Word: 2nd
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...painted Judas Iscariot as the ultimate sellout. But a 1,700- year-old papyrus copy of a document called the Gospel of Judas, unveiled by the National Geographic Society last week and previewed in TIME (Feb. 27 issue), presents a radically different view. Authored no later than the 2nd century by Christians whose beliefs were later deemed heretical, the gospel portrays Judas as a favored disciple and says his role in "sacrificing" Jesus' physical being ("the man that clothes me") elevates him above other Apostles. Most scholars see Judas less as a competitor to the biblical canon today than...
...separate unit of the fractious militia as he speeds past one of the checkpoints. A pickup truck overflowing with gunmen toting AK-47s roars up from behind. Their shirts are emblazoned with the name of one of the country's most formidable armed groups: MAHDI ARMY, PROTECTION COMMITTEE, 2ND BRIGADE. As they approach the army checkpoint, no one makes a move; instead of confrontation, there is acknowledgment. A militia member waves from the pickup, and a soldier sheepishly waves back. With that, the gunmen barrel through...
...they gathered prayerfully in a mosque. Soon pictures showed bloodied bodies broken and prone over prayer mats, without a weapon in sight (U.S. army photos showed the exact opposite; dead men, weapons draped, not a prayer mat to be seen). Any military success the men of the 1st and 2nd Battalions, 1st Iraqi Special Operations Forces Brigade had was quickly swamped by a political and propaganda firestorm...
...rather, see the 31-page papyrus tractate. Provocatively titled The Gospel of Judas, the alleged Coptic Egyptian translation of a 2nd century manuscript promises to be a kind of Da Vinci Code--style everything-you-know-is-wrong thrill ride. According to its holders, the text will be unveiled this spring for the first time in at least 1,500 years. If your Coptic is rusty, there will be an official translation, and a National Geographic TV special in late April, they say. (Geographic declines comment.) You'll have eminent co-viewers: scholarly interest reaches up to the Vatican...
...most influential one elaborating Joseph's story was a 2nd century text called The Protevangelium of James. Its story runs, in part, like this: the girl Mary, herself the product of a miraculous pregnancy, grows up in the great Jewish Temple receiving food from the hand of an angel. But as she approaches puberty, she can live there no longer, and the High Priest searches for a chaste caretaker to look after her. Under divine guidance, he collects the wooden staffs of all the widowers of Israel and prays over them, awaiting a sign. One by one he returns each...