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Times of London: Vatican to "rehabilitate" Judas's reputation
When it comes to official Vatican pronouncements, it's usually good policy to be skeptical when reading summaries in the mainstream press. When the press reports what the Vatican is going to do in the future, it's best to crank the skepticism up to maximum.

That said, The Times of London might actually be right in its report today that Judas Iscariot "is to be given a makeover by Vatican scholars … on the ground that he was not deliberately evil, but was just 'fulfilling his part in God's plan.'"

The paper suggests that the Vatican's move is related to the planned publication of the so-called Gospel of Judas—which has been caught up in some Da Vinci Code-style silliness.

"Though not written by Judas, it is said to reflect the belief among early Christians — now gaining ground in the Vatican — that in betraying Christ Judas was fulfilling a divine mission, which led to the arrest and Crucifixion of Jesus and hence to man's salvation," the Times says. Brandmüller tells the paper that the manuscript could "serve to reconstruct the events and context of Christ's teachings as they were seen by the early Christians, [including the teaching that Jesus always preached] forgiveness for one's enemies."

"In scholarly circles, it has long been unfashionable to demonize Judas and Catholics in Britain are likely to welcome Judas's rehabilitation," Richard Owen wrote.

In fact, Judas is almost always a hero in most modern depictions, or at least he's a conflicted protagonist whose betrayal was all Jesus' idea.

What the Times story really needs is a heavy dose of theology. It seems to miss the point that one can sin egregiously and still "fulfill [one's] part in God's plan." God's desire was not that Judas should betray him, but he used the betrayal to bring about the salvation of the world. It doesn't make Judas any less responsible for his action. This notion of Felix Culpa is Christian Theology 101 and as old as the New Testament.

"The Vatican may decide to be very kindly towards him," The Times says in a related editorial. "Yet, Judas is surely a 'bad chap.'" Might the Devil, too, "try to use the 'a necessary evil' clause to his advantage?" the paper asks. Might we all?

Catholic-evangelical tensions aside, Weblog is confident that the Vatican isn't going to start parading Judas around as a hero who followed Jesus better than all of those chicken disciples who wanted to see Jesus live.

Pat's out, but the Galilee project seems on
You can read the news links below about Israel breaking ties with Pat Robertson, but let us interject that some articles suggest that the whole plan to build an evangelical tourism site in Galilee has been cancelled. That doesn't seem to be the case.

Tourism Minister Abraham Hirchson (whose predecessor gushed over Robertson in 2004) has given orders for his office to "stop all contact" with every group associated with the broadcaster. Could this affect some Israeli businesses? Many Israeli businesses? The International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem? It'll be interesting to see.

Hirchson told Haaretz that the order did not apply to "all the evangelical community, God forbid."

But Ministry spokesman Ido Hartuv suggests to The Times of London that evangelicals who want to do tourism business in Israel may have to prove that they can't stand Pat. Maybe sign a disloyalty oath or something.

"The contract is still open—just not with Mr. Robertson," Hartuv said. "If there are other Christian leaders, they are most welcome to sign a contract to bring Christian tourists to the State of Israel. We want to see who in the group supports his (Robertson's) statements. Those who support the statements cannot do business with us. Those that publicly support Ariel Sharon's recovery are welcome to do business with us. We have to check this very, very carefully."

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January (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50