The Confessions of Judas

I added this to my bookshelf because the idea interested me and I am always game for a read about a more controversial subject. I read the other comment you were given and I also read your reply and so felt I had to write myself to give my opinion. I have just started to become more aware of the stories revolving around Jesus (thanks to my boyfriend) and now I often question religion and the bible. I am neither religious nor atheist, I am open minded either way and I believe that we should all have the right to explore what has been commonly regarded as 'the truth'. Your book has added to my curiousity so I thank you for that.

'The Confessions of Judas' is probably the most controversial 'novel' in the history of Christian literature.

Hi Michael, Quite a good work of fiction. I think one would be hard press to prove the Vatican had this type of document in their possession. It is an unusual read and I back it. Harold Alvin(ICON)Wesley

Fascinating. You employ a very good use of first person and your prose is fluid and gripping. Well done.
Carl
The Time hUnters

I was drawn to this for seveal reasons, one the title - and then the subject matter. I lalso ove everything that comes from a differernt perspective on events such as these. It's the sort of book that sparks questions and debates as everyone has their own opinions.
Also makes a change change to Dan Brown!
Backed
Cat
Judas Kiss

Simply a great read!

Lockjaw

Michael,
I can well understand why this was published as it is a hugely strong premise and the writing is immediate and engaging. It all seems perfectly plausible as well - the betrayal of Jesus by Judas always rings a strange chord and your rendition has a ring of truth about it. Your writing style is simple yet manages to be both stylish and subtle. I love the spider opening, the panning out to the confines of the tomb/cell and the inner dialogue of a man considered the lowest of the low, left alone with his thoughts. Then you take us back to his childhood and we're off, caught in the web of a master storyteller. I would happily continue reading this were it not on screen.
My only quibble is concerning your use of exclamation points. There are a lot and they somehow seem to cheapen the read a little; they seem out of place in your otherwise hugely elegant and controlled prose.
Very minor quibble though and I am backing this with great enthusiasm. You're a fine writer, unafraid of controversy and with the ability to make cogent points within the framework of a novel. I'll read your other work in due course.
Jared.

I've lost track of the backings I owe, but I read your first chapter; brilliant. We deal with the same subject but your writing makes mine look pedestrian.

Cliff

The Confessions of Judas uses an old [as in George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman papers and the like] but still effective trick of introducing the narrator's account of historical events as a form of diary or confession that has been rediscovered. This does catch the reader's interest, and the book builds on that with skill as the opening chapters unfold. The style and idiom are convincing in the context of the period, as are the descriptions of culture and environment. This is a well written story that flows well and is easy to read. backed.

Historical and religion-based fiction? Win-win! Backed.

I like this. Is different. I love that it seeks truth and raises questions.
Backed
T.L Tyson-Seeking Eleanor

I think it would help to draw readers in if you wrote a proper pitch. Few of us have time to read a whole book, so the pitch at least gives us clues about where the story is going, and thus enables us to read the first few chapters in context. That said, I've picked up in the fact that this is another book in the very topical genre which challenges religion, and having read Dawkins, Hitchen, Dennet et al, I applaud any book whicih raises issues, and challenge religious orthodoxy, so this gets my vote. Backed, Best wishes, Tony.

A terrific read, beautiful prose. The Gospel quotations at the start of each Chapter are apt.
Frank

I'm a Catholic...a Sicilian one...call me if you ever feel like confessing.
Backed.
Love the Dali painting you use for your cover its absolutely stunning in life...painted in his later years after he turned to religion after a life without it...

Oh, but I do like this.

Adelie High (Naming Names)

Do you know, this seems incredibly familiar.... I absolutely love it... and actually think I may even have it somewhere on one of our (very many) bookshelves.... How long ago was it in print?

of course I'll back it....
Jane
WALKER

Now off to look at your profile and other books properly. ;)

It was published in 1994 by Brandon Books Ireland. The title was then 'The Lost Testament of Judas Iscariot'.

Do you know, this seems incredibly familiar.... I absolutely love it... and actually think I may even have it somewhere on one of our (very many) bookshelves.... How long ago was it in print?

of course I'll back it....
Jane
WALKER

Now off to look at your profile and other books properly. ;)

What a brilliant opening - it really is so well written - the whole concept is excellent and the writing is top drawer, really atmospheric. It is almost as interesting as your life story which you could also write and would be good. Well done, i will read all of this because i soak up these types of books and this is an excellent one.
Backed with pleasure.
Chris (inside out)

Thanks Chris. You can also read the book here - with pictures! -
http://money-free.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-confessions-of-judas-1

What a brilliant opening - it really is so well written - the whole concept is excellent and the writing is top drawer, really atmospheric. It is almost as interesting as your life story which you could also write and would be good. Well done, i will read all of this because i soak up these types of books and this is an excellent one.
Backed with pleasure.
Chris (inside out)

Religious controversy! Heresy! Blasphemy!!!! Love it. I don't know which parts are fictional and which parts are based on actual research, but this is a titilating read. WL.

The Confessions of Judas...

Yes, definitely this book deserves a wider readership and a mainstream publisher. Do eliminate your exclamation marks before this reaches the Editor's Desk...and please promote this here on authonomy. It deserves to reach the Editor's Desk because it has something to say, unlike so many others.

I don't know whether your novel addresses the nasty rumour that Jesus, in fact, asked Judas to betray him. Not that I believe in any of that stuff; I'm an avid reader of Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion) and Sam Harris (The End of Faith.)

And then there's The Secret Gospel of Mark (can't remember the author, but not that well-written unfortunately... some people think the author espouses that Jesus was either gay or bi-sexual...not sure the book does that, having read it.)

Good job and shelved!

Cheers,
Sheryl
IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES (would love your honest reactions now that I'm getting sooo close to the Editor's Desk...trying to make the novel the best it can be before it gets there.)

“It is not for me to say whether the document is authentic or not – I leave you to make your own decision.” Well, Michael, I’ve got a BA in Biblical Studies from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (seriously), and I can tell you: there’s no way I’d ever think this was genuine, nor would any scholar. No, the writing’s FAR too good for that. :)

In chapter one, Judas contemplates the resurrection of Lazarus and of Jesus; he hints that Mary and Martha know a truth that he does. And now he’s going to write it down. Nice. Keeps us reading.

There is, I think, a genuine Gnostic gospel of Judas, but only fragments survive. This is quite a brave work, based on those two conflicting Biblical passages that preface your text. The real Judas is, in the end, a mystery. Why did he betray Jesus? (most scholars have been unconvinced by the ‘thirty pieces of silver’ story). What does ‘Iscariot’ mean? (Some scholars have suggested it was linked to ‘sicarrii’, a knife-wielding branch of the zealots). Your novel cleverly exploits the mystery and emerges with something original.

Btw, have you read “The Gospel According to the Romans”, also on Authonomy? You should. Very similar to yours. Great minds think alike.

Bookshelved

Bren Verrill
The Weird Problem of Good.

Hi Michael

Many of us have heard there is a hidden ms, the Gospel according to Judas, so I was intrigued to find out how you would handle the subject. Pleased I stopped by to read- you tell the tale well. Of course, this is heavily reliant on knowledge of the New Testament, which places this in a niche, so to speak. This will be considered controversial, some will cry foul, others will applaud your courage. I have no thoughts one way or the other- I am reading this as a tale, fortunately knowing the background! In the real world (the one beyond Authonomy) I would actually purchase this, so I do hope you make it into print.

All the best, and consider yourself shelved.

Elaina
Gathering of Rain

Hi Michael. You allow the reader to experience life alongside the biblical characters. Your extraordinary imagination invokes passion during these critical events. You ignite familiar verses from the Bible, into pivotal warnings if man does not heed the Word. On my shelf it goes. Best wishes. Janet Marie

Hi Michael,
I love your writing style in this and the way you have reorganised events is ingenious. The fact that the Biblical characters are familiar creates an immediate connection for the reader and the idea of lost gospels is an intriguing one. If a critique of Christianity is intended then I’d need it to be based on something other than fiction but as a fascinating ‘what if?’ it works very well. (If I've missed something crucial I apologise, but I couldn't read quite all of it on-screen).
Lucy

Hi Michael,
I'm giving this a go on my bookshelf because it looks really interesting. I'll have a proper read of it later.
Lucy

this is fascinating and, I think, well written so far (2 chapters) but you really need to clean up the typos. there are a lot.

Hello Michael. Very interesting!!

´The Confessions of Judas´ was originally published by Brandon Books in 1994, under the title ´The Lost Testament of Judas Iscariot´.

A screenplay of the novel was completed in 2001.

Thanks, Jeriah! The book is out of print. I'd like to see it published in America, where it might spark a Christian fatwah!

You can read the stage version of the story here - http://www.authonomy.com/ReadBook.aspx?bookid=337#chapter

Many apologies, Michael, I just visited your profile and discovered your book has been published AND a screenplay! Good on you! (I'll learn my way around this site soon)-

WOW! So I've read up to chapter five and plan to finish as soon as I can. Your writing style is fantastic, your idea well conceived. Your application of the biblical passages shows that you not only are well versed in your Bible, but can wield it with razor sharpness. Bravo! This work needs to be published! I know when I get my work uploaded, you will have a great laugh my friend! Look for it: "Self-Diluted Cuckoo Land." - My work is what you might call fic-non (A new genre I have made up to bridge that gap of memoir that is tainted with necessary falsities) - Non-fiction is mere fact. Fact is not truth. Fiction is wheretruth flies freely. I'll comment again once I complete reading your work.-Jeriah

This is the first day on this site for me and what a find! Good work Michael!

I'm confused as to why your bookshelf is full of your own books? I thought Authonomy had fixed things so that people couldn't do that.

I clicked on your profile because you share a name with a guy who was my boss for a year, and you also look uncannily like him. Of course, then reading your profile I see you are not him.

Well, that all said, I will come by and check out your books sometime.

Lorrii

Michael, sounds like the God I believe in! Just that I also believe God was upset that man was too sinful to ever be with him, so he created a gateway for us to be with Him by coming down as Man. That way, all men can be saved. Thus John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He sent his only begotten Son to die, so that all who believes in HIm can have eternal life."

I know we always call Jesus the son...I pondered over it for a long time, and wondered why God is so weird, that He has to have a sacrifice (Eg, lambs in the past), and send down his poor son to die and suffer...until I realised that actually Jesus is none other than God. God himself came down to die and suffer. He didnt send his poor son but himself. After knowing that, I kinda was shaken to the core...and understood John 3:16 much, much more. For God so loved the world that He came down to die and suffer so that may all who believes in Him have eternal life.

RobertB wrote:
"If you want to use Biblical quotes, why not use an up-to-date version? "

I prefer the King James' version.

SilverMask asked:

"What's the God you believe in like? Just omipotent and ominiscent? Do you think God has a character and that He made everything in this world? Do you think He cares a whit about what goes on in the world? Or do you
think he's just everywhere, looking around but not really caring? Do you think the entire Old Testament was made up too, or just the New Testament? "

God is Love and Truth and Justice.

Show us something happening! There's loads of telling in the first chapter, but nothing more than that. If you want to use Biblical quotes, why not use an up-to-date version? Or better, why not have a character tell the 'official' story, or even several characters telling different versions of the story, given that we have two in the New Testament, and more elsewhere!

Hmm okay...I get it. You just don't believe in Jesus but believe there's God.

What's the God you believe in like? Just omipotent and ominiscent? Do you think God has a character and that He made everything in this world? Do you think He cares a whit about what goes on in the world? Or do you
think he's just everywhere, looking around but not really caring? Do you think the entire Old Testament was made up too, or just the New Testament?

I do believe in God, but not as a spaceman who "came down to earth to save us."

I like this description of God by Timaeus of Locris -

'A circle whose center is everywhere and circumference nowhere."

Uh huh but I see that you still labelled your book under fiction. If it's really true, you would label it under non-fiction. And a story made up by your own mind is not more believable at all. I mean, if a human can make up such a storyline (a.k.a your book), just imagine what God's mind can make up. Haha.

know you don't believe there's a God...hmm you sound like you were abused by christians or catholics in authority from what you said about the dire threats...(my own assumption)...but oh well, those ARE Man who do it. God didnt say he came down to Earth to punish little kids, he said he came down to save us. It's Men who like to go around threatening little kids.

In fact, God himself was punished by Man when he was crucified. So your statement is not really fair to both God and the little kids who were threatened with dire punishments, since Man did all those hideous stuff. Not God or the little kids.

Anyways, I respect your opinion and your book. Good luck with getting it into the mass markets.

Well, let's just say it's a lot more believable than the fantastic fable the Church invented and brainwashed children into believing, with dire threats of punishment if they didn't.

Jesus was a man, a revolutionary, calling for the establishment of a new world of equality. He would be appalled at the religion that was created in his name.

http://money-free.ning.com/

As in like what you're saying is that your book isn't fiction? It's non-fiction?

However short, this story is the true one.

You have a good idea.

You used the word celebrity and writer in the book which I think sounds too contemporary. I doubt the word celebrity was coined yet back then and the word writer can be better replaced by scribe.

Also, by quoting the bible in the first line of every chapter, you're making your book appear inconsistent. After all in the bible, it's mentioned many times that Jesus explicitly gave instructions to his disciples to perform miracles. By writing that the miracles were merely a scheme of Judas' to give glory to Jesus, and that Jesus had outright refused to perform miracles highlights the faultiness of your book. It would be better to remove the verses in a sense and let it be the fiction that it is.

I agree with the other reader of yours, chapter 20 is redundant. If you must include a chapter 20, maybe you could pen it about Judas writing only after the tomb has been sealed. Then Judas could write of his anguish about being sealed in and betrayed. Chapter 20 was also very rushed, and lacked the descriptive style of the other chapters.

You write so well though. I was really caught up in the story after the first chapter. There is such brilliance within the way you weave the story that I can almost believe it happened. However, I dont understand why Judas would write to Peter if he really wanted everything to remain secret and if he'd truly wanted to serve his Master til the end. It's an entertaining read but I can see why it's not going to be very publishable. Mainly because the story at 30,000 words is far too short, even for a young adult book, not to mention an adult novel.

I would love to read your other works though which I'm certain would be splendid.

Hello, I'm a christian and I'm still drawn to the topic. Just interesting to read...

Chapter 2
I liked your starting three paragraphs but when Judas continued to ramble on without giving a hint of who he is until several paras down, I got bored. You write very well, but there's only so much ramble one can read. I think it would be nice if you began with the opening paragraph, but Judas clue the readers into his identity by the fourth paragraph and maybe give a bit history on what landed him into this state.

Hmm, the other thing is...whilst perhaps it's meant to be shocking that Judas kissed another man, not Jesus, but it only makes me wonder how thousands of pple could mistake Jesus identity. After he was flocked and crucified openly in the view of thousands where many can see his face. Hmm, the explanation would be interesting to read though I suppose.

Oops!

I’ve just learned that Australian-born media mogul Rupert Murdoch, (sometimes called ‘the most powerful man in the world’) owns and controls HarperCollins, one of the largest and most dynamic trade publishers in the world, (especially since it took over William Morrow & Company, Avon Books, Amistad Press, and Fourth Estate.) He also owns more than 175 international newspapers and magazines on three continents, publishing 40 million papers a week, virtually controlling print markets in the US, Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

CEO and Chairman of News Corporation and Head of Fox Broadcasting, which reaches over 96 percent of US households; Rupert Murdoch is a man who has made his aim in life to acquire as much media power as possible, and then use it to promote his deep-seated right-wing politics and his business interests.
In 1999 Time magazine commented: remark that “Rupert Murdoch is the first press baron to be a monster of the world … he is the only media mogul to have created and to control a truly global media empire … to create first an international press and then a television domain.”

News Corporation’s total holdings range from newspapers, magazines and books to music/radio/recordings/sattelite/cable to sport teams from Austria, New Zealand and the US, to movie studies and TV stations from the US, Britain, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Poland, Israel, New Zealand to Timbuktu.
After Murdoch's $5 billion acquisition of Dow Jones & Co. in 2007, he established himself as one of America's most powerful media barons – a man whose sway stretches from the teens who watch "The Simpsons" to the financiers of Wall Street, from New York's City Hall to the White House.

Rupert’s Australian father, Sir Keith Murdoch, was a newspaper publisher; his mother Elisabeth Joy Green was the daughter of a wealthy Jewish family whose connections “subsequently promoted him to chairman of the British-owned newspaper where he worked.”

While Murdoch doesn’t speak openly of his roots, he nevertheless has been open about his support for extreme right-wing Zionists such as Ariel Sharon and Benjamin Netanyahu. Former New York Governor George Pataki said of Murdoch’s New York Post, “There is no newspaper in the US more supportive of Israel.”
Murdoch has also generously contributed to the United Jewish Appeal (UJA), which raises hundreds of millions of dollars each year for Israel.

Talking of his beliefs, however, in an interview in the 90’s, Mr. Murdoch said: “I'm certainly a practicing Christian, I go to church quite a bit but not every Sunday and I tend to go to Catholic church.”
Either way, after learning of the more than close relationship between HarperCollins and Rupert Murdoch and his right-wing agenda, I can hardly imagine any of the finished writings I have offered on this site, especially my controversial novel ‘The Confessions of Judas’, of ever being even considered for publication.

How shocking and disgusting it is that one right-wing selfish capitalistic person should be in control of most of the world’s media and press!

Thank you, Rixi, for your kind comments, and for pointing out the unforgiveable continuity error of Martha suddenly become Mary in chapter 18! I've fixed that, and will comb for other typos you mention.

I feel the last chapter is necessary though, to show that someone - Peter? Martha? Jesus? - has decided that Judas has to be shut up if 'Christianity' is to develop. Maybe it needs a little rewriting. In the screenplay version I wrote, Judas' last words are tougher -

"I suppose this is the best way. The secret will be safe. People will spit at the mention of my name. The Master will establish the Kingdom and everyone will praise him and live in peace and harmony forever and ever, amen.. But you owe me, Master. You owe me. "

By the way, since you liked the 'novel', why not read the dramatized version I've made available here - ''The Rich Young Man'? It's the same story, but you get to see it from all the other characters' points of view in dialogues and monologues. I wrote the story originally as a play. Personally, I think it works better that way.

I think you would be better to leave out the last chapter. It sounds finished at the end of Chapter 18 and to read on seems a little pointless. I think it's better to let the reader draw their own conclusions as to his fate.

A little proof-reading is in order, there are a few typos here and there and I noticed one continuity error, you say Martha is the only one that knows of his where-abouts but then say Mary will come with supper near the end of Chapter 18.

This is very good, your style of writing is very engaging and it's interesting to read what would be his side of the story. Like Dan Brown you have a good idea, unlike Dan Brown you have the talent to make it readable. Very impressed.

Thanks for the advice, Toscka. I see what you mean. I think the contemporary tone of the first chapter comes from the rambling stream of consciousness monologue Judas carries on from his hiding place before he learns that Jesus has decided to continue the deception.

Once he starts narrating his side of the story to Peter in chapter 2 his tone becomes a little more Biblical.

In the play of the book, 'The Rich Young Man' the language is very contemporary.

JUDAS: (TO MAGDALENE) You know where we’re staying for Passover? At the house of Joseph of Arimathea! He’s of one of the biggest cats in town! I tell you, people are going to know who the Lord is when we enter into Jerusalem.

Michael, I enjoyed your first chapter. You write very well and as a non-christian, I don't care a fig for the controversy. All a story anyway in my view. So my criticism? Well, I have a problem, and it may be fundamental. Judas's voice is contemporary. I'm not quite sure why. It is convincing, but not as a lost gospel. Now you introduce it as a document you have been given. And there lies the problem, If this was the real document, then it doesn't convince, because of the contemporary voice. Whereas if you introduce it as your re-working of the document, it might. Just my suggestion, but in your opening, could you not give yourself a fictious name, ie a scholar or author who has got hold of the original testament and who has reworked it. This would require the framing narrator, the fictional you, to have a part in the narrative, and perhaps to declare an uncertainty or guilt at what you have done - how much have you changed it, what dramatic license have you taken and should you have done so, all interesting historical questions - but it might give the Judas the necessary credence it requires.

My penny's worth anyway.

'The Confessions of Judas' is probably the most controversial 'novel' in the history of Christian literature.