We thank gentle reader and gentle colleague jas for linking us to the announcement of the discovery of an ancient manuscript styling itself "The Gospel of Judas." Details of the find can be found here, but we'll briefly summarize that this early-fourth-century Coptic manuscript, discovered in Egypt and kept in a safety deposit box for sixteen years while its owner sought a buyer, tells the story of Jesus' death as Judas' deliberate liberation of Jesus' imprisoned spirit.
In other words, it is a Gnostic text reflecting with remarkable intensity the dualism of that sect.
The announcement of the manuscript's reconstruction and transcription just happens to come a couple of weeks before Easter, just in time to be covered by the semiannual Nod-to-God articles in the news weeklies and television news magazines.
Funny that.
Update: Check out the impressive presentation of pages from the Gospel of Judas posted by National Geographic. If this doesn't demonstrate that the announcement has been timed and developed for maximum media impact, nothing could.
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