The Judas Gospel: Old dog in a new collar!
First, it’s the Da Vinci Code (and it isn’t over yet since the movie will hit the theaters on May 19). Then, last Holy Week, National Geographic released a documentary on the so-called “Gospel” of Judas. It seems we Bible-believers are under siege and there is no sign that there would be a ceasefire!
That should not be a surprise at all. The Bible prophesied times like this will come. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:3-4, NIV)
The supposed “hidden truths” that these works revealed are nothing but a rehash of old lies. For example, the Judas Gospel was a Gnostic document. Gnostics (from the Greek gnosis, which means “knowledge”) erroneously believed we “could become divine as Christ himself.” (The Judas Gospel, National Geographic Magazine, May 2006 issue, page 88) But that is what the devil said to Eve when he tempted her: For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. (Genesis 3:5) Talk about an old dog in a new collar!
Thus despite the fact that people will reject the truth Paul commanded Timothy: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. (2 Timothy 4:2) And it is our responsibility as believers to “contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.” (Jude 3)
That’s why on the first Sunday next month, May 7, I will be speaking in our English Worship Service on Decoding the Da Vinci Code. Also, this coming Thursday (April 27), 730PM, I will be talking about the Gospel of Judas in our Young Pro Fellowship. I encourage you to invite friends and relatives. Dr. George Barna, known from his intensive, research-based seminars for church leaders, believes that the “reach and slant of The Da Vinci Code will raise countless opportunities for open discussion of such matters. Christians who recognize and engage those moments of opportunity can do much to advance the cause of truth.”
Our purpose, to borrow the words of well-known author and speaker Dr. Josh McDowell, “is to reinforce Christians’ belief and placate their skepticism. If you look carefully, truth will always stand. I look at the book and the movie as a platform for evangelism. A little controversy can be a marvelous tool.”
Brethren, come and see that the old dog has no bite at all!
That should not be a surprise at all. The Bible prophesied times like this will come. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:3-4, NIV)
The supposed “hidden truths” that these works revealed are nothing but a rehash of old lies. For example, the Judas Gospel was a Gnostic document. Gnostics (from the Greek gnosis, which means “knowledge”) erroneously believed we “could become divine as Christ himself.” (The Judas Gospel, National Geographic Magazine, May 2006 issue, page 88) But that is what the devil said to Eve when he tempted her: For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. (Genesis 3:5) Talk about an old dog in a new collar!
Thus despite the fact that people will reject the truth Paul commanded Timothy: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. (2 Timothy 4:2) And it is our responsibility as believers to “contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.” (Jude 3)
That’s why on the first Sunday next month, May 7, I will be speaking in our English Worship Service on Decoding the Da Vinci Code. Also, this coming Thursday (April 27), 730PM, I will be talking about the Gospel of Judas in our Young Pro Fellowship. I encourage you to invite friends and relatives. Dr. George Barna, known from his intensive, research-based seminars for church leaders, believes that the “reach and slant of The Da Vinci Code will raise countless opportunities for open discussion of such matters. Christians who recognize and engage those moments of opportunity can do much to advance the cause of truth.”
Our purpose, to borrow the words of well-known author and speaker Dr. Josh McDowell, “is to reinforce Christians’ belief and placate their skepticism. If you look carefully, truth will always stand. I look at the book and the movie as a platform for evangelism. A little controversy can be a marvelous tool.”
Brethren, come and see that the old dog has no bite at all!
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