Here is the problem I have with mainstream religion in a nutshell.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s Christianity, Islam, Judiasm or “The Gospel of Bob!”
You got twenty people in a line and the guy at one end says; “That girl at the other end of the line has a nice smile, pass it on!” The next guys repeats it and so on down the line until the second last person says to the girl; “Your mother wears nice purple pants!
O.K. - So then the girl writes this down and puts the note away!
(With me so far?)
Years later someone finds the note and a great debate erupts about whether “mothers” pants are actually royal blue or some shade of lavender!
This is a good representation of the debate going on now about the role of Judas in the Bible.
The story was handed down in verbal form for a few generations before it was finally written down about 1700 years ago. (300 years AFTER Jesus)
Now scholars are picking apart this bastardized version of what happened and debating whether it means Judas was actually a good guy or the betrayer of Jesus.
If they can’t agree on this unchanged written version of Judas how can they lend ANY creedance to the original story that was passed on down the line to the girl with the nice smile?? Explain that, eh!
I’ve often been amused by the raw deal Judas got from the xians - they seem not to realise that without his actions, as well as the Jews freeing Barabas (??), xianity wouldn’t be.