Judas Iscariot, gospel or treason? e-Pentagram Volume 5.1 Jan 2011

e-Pentagram Volume 5.1 Jan 2011

Lectorium Rosicrucianum

Judas Iscariot, gospel or treason?

Gospel means glad tidings. In the New Testament of the Jewish-Christian Bible,four of these gospels are included in the form of mythical stories about the resurrection of the human being, the journey home of the prodigal son.They have no historical value whatsoever, but refer exclusively to processes in the human being and aspects of developments in the human soul. As Hermes says to Tat: ‘You ought. O Soul, to get sure knowledge of your own being, and of its forms and aspects. Do not think that any one of the things of which you must seek to get knowledge is outside of you; no, all things that you ought to get knowledge of are in your possession, and within you.1

The importance of self-knowledge

Numerous gospels, treatises, revelations and other kinds of writings circulated during the first centuries of our era. Some of them were rooted in much older texts from Egypt and even from India, others originated from that time. Their content varied considerably, from well-known apocryphal texts like The Gospel of Truth, The Gospel of the Holy Twelve and The Gospel of Mary to, for example, The Gospel of the Magical Arts, The Gospel of Jesus the Sun, The Gospel of Helena (Emperor Constantine’s mother), The Teachings of Peter, The Letter of Seneca to Paul, to thirty six scrolls that were called Acts and were written by a man called Fabricius.

The four familiar gospels from the Bible were compiled at a later date and adapted by unknown writers by order of those who, at the time, tried to create a basis for their Church. These and other gospels were not written by historical persons called Judas, John, Mark,Thomas, Mary, Phillip, or whatever name they may have had. There isn’t any proof for this. The names given to the canonical writings were derived from the names of the apostles of Jesus and these gospels were then ‘marketed’ by the Church as original manuscripts.

Around 475 AD, a presbyter called Theodoret, supervised the establishment of churches in Rome, and he wrote the following about the widely diverging Christian texts: ‘I have also found myself more than two hundred such books in the churches which have been received with time; and having gathered them all together, I caused them to be laid aside, and introduced in their place just four Gospels for the bishops to use. 2

Many Church authorities knew that these writings were falsifications, but nevertheless called them ‘divine’. This was actually openly admitted. Bishop Victor from Tunnunum in North Africa, who died around 569 AD, said: ‘In the consulship of Messala, at the command of the Emperor Anastasius, the Holy Gospels, as written by Idiota Evangelista (meaning the evangelists themselves), are corrected and amended. 3

 

   The betrayal of Christ by Anthony van Dyck

A guide for the psyche.

The original Gnostic texts may be interpreted as descriptions of stages of consciousness,states of growth, understanding and realisation, and of life experiences symbolised by names of persons,countries, regions or cities with a particular meaning, but which, in fact, all occur within the human being at a certain moment. The way back to original divinity can never be placed outside the human being.

In short, the gospels contain a description (or parts thereof) of the prodigal human being on the way back to his fatherland. 

This is a quest and a path of development of the human being with three phases: John-Jesus-Christ. In other words, of the purified (physical) human being, the soul figure and the spirit-soul human being. Or, put differently again,the path of development of seeking, realisation and resurrection. It is a path that leads right through all natural, inner and spiritual resistances. And any human being, who asks himself honestly who he is and what he is doing on this earth,experiences the voice of his conscience at the appropriate moment. Then, for a brief moment, the divine spark gets some space in the prison of this material life, and the universal light power, which we call Christ, illuminates his heart.

Every human being then also experiences the anger of his imprisonment,of Herod, whom he also carries within himself, but also the power of a Baptist and of Jesus.

Every human soul suffers under the oppression of matter, but must nevertheless seek the origin of this suffering in his own self. Then he also sees the Pharisees and the other scribes, the countless blind, cripples, beggars and lepers. He discovers that the tax collectors and whores also live in him, and also Pilate,Saul, Peter, John, Mary, and Judas who must sell Jesus to the world. 

For the human being who can grasp it, the meaning of the gospels is clearly etched in his soul. But who is able to do so,who knows himself and therefore his true nature, his soul? Who possesses such inner wealth? Perhaps a humble path of experience and purification, and conscious of being deprived of this original knowledge, offers an opening for the current human being to gain this insight and this maturity.

At this moment, between 30 and 60 apocryphal gospels are known in the Christian world ^ depending on the way we count them  in addition to the four canonical gospels. The Gospel of Judas has once again turned the theological world upside down. From various statements in dailies and weeklies, it is nevertheless evident that everybody is trying to explain this find, which defies all previously taken points of view, to their own advantage. Quite a bone to chew on by the theologians!

The official point of view is that these Coptic texts, according to experts translated from Greek, were found in Egypt around 1975 and ever since traveled the world as adventurous merchandise for the highest bidder, until they were bought by an American foundation in 2005.

Shortly before Easter 2006, the texts have been published as the rediscovered Gospel of Judas. It is indeed a rediscovery,because they purportedly must already have been known by the persecutor of heretics, Irenaeus of Lyon, as his manuscript Adversus Haereses (Against heretics) from 180 AD shows,in which he discards them as a fraud,because they did not fit the politics of the developing church. The Gospel of Judas was most likely known already in 120 AD. 5 It concerns one of the many ‘heretic’ Gnostic writings from original early Christianity that were banned by the Church.

Mythical Christianity was turned into a personified story, Jesus into a martyr and God into an almighty man in heaven. Like everywhere else in history, it is the account of the victor,because all Gnostic groups and dissident thinkers from the beginning of our era were persecuted, eliminated, murdered and their writings destroyed or confiscated.
What really happened was something entirely different.Since the middle of the last century,the truth about this is brought to light, both literally and metaphorically, ever more clearly and rapidly. An example is The Gospel of Judas, probably found already in 1947 in Al-Minya in Central Egypt.

Again glad tidings, showing that Judas was apparently not a traitor and that, therefore, the so-called holy church fathers must have tampered a lot with the texts of the other gospels to make it appear so.The meaning of Iscariot is explained by some as derived from Keriot (a place near Hebron),while others say that Judas was born in the distant land of Iscariot,where the Iscariotites lived,who, like the Canaanites, lived in seclusion and formed a rather isolated Jewish-Gnostic group.

The flight of the feathered serpent

In 1953, The flight of the feathered serpent was published in Mexico, a book that, partly in the form of a story,throws an entirely different light on the,very often misunderstood, significance of Judas Iscariot in this very special Christ drama. On the whole, it is probably no less important than the recent texts on Judas Iscariot published with so much ado. The question remains if the author of this book had any knowledge of these texts. A few passages from this remarkable book are quoted below 6:

‘Jesus said to Judas concerning the other disciples: ‘‘They are sleeping peacefully,because they found a part of what they were seeking. But you, Judas,have not found yours and your cup will be bitter in drinking. Yet, your reward will be great in heaven. A great storm will come over all of us and there will be unrest in peaceful hearts. But yours will be tossed to and fro in its loneliness and will only find peace in the joy of the Lord when the law has been fulfilled’’.’

‘Jesus spoke to Judas: ‘‘My kingdom is not of this world. If it were so, I would already have worn a crown on my head more splendid than that of Solomon. But you will see me crowned in the way the world crowns every Son of Man. On that day you will weep, but the flood of your tears will be a hidden stream in the greatest depth of the water of the rivers; one that ^ instead of flowing to the sea ^ leads to a source lying higher than the mountain tops. In that stream you are living and through that stream you will serve, to enable others to sail also upstream of the river of fate’’.’

‘An unimaginably great light surrounded us (up to three times). And I, Judas,heard great words of truth, spoken in the kingdom of heaven. I knelt at the feet of my rabbi and said: ‘‘Now I know who you are.’’ But my rabbi put his hand over my lips, looked at me lovingly and said: ‘‘Judas, beloved of my heart.

Remain silent of what you have seen,for my hour has not yet come. It is necessary that fate be fulfilled and you will help me accomplish it.’’ Many beautiful words of truth he imparted to me,without speaking them with his mouth,but so that afterwards they were etched into my heart.’

‘Jesus spoke: ‘‘Judas, from now on I will call you my friend. Yet, the world will understand with difficulty who you are in reality and in spirit. But the hour has come for me to wash your feet. For concerning the things that must come quickly, every human being has the choice to react in two ways, that is, to accept his servitude consciously or to resist it. The human being prefers to deny the truth, so as to see only one aspect of God. And mistakenly he then starts to believe that he knows Him in His entirety. But you and I will now fulfill righteousness just as all righteousness of the Father must be fulfilled.Happy is he who can understand what now lies in your heart, Judas’’.’

‘Blessed are you, my rabbi, Son of God. For you are the ‘‘yes’’ to humanity,whereas I am the ‘‘no’’. I now see you as the light that drives away the darkness. I will be your reflection in that darkness in the human soul, so that they will know which path to follow and which one to avoid...’

‘Rabbi, rabbi of my heart. I see the night approach and how I will have to lose myself in the darkness for man to be saved. Hand me this cup if it is your will and that of our Father who is in heaven. Help me to endure the agonies awaiting me.’

‘And when he reached me his hand with the sop invitingly, I accepted it. His eyes looked at me compassionately and mine were bathed in tears because my soul trembled of fear. Full of compassion he said to me: ‘‘What you must do, do it quickly’’.’

The story continues by telling us that he is of different blood than Jesus. He was made of clay, of the dust of the earth, as Genesis 2 expresses it. In his heart, he longed to heat his clay to become a pure vase for the great unseen.

He had tasted in his heart the kiss of eternity.How remarkably similar  particularly with regard to their meaning  are these words from 1953 to the words of the recently rediscovered Gospel of Judas, in which Jesus says to Judas: ‘You are the disciple who has truly understood me. You will surpass all the others (disciples). For you must sacrifice the man that covers me 8.

 

   The Kiss of Judas at the Assisi Church Fresco

The necessity of treason

In the 1970 ’s, J van Rijckenborgh says in an article in the monthly periodical De Topsteen (The Topstone), a predecessor of the current Pentagram, about King Arthur and his twelve knights that it is always necessary that one knight plays the role of traitor. In the Arthur legend, this role has been assigned to Mordred. Just as in the gospel, also in pre-Christian religious history a Judas figure always fulfils a very necessary role. ‘It is therefore really necessary,’ J van Rijckenborgh explains, ‘that the human being begins to understand this activity of the higher, new life. The Arthur legend, just as the Christ drama,must be placed in the life of the individual human being.’ The author continues: ‘He or she who wants to become an Arthur or Jesus human being, must, fully aware of his task and calling and at the right psychological moment, have the courage to say to Mordred/Judas, while seated at the round table with his twelve knights/disciples, that is, in his private life field with its twelve active forces: What you want to do, do it quickly....

Thus it is Judas who leads his master to Golgotha, and hangs himself after this work is accomplished, that is to say,turns himself to higher good, just as in esoteric philosophy the sorrow of the twelfth house becomes the passage to the new birth in the first house....

The most characteristic property of earthly nature is self-maintenance. For the human being who tries to make higher life serve his ordinary ambitions for salvation,one of the twelve knights/disciples has to forge the link. Higher life gives itself captive, resulting in the death of Mordred/Judas. Earthly nature loses and ruins itself through self-maintenance.

In the Arthur story, the king is wounded and must withdraw to Avalon. Avalon means, I will return.Orthodox Christianity expects the second coming of the Christ in the distant future, but the human being who is going to look into God’s depths,knows that this second coming is, cosmically,a daily event in the clouds of heaven, and individually in the respiration field, when he evokes this power in whatever way.....

The concept of a ‘‘round table’’ refers to an esoteric-scientific process, in which the candidate, together with the twelve pairs of cranial nerves that control the entire physical body, begins to work consciously with the twelve soul powers, begins to eat consciously of the bread of the Presence and is prepared to call up the powers of the Holy Spirit for breaking up his dialectical life.....

Thus the myth of the round table becomes an encounter of the candidate with his twelve disciples in a specific phase of his spiritual development,in which will be spoken emphatically and powerfully: what you want to do, do it quickly 9.

In the book The Living Word by Catharose de Petri, the Judas mystery is expressed as follows: ‘The more you grow,the more you will become aware of the appalling power of delusion. Just as Judas betrayed Jesus to the scribes, so the delusion is one of the twelve forces on your path of life, and this force will continually betray you until you see through its essence to the fullest extent.

Then it will flee like Judas, and, relieved of its pernicious influence, you will once again tie yourself to delusion to collaborate in the liberation of humanity of which you are an inextricable part.

If you cannot give up Judas, if you cannot release yourself from delusion,you will continue to rotate within the circle of your twelve possibilities. But should you succeed in liberating yourself from that, the broken link will form the possibility for the ascent to a higher spiral of life.

See here the greatest victory next to the deepest disillusionment.This is a struggle every human being who wants to realise Jesus the Christ in his deepest self will have to live through.It is perhaps not a coincidence that the texts of the Gospel of Judas recently (re)appeared on the scene, now that humanity must demonstrate in this beginning Age of Aquarius, whether it has discovered and understood the true knowledge in his soul.

After 2000 years, we seem to be ready for it again. Perhaps we may say that the time has come in which humanity learns to understand this. Yet, only those who in their daily inner life are true followers of Jesus the Christ, will be able to unveil and experience this mystery within themselves. In this context, it is also important that a human being realises that the divine light impulse of this era, which carries the name of Christ, can only be realised in his heart, in his soul. As long as experiencing Christianity by humanity is external,the significance of Judas Iscariot will certainly remain a great mystery.

 

   The Kiss of Judas by Caravaggio (1602)

Notes:

1 HermesTrismegistus, De Casigatione

Animae, Cap. 12, verse 5, (transl. byW. Scott).

Hermetica, vol. IV, Clarendon Press,Oxford,

1936.

2 Tony Bushby,The Crucifixion of Truth.

Joshua Books, Maroochydore, Australia,

2004, p. 175.

3 Ibid, p. 175.

4 Ibid, p. 48-49.

5 Interview with prof.Hv Oort by L Dros in

daily Trouw, dated 6-4-2006.

6 Translated from theDutch text of: Armando

Cosani,The Flight of the Feathered Serpent.

7 www.wikipedia. org/heresy

8 Interview with prof.Hv Oort by L Dros in

daily Trouw, dated 6-4-2006.

9 Address by J van Rijckenborgh, De Topsteen,

1979.

10 Catharose de Petri,The LivingWord, chapter

39. Rozekruis Pers,Haarlem,TheNetherlands,

2000.

 

   The Kiss of Judas by Cornelis Engebrechtsz

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   The Kiss of Judas by Giotto - Scrovegni Chapel, Padua

Photos by me :)