Was Judas an anti-semitic creation?

[Berzerker]

The character of Judas is very common among human beings, in all cutures and all walks of life. Why is it so hard to believe one such character could be Jewish.

Why should we believe that about Judas based on characters in other cultures? We have only this story and our interpretations. Some scholars say Judas betrayed Jesus, and some scholars say he was instructed to betray him by Jesus. We can only see the evidence and reach our own conclusions, but what this has to do with PC is beyond me.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by The Viceroy

Regards to the name, Judas .. well, maybe somebody who is Jewish themselves could respond on how common the name Judas is amongst Jews (I personally do not know), but it strikes me as obvious that a jew may well be called a name which closely resembles the name of his people/nation.
eg . Bharat in India (Bharat is India in Hindi).

I've never met a Bharat, but I have met a Tommy Rhat.

[The Viceroy]

I know many Bharat's .. but then, I goto India a lot.

[The Viceroy]

Berzerker ,

was not the question regards to if the character was created to make jews look bad ?? so the issue of pc is certainly valid.

I agree though, I would not ask you to accept the judas character as being true, just because many people in the world are the characture described by the questioner .. I was merely saying, why is it impossible to believe ? which i think is different from saying it is impossible to know, as you correctly state.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Berzerker
The short version is that Judas was not betraying Jesus, but merely playing the role assigned him by Jesus. Jesus needed to fulfill certain prophecies, you know, like riding into town on a donkey, for his role as messiah was to be accepted.

This has been my view all along. Judas should be a hero to Christians. For without him, Jesus could not carry out the divine plan assigned.

[Al B. Sure!]

Judas should be a hero to Christians. For without him, Jesus could not carry out the divine plan assigned.

maybe someone who knows christian history better could elaborate but wasn't there a pro-Judas movement centuries ago?

[Adalbertus]

Anyone noticed that in the gospel of Luke Jesus had two disciples called Judas? The other is usually merged with Thaddeus from Mark and Mattew.

The theory I've heard of was that Judas thought that Jesus had a political mission to restore the kingdom of Juda. He wanted him to come out and finally release his divine powers against the Romans. Finally, Jesus did come out but not quite in the way Judas expected.
Anyway, in this sense, Judas wasn't worse than many idiots today ...

[Al B. Sure!]

Anyone noticed that in the gospel of Luke Jesus had two disciples called Judas?

yeah i actually had noticed that but i wasnt sure if it was the same Judas or if judas was a common name or not.

[SlowwHand]

Re: Was Judas an anti-semitic creation?

Originally posted by Albert Speer
now maybe i'm waaaay off but it always seemed to me that Judas was created in the middle ages to make jews look bad... first off, is his name which bears a close resemblence to judah, judea, judeaism, etc. and there's the fact that he was so crass and obsessed with money that he sold out jesus, etc.

am i crazy or is this plausible?

My opinion, and mine only; that is to say, it's not authenticated by anyone that matters.
Maybe someone said it already, but I'm not sifting through what I feel sure would be reams of crap, as it always is when someone is interested in a religious question.

There was more than one of many names, for the record.

IMO, Judas got screwed.
Everything that went down relyed on Judas' weakness.
I don't believe he's in Hell, but rather at the hand of the Master.
He was essential to history, and had nothing at all to do with any "anti-semitic" theories.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Do you still think you're being persecuted by jews?

[Sava]

the Crucifixion/Resurrection is a fabrication

I would agree with this.

[SlowwHand]

Sava's going to He-ll. Sava's going to He-ll.

[Sava]

I'll say hi to Strom and save you a seat.

[SlowwHand]

No way buddy. My elevator's going to the top floor.

[Sava]

Not if you voted for Bush.