World's top scholars come to Rice to discuss Judas

The Codex Judas Congress will feature academic presentations and round-table discussions about the codex. Public lectures will be given March 13 and 14 at 7 p.m. in McMurtry Auditorium, Anne and Charles Duncan Hall.

Meyer and Wurst will give the first talk, "Reconstructing an Ancient Papyri Book: How the Gospel of Judas was Restored and the Questions It Raises." Elaine Pagels, the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion at Princeton University, and Karen King, the Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Harvard University, will present "What Else Didn't We Know About the Early Christians"" on March 14.

For a complete list of experts attending and their topics, visit http://aprildeconick.com/codexjudascongress/scholarsandabstracts.html.

The Codex Judas Congress has been made possible by Rice's Faculty Initiative Fund fellowship, the Department of Religious Studies, the Boniuk Center for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance, and the Houston Archaeological Institute of America.

For more information about the controversy surrounding the Judas Codex, read:

• DeConick's OpEd in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/01/opinion/01deconink.html?_r=3&scp=2&sq=judas+gospel&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

• Meyer's response to DeConick's OpEd in the New York Times: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9904E4DD113AF934A35751C1A9619C8B63&scp=2&sq=april+deconick&st=nyt

• The National Geographic story about DeConick's findings: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/12/071221-gospel-judas.html