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"Teaching God's Word to God's World"

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The Following is an Excerpt used by Permission from “PREACHING NOW “

Vol. 5 No. 14

The breathless coverage of the Gospel of Judas would make one think that a truly remarkable discovery had taken place.

 

Actually, the document -- though certainly an ancient artifact of interest for its historical value -- has no impact at all on our view of the Church or Christian theology. It is one more old Gnostic document (there are several others), written a century or more after the New Testament documents, aimed at trying to attract converts away from orthodox Christianity and toward the Gnostic cult groups that the church had already rejected as heretical.

 

But the way the media has played this up suggests there may be a market for future such "discoveries" that can be arranged. What about these:

 

The Lost Paul Revere Document, a letter in which Paul Revere reveals that he wasn't really crying out "The British are coming" as he rode through Lexington and Concord. He was actually crying out "The skittish are coming!" in order to announce the arrival of some nervous Bostonians on an outing. The confusion contributed to the beginning of the American Revolution.

 

The Lost Book of Luther, in which we learn that the German monk never intended to post "95 Theses" on the church door. It was supposed to be a list of "95 Recipes" for use in next Sunday's Dinner on the Grounds. The confusion contributed to the Protestant Reformation.

 

The Lost Rick Warren letter, in which we learn that he never intended to wear a Hawaiian shirt to worship, but the dry cleaner failed to make his normal Saturday delivery. The confusion contributed to a dramatic decline in men's suit sales.