Judas Iscariot and the Myth of Jewish Evil


Book Description

Maccoby returns to the sources of Christianity to show how Judas was invented by successive gospel writers, thereby ingraining in the minds of Christian Europeans a perverted image of the Jew as a malevolent betrayer. He goes on to show how this idea helped to justify 2,000 years of genocidal persecution.




Judas


Book Description

Judas: Images of the Lost Discipletraces the development of the stories about the most famous traitor in the history of Western Civilization. Its purpose is not to find the Judas of history, but rather to provide readers with a map that shows the similarities and connections between generations of Judas's story. Judas has been portrayed as an effete intellectual, a jealous lover, a greedy scoundrel, a misguided patriot, a doomed hero, a man destroyed by despair, or God's special, misunderstood messenger and agent. Judas means as many different things to us as does Jesus or God. The enigma of Judas's story in the Gospels left later literature and legend with a creative challenge they richly answered, and which is presented here: to write the real story of the worst villain of all time.




The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot


Book Description

The biblical scholar recounts the events surrounding the discovery and handling of the Gospel of Judas, and provides an overview of its content, in which Judas is portrayed as a faithful disciple.




Three Versions of Judas


Book Description

Judas Iscariot, known for his betrayal of Jesus, is a key figure in the Gospel narratives. As an insider become outsider, Judas demarcates Christian boundaries of good and evil. 'Three Versions of Judas' examines the role of Judas in Christian myth-making. The book draws on Jorge Luis Borges' "Three Versions of Judas" to present three Judases in the Gospels: a Judas necessary to the divine plan; a Judas who is a determined outsider, denying himself for God's glory; and a Judas who is demonic. Exploring the findings of biblical criticism and artistic responses to Judas, 'Three Versions of Judas' offers an analysis of the evil necessarily inherent in Christian narratives about Judas.




Judas


Book Description

This fascinating books sifts the evidence and startlingly concludes that in the earliest sources Judas was not a traitor. While the name Judas Iscariot evokes horror among many people, Klassen argues persuasively that Judas may have meant no harm in handing over Jesus to the religious authorities. The book traces the ways in which Judas is portrayed by the four writers of the gospels, showing how the picture was increasingly demonized as the later gospels were written.This is the most important study in English of Judas within the context of first-century Judaism. Klassen shows by rich reference to literature of both the ancient period and later times how the concept of Judas as traitor emerged.




Judas


Book Description

In this fascinating historical and cultural biography, writer and broadcaster Peter Stanford deconstructs that most vilified of Bible characters: Judas Iscariot, who famously betrayed Jesus with a kiss. Beginning with the gospel accounts, Peter explores two thousand years of cultural and theological history to investigate how the very name Judas came to be synonymous with betrayal and, ultimately, human evil. But as Peter points out, there has long been a counter-current of thought that suggests that Judas might in fact have been victim of a terrible injustice: central to Jesus' mission was his death and resurrection, and for there to have been a death, there had to be a betrayal. This thankless role fell to Judas; should we in fact be grateful to him for his role in the divine drama of salvation? 'You'll have to decide,' as Bob Dylan sang in the sixties, 'Whether Judas Iscariot had God on his side'. An essential but doomed character in the Passion narrative, and thus the entire story of Christianity, Judas and the betrayal he symbolises continue to play out in much larger cultural histories, speaking as he does to our deepest fears about friendship, betrayal and the problem of evil. Judas: the ultimate traitor, or the ultimate scapegoat? This is a compelling portrait of Christianity's most troubling and mysterious character.




Judas


Book Description

In this fascinating historical and cultural biography, Peter Stanford deconstructs that most vilified of Bible characters: Judas Iscariot, who famously betrayed Jesus with a kiss. Beginning with the gospel accounts, Stanford explores two thousand years of cultural and theological history to investigate how the very name Judas came to be synonymous with betrayal and, ultimately, human evil. But as Stanford points out, there has long been a counter–current of thought that suggests that Judas might in fact have been victim of a terrible injustice: central to Jesus' mission was his death and resurrection, and for there to have been a death, there had to be a betrayal. This thankless role fell to Judas; should we in fact be grateful to him for his role in the divine drama of salvation? "You'll have to decide," as Bob Dylan sang in the sixties, "Whether Judas Iscariot had God on his side." An essential but doomed character in the Passion narrative, and thus the entire story of Christianity, Judas and the betrayal he symbolizes continue to play out in much larger cultural histories, speaking to our deepest fears about friendship, betrayal, and the problem of evil.




Revolution in Judaea


Book Description

Using historical evidence and his considerable scholarship on the Bible and Biblical history, the author makes compelling points demonstrating how the myth of Jewish evil was constructed by those in power during these times.




Judas Iscariot: Damned or Redeemed


Book Description

At the beginning of the 20th century, Judas was characterised in film as the epitome of evil: the villainous Jew. Film-makers cast Judas in this way because this was the Judas that audiences had come to recognize and even expect. But in the following three decades, film-makers - as a result of critical biblical study - were more circumspect about accepting the alleged historicity of the Gospel accounts. Carol A. Hebron examines the figure of Judas across film history to show how the portrayal becomes more nuanced and more significant, even to the point where Judas becomes the protagonist with a role in the film equal in importance to that of Jesus'. Hebron examines how, in these films, we begin to see a rehabilitation of the Judas character and a restoration of Judaism. Hebron reveals two distinct theologies: 'rejection' and 'acceptance'. The Nazi Holocaust and the exposure of the horrors of genocide at the end of World War II influenced how Judaism, Jews, and Judas, were to be portrayed in film. Rehabilitating the Judas character and the Jews was necessary, and film was deemed an appropriate medium in which to begin that process.




Judas Iscariot


Book Description

This book is not an apologetic for the sins of Judas. But the author of JUDAS ISCARIOT: REVISITED AND RESTORED is convinced that there is more to the Judas story than has been told. Rogers is further convinced that until we finally understand the unlikely relationship between the "sinner" Judas and the "Savior" Jesus, we will never fully appreciate God's response to our own faults and failures. Many are convinced that God's grace i.e. "unmerited favor" must somehow first be merited (an oxymoron). With Judas, Rogers demonstrates that God's forgiveness is unearned and unlimited "This book is riveting from the first page. [Rogers] challenges us to look...directly into the face of Judas [until] slowly an awful realization will dawn on our collective conscience: "My God, Judas is us!" (An excerpt from the book's "Foreword"). Max Davis, author of Desperate Dependence, Thriving on the Jagged Edge, and Success Secrets of the World's Most Cynical Man. "Judas Iscariot: Revisited and Restored is scholarly enough for [those] desiring proofs and reliable sources as evidence of the theories expounded; yet it's clear, concise and logically organized for easy reading." A. P. McCracken, pastor, author and paralegal, in a review of this book. "[Rogers] accomplishes his objective to declare the audacity of God's grace and redemption that would include even Judas. And me!" D. Dean Benton, author of more than 30 books including, Inner Net for Vision Catchers (2008) Ivan Rogers has served in Christian ministry for many years. He has been a pastor, Bible college president and a superintendent of an eight-state area of churches. Ivan presently serves as staff chaplain of a nursing/retirement community. Ivan is also respected and very involved in the field of Jewish-Christian relations. He and his wife, Elsie, reside in the state of Iowa.