Goeie Vrydag is Christus wat ons vasspyker - Wilhelm Jordaan

Wilhelm Jordaan reflekteer oor Goeie Vrydag in sy rubriek in die Beeld van verlede week.

Judas-text: gospel or spin (News-Leader)

Wat gaan die langtermyn impak wees van die Judas Evangelie? Nie veel nie, meen 'n bekende geleerde ...

Ever since Charles Hedrick was first shown the Gospel of Judas in 2001, the internationally recognized expert in Christian origins says, "Judas has really complicated my life."

The professor emeritus from Missouri State University has been sought out for his thoughts and opinions about the book since the English translation was made public last month of the third-century document about Jesus' betrayer.

His prediction about the writings?

"Six months from now, people will forget all about it," he said.

Beyond Passion: Living a Crucified Life (Next Wave)

Noudat lydenstyd verby is moet ons vra wat die betekenis en invloed daarvan op ons lewens is. Jeremy Del Rio antwoord hierdie vraag ...

Now that the furor's dissipated and another Lenten season invites further reflection, the fervor that surrounded the film begs several difficult questions: Why did the world have to wait for a Hollywood epic to glimpse Christ's passion? Didn't He challenge those who would be disciples to take up our crosses daily? Didn't He charge us to model for unbelievers His incarnated love?

In other words, shouldn't Christ's passion be demonstrated tangibly everyday in our homes, communities, workplaces, and schools through our obedience of Him? Shouldn't, then, Mel's movie and other artistic statements like it, more appropriately serve as reminders of His love and not revelations of it?

Da Vinci poster taken off church - BBC News

Defusing the Message of a Hollywood Blockbuster - Washington Post

Hoe moet ons as Christene reageer op 'n fliek soos "The Da Vinci Code" - wat o.a. die boodskap dat alles wat ons oor die Bybel geleer is leuens is uitdra - reageer. Deur protesoptogte en boikotte? 'n Beter idee is dalk om dit te gebruik as 'n gespreksgeleentheid. Sien wat se met soos Josh McDowell hieroor ...

As a conservative evangelical leader, Josh McDowell is one of the last people you'd expect to urge young Christians to see "The Da Vinci Code," the upcoming movie based on the phenomenally best-selling novel. After all, the book argues that Jesus sired a line of royalty before he died on the cross -- Mary Magdalene being pregnant with his child -- and that it was covered up by religious leaders through the centuries.

But McDowell, author of "The Da Vinci Code -- A Quest for Truth," not only urges a trip to the theater, but also advises everybody to read the novel by Dan Brown.


The popular book argues that Jesus sired a line of royalty before he died on the cross and that it was covered up by religious leaders.

Then, he says, read his book.

"I don't attack Dan Brown. I don't attack the book," says McDowell, who is on the staff of Orlando-based Campus Crusade for Christ. "Let's see where fact leaves off and imagination begins. It's a marvelous opportunity to be positive. The main purpose of my book is to reinforce their belief and placate their skepticism. If you look carefully, truth will always stand."

McDowell and Campus Crusade, a worldwide ministry with more than 20,000 staff members and volunteers, seem to have accepted this truth: The movie, starring Tom Hanks and set to open May 19, almost certainly will be a blockbuster. So instead of fighting the wave of popular culture or urging a boycott, Campus Crusade is pushing McDowell's book, which is aimed at young moviegoers and tries to spin their interest in an evangelical direction.

Die Wederkoms, weer en weer. . .

Christo Lombaard, verbonde aan UNISA gee hierdie vars perspektief op die wederkoms van Jesus.

As dit moeilik gaan met gelowiges, vra hulle opnuut die vraag: Maar wánneer kom Jesus? Die bestaan van die hele Nuwe Testament is al onder meer daaraan toegeskryf, dat hierdie wederkomsverwagting teleurgestel is. Byvoorbeeld: sowat ses dekades ná Jesus se dood, onder groot vervolging, is hierdie vraag weer ánders beantwoord, deur die Openbaring-boek: in 'n groot eindstryd sal God-en-goed die Bose-en-swaarkry vernietig. Toe kom dié eindtyd ook nie . . .

Deur die kerk-eeue heen is dikwels gedink, maar híér's daai tyd nou. Nóú gaan dit so moeilik, dit móét die einde wees. Maar nog is dit het einde niet.

In die afgelope twee of drie eeue, die era van denke en wetenskaplikheid, moes hierdie Jesus-vraag weer anders beantwoord word, juis omdat Hy bly wegbly. Een van die meer gewilde maniere waarop nou 'n antwoord gegee is, was deur 'n ou gedagte te herwin: Jesus kom baie keer. Naamlik: élke keer wat iets goeds gebeur, wat iemand iets goeds doen, dáár kom Jesus mos weer.

Die kerk is toe nie 'n gebou nie

Dit is die mening van Stephan Joubert in die rubriek Godsdiens-Aktueel in vanoggend se Beeld

Die kerk se grootste gevaar is om al hoe meer na binne gekeer te leef.

Kyk maar net waaraan bestee kerke die meeste van hul tyd, energie en geld, en waarop fokus hul voltydse personeel hul energie. Gaan dit oor selfinstandhouding, of oor die konkrete uitleef van die e vangelie?

Kortom, is gemeentes se bedienings primêr ingestel op die transformasie van die samelewing volgens die Bybelse bloudruk? Word gelowiges effektief toegerus om die kerk op die regte maniere relevant in die wêreld te maak, daar waar Jesus die meeste van sy tyd op aarde deurgebring het? Watter kerkmense se beste vriende is tollenaars en sondaars, soos wat dit die geval met Jesus was? Of is kerke maar net 'n klompie lewensvreemdes wat ver weg van die "bose wêreld" agter oorvol kerk programme en -vergaderings skuil?

Die kerk, soos wat die Bybel dit verstaan, is in die eerste plek mense van vlees en bloed, nuwe mense met Jesus se klere én kleure wat sy lewensgeur elke liewe dag op elke moontlike plek by elke ander mens is. Kerkwees gebeur in die daaglikse lewe teen die spoed van 24/7.

Nee, die kerk is toe nie 'n gebou nie. Kerkgeboue is hoogstens die gimnasiums, die geestelike oefenplekke van die Here se mense, maar dis nog nie die kerk self nie. In kerkgeboue kom gelowiges gereeld saam om toegerus te word. Daar sak hulle weekliks in die wegspringblokke, maar die resies word elders gehardloop.

Kyk mooi. In die strate, hospitale, sportvelde, skole, huise en gehuggies lê Jesus se voetspore rond. Ons moet Hom maar net van agter inhardloop en kyk wat Hy daar doen.

Religious views differ on Gospel of Judas (Belleville News-Democrat | 04/23/2006 )

'n Interessante perspektief op die Evangelie van Judas van hedendaagse Gnostici, die groep wat die evangelie in die eerste plek geproduseer het.

When National Geographic unveiled the Gospel of Judas earlier in April, the narrator in the accompanying television documentary announced: "It tells a different story. One that could challenge our deepest beliefs."

The gospel portrayed a Judas who simply carried out his master's orders -- and did not betray him.

But for Gnostics, a small branch of Christianity, that so-called revelation was a confirmation of a long-held belief that there was more to Judas and the crucifixion story than the four Gospels of the New Testament suggest.

"Gnostics were inclined in this direction for a long, long time," said Bishop Stephan Hoeller, of the Gnostic Society.

The society was founded in 1923, he said, and the church, Ecclesia Gnostica, was started in 1956.

"The notion that Judas was this terrible villain ... that has never really been accepted in Gnosticism," Hoeller said.

Da Vinci Code' tale affects Christian beliefs in N America

Hier is iets oor die moontlike invloed van 'n boek soos The Da Vinci Code op mense se geloof.

According to the IPSOS poll results declared yesterday, 78 per cent of people in the United States and 73 per cent in Canada believe in the central Christian story that "Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected to eternal life."

But 13 per cent of Americans and 17 per cent of Canadians hold that Jesus' death on the cross "was faked", and that, as portrayed in the best-selling novel "The Da Vinci Code," Jesus was also married and had a family, according to the poll.

God is the new drug of choice for today’s young rebels - Sunday Times - Times Online

'n Interessant artikel wat die toenemende soeke na die spirituele onder die postmoderne mense bevestig.

‘When I look back, I suppose that Ben’s conversion to Christianity was quite gradual really, but he’s definitely fallen hook, line and sinker now,” says Ellen Parker, a teacher from Surrey and a lifelong agnostic. Her son Ben is in his mid-twenties and has been a devout evangelical Christian for a few years. It is a situation about which Parker feels deeply ambivalent.

Never say die : Mail & Guardian Online

'n Baie interessante perspektief op Jesus se opstanding deur Cedric Mayson - van die ANC se kommissie vir religieuse sake - wat in sy persoonlike hoedanigheid skryf.

We are children of Darwin, the Big Bang and the global village and we need a new vision: we cannot survive on 19th century religion. The idea of a Christian God in the sky, and heaven “up there” is dead to those who know about a round Earth in space, and inter-faith. It is time for a new religious dispensation based on the Jesus story to free us from inherited concepts that lead us astray.

In fact, a new resurrection of human insight is happening. Jesus simply cannot be confined to the inherited ideas of colonial churches, and is too crucial a human being to represent a bone of contention between Jews or Muslims or atheists. The language of George W Bush or Blair or Israeli extremists or Osama Bin Laden is the language of crucifying soldiers.

If Jesus, the Prophet and Karl Marx sat down together today they would talk about Earth not heaven, and of the way to justice, peace and full humanity for all, and they would surely reach agreement that worshipping Mammon the God of Globalised Greed makes most people poor; Jesus proclaimed that the vital force of God on Earth lay in the heart of a cooperative human community, within which a uniting, holistic experience of vision, values and skills takes place. That was the way to peace and prosperity, justice and love. We are in the middle of a major reconstruction of faith, a new reformation, a unity in diversity, a secular spirituality, which demands the rediscovery of such a Jesus.

'Da Vinci Code mysteries are no match for Gospel truth' - Britain - Times Online

Die Aartsbiskop van Kantelberg - die hoof van die Anglikaanse Kerk - Dr Rowan Williams, se reaksie op die Evangelie van Judas en Dan Brown se The Da Vinci Code.

t had become customary, he said, to mark Christian festivals with “a little flurry of newspaper articles and television programmes raking over the coals of controversies about the historical basis of faith”. He added that the Church’s position within the Establishment meant that it was mistrusted.

Modern society was fascinated by conspiracies and cover-ups, he said. Biblical texts were treated “as if they were unconvincing press releases from some official source, whose intention is to conceal the real story; and that real story waits for the intrepid investigator to share it with the waiting world.

“Anything that looks like the official version is automatically suspect. Someone is trying to stop you finding out what really happened, because what really happened could upset or challenge the power of officialdom. It evokes Watergate and All the President’s Men.

The truth, Dr Williams said, was more prosaic. “The Bible is not the authorised code of a society managed by priests and preachers for their private purposes but the set of human words through which the call of God is still uniquely immediate to human beings today, human words with divine energy behind them.”

The Gospel truth? Biblical scholars question relevancy of new Judas document North County Times - North San Diego and Southwest Riverside County News

'n Lang artikel oor die Evangelie van Judas in 'n Amerikaanse koerant.

The recent release of a 1,700-year-old manuscript that conflicts with the traditional Easter story of Judas' betrayal of Christ is being dismissed by some theologians and scholars as irrelevant to the Christian faith.

"It is a Christian heresy, and church fathers spent years dealing with this stuff," professor Peter Jones of Westminster Seminary in Escondido said about the Gospel of Judas.

Pieces of the document are missing, but enough remains to give a picture of Judas as a collaborator, rather than a betrayer, of Jesus.

...

The announcement of the manuscript's discovery may have left laymen believing Judas had been exonerated and his gospel would take its place alongside those of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. But theologians quickly responded that the ancient document should not be seen as a new revelation about the Passion of Christ.

Onwaarheid in artikel oor Bybel

'n Brief van Sakkie Spangenberg in reaksie op die artikel oor die apokriewe boeke van die Bybel.

Teen die einde van die artikel Bybelse aanvullings - Verbeeldingsvlugte van die vroeë Christene (12 April) staan die volgende sin: "Die Ou Testamentiese apokriewe bied onder meer insig in die tydperk vanaf 400 jaar voor Christus waaroor die Bybel swyg".

Hierdie stelling is van alle waarheid ontbloot. Die boek Prediker is in die jaar 250 v.C. geskryf en die boek Daniël tussen die jare 167 en 164 v.C.

Die Protestantse Ou Testament swyg allermins oor hierdie tydperk en die Katolieke Ou Testament nog minder.

Die Apokriewe boeke van die Bybel

'n Artikel oor die apokriewe boeke van die Bybel.

As jong seun het Jesus sy pa, Josef, gehelp om houtwerk te doen.

Op 'n dag was Josef besig om vir 'n ryk man 'n bed te maak. Een van die onderdele van die bed was 'n kruisbalk. Daarvoor moes hy twee stukke hout hê wat ewe lank is. Maar die een stuk hout wat hy gehad het, was te kort.

Toe Jesus sien wat die probleem is, het hy vir sy pa gesê om die twee stukke hout neer te sit sodat die punte aan die een kant gelyk is. Jesus het aan die ander kant gestaan, die kort hout se punt geneem en dit gerek totdat dit net so lank as die ander een was . . .

Dít is een van die verhaaltjies wat vertel word in die Kindheidsevangelie van Tomas, een van die talle Nuwe Testamentiese apokriewe boeke (boeke wat nie in die Bybel opgeneem is nie) wat onder vroeë Christene in omloop was.


Prof. Jan van der Watt, mede-samesteller en skrywer van die boek Apokriewe Ou en Nuwe Testament wat einde verlede jaar verskyn het, sê baie verhale van die Nuwe Testamentiese apokriewe was verbeeldingsvlugte van vroeë Christene wat "leemtes" in die Bybelse evangelies wou aanvul.

In die Bybel lees 'n mens baie min oor Jesus se kinderjare. Daarom het mense allerlei verhaaltjies geskep oor wat tydens Jesus se kinderjare sou gebeur het. Dié verhale sou ook opvattings oor Jesus bevestig.

Om kerk en staat uitmekaar te hou

Amie van Wyk se artikel in die rubriek Godsdiens-Aktueel in vanoggend se Beeld.

Al kan ons Bonhoeffer se deelname aan die tiranmoord nie goedkeur nie, bly sy moedige optrede teen 'n politieke diktatuur 'n ligbaken in 'n see van onreg en staatsabsolutisme. Soms is dit nodig om juis téén jou volk standpunt in te neem ten einde vir jou volk te kies.

Geen wonder nie dat baie mense Bonhoeffer vandag beskou as 'n nuwe soort martelaar, 'n politieke, eerder as kerklike martelaar.

Navorsers wys daarop dat die politieke keuse wat Bonhoeffer gemaak het ('n tiranmoord) polities naïef was.

Daarby staan só 'n keuse op gespanne voet met die navolging van Christus. Christus het Hom nie in isolasie teruggetrek soos die Essene van sy tyd nie, maar Hy het Hom ook nie by die gewelddadige verset van die Selote geskaar nie. Hy het die bevrydende weg van die koninkryk van God gekies waar Hy sy lewe vir ander afgelê het en só die mag van die Bose verbreek het.

Dit is die effek wat Paasfees op mense het: die kruis van Jesus maak jou bereid om te ly (vir wat reg is), sy opstanding maak jou opstandig (teen alle onreg) en sy opwekking laat jou opgewek lewe.

My search is over : Mail & Guardian Online

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'n Uitreksel uit 'n artikel van Mary Ovenstone waarin sy haar geestelike reis en uiteindelik terugkeer na die Christelike geloof beskryf.

The Ways of Opus Dei -- Apr. 24, 2006 -- Time

Hier is 'n uittreksel uit 'n artikel oor die Opus Dei in die nuutste uitgawe van TIME Magazine. Dit is die organisasie wat deur Dan Brown se boek, The Da Vinci Code, beroemd (berug?)gemaak is.

The Ways of Opus Dei -- Apr. 24, 2006 -- Page 1: "In early March, Elizabeth Heil, an arts-administration graduate student at Columbia University, was watching previews in a movie theater on Manhattan's Upper West Side when she cracked up inappropriately. The trailer was for the movie The Da Vinci Code, directed by Ron Howard and scheduled to open May 19, and it featured a grim-faced fellow uttering Christ's name repeatedly and then--wham!--whaling away at his already bloodied back with an Inquisition-issue cat-o'-nine-tails. It was not an intentionally funny scene. But Heil, who was familiar with the book on which the movie is based, recognized the figure onscreen as the albino assassin Silas, a fanatical, murderous member of a bizarre Catholic group called Opus Dei, and couldn't suppress a giggle. She is a member of the actual Opus Dei. 'This is so outlandish,' she recalls thinking. 'I wish we were that interesting.'

The Da Vinci Code's Opus Dei--a powerful, ultraconservative Roman Catholic faction riddled with sadomasochistic ritual, one of whose members commits serial murder in pursuit of a church-threatening secret--is obviously not reflective of the real-life organization (although author Dan Brown's website states the portrayal was 'based on numerous books written about Opus Dei as well as on my own personal interviews'). Yet in casting the group as his heavy, Brown"was as shrewd as someone setting up an innocent man for a crime. You don't choose the head of the Rotary. You single out the secretive guy at the end of the block with the off-putting tics, who perhaps has a couple of incidents in his past that will hinder an effective defense.

The Ways of Opus Dei -- Apr. 24, 2006 -- Time

Hier is 'n uittreksel uit 'n artikel oor die Opus Dei in die nuutste uitgawe van TIME Magazine. Dit is die organisasie wat deur Dan Brown se boek, The Da Vinci Code, beroemd (berug?)gemaak is.

The Ways of Opus Dei -- Apr. 24, 2006 -- Page 1: "In early March, Elizabeth Heil, an arts-administration graduate student at Columbia University, was watching previews in a movie theater on Manhattan's Upper West Side when she cracked up inappropriately. The trailer was for the movie The Da Vinci Code, directed by Ron Howard and scheduled to open May 19, and it featured a grim-faced fellow uttering Christ's name repeatedly and then--wham!--whaling away at his already bloodied back with an Inquisition-issue cat-o'-nine-tails. It was not an intentionally funny scene. But Heil, who was familiar with the book on which the movie is based, recognized the figure onscreen as the albino assassin Silas, a fanatical, murderous member of a bizarre Catholic group called Opus Dei, and couldn't suppress a giggle. She is a member of the actual Opus Dei. 'This is so outlandish,' she recalls thinking. 'I wish we were that interesting.'

The Da Vinci Code's Opus Dei--a powerful, ultraconservative Roman Catholic faction riddled with sadomasochistic ritual, one of whose members commits serial murder in pursuit of a church-threatening secret--is obviously not reflective of the real-life organization (although author Dan Brown's website states the portrayal was 'based on numerous books written about Opus Dei as well as on my own personal interviews'). Yet in casting the group as his heavy, Brown"

'n Nuwe verhaal oor Judas Iskariot

'n Artikel deur Piet Muller in vanoggend se Rapport oor die Evangelie van Judas.

Is it all piety in the sky? : Mail & Guardian Online

Vir 'n bespreking oor twee boeke deur ongelowiges oor die ontstaan van godsdiens en geloof by mense, sien hierdie artikel in die Mail and Gaurdian. Dit bied baie interessante perspektiewe wat ons as gelowiges gerus in gedagte kan hou.

The age of despair : Mail & Guardian Online

In hierdie insiggewende artikel bespreek Molefe Tsele, politieke adviseur van die premier van Noordwes en 'n voormalige predikant wat in sy persoonlike hoedanigheid skryf, die stand van die Christelike geloof in Suid-Afrika.

Far from being ready for the age of hope, therefore, it can be said that Christianity in South Africa has entered an age of despair. The irony is that the churches are fuller, the crowds at rallies are getting bigger, and the flock is growing. But the agenda has become doctrinal rather than action for change. And this is where the source of my concern lies. If the Church is to enter the new age of hope, it must adopt a new mission. Surprisingly, this mission is not entirely foreign to the Church -- indeed it can even be said to be its original mission. The core of that mission is to become a community that promotes the full realisation of the ideal of a humane life characterised by dignity and by respect for others, and within which members live a life of servanthood to others.

Sadly, Christianity in its current state, obsessed as it is with its self-importance and self-righteousness, concerned with its glory and greatness, misses the point of its existence. The source of its greatness, and indeed of its hope, is in returning to the simple message of its teacher.

Die Evangelie van Judas

Hieronder is 'n paar skakels na berigte wat in die internasionale pers verskyn het oor die Evangelie van Judas, wat onlangs ontdek is. Dit is 'n produk van 'n tweede-eeuse sekte, die Kaïniete, wat al die slegte karakters van die Bybel as helde voorstel. In hierdie evangelie word Judas, wat Jesus verraai het, voorgestel as iemand wat 'n heldedaad verrig het. Jesus sou hom versoek het om dit te doen sodat Hy van sy aardse liggaam ontslae kan raak. Hoewel die manuskrip wat ontdek is, wel eg is, is dit duidelik dat die gebeure wat in hierdie evangelie beskryf word, fiktief is.

Document Is Genuine, but Is Its Story True? - New York Times

New York Times

The Gospel of Judas: "Was the betraying kiss a kiss of love?"

Bucharest Daily News

No revelations in Gospel of Judas - The Boston Globe

Boston.com News

Nothing new in bid to rehabilitate Judas

ABS CBN Interactive