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But the recently-discovered Gospel of Judas does actually mention some mystifying aerial marvels directly linked to him. Ironically, modern UFO groups cling to their views with such determined prejudice that a new type of intolerance appears to be emerging in the analysis of the UFO phenomenon.
Some devotees of the Old Testament think that visitors from the skies or the heavens may be the "sons of God" desiring the daughters of men to breed a race of Nephilim - or fallen angels. Many conservative fundamentalists feel that anything whatsoever coming down from heaven is truly demonic, unless it´s the Messiah in white robes, suspended in a cumulus cloud. Most of those celestial views were formulated during the Middle Ages and have not progressed at all since then, despite the dawn of human space travel.
Non-religious UFO enthusiasts on the other hand think that intelligent extraterrestrials are from either the planet Venus or Mars, the constellation Pleiades, or even the center of the Earth - depending on whether their goals are friendly or hostile. Some adherents of modern quantum theory now imagine that UFO activity may be from other dimensions or the unseen pathways of time travel. Each group clings to its views with such determined prejudice that a new type of bigotry or intolerance appears to be emerging in the analysis of the modern UFO phenomenon.
Some fundamentalists think that the Bible is totally inerrant. Even a single confirmed "error" could destroy their belief system and make the Bible seem imperfect. But this, of course, only goes to show how weak some people´s faith can be - regardless of how much they brag about it. Yet if the Bible is indeed inerrant, does it mean that its many translations are also incapable of error? I once discovered a small typographical error in a King James Version. Does that make the Bible irrelevant? Inerrancy of the Bible refers only to the original, signature copies of each book, as written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek.
Bible translators and scholars continuously argue over the exact meaning of individual passages. But there is no way we can be sure which translation is the most accurate one. Inevitably, there will be a few erroneous translations, which means that all translations are not inerrant - and some can even be misleading. No Bible translation is free of bias. Even the author of Revelation emphasized that fact:
For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life. (Revelation 22: 18-19)Obviously, if that ancient writer strictly believed in the inerrancy of the Bible, he would never have included the above warning. Consequently, even Revelation cautions us that the modern Bible we have with us today is not inerrant. So just how accurate is it? We can reasonably suppose that it is fairly accurate, perhaps more than 95%, assuming there were some "ordinary" source uncertainties, grammatical errors, copying mistakes, etc. But there is also the disturbing matter of the exclusion of certain books:
The Bible used by Jesus, his disciples, and the early Christian movement was the Septuagint (a.k.a. LXX). This was a Greek translation from the original Hebrew. It included a number of books that are commonly called the Apocrypha. These books appear in the translations of the Bible used by Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and some Anglican churches, but have been deleted in the translations used by Protestants and most Anglicans. One reason for this rejection was a passage which implies the existence of Purgatory. Thus, the range of books in the Bible which are to be considered inerrant is open to debate among Christians. ("Problems with Biblical Inerrancy," ReligiousTolerance.org, Feb 6, 2006)If there is a slight percentage of inaccuracy to the modern Bible, what parts might it be in? Is it a significant inexactness or can it be disregarded? The story of Judas Iscariot presents one challenging question. According to some passages in the New Testament (Matthew 19:28 and Luke 22:30) Jesus guaranteed his twelve apostles - including Judas - they would "sit on twelve thrones" judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Did Jesus make a mistake when he made that important promise to Judas? If so, could he have also made other errors of judgment that we need to know about? And why didn´t the authors of the Gospels finally "edit-out" or clarify those unreliable passages when they sat down to write the New Testament?
During the 1970s, a leather-bound Coptic papyrus (Codex Tchacos) was discovered in Egypt. It appears to be a text from the 2nd century A.D. describing the story of Jesus´ death from the perspective of Judas. It is considered to be the only known surviving copy of the Gospel of Judas. The papyrus was kept in a safety deposit box for several years and began to deteriorate before conservators restored it. More than 1,000 pieces had to be reassembled. The material was to be donated to the Coptic museum in Cairo, Egypt, so it would be available to all scholars, said Ted Waitt of the Waitt Institute for Historical Discovery, which helped finance the restoration. In addition to radio carbon dating, the manuscript was also authenticated through ink analysis, multi-spectral imaging, content and linguistic style and handwriting style, National Geographic reported.
Elaine Pagels, a professor of religion at Princeton University, said, "The people who loved, circulated and wrote down these gospels did not think they were heretics."
Added Rev. Donald Senior, president of the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago: "Let a vigorous debate on the significance of this fascinating ancient text begin."
Senior expressed doubt that the new gospel will rival the New Testament, but he allowed that opinions are likely to vary.
Craig Evans, a professor at Acadia Divinity College in Nova Scotia, Canada, said New Testament explanations for Judas´ betrayal range from money to the influence of Satan.
"Perhaps more now can be said," he commented. The document "implies that Judas only did what Jesus wanted him to do."
Christianity in the ancient world was much more diverse than it is now, with a number of gospels circulating in addition to the four that were finally collected into the New Testament, noted Bart Ehrman, chairman of religious studies at the University of North Carolina. (CNN: "Text might be hidden Gospel of Judas," The Associated Press, April 7, 2006)
Like an offshoot of the wolf in sheep´s clothing fable: "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep´s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. (Matt. 7:15), the Codex Tchacos manuscript suggests, "Satan entered into Judas´ clothes." This may simply be interpreted that Judas was possessed by a demon. But a closer reading of the existent text, as presented in October 2006, shows that Judas Iscariot may have been "set up."
In a key passage Jesus tells Judas, "You will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me." This supposedly indicates that Judas would help liberate the spiritual self by helping Jesus get rid of his physical flesh, according to some scholars. But "the man that clothes me" may have a far more profound meaning than that.
Let´s consider for a moment the prospect that Judas was in fact "set up" to be a scapegoat. How could it have happened? One possibility is that Judas didn´t make a deal to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, but was abducted or kidnapped instead - and his clothes were taken from him. In this rendition, the idea of Satan entering into Judas´ clothes becomes more than just a metaphor, but a literal reality. Who would have wanted Judas´ clothes? The man who killed Jesus Christ would have. It is often said that the Bible always solves its own riddles, and this is certainly no exception. But before I tell you exactly who the murderer of Jesus Christ was, please allow me to build up the suspense in what is without a doubt the world´s greatest murder mystery.
The man who took Judas´ clothes knew that Jesus was among twelve other men, but he needed a shrewd approach to get close enough to personally identify Jesus beyond a doubt. So he posed as a familiar yet out-of-the-way "friend" of Jesus even before abducting Judas by force. In fact, everyone in the local community knew this man who alleged to be a well-known sympathizer of Jesus, and most of the people even trusted him: "Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me." (Psalm 41:9) An idiosyncrasy of ancient dress codes was the wearing of veils and wax masks among the Romans. As people do in modern-day Japan, those suffering from "common flu symptoms" such as coughing and sneezing often wore veils or respiratory masks. It was merely a custom of polite etiquette.
Let´s go now to a place outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. A man carrying a jar of water leads us to a house and some stairs to a chamber known as the upper room. The Mystical Supper is the Last Supper of Jesus Christ. Twelve men are seated around a table, but Judas is late. All of a sudden, the deafening noise of horses and chariot wheels surrounds the house. One of the men looks out of a window and sees below him an entire Roman cohort of approximately five hundred soldiers encircling the courtyard. It´s over, he thinks to himself and looks sadly at the others.
The sounds of footfalls reverberate up the stairs and the door is flung wide open. Judas Iscariot is standing in the dusty doorway, with a hood covering his head and his face partly concealed by a veil. He brashly coughs twice to announce his arrival. In the narrowly lit view behind him, bright colors of Roman banners and unclear shapes of furious horses pass by with a turbulent clamor. It´s over, another man thinks to himself and lowers his gaze to the table. The Masked One will not be staying very long - only for a few minutes as a matter of fact - until he is convinced which among the twelve is Jesus. And then it will be over.
"One of you will betray me," Jesus says to his guests. And here we have a further mystery. (Why didn´t he just say his name?) Perhaps he´s not Judas, one apostle thinks to himself and leans toward another. "The devil has entered into Judas´ clothes," he softly whispers. The men become exceeding sorrowful, and begin every one of them to say, Lord, is it I? And he answers and says, "He that dips his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me." (Matthew 26:23). The mystery continues. (Why didn´t he just say his name?)
The Masked One takes care to leave the door wide open in case he might need to take flight. But there will be no reason for that. He dips his hand in the dish, avoids eye contact with the others and after a few long minutes - it is finally over. The Masked One leaves as quickly as he arrived. In the courtyard below, Roman soldiers applaud at his out-coming, safe and sound. In a matter of hours Jesus Christ will walk outside the house and be taken captive.
It was that easy. But the world´s greatest murder mystery is not solved yet. When the twelve men leave the house in the evening, the soldiers do not immediately arrest Jesus. They allow him to go to a place less populated where the Masked One can single him out without provoking the wrath of the local people. Jesus goes to the brook of Cedron, where there is a garden in a place called Gethsemane. The Masked One, with the Roman cohort and officers, then comes there with lanterns and torches and weapons. The Masked One gives them a sign, saying, "Whomever I kiss, he is the one, seize him."
But Jesus asks him, "Friend, why are you here?" (Again, why didn´t he just say his name?) Then the other men surge forward, take hold of Jesus, and arrest him. But before that can happen, there suddenly appears a certain young man, having a linen cloth around his naked body; and the soldiers grab him: But the young man leaves the linen cloth, and flees from them naked. (Mark 14:52 ) This episode is one of the most mysterious instances of the New Testament and still has not found a satisfactory explanation. Some scholars believe the naked man (Neaniskos) was the disciple Mark. Others say it was Jesus somehow "meeting himself" from the future. But the most reasonable answer, according to our contemplation, is that he was Judas Iscariot, whose clothes had been taken from him by the Masked One. Judas made a frantic attempt to break away from his captors and warn Jesus of the danger, but was captured once more - and finally murdered in what appeared to be a suicide. The nature of his death is still a great unknown. In the New Testament, Judas is said to have died by hanging himself (Matthew 27:3-10), or by bursting open after a fall (Acts 1:16-19). But a man can´t kill himself twice.
Now let´s imagine the famous coach of a football team training the world´s best players for the Super Bowl. But something suddenly goes wrong - far worse than a "wardrobe malfunction." Not only does the quarterback fumble and forfeit the game, he also sends his coach to a dreadful death and at length commits suicide in the locker room. What kind of training would that be? A total scandal, would it not? But we´re not talking about a football trainer. We´re talking about the greatest teacher that ever lived. And to believe that Jesus Christ was so incompetent that his closest apostles revolted like thugs is a disgrace to one´s own pathetic faith in him. To imagine that Mark (or any friend of Jesus) would strip naked and go "streaking" before Jesus Christ at the very hour of his incarceration is shameful to say the least. Yet this is just what most biblical scholars put forward. Remember, "the man that clothes me" might have an overwhelming meaning. Maybe Judas Iscariot was the very first martyr of Christendom, cursed and loathed for over two thousand years by so-called "pious believers" without justification. Why didn´t he just say his name?
Since the Bible solves its own riddles, who was the Masked One? There is only one mention of such a shady character in the entire scriptures: "The eye also of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguises his face." (Job 24:15) Who was the most notorious adulterer in the Bible? He was Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee who was a son of Herod the Great. Antipas ruled Galilee and Perea as a client state of the Roman Empire. Antipas was married to the daughter of King Aretas IV of Nabatea. However, while visiting his half-brother Herod in Rome (another son of Herod the Great), he desired sex and nuptials with one of his own relatives. She was his half-brother´s wife, Herodias, who was the granddaughter of Herod the Great. Compelled by Herodias´ daughter (Salome) for her glamorous dancing, the kiss of Antipas soon became the Masked One´s kiss of death.
According to many historians, the family of Herod the Great was not entirely Jewish because it was commonly publicized that he took a foreign wife named Malthace from Samaria. Antipas therefore ought not to have been the ruler of Galilee. But Jesus was a direct descendant of King David and was more worthy of that designation. Antipas probably viewed Jesus as a dangerous threat to his authority, although he politely pretended to be a friend of Jesus and in public wished to witness a miracle. The parable of the "Good Samaritan" was so captivating in its day because it stood out against Herod Antipas, the Bad Samaritan. The indictment in Revelation 2:9 against "them which say they are Jews, and are not," was a direct reference to the Herodians or immoral Samaritans who had unlawfully seized the kingdom.
The Bible solves its riddles in enigmatic ways. If we were to say that Sean Connery was James Bond, what we really mean is that he "played the role" of secret agent 007. Likewise, if we say that Elizabeth Taylor was Cleopatra, we mean that she "performed" as the legendary queen of Egypt. But when the Bible says: "Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you," (Revelation 2:13) most scholars assume it refers to an unknown bishop of Pergamon (without historical proof), and not a possible double meaning that Herod Antipas "played the role" of Judas Iscariot as a true martyr (the only one cited in Revelation). Pergamon was also a figurative name for the assembly of false Jews (Samaritan Herodians). But if you still have persistent doubts about the Masked One´s true identity, the Bible solves it directly with an in-your-face divulgence:
Just at that time some Pharisees approached, saying to Jesus, "Go away, leave here, for Herod wants to kill you." And he said to them, "Go and tell that fox, ´Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I reach my goal.´ (Luke 13:31-32)
After all, Herod Antipas ruthlessly murdered John the Baptist to disguise his face from adultery with the wife of his half-brother. Jesus was the last obstacle that stood in the way of Antipas´ guarantee of power. If you think Antipas was really a familiar friend of Jesus, please yourself. If you think Jesus lied when he promised that Judas would be among the twelve at the Last Judgment, do what you want. If you think Jesus was such a flawed teacher that his closest apostles revolted like gangsters, make your own mind up. If you think a true companion of Jesus would strip naked and frolic in the garden as his Messiah was being led to death, suit yourself. But if you feel "the man that clothes me" could have an awe-inspiring meaning, please keep in mind the first martyr of faith without bigotry.
Intolerance of UFO Opinions
The name of Judas Iscariot has become so closely connected with the religious hypocrite through the ages, that it seems almost unfeasible to establish his role within the UFO experience, as, for example, Ezekiel and his vision of the Merkebah heavenly vehicle, or Elijah and his ascent into the sky-chariot. But the Gospel of Judas fragments do actually mention some mystifying aerial marvels directly linked to him:
"Step away from the others and I shall tell you the mysteries of the kingdom," Jesus says to Judas, singling him out for special status. "Look, you have been told everything. Lift up your eyes and look at the cloud and the light within it and the stars surrounding it. The star that leads the way is your star."The above passage suggests that Judas is spiritually linked to a particular star or luminous entity that directs an even larger assembly of corresponding radiant objects. If we perceive it within the familiar UFO paradigm, his is the flagship of a fleet. The connotation is that his "star" is the divine throne upon which Judas was promised to sit and judge a part of mankind on the day of resurrection.
The discovery of the Gospel of Judas will certainly affect the way that our future human race will relate to him. Optimistically, the bigotry and ignorance of past generations will give way to a broader appreciation of Judas´ role as an intimate apostle of Jesus Christ. Perhaps the extreme dislike spewed out against him will one day be psychologically transferred to the Masked One, who more logically warrants the abhorrence. After all, that´s what the Day of Judgment is for - to correct unfairness and to remove undue discrimination. But until that happens, most people will probably carry on as they are, without a change of spirit until it becomes compulsory.
But the religious communities need to acknowledge one fact: they have failed in the interpretation of the scriptures. For if they had delivered the correct interpretation, the world would be a far better place today. Instead, we see our sons and daughters driven away from God at an alarming rate. Whose fault is it? Medieval ignorance disguised as modern faith - also known as "fundamental retardation" - is partly to blame.
It is no coincidence that fundamental retardation was most prevalent in parts of the world where individual rights were abused and human beings were treated as "property" because of their race or skin color. They even tried to use the Bible as a pretext for abduction and slavery. But if that were true, the God of Moses would never have liberated his people from the slavery of Egypt´s pharaoh. The mission of Jesus Christ is to free mankind from oppression, not to endorse it with the brazen stipulations of fundamental retardation. Yet perhaps the most tragic falsehood of bigotry is how it lacks comprehension in the most central issue - specifically the very "name" it claims to uphold. What name will you call upon when the planet Earth is ravaged by cataclysm and upheaval?
Across a busy highway, a pastor spoke out to his congregation. In an adjacent cloakroom, a teenage couple spruced up before entering the place of worship. Suddenly a stirring thing happened. A large painting on the wall shifted on its hook and leaned to the right.
"It moved," the teenage girl said and clutched her boyfriend´s arm.
"Do you think that´s what Gee wiz really looked like?" her boyfriend asked while gazing at the full-size portrait of a blue-eyed man with long blonde hair and a crimson beard.
"Of course," the teenage girl replied. "That´s Gee wiz."
In point of fact, it was not a picture of Gee wiz. Around five hundred years ago, the world´s cruelest pirate, Khayrad´din Barbarossa, also known as Redbeard, commissioned an artist to produce several likenesses of him in the cunning semblance of a prophet. The canvases were circulated in medieval Europe with no names or captions to perplex and bamboozle the select few. The aloof blue eyes of Redbeard looked down at the house of materialism that had so utterly damaged modern faith. Graven images were no longer irksome enough to raise objections. The shrines were finalized into enormous "retail stores" that sold oxen and sheep and doves. The moneychangers´ tables were doing after-hours business there.
The social Darwinists argued that natural selection operated in society as well as in nature - that the rich were rich because they deserved to be so, and the poor were poor because they were undeserving. Thus, any attempt to tamper with the "survival of the fittest" (a phrase coined not by Darwin but by the British philosopher Herbert Spencer, the father of social Darwinism) was really a battle against nature itself. Some of the social Darwinists were atheists, but others were liberal Protestants, like the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, who attempted to reconcile faith with evolution. Beecher argued that just as the survival of certain species in nature proved their fitness, the accumulation of wealth proved the greater "fitness" of the rich in society - and the greater fitness of rich societies in the world order. (Susan Jacoby, "Darwin The Disturber," Newsweek, February 12, 2009)
When world governments began releasing secret UFO files to the public, many people began to suspect there might be something very real behind it. After all, why would governments spend so much time and money to study mere figments of the imagination? Would they do so much to investigate rumors of leprechauns or unicorns? Why were military directors always at the front of UFO investigations? Were they merely pocketing the taxpayer´s money, or were they preparing for an attack?
A UFO scare was sparked after the police were flooded with calls about a fleet of ´spaceships´ invading the coast of Britain. Thousands of people spotted the bright orange orbs off the Channel coast at Brighton. Police and air traffic control centres were inundated by reports of the strange spectacle, the Daily Express reported. Shocked witness James Gordon-Johnson said: "I hadn´t been drinking. I was sceptical about UFOs before but this has changed my mind. "I saw this big orange light in the sky. Then another one appeared in mid-air. Then another. And another." (Riddle of UFO ´invasion,´ Evening Standard, November 28, 2006)
The creatures reported by witnesses in connection with UFO sightings vary from perfectly human to strange reptilian beings. Some of the reports even suggest that the beasts are not living creatures, but cybernetic organisms or robots that perhaps are guided by voice-activated control systems.
"What name will you call upon?" the air force commander demanded his pilots. "If they really are voice-activated, and Gee wiz doesn´t work?"
"We saved you for last," Came a resonant tone from a large bright object ascending from the sea. "Because you´re easy and...Ease-Sues, Who-Wrist-Owes."
What name will you call upon - when the demons of Abaddon, the angel of the Abyss, finally plague the Earth like a swarm of locusts? Not his German name, not his Spanish name, not his English name, but the sacred name of his baptism, recorded in our earliest extant manuscripts. But you don´t really know that name, do you? You never cared to learn it. Ease-Sues, Who-Wrist-Owes. Surely you can say the name of a Moslem terrorist, or the name of a dead Iraqi dictator. But the name of One´s baptism, spoken by John in the river Jordan, you cannot say. It wasn´t important enough to the admirers of fundamental retardation.
"Easy ride? Take them away," buzzed the voice-activated cyborg machines. "Take them by the wrist..."
Well, he must o´ thought that is quite a joke"Gee wiz, I didn´t know that was his name."
And it got a lot of laughs from a´ lots of folk,
It seems I had to fight my whole life through.
Some gal would giggle and I´d get red
And some guy´d laugh and I´d bust his head,
I tell ya, life ain´t easy for a boy named "Sue."
("A Boy Named Sue" sung by Johnny Cash, Shel Silverstein, 1969)
"It moved," the teenage girl repeated and clutched her boyfriend´s arm again.
Consequently, devotees of fundamental retardation usually lack understanding in the most basic matters of meaning, yet they celebrate over minor features - as if the Bible was originally written to instruct them about deep space transmissions, geological chemistry, mechanical engineering, or molecular biology. Ignorance is their main intention. If they can simulate intellect with one book, why study a library of documents? But in the end, they couldn´t catch the name that they claimed to endorse.
Now there is shouting and fighting in the streets. When the armies come, the people flee. Already many have proclaimed that God the child is dead. But look. The Truth has arrived and the Masked One is revealed.
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