Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity

Elaine Pagels is the Harrington Spear Paine Foundation Professor of Religion at Princeton University. She is the author of several books, including Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity, the New York Times bestseller Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas, and The Gnostic Gospels, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and the National Book Award. Professor Pagels lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

Karen L. King is an American academic specializing in Gnosticism and early Christianity. She was the Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Harvard Divinity School from 1998 to 2008, and succeeded Harvey Cox in 2009 to become the first woman appointed to that school’s distinguished Hollis Chair, the oldest endowed chair in the United States.

The historical figure of Judas Iscariot is one of deep paradox--he was one of Jesus's handpicked followers, yet he is also the archetype of betrayal. Elaine Pagels and Karen King are both highly regarded yet unorthodox academics, from Princeton and Harvard, respectively. The professors attempt to recast the fallen disciple using the initial translation of the Judas document recently unveiled by the National Geographic Society. Justine Eyre reads the commentary, and Robertson Dean delivers the Judas material. Both try to create an air of reverence, but it ultimately falls flat under the weight of the dense Gnostic theology. Although audibly agreeable, the content overwhelms all but the most enthusiastic listeners. S.M.M. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine