Listen to part of the June 2006 editorial of Christianity Today, written when The Da Vinci Code was being released in theaters:
“The tendency to grasp at excuses for not making a commitment to (God) was illustrated by National Public Radio commentator Peter Manseau. He compared the Gospel of Judas to Jesus Christ Superstar and concluded: ‘Whether it is the Gospel according to Judas, Thomas, Mary Magdalene, or even Andrew Lloyd Webber, each one reminds us, with the shock of an electric guitar in the desert, that both faith and history are more complicated than we imagine.’
“That kind of hazy thinking, like Superstar itself, belongs to the early ‘70s. Can we please grow up?”
If Christianity is judged by its historical accuracy, then the Gnostic gospels must be judged by the same standard if they are to be taken seriously. And based upon the historical facts, they don’t measure up.
But Jesus does.