Judas. Was he good or evil?

[Lukelight]

It would have been better if he had never been born

 

[Rajni]

It would have been better if he had never been born

How would God's plan to die for mankind have been
accomplished, otherwise?

Seems like a darned-if-you-do/darned-if-you-don't situation
for ol' Judas (or whoever else would have to step up to the
plate to do pretty much the same thing, in accordance with
God's plan, had Judas not been born).



-

 

[2PhiloVoid]

I have thought about Judas' betrayal, and cant help wonder if that was his ticket to heaven, or his condemnation to hell. It is true that Judas betrayed Jesus, which then led to his crucifixion. Judas was basically an accessory to the murder of the son of god, however his actions were absolutely necessary for the plan of salvation. So if Judas had to betray Jesus, so christian's sins can be forgiven--then is what he did right or wrong? Will god award him a seat in heaven for a job well done, or will he be condemned to hell, for betraying God's only begotten son for a few pieces of silver. So my questions are these: If god created Judas to betray Jesus, so that mankind may be saved, then is Judas not a righteous agent of god, for carrying out his integral role in God's plan of salvation? Is Judas not good for what he did? Or is he going to hell? How does the objective morality of theism apply to Judas? Because if objective morality is true, then Judas did something wrong, even though god set Judas up to sin by creating him to do so. God basically framed him to be the bad guy, when it was all part of god's plan to begin with. God was the mastermind. Judas was a pawn. If objective morality is true, then it doesn't matter that it was necessary for him to betray Jesus, Judas will be the one that is punished for it. Doesn't seem fair and that god doesn't seem like a very nice guy.

From the view point of the writer(s) who wrote the Gospel of John, Judas was evil (John 6:70). However, from what the Synoptics portray of Judas, it seems that his main fault was not in the betrayal of Jesus (Luke 22:3), but in his refusal to come to Jesus for forgiveness and restoration.

Let's also remember that, like Judas, Peter was momentarily "identified" with Satan (Matthew 16:23), and although in a slightly different way than had Judas, he betrayed Jesus by denying Him three times. However, we see that Jesus forgave and restored him. Should we think that Jesus would have done less for Judas?

2PhiloVid