Posted on 01/12/2006 7:42:57 AM PST by Alouette
Proposed ‘rehabilitation’ of the man who was paid 30 pieces of silver to identify Jesus to Roman soldiers in the Garden of Gethsemane, comes on the ground that he was not deliberately evil, but was just ‘fulfilling his part in God’s plan, the London Times reports
Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed Jesus with a kiss, is to be given a makeover by Vatican scholars, according to the London Times.
The proposed “rehabilitation” of the man who was paid 30 pieces of silver to identify Jesus to Roman soldiers in the Garden of Gethsemane, comes on the ground that he was not deliberately evil, but was just “fulfilling his part in God’s plan,” the London Times said.
Christians have traditionally blamed Judas for aiding and abetting the Crucifixion, and his name is synonymous with treachery. According to St Luke, Judas was “possessed by Satan.”
According to the London Times, a campaign led by Monsignor Walter Brandmuller, head of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Science, is aimed at persuading believers to look kindly at a man reviled for 2,000 years.
Mgr Brandmuller told fellow scholars it was time for a “re-reading” of the Judas story. He is supported by Vittorio Messori, a prominent Catholic writer close to both Pope Benedict XVI and the late John Paul II.
Signor Messori said that the rehabilitation of Judas would “resolve the problem of an apparent lack of mercy by Jesus toward one of his closest collaborators.”
He told La Stampa that there was a Christian tradition that held that Judas was forgiven by Jesus and ordered to purify himself with “spiritual exercises” in the desert.
'Judas portrayed with a hooked nose'
In scholarly circles, it has long been unfashionable to demonize Judas and Catholics in Britain are likely to welcome Judas’ rehabilitation.
The London Times quoted Father Allen Morris, Christian Life and Worship secretary for the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales, as saying, “If Christ died for all — is it possible that Judas too was redeemed through the Master he betrayed?”
The “rehabilitation” of Judas could help the Pope’s drive to improve Christian-Jewish relations, which he has made a priority of his pontificate.
Some Bible experts say Judas was “a victim of a theological libel which helped to create anti Semitism” by forming an image of him as a “sinister villain” prepared to betray for money.
In many medieval plays and paintings Judas is portrayed with a hooked nose and exaggerated Semitic features. In Dante’s Inferno, Judas is relegated to the lowest pits of Hell, where he is devoured by a three-headed demon.
The move to clear Judas’s name coincides with plans to publish the alleged Gospel of Judas for the first time in English, German and French. Though not written by Judas, it is said to reflect the belief among early Christians — now gaining ground in the Vatican — that in betraying Christ Judas was fulfilling a divine mission, which led to the arrest and Crucifixion of Jesus and hence to man’s salvation, according to the London Times.
'Fell headlong'
Mgr Brandmuller said that he expected “no new historical evidence” from the supposed gospel, which had been excluded from the canon of accepted Scripture.
But it could “serve to reconstruct the events and context of Christ’s teachings as they were seen by the early Christians.” This included that Jesus had always preached “forgiveness for one’s enemies.”
Some Vatican scholars have expressed concern over the reconsideration of Judas. Monsignor Giovanni D’Ercole, a Vatican theologian, said it was “dangerous to re-evaluate Judas and muddy the Gospel accounts by reference to apocryphal writings. This can only create confusion in believers.”
The Gospels tell how Judas later returned the 30 pieces of silver — his “blood money” — and hanged himself, or according to the Acts of the Apostles, “fell headlong and burst open so that all his entrails burst out."
The world is full of people without understanding.
>If the RCC can uniterally exonerate those 1st century Jews in the death of Christ, why not Judas? <
The Jews are no more responsible for killing Christ than you and I are.
I'm sorry Alex, I did not see your reply before my answer #99. I think that might cover my current opinion on the matter.
Thanks.
>My belief is that there is no time limit on accepting God's message delivered through Jesus' life. Even after we die, if we accept God's love, which He has proven through the sacrifice of His Son, we are forgiven, regardless of our sins.<
Hbr 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
No second chances in the after life.
Amen.
I know. However, that there are people in this world that truly do not understand me, or my position.
Should I judge them on their lack of knowledge or understand their lack of knowledge? At risk of sounding PC or something worse: What Would Jesus Do?
Look. This business of implying that modern-day Jews are guilty of Christ's blood is ridiculous. Who would deny it. BUT! The Passion plays are *supposed* to show what happened "at the time of the Passion." It is NOT "heresy" to say that some of the Jews of the time were to blame for the death of Jesus. On the contrary, John 18 & 19 make it clear that His death was instigated by the demands of "the Jews" as represented by the Sanhedrin and those clamoring for His crucifixion in the court of Pilate. It's simple Scripture. Was John a heretic, too?
No one but a confirmed bigot would lay the God-killer charge on a modern-day Jew. The last person of Jewish descent directly involved in the chain of events leading to the crucifixion died no more recently than 1900 years ago. If modern-day people are to be blamed at all, then we can ALL lay claim to responsibility, since it is clear enough that ALL of our sins have a share in the crucifixion.
As for the allegations you make about the pope, he did no such thing. He didn't "forgive the Jews" as you say. It would not be in his power to truly forgive people who lived over 19 centuries before his own time. God can see to such forgiveness Himself, as Jesus asked Him to do from the cross. All the pope did was to state clearly that the Jewish descendants of those directly involved in the crucifixion of Christ have NO inherited guilt for it. Big difference. Your headline was a distortion. The mainstream media were capable of mangling the facts then as now...
Now show me where the rope broke in scripture.
Yes, sometimes you can harmonize scripture, but in this case there is a key word in Acts. Headlong. If the rope broke or even if you wanted to, you could say he decaptiated himself. But he would not go headlong but rahter feet and then back or chest first. Headlong almost implies diving, as in off a cliff. But it doesn't say that either.
But when we go start completing scripture where it doesn't exist, it just like inferring that there could be a prohibition between chruch and state.
>All the pope did was to state clearly that the Jewish descendants of those directly involved in the crucifixion of Christ have NO inherited guilt for it. Big difference. Your headline was a distortion. The mainstream media were capable of mangling the facts then as now...<
Why did he feel the need to do it?Why was it front page news? Simple answer it was a commonly held heresy within the Catholic Church.
The problem was not passion plays but how they were staged with Jews portrayed as ogres and inherantly evil.
It was a "somewhat" commonly held erroneous belief. It was not all-pervasive, and it was not even implied in Church doctrine. Meanwhile, you may be surprised to know that the belief was hardly restricted to Catholics. Examples abound, but I'll just point out that the KKK was simultaneously anti-Catholic AND anti-Semitic, and the latter prejudice was due largely to their adherence to the charge of "Christ-killers" for the Jews. These guys were not Catholic. Neither were the folks at Ivy League schools like Harvard who systematically blocked Jews from their campuses right into the middle of the 20th Century.
Who says it's a second chance? You make the creationists mistake that you understand God's timetable based on what human authors wrote down. Who says that "the evening and the morning were the first day" was 24 hours? A 10th century monk? Who says that it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment doesn't have an intermediate step?
Surely not you? You wouldn't set yourself up as competent to interpret God's word without mistake, would you?
The Muslims believe that Judas was the person who died on the cross. So you're right there with them
You are kidding, aren't you?
As the scriptures say, "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? " (1 Cor 6:2)
Matthew 7:1 must be read in the context of James 3 and 4.
The problem is, no one knows if Judas repented or not.
There is no scriptural evidence that he did. Indeed, although I am not Catholic, I'll be happy to listen to evidence that he did based upon the traditions of the church fathers.
No, and I never said Judas died on the cross
Your argument is slanderous and stupid
You make the same type of argument that the Mullahs make when quoting the lying Koran. Are you a troll? Are you a satanist out to make your case? Those questions have exactly the same weight and validity as your post (meaning I don't think they're true - I just think your not "fully engaged intellectually").
In the long run, however, we will both have to answer to a higher authority for our opinions. I'm absolutely confident in the honesty of my position. I get the impression that you aren't so secure in yours.
Unbelievable. Kinda like making Benedict Arnold's birthday a national holiday.
How about Hitler? St. Adolph? His evil ultimately led to the restoration of the Nation of Israel.
Youre understanding is between you and then Holy Spirit.
If you have prayed about it and come to a resolution about it then no Christian can remove that from you. As long as you have asked God for guidance on this issue and the Holy Spirit and the Word do not contradict then certainly, you should feel "content" in your understanding. No matter what anyone else says.
Speak only for your own denomination, Blessed. A Roman Catholic should no more take communion from our table than I should take it from a Roman Catholic priest. "only those who profess the true religion, and who are communicants in good standing in any evangelical church...." may partake.
Actually the Greek does not require a translation that he hanged himself, only that he choked himself. It does not even require that he died doing it. He could have choked himself into unconsciousness and then fallen off a cliff.
We're not given a lot of details. All we know is that he is said to have choked himself or hanged himself and ended up falling and having his guts spilled out.
Also the word "headlong" does not actually mean headfirst in the sense that he would land on his head. It means simply that he fell forward. Which to me would be consistent with standing on a cliff and choking himself into unconsciouness and falling forward to his death.
Carry on.
No I simply accept Scripture as God's word written and protected under his inspiration.
And where, EXACTLY, do I differ from this?
To pass the Bible off as a product of human hands is akin to saying man created his soul with his on hands.
No, I simply challenge any modern person's ability to be the end all and be all of interpreting what Scripture means, particularly in areas such as this. I will defer to Saints, but not to you.
Any conflict "between Scripture and reality" is man's problem, not Scrptures and certainly not God's.
As I said, this is way above my pay grade, but I haven't seen your credentials as St. Jerome to declare what "Scripture means." Otherwise we must be forced, by your logic to accept the Gospel of St. Blessed.
Somehow I don't think that attitude is gonna go over real good when we both meet The Man. I'm ready, willing and not only able but, in fact anxious. Are you?
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