You need to know two things about me before reading this review:


1) I haven't been to church since the early 90's.
2) I view studying religion as an educational thing, not a spiritual endeavor.

With formalities out of the way, I will also confide in you that I was doing mental cartwheels the day the folks at National Geographic announced this special was coming out. I would lie in bed at night musing over all of the possibilities of the discovery. A found gospel that no one has ever read before! Something that has the possibility to change history! Something that is going to anger a lot of people! I have no life! Weee!

Anyhow. In total geek form I skipped hanging out with some friends to rush home and watch National Geographic's two-hour special on the Gospel of Judas. If you aren't someone who pays for 500 channels of cra...I mean quality television, you can sleep easier knowing that our good friends at National Geographic have released the special onto a DVD. Just when you thought life couldn't get any better, here I am to tell you if you should buy it or not!

The short answer would be: Probably not, but worth watching in that, "it is free on tv" or "rental copy" sense.

The long answer will not disclose any spoilers.

(Unless you don't know that Judas was the guy that betrayed Jesus, or that in this version Judas is made out to be the good guy, which is why they made a special on it in the first place. That information falls into "climb out from the rock you hide under" territory. )

Judas, even 2,000 years later, still inspires a lot of emotion in people. It should go without saying that if you are or fear being offended, or having your faith disturbed by the findings in this new gospel, then you should either not watch it at all, or procure yourself a copy to burn.

If you have a genuine interest in how the gospel went from box in a cave to crumbled pieces that needed to be reconstructed, and you really hate reading books, then this is the special for you. I actually watched the special twice, so I can tell you that it is interesting enough to sit through repeated viewings. The GOJ follows basic documentary style of, "Lets show you the re-enactment, and then cut to the expert either dismissing the re-enactment or talking more about it."

If you are a teacher and want to show this to a class, I highly recommend doing so.

The GOJ is not really for the person who has read every single book on Gnostic gospels, or has a thorough understanding of Christian history. If you are one of those people, you are a better geek than I am and I would love your phone number. The special focuses on very basic history and would be a great introduction to people who have never heard of things such as the Dead Sea Scrolls or the Nag Hammadi library. Between the sordid tale of how the GOJ came to be in the hands of the National Geographic folks, you will get a short lesson on the foundations of Orthodox Christianity and why the GOJ was such a rare find.

I liked most of the experts, and commend NG for finding a wide range of people to speak to the gospel and it's significance. One of my favorite parts of the special, however, comes at the end when they are asking people if the GOJ will make an impact on Christianity and Dr. Robert H. Schuller from TV's "Hour of Power," says something to the effect of, "Why do I need to know anything more about Jesus than what is in the Bible?" Then his eyes widen, he gets this Cheshire-Cat grin, and he looks slightly insane, and his voice booms as he says, "I mean, WOW!" I would almost consider buying the DVD just to take that part to my friends because it is simply surreal and out of context with the rest of the soft-spoken experts.

The problem, or rather marketing genius, of the special is that they spend a good hour and forty minutes telling you all about the history and science of the gospel and only a few brief scenes on what the gospel actually says and it's relevance to Christianity. They tell you in the first few minutes that the big reveal in this gospel is that Judas was asked by Jesus to betray him, so you watch the rest wondering if there is something else important that this gospel wants us to know. You get a few brief scenes with this unbelievably hot guy playing Judas (Yes, yes I did just say that and there is nothing you can do about it.) speaking with Jesus in Aramaic (because you can't have Jesus without Aramaic anymore- Mel Gibson will find you and decapitate you.) and then they cut back to a few more experts telling you that you should or shouldn't buy into any of it and roll credits! It's done! Over! A document so important that they had several press releases on it, and I couldn't really tell you what it says.

I am sure this is on purpose, because guess what the first words I spoke to my boyfriend were before he went off to work?

Get your mind out of the gutter.

"Hon, I need you to pick me up the Gospel of Judas book on your way home, thanks!"

However, because this is a review of the special and not the book, you will have to go through the same tribulation that I did, and send someone you know and love out for your copy that will allow you to get your own dirty looks from stangers while reading it on a bus.

In closing, the best advice I can give the average person is to rent it, and then read the book. If you rent it and feel you cannot live without looking at the hot guy playing Judas, or just want something other than Girls Gone Wild to show your friends, then feel free to order your own copy.

You can learn more about the gospel from the official site: http://www9.nationalgeographic.com/channel/gospelofjudas/index.html

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older