Rodolphe Kasser (14 January 1927 – 8 October 2013), was a Swiss

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

, archaeologist, and a Coptic scholar. He specialized in ancient

Coptic language Coptic () is a dormant language, dormant Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language. It is a group of closely related Egyptian dialects, representing the most recent developments of the Ancient Egyptian language, Egyptian language, and histori ...

manuscripts, notably including the Codex Tchacos which includes the

Gospel of Judas The Gospel of Judas is a non-canonical religious text. Its content consists of conversations between Jesus and his disciples, especially Judas Iscariot. The only copy of it known to exist is a Coptic language text that is part of the Codex ...

. He worked as both a professor at the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

and as head of the archaeological excavations of the Swiss Mission of Coptic Archaeology.

Biography

Born in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland, Kasser obtained his higher education in theology in Lausanne and in Paris from 1946 to 1950 and a diploma from the École Pratique des Hautes Études (Ph.D. equivalent) in Paris in 1964. He conducted pastoral ministry in Switzerland and in France from 1953 to 1959. From 1963 to 1998, he was on the staff at the Faculty of Arts of the

, lecturing in Coptic languages and literature. First as professor extraordinary from 1963 to 1976, then as professor from 1976 to 1998. After 1965, he was the head of the archaeological excavations of the Swiss Mission of Coptic Archaeology in the Kellia, Lower Egypt. After 1962, Kasser did important research in the field of Coptic philology, including the preparation of a new Coptic dictionary. This work was done in parallel with reforms in Coptic dialectal classification. He published several important Greek and Coptic codices of the Bodmeriana Library, most of them biblical. After 2000, Kasser organized the restoration and prepared the edition princeps of Codex Tchacos, containing the Gospel of Judas and three other Coptic gnostic texts.

Selected publications

* ** * Kasser and his coauthors' work on Codex Tchacos was published in 2006, including an English translation of the

and four articles of commentary, one from each translator and another from

Bart Ehrman Bart Denton Ehrman (born October 5, 1955) is an American New Testament scholar focusing on textual criticism of the New Testament, the historical Jesus, and the origins and development of early Christianity. He has written and edited 30 books ...

. A critical edition featuring full-color photographs was published in 2007, and a second edition in 2008. The

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by the National Geographic Global Networks unit of Disney Enter ...

also aired a full documentary in 2006 called ''The Gospel of Judas'', with an 87 minute runtime (equivalent to 2 hours if commercials are included). The papyrus manuscript went on display at the National Geographic Society's museum in Washington DC, in April 2006. The translation and commentary contends that the most vilified man in Christendom understood Jesus better than any of the other disciples. The disciple who betrayed Jesus was actually doing the bidding of Christ himself. This interpretation has been contested by other academics since the gospel's initial publication.

References

External links

Kasser's s translation shows Judas in a positive lightBooks by Rodolphe Kasser
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kasser, Rodolphe Swiss philologists Coptologists Ancient Egyptian language 1927 births 2013 deaths People from Yverdon-les-Bains