A non-Christian Judas enthusiast and a Christian strike up a conversation

This is courtesy of Mark Brumley, who originally posted it in the comments section of my post on the "'Gospel' of 'Judas'." I thought it shouldn't languish in such a murky place, so have "discovered" it and am letting the world know about this incredible, funny find. Here goes:

Non-Christian Judas Enthusiast: I heard about the newly discovered Gospel of Judas. Do you suppose it will change our way of thinking about Judas?

Christian: Not at all. There is absolutely no reason to think this "gospel" has any historical reliability, apart from where it agrees with the canonical gospels. And coming as it does from the mid-second century at the earliest (although the copy we have is apparently from much later), there are plenty of reasons to think it unreliable.

Non-Christian Judas Enthusiast: Still, don't you think it casts a different light on Judas?

Christian: How could it do that, if it doesn't tell us anything about the real Judas?

Non-Christian Judas Enthusiast: How do we know that it doesn't?

Christian: I've already explained why we have reason not to trust it.

Non-Christian Judas Enthusiast: Yes, but perhaps the early Christians suppressed the truth about Judas and this document provides it.

Christian: And suppose Judas was a space alien.

Non-Christian Judas Enthusiast: Do we know for a fact that he wasn't?

Christian: Uh.

Non-Christian Judas Enthusiast: Gotcha there, eh?

Christian: Uh.

Non-Christian Judas Enthusiast: I really think you shouldn't let your dogma rule your brain. You should be open to alternative ideas. You shouldn't be blinded by mindless faith. You should exercise reason in assessing the authenticity of the Gospel of Judas.

Christian: I see.

Non-Christian Judas Enthusiast: I have only one question, though.

Christian: Only one? Okay, what is it?

Non-Christian Judas Enthusiast: Do you think Judas wrote his Gospel before or after he killed himself?

I'd say that Judas wrote it after he died. But, unfortunately, since the winners write the history books and since Judas died before he could tell us if he wrote this before or after he died, we'll never know.

Comments

[Sandra Miesel]

For the Real Truth about Judas, trty one of Dan Brown's major sources, THE WOMAN'S BOOK OF MYTHS AND SECRETS by Barbara Walker. I can't begin to do justice to the febrile ferrago of nonsense presented under the entrty "Judas."

[Jackson]

My illustrious local paper, the L.A. Times, today published the following article on the front page, above the fold, under the heading "Judas Is No Traitor in Long-Lost Gospel." This is the same paper that recently relativized the Religion section by changing it to the "Beliefs" section. Anyway, you'll see that in this article there is only one negative comment (and even this is qualified) amid a cascade of praise for the wonderful new Gospel:

http://tinyurl.com/n4t9b

The father of lies is working overtime these days.

[boinkie]

Here in Asia, NGAsia has two commercials back to back...one about the special on the GofJ, implying this destroys the conspiracy (hmmm I wonder who did the conspiracy?) and distortion (Hmm Guess who distorted) abuot Judas.
The second is about Mohammed, which discusses him in pious tones about how he changed the world for the better...
Someone needs to dig up the two and compare them...
nope, no bias here, folks.