotal and liturgical service. Afterwards, being made man for us, He sent the gift of the celestial Spirit over all the earth, protecting us with His wings.

Such, then, as was the course followed by the Son of God, so was also the form of the living creatures; and such as was the form of the living creatures, so was also the character of the Gospel. For the living creatures are quadriform, and the Gospel is quadriform, as is also the course followed by the Lord. For this reason were four principal covenants given to the human race: one, prior to the deluge, under Adam; the second, that after the deluge, under Noah; the third, the giving of the law, under Moses; the fourth, that which renovates man, and sums up all things in itself by means of the Gospel, raising and bearing men upon heavenly kingdom.

[daughterofzion]

well...it wasn't written until about the middle of the 2nd century
that's 120 years after Jesus so it really sheds no new light on the evidence that we already have the Gospels were all written within the 1st century, some as early as 30 years after Jesus they are much more accurate

H.-C. Puech and Beate Blatz write
(New Testament Apocrypha, vol. 1, p. 387):


Dating: the Gospel of Judas was of course composed before 180, the date at which it is mentioned for the first time by Irenaeus in adv. Haer. If it is in fact a Cainite work, and if this sect - assuming it was an independent gnostic group - was constituted in part, as has sometimes been asserted, in dependence on the doctrine of Marcion, the apocryphon can scarcely have been composed before the middle of the 2nd century.

This would, however, be to build on weak arguments. At most we may be inclined to suspect a date between 130 and 170 or thereabouts.