Shortly before the frenzy over the cinematic release of The Da Vinci Code grabbed headlines, another story involving ancient documents, the global antiquities black market and the earliest days of Christianity played out in real life. The publicizing of the lost Gospel of Judas captured the attention of everyone from scholars of early Christianity to the common laity with the possibility that the betrayal of Jesus Christ by Judas Iscariot was not a betrayal at all but done at Christ's behest.
James Robinson, in his book , describes the intrigue and the personalities involved, as well as the sober history of Judas and the leaves of papyrus known as the Gospel of Judas. Professor Robinson is the founding director emeritus of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity and has many achievements and honors in the field of early Christianity.