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Statement from National Geographic in Response to April DeConick's New York Times Op-Ed "Gospel Truth" (Dec. 1, 2007)
Professor April DeConick's op-ed "Gospel Truth" in the New York Times on Dec. 1, 2007, makes several serious and unfounded accusations against the National Geographic Society that require comment and clarification.
When National Geographic became involved in the Gospel of Judas project, we assembled a diverse team of highly credentialed scholars in various disciplines and with various religious perspectives to examine, conserve, authenticate and translate the Coptic codex containing the Gospel of Judas. The chief translator, Professor Rodolphe Kasser, is one of the world's leading Coptologists. He lectured in Coptic language and literature for 35 years at the University of Geneva, he will soon publish a new Coptic dictionary, and he has been involved in the translation of many important Coptic gnostic and Coptic Manichaean texts. He worked on conserving and translating the Codex containing the Gospel of Judas for five years before it was published in 2006. Assisting him in the translation were three eminent Coptic scholars, Francois Gaudard of the University of Chicago, Marvin Meyer of Chapman University, and Gregor Wurst of the University of Augsburg.
National Geographic also assembled a nine-member Codex Advisory panel of leading scholars and religious authorities, who reviewed and commented on the Codex and advised the Society as to its importance, value and impact. The panelists were experts in Coptic studies, gnostic studies, early Christian church history and religious studies, and also included theologians representing a variety of religions and views, from orthodox to progressive. Their different perspectives were incorporated into the discussion surrounding the announcement made at the time the project was completed. The material was shared publicly within two years of the time the National Geographic Society became involved, following a rigorous authentication and vetting process -- far less time than lapsed between the discovery and published translations of such recently found ancient texts as the Dead Sea Scrolls or the Nag Hammadi.
Once we were certain of the document's authenticity and had a consensus translation in hand, we published it expeditiously and put the content on our Web site at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lostgospel/about_coptic_text.html. The Web site includes images of the Coptic fragments, the full text of the manuscript in Coptic as well as numerous resources.
This summer we published a second, critical edition of the gospel with full-color photographs of the original papyrus pages alongside the Coptic text and its consensus translation in English and French to enable scholars and the public to make a full examination of the Codex. We did not print full-size facsimile photographs of the oversized papyrus pages in the critical edition, as scholars advised us that the 56 percent reduction in size would not adversely affect scholarly review. Indeed, we can only presume that Professor DeConick used those facsimiles to render her own interpretation. Nevertheless, we will soon post on our Web site the entire Codex in photographic form at 100 percent resolution, which is the most efficient method through which this material can be viewed and shared.
Virtually all issues Professor DeConick raises about translation choices are addressed in extensive footnotes in both the popular and critical editions. As is the case in any translation, there can be differences of interpretation, word selection and nuance, and the Gospel of Judas is no exception. As interesting as word-by-word discussion is, such analysis should not be made without considering the context of the total piece and what the authors from so many centuries ago may have been trying to share.
We saw the publication of this work in the spring of 2006 as the beginning of a global conversation about what the text might mean, and at that time encouraged respectful, global discourse. While we take exception to the way Professor DeConick characterizes the motives of the experts who labored over this project as well as our institution, we do find her interpretation to be of interest and we invite her to come to our headquarters in Washington sometime in the near future to discuss this intriguing text in a public forum with other scholars. It is our hope that the world will continue to study this important cultural artifact, and that the ongoing dialogue will be conducted with civility and mutual respect.
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Contacts:
M.J. Jacobsen
National Geographic Society
202-857-7759
mjacobse@ngs.org
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