Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is very pleased that at least one reader took the time to read your Maximum Leader’s musings on Judas Iscariot.

On his blog, Bill comments thoughtfully on some of the problems your Maximum Leader brought up in thinking about Judas.

Your Maximum Leader is a strong believer in free will. And his general theological tendency is towards believing in a God who does not intercede in events (much - if at all). But, the case of Judas is a tough one.

If you accept the authenticity of the accounts in the Gospels, then it is pretty clear that Jesus knew that one of his trusted disciples would betray him. Jesus also seemed to know of the necessity of his betrayal to set in motion events that were essential to the salvation of man. If one accepts these premises, it would certainly appear as though Judas was the predetermined patsy in the story. It seems particularly vengeful of God to condemn Judas for something that God willed be done.

Not that your Maximum Leader would presume to think that God might not be that vengeful…

If one really wants to start reading between the lines, perhaps the act of betrayal was predestined and that could have been forgiven. But Judas’ realiztion of the magnitude of his deeds and his subsequent suicide were his free will choices.

Or, if you want to just be a skeptic, perhaps the Gospels were written with an eye towards creating a scapegoat for all history. Perhaps the authors of the Gospels embellished the story a little and they “created” Jesus’ foreknowledge of the events of his demise?

Humm…

Carry on.