Ancient text gives Judas heroic glow.

The article reports that a 1,700-year-old manuscript that has been conserved, authenticated, and translated by an international team of scholars describes Judas Iscariot, portrayed in the New Testament as a traitor, instead as a hero who handed Jesus over to authorities for crucifixion because Jesus asked him to do so. The Gospel of Judas, a translation from Greek into the Coptic language of ancient Egypt, represents the thinking of early gnostic Christians, according to religion professor Elaine Pagels of Princeton University.