| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"maff" |
| Date: |
25 Mar 2005 11:24:51 AM |
| Object: |
Judas |
In defence of Judas
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/story.jsp?story=623438
According to St John, he was a thief and a liar. Modern historians see
him as an idealistic fall-guy. Allan Massie investigates the myths that
surround the disciple who betrayed Jesus with a kiss
25 March 2005
"And Judas Iscariot who also betrayed him..." With these words, St Mark
ends his list of the chosen 12 apostles. It's the first mention of
Judas, and it stamps him indelibly. Throughout the Christian centuries,
red-haired, yellow-gowned Judas has been a synonym for traitor; a
Judas-king signifying treachery towards one to whom you owe loyalty .
The gospel writers don't tell us much more about Judas, and nobody else
tells us anything. The picture we have of him is made up of a few
scraps. He was the apostles' treasurer, though one might have thought
this job would have gone to Matthew, the ex- tax-collector. Judas
complained when Mary, the sister of Martha, bathed Jesus' feet with a
"precious ointment" saying that it might have been sold and the money
given to the poor. This provoked a sharp rejoinder from Jesus: "The
poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always" . So that's
all right then. Judas's objection is convincingly dismissed. But one is
left wondering: did that objection mean that he had a social
conscience? Was he an enthusiast for what we now call "social justice"?
And did his disillusion start there, at that moment?
Judas
http://news.google.com/news?tab=gn&q=Judas&num=100&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&
http://www.google.com/search?tab=nw&q=Judas&num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&sa=N
http://www.google.com/search?q=Judas&btnG=Google+Search&hl=en&cat=gwd%2FTop
http://groups-beta.google.com/groups?q=Judas&start=0&scoring=d&num=100&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&
.
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