I listened to the book on CD version of this title. At first, it took some getting used to the particular accent of Desmond Tutu, the narrator. But I would say that after a minute or two I had adjusted to his cadences and diction. In fact, by the end of this book, I would say that he was the perfect narrator. He brought life to the story and the characters. I was raised in a Christian tradition and am familiar with the Bible's content and teaching. It was fascinating to see this take on both Christ's ministry and its portrayal of Judas. I found the story to be highly credible as a possible alternative to the story recorded in the traditional Gospels. The story is told in the third person, so while one does not hear Judas's inner thoughts, it is still interesting to read the account given by Benjamin his son. The book is officially co-authored and includes Prof. Francis J. Moloney as one of the authors. I read in one comment on this book that he made sure that the story written by Mr. Archer was credible not only to the modern reader but to one in the first century A.D. If this is so, then I would say that he did an excellent job. The particular plotline involving a gullible Judas being led astray by the Jewish religious leaders was very plausible. I thought that it might have been gilding the lily though when he was the only apostle present as Jesus was sentenced by Pilate. However, the idea that the women following Christ were the ones who stayed faithful even amid this tumult was an insightful, and probably true, observation. The conclusion of the book where Benjamin seeks out his father among the Essenes was perhaps the most interesting of the entire book. It made me wonder--many of the apostles had families that they left behind. How was that perceived by their families and the culture at large? Was this accepted? Who became the breadwinner in such a case? I suppose the extended family unit came to the rescue. All in all, a worthwhile read, especially if you are familiar with the traditional Gospel stories.
Bestsellerforfatteren Jeffrey Archer har skrevet en fri gendigtning af Judasevangeliet i et troværdigt leje i samarbejde med den katolske teolog, Francis Maloney.Judas får her lov til at forklare sig. Han mente, at Jesus var en stor profet men ikke Messias. Judas blev ført bag lyset af en skriftklog, så det kom til at se ud som om Judas havde forrådt Jesus. Hans plan var at frelse Jesus, så han kunne have fortsat sit profetvirke.Historien er nedskrevet af Judas' fiktive søn Benjamin Iskariot. Judas fremstår som en i høj grad tragisk figur. Hvis det virkelig var Judas' skæbne, fremstår Judas i lyset af den kristne tro i et lettere ironisk skær.Man får et udmærket indblik i hvordan en en oprindelig tilhænger af Johannes Døberen kunne se på Jesus. Der er mange gode tidshistoriske indsigter.Fortællingen flyder i et let bibelsk inspireret sprog.Udgaven kunne godt være lidt mere videnskabelig og tydeliggøre forbindelsen til det oprindelige Judasevangelium, der kom frem i 2006.
This is not exactly what I expected, but was still interesting. The first half of the book just basically copies and pastes stories from the gospels, with a very slight point of view. The 2nd half posits a different theory about Judas that I did actually find pretty compelling. Judas becomes a Lucifer-like figure, whose love for Jesus overpowers all else, and the "betrayal" is actually a set-up by a scribe, with Judas thinking it could save Jesus' life. The audiobook was read by Desmond Tutu, which gives a real air of authenticity. Tutu reads very well.
—Ted
I made it chapter 12, the turning to Jerusalem, before I had to give the CDs back to the library. I may get it back one day; I like the measured cadence of the archbishop's reading, and I don't know that I would really want to go through this book in print, which is rare for me. While it's kind of interesting, I find it irksome that one of the main selling points of the book is that it's so good at "maintaining an authenticity that would be credible to a first-century Christian or Jew." Well, duh, because 3/4 of the part that I read is lifted from the Gospels (mostly Matthew and Luke) with expansions of Old Testament references. To be honest, it feels somewhat plagiaristic so far, and I couldn't care less about the frame narrative of this being written by Judas' son. That, so far, does nothing for the story itself. But hey, I haven't finished it, so maybe it gets better.
—Jen
This was an excellent little book...a morsel to encourage contemplating how mankind so easily needs to find someone to "blame" when bad things happen. I've always felt Judas has been such a misunderstood man. He was a devout Jew....I do believe that he was possibly set up to take the fall as the guy that gave Christ to be crufified...was this really the case? After reading a number of non-fiction books about this issue, this little book gave me a refreshing look at a possible scenario that developed..while developing the story line using quotes from the bible, it packs a thought provoking punch in to it's short under 100 pages. Highly recommend this one!
—Raegan Rocco
