What is the story of Judas Iscariot?
372201
Jesus clearly said that he was going to be HANDED OVER, not that he himself would do it.\n\nFor example, in Mark 9:31  he tells his disciples, "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise."\n\nLater he talks about the one who would betray him, e.g., Mark 14:21  For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been better for that man if he had not been born." \n\nIn fact, he announces that it is one of the Twelve eating the Passover meal with him, that would betray him.  (The amount, FWIW is 30 pieces of silver It is Joseph who  was sold for 20 pieces [Genesis 37], so some get them confused; and 40 is a common 'round number' in Scripture.)\n\nIn many of Jesus' announcements he DOES explain that this was all according to what had been prophesied, and that is was the means by which God fufilled his plans.  But he does NOT say that those who acted against him were in any way 'agreeing to help him.'  No, "they meant it for evil"  Compare Acs 2:23 where Peter declares "this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men."\n\n(Other Scriptures include this same idea -- for example, it is by God's plan that the Assyrians attack Israel.  They are 'carrying out God's judgment'.  Only that is not what motivates THEM, and God declares that he will in turn judge these who had attacked Israel for their own ends --see Isaiah 10:5-16, especially vv.6-7 -"Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him But he does not so intend, and his heart does not so think; but it is in his heart to destroy....")\n\n---------------------------\n\nHow the "Gospel of Judas" differs:\n\n1) Judas is portrayed as being the ONE disciple who 'really gets it' and to him Jesus reveals a special knowledge hidden from all the others.  (This clearly contradicts the New Testament teaching).\n\n2) Judas hands Jesus over to die so that he can escape his human body, since the body and all the physical world is considered to be evil (a basic Gnostic teaching).  In the Bible --both the Old and New Testaments -- the material world is NOT evil.  Rather it was created good (Genesis 1) and the hope is that it will be fully restored at the resurrection.   In keeping with this the NT Gospels Jesus announces (see above) that he will die and RISE AGAIN.
318897
The gospel of Judas is not credible. Scientists believe it to be the work of gnostics, a mystical early Christian denomination. People in those times did not have the access to the scriptures as we do today. They rarely had more than one or two books of the Bible at one time, so they often did not know what the other parts said. Gnostics often wrote stories of the way they thought things might be. The gospel of Judas is a philosophical conjecture, not scripture. It was also written at least 100 years after the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John - the 4 gospels present in the Bible that tell of Judas's betrayal.\nAlso, because "gospel" means "good news", and the good news is that Jesus died for our sins, the text would have to include the crucifixion and resurrection to be classified as a gospel. The gospel of Judas tells of neither. \n\nThe gospel of Judas has indeed been authenticated - that means that it is indeed as old as it seems. It does not mean that it is a work of scripture. If you want to back up what I have said, go to the link for the National Geographic Channel and either watch for the next show date of their special, or order the video. You can also read the text at this site.
475472
the gospel of judas was written in 300 ad in egypt, it a gnostic gospel , judas had nothing to do with writing this gospel. the gnostics also wrote other gospels like nathans stevens and marys among others, gnostics could be compared to new age believers today who think knowledge is the ultimate goal of humanity. theyve turned satan, in the garden of eden, into good character , now you want me to believe a gospel from the gnostics about judas is true when they believe satan is a good guy because of his knowledge .. come on
448282
There's a difference between God determining somebody's choices for them, and knowing what choices that person is going to make.\n\nJesus knew that Judas would betray him, just as Jesus knew that Peter would deny him three times.  Ultimately, it was still a choice of Judas to betray Jesus- even if Jesus knew beforehand that he was going to do it.
722523
ALL THIS 17 YEARS I HAVE BEEN TRACIN GOD I DID NT FIND ONE.BUT ACCORDING TO ME JESUS WAS A BABY LEFT IN CATTLE SHED.HE WAS FOUND BY MARY WHO WAS A VIRGIN SO CALLED VIRGIN MARY (MOTHER)AS SHE WAS NOT MARRIED.HE GREW UP AS A NORMAL BOY BUT HAD TO FACE HUMILIATION OF BEEN BORN TO MARY WHO WAS VIRGIN.HE TRIED TO PREACH LOVE BUT IN FAVOUR THE JEWS PRIEST WANTED HIM TO CRUCFIED .BUT THE COMMANDER OF CEASER WAS NOT HAPPY WITH THIS AS JESUS HAD ALREADY FACED THE PUNISHMENT HE REQUIRED.SO HE MADE A PACT WITH JESUS THAT THE CRUCIFICATION WOULD BE DONE BUT IT WOULD IT WOULD BE A PLAY HE WOULD BE GIVEN ANESTHESIA (MOSTLY WINE IN THOSE DAYS) AFTER THE CRUCIFICATION .HIS ALIVE BODY WAS SHIFTED TO THE CAVES SECRETLY HEALED AND HE RECOVERED IN 3 DAYS .HE WALKED INTO THE CITY AND ASKED HIS FOLLOWERS TO COME WITH HIM .HERE ONLY JUDAS FOLLWED HIM FROM HIS TEN FOLLOWERS .PEOPLE FOLLLOWED HIM AND WENT TO EGYPT .AND SETTLE BESIDES A NILE RIVER BASIN.JUDAS NEVER BETRAYED JESUS HE FOLLOWED THE ORDERS OF JESUS .HE WAS OBEDIENT ,FAITHFULL AND DIFFRENT FROM OTHERS THATS THE REASON JESUS LOVED HIM.JESUS MARRIED MARY AND WAS ALIVE FOR 45 YEARS AFTER CRUCIFACTION .HE HAD A SECRET FAMILY WHICH WAS PROTECTED FROM BEING KNOWN TO MANKIND .THERE ARE MANY EVIDEINCE OF IT.THE BIBLE ITS IS ONE IT STATE MARY MAGDELENE AS A PROSTITUTE TO PROTECT ITSELF .AS THE CHURCH SAYS A PERSON CAN BE GOD ONLY IF HE IS SINGLE.THE CHURCH ALSO SAYS GOD IS IMMORTAL .DOES ANY ONE NO WHAT IS IMMORTAL .IT MEANS UR NAME SHALL REMAIN IN THE MINDS OF PEOPLE EVEN IF THE DUST FROM UR BONES IS GONE.
302209
If you understand the nature of the "Gospel of Judas" and related works, I think you'll agree that the New Testament gospels are a better bet by far.  (By the way, there are FOUR of them, and all tell of Judas's betraying Jesus.) \n\nThe "Gospel of Judas" was one of a host of "Gnostic gospels" that began to pop up in the second century (decades after the four gospels in the New Testament).  The Gnostics believed that they were a very special elite  (beyond the common, 'run of the mill' Christians) who had been given a very special, secret knowledge that was withheld from everyone else.\n\nWhat that implies is that the REAL truth must be something hidden, a secret that 'ordinary' people (or ordinary Christians) do not and cannot get, only the initiated. \n\nWhat the Gnostic gospels have in common is that they pick ONE person to whom Jesus is supposed to have told "the REAL plan", which was different from what everyone else thought.\n\nInteresting implications of this are\n1) ONLY Thomas, or Judas, or whichever person supposedly had been given this special truth and passed it on, had the truth.  So only ONE of these gospels can be correct. ALL the other gospels (including all the other Gnostic gospels!!) had to be mistaken!\n2) Because it was a SECRET, revealed on the sly to just one person (initially), you could not DISprove it by pointing to all the evidence and teaching that did not fit in with it!\n\nAs for Judas.  Since this "gnosis" or '(hidden) knowledge' was a secret NOT revealed to anyone else, and was beyond the understanding of ordinary 'unenlightened' folk (Gnostics wer real spiritual elitists!) it makes sense for it all be a big surprise (not at all what you would expect from general Christian teaching).  That would make Judas an ideal choice.   You see, the ordinary people THOUGHT that Judas chose to betray Jesus.   Only the enlightened knew the truth!\n\nBASIC GNOSTIC BELIEFS in short: \nElitist (not accessible to most people), can only have ONE gospel (all others false), the special knowledge CANNOT be proven false (historical evidence does not count), and incidentally, thinks VERY negatively about the physical world (Christian view, like the Hebrew was that the physical world was created good... believed in a REAL physical incarnation of Jesus, the hope of a physical resurrection  vs. Gnosticism which holds that the spiritual world is good, the material world is evil)\n\nDo people understand that THIS is what the "Gospel of Judas" and the rest are about??   Is that really what folks want to believe?  (Or maybe the information they are being fed about it doesn't tell them some of these things?)
644388
Your question made me do some research because it truly got me thinking about the bible book of Jude. I found this paragraph from a bible encyclopedia\n\n2 But who was Jude? The opening words tell us that the letter was written by “Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ, but a brother of James, to the called ones.” Was Jude, or Judas, an apostle, since 2 of Jesus’ original 12 apostles were named Judas? (Luke 6:16) Jude does not speak of himself as an apostle, but instead he speaks of the apostles in the third person as “they,” manifestly excluding himself. (Jude 17, 18) Moreover, he calls himself “a brother of James,” evidently meaning the writer of the letter of James, who was a half brother of Jesus. (Vs. 1) As one of the “pillars” of the congregation in Jerusalem, this James was well-known, and hence Jude identifies himself with him. This makes Jude also a half brother of Jesus, and he is listed as such. (Gal. 1:19; 2:9; Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3) However, Jude did not make capital of his fleshly relationship with Jesus, but he humbly placed the emphasis on his spiritual relationship as “a slave of Jesus Christ.”—1 Cor. 7:22; 2 Cor. 5:16; Matt. 20:27.
481875
Jesuit scholar says Gospel of Judas does not merit name 'Gospel'\n\nBy Cindy Wooden\nCatholic News Service\n\nROME (CNS) -- The Gospel of Judas was unimportant to most Christians when it was written hundreds of years ago and it is unimportant today, said a Jesuit professor who has convoked a series of ecumenical studies of the historical Jesus. \n\nJesuit Father Gerald O'Collins, a longtime professor of Christology at Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University, said the text, like the gospels of Mary Magdalene and Philip, "does not merit the name 'Gospel.'" \n\nThe National Geographic Society unveiled the document April 6, posting a copy of it on the society's Web site, www.nationalgeographic.com, and releasing English translations of portions of the text.\n\n"A 'Gospel' is a literary genre -- established by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John -- focusing on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus," Father O'Collins said. \n\nWhile including events supposedly related to the life of Jesus, the Gospel of Judas and the others really are texts "attempting to bolster the importance" of the personalities they are named after, not of Jesus, the priest said. \n\n"They are not summaries of the good news," he said.\n\nThe texts come from the gnostic tradition, a religious-philosophical current popular in the second, third and fourth centuries. The gnostics claimed to have secret knowledge unavailable to the vast majority of people and focused so strongly on the spiritual and intellectual that they despised material creation, including the human body. \n\nIn the year 180, St. Irenaeus condemned the gnostics, mentioning particularly a Gospel of Judas.\n\nFather O'Collins said the most important thing about the text released in early April is that "it shows just how right Irenaeus was in saying the gnostics were against mainstream Christianity and Judaism, they were against our God." \n\n"To give Judas greater credit," the Jesuit said, the gnostics "portray Jesus giving him secret knowledge. It was a nice try," but there is no evidence to support the claim.\n\n"It was junk then and it is junk now," he said .\n\nFather O'Collins, who between 1996 and 2003 convoked a series of ecumenical, interdisciplinary summits for scholars on the historical Jesus, said it was "ridiculous" for anyone to claim publication of the Gospel of Judas will challenge mainstream Christianity. \n\nEND
354507
The "gospel of Judas" is an oxymoron. Gospel means "good news". What is so great about the man who was possessed by Satan, betrayed Jesus Christ for 30 pieces of silver, then hung himself when it was all over????
442443
Go here, it explains it and how it was authenticated...\nhttp://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/04/0406_060406_judas.html
1026589
Let's frame this in the proper context.\nJesus was Jewish.\nHis disciples were essentially his students.\nThey all were raised on Torah and probably obeyed all 613 commandments.\n\nThe disciples:\nSimon, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Nathaniel, Matthew, Thomas, James, son of Alpheus, Simon, and Judas, son of James, and Judas Iscariot.\n\nTheir relationship:\nGo to the link and learn!
468223
Some historians and scriptural experts suggest that Judas knew Jesus had to be betrayed and then put his own neck in the noose for the rest of the world.   He is such a hated person, and yet it is because of him that one of the largest religions in the world has taken power.  In my opinion, Christians should revere his name, not scorn it.  If you want more info, go to a library and check out a copy of the Gnostic Gospels (also called the Nag Hammadi), or more specifically the Gospel of Judas.
1139381
I have no clue as to the story you've spoken of. \nIf you began to research, and have begun to read the bible in search of this tale.. why not continue reading the bible, and get the true answers you're seaching for. You may not even be aware of the right question.. but your answer awaits you, in God's word.
422825
If Jesus foresees Judas' betrayal, then it may be argued that Judas has no free will, and cannot avoid betraying Jesus. If Judas cannot control his betrayal of Jesus, then he is not morally responsible for his actions. The question has been approached by Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologiae, which differentiates between foreknowledge and predestination, and argues that the omnipotence of the divine is not sufficient grounds for eliminating the existence of free will. \nIf Judas is sent to Hell for his betrayal, and his betrayal was a necessary step in the humanity-saving death of Jesus Christ, then Judas is being punished for saving humanity. This goes hand-in-hand with the "free will" argument, and Aquinas's Summa deals with the issue of free will in demons and other beings instrumental in the life of Jesus that are nevertheless damned. \nIf Jesus only suffered while dying on the cross, and then ascended into Heaven, while Judas must suffer for eternity in Hell, then Judas has suffered much more for the sins of humanity than Jesus, and his role in the Atonement is that much more significant. \nDoes Jesus' plea, "Father forgive them, they know not what they do," (Luke 23:34) not apply to Judas? Is his atonement insufficient for Judas' sin(s)? \nIt has been speculated that Judas's damnation, which seems to be possible from the Gospels' text, may not actually stem from his betrayal of Christ, but from the despair which caused him to subsequently commit suicide. This position is not without its problems, but it does avoid the paradox of Judas's predestined act setting in motion both the salvation of all mankind and his own damnation.
401006
Yes. It says that Judas was the best of all the apostles, and did what Jesus asked. To quote fairly close to it, Jesus said, "You will be greater than all the others Judas. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me."
632754
It shows that ALL gospels, including the ones found in the Christian's New Testament, were written as a result of their own theology, rather than historical events that they witnessed. Each author had an agenda, and so he wrote stories about Jesus that 'proved' his agenda. The author of the Gospel of Judas believed that Jesus gave permission to Judas to betray him, thus absolving Judas of any wrong, so he wrote a story to 'prove' it. The others gospels did the same thing.
519225
I don't like the fact that some people are reading it as fact when it is fiction. The man who wrote it(Dan Brown) was charged with plagiarism. I haven't cracked the book but know someone who is reading it but aren't taken in by it's lies. I find it just as abusurd as the supposed "book of judas."  \n\nHere is one of the lies of this book and the truthfull answers to it.\n\nThe Da Vince Code says...\nIn 325 the council of Nicea decided by vote to make Jesus divine. "Until that moment in history, Jesus was viewed by His followers as a mortal prophet." It was a close vote at that.  P.233\n\nFACT:\nThe council, of which we have the historical writings and decisions, had mothing to do with the divinity of Jesus. They were didscssuin Arius, who had begun teaching that Jesus was not eternally co-existent with the father but was divine, The discussion was around whether Jesus was eternally co-existant with the father not wherether Jesus was divine. The close vote.... was almost 300  to  2. WE WOULD call that a landslide in today's English. Consider these Verses.\n\nMatt 16:16  Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son fo the living God" NKJV\n\nMark 15:39  So when the centurion, who stood oppostie Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said,"Truly this Man was the Son of God!"\n\nLuke 4:41   And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying. "You are the Christ, the Son of God!?\n\nJohn 10:33  The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."\n\nJohn 20:28  And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"\n\nThe Da Vinci Code says...\nThe church demonized the sacred feminine and the goddess by reaching teh concept of original sin, "whereby Eve tasted the apple and caused the downfall of the human race." P238\n\nFACT:\nThe Bible actually blames Adam much more that Eve and nowhere does the Bible mention an apple, merely fruit.\n\n! Cor 15:21-22  For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.  22.  For as in Adam all\ndie, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.\n\nRom 5:12 Therefore, just through one man sin intered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned-\n\nSo if they read the Bible they will see that the Da Vince Code is a joke. The fact that it is a novel: n. a fictious prose narritive of considerable length... fictious: adj. \n1. created or assumed for the sake of concealment; false.\n2. of or consisting of fiction; created by the imagination.\n\nThese definitons came from Websters Dictionary not something I made up.