Buried for close to eighteen hundred years, The Gospel of Judas was discovered by Egyptian peasants in 1978. This Coptic translation from an earlier Greek manuscript is distinctly Gnostic in character. Gnosticism is grounded in Greek dualism as espoused by Plato and was declared heretical in its incipient form by the New Testament writers and in its full form by the early church.

Characteristics of this ancient philosophy include secret knowledge for its adherents and the notion that all things material or physical are evil and all things spiritual are good. As proponents of this system tried to integrate their thinking with Christianity, some denied the deity of Christ as a good God could not have created this evil world. Christ is but one aeon among many from God. Others denied the humanity of Christ saying that He was a phantasm because God could not inhabit flesh. Others asserted that Christ was trapped in an earthly body and needed release. Such is the case in The Gospel of Judas.

The Gnostic character of this Codex becomes apparent as aeons, the eternal realm, and other buzz words are prevalent. Judas is called the thirteenth spirit. The notion that Jesus needed escape from the material world is clearly seen in this supposed statement to Judas, "But you will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me." Here, the real Jesus is clothed by a body from which he needs deliverance. He extends this secret knowledge to Judas who is depicted not as a betrayer but as the one who will perform a great service for Christ.

In the New Testament, Paul exhorted the Colossians not to deviate from the gospel they had been taught. They were to remain faithfully established in the true faith once for all delivered to the saints. They were to remain steadfast in the face of the false Gnostic philosophers. Thus, in Col. 2:8, he warns them: "Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ."

Paul tells the Colossians to beware or look out. They are to look out for false teachers so as not to be cheated. The word translated cheated refers to being kidnapped. Paul is concerned that the believers not be kidnapped from the faith through philosophy. He here refers to worldly philosophy: the kind espoused by the Gnostics. Paul does not disparage knowledge or wisdom in general. He only disparages that wisdom that is from below and not from above.