One important technique in New Scripture is the bending and stretching of the narratives of religion so as to present other plausible alternatives, in an effort to shake people out of dogmatic belief.
This description of Judas Iscariot provides a stark example.
We all know that Judas Iscariot was the worst of men, betraying Jesus to his executioners by his poisonous kiss. Rewarded for his perfidy by a handful of silver, hanging himself almost immediately out of shame at his treachery and deceit.
But what if this story is untrue?
What if Judas' kiss was in fact given as part of a terrible last goodbye, as he went out as decoy in order to buy time so that his twin brother Jesus could be safely delivered from harm?
And the most confounding of possibilities: what if it were Judas who had been crucified, and not Jesus at all? That even after realising their mistake his captors still put poor Judas to death, dragging his broken body to Golgotha, mocking him and piercing him as he hung upon the cross?
And what would be our culpability, having slandered him for so long?
In my version of the story Judas is eventually redeemed out of Hell, by the same means as any man is redeemed. As he rises we see what gave, and how he had been repaid, despite how he ought to have been remembered for his great love and great loyalty. But we are also shown:
"... the poor and the earnest kneeling in praise of Judas, as he hung there in their churches, and how this devotion had reached him and sustained his soul even in the deepest parts of Hell. So that he might now rise and shine forth, the sufficiency of his silver now transmuted into gold."
For a while I thought I had come up with my version of Judas independently, but I have since found out that other traditions tell very similar versions of the tale.
Islam is one example. I am not equipped to deal with their authorities on the issue, but I understand that their version flows from Qur'an 4:157:
"And [for] their saying, "Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah." And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain.:-"
This passage has led many Muslims to believe that the proxy who was crucified might have been Judas, although I am not sure there is much suggestion that he was a man of virtue, but rather more of an involuntary substitute.
There is a fascinating exploration of the differences even within Islam on this issue at this Wikipedia page.
Just for contrast there is also the very well known (and initially very controversial) version of Judas depicted in Jesus Christ Superstar.
This Judas was a social reformer and progressive (who also had some serious lungs on him) who thought that Jesus had fallen victim to his ego and the myth of his own divinity. His betrayal comes out of his belief that Jesus' madness was endangering his radical agenda of revolution and social reform.
You can see the harrowing final fate of this poor Judas on YouTube.
The point of these alternate narratives is not to insult people, or to poke fun at them.
Their point is simply to demonstrate the irrationality and the danger of dogmatic, unexamined belief in the literal truth of events depicted in ancient texts, or indeed any other source that is external to our own knowledge and the witness of our senses.
New Scripture advocates for another type of spiritual truth-seeking that is not concerned about the literal truth of these kinds of narratives, but rather their truthfulness in depicting the facts of our human experience and our human potential.
In this sense there are many ways in which traditional scriptural narratives are true, but there are just as many ways in which they are untruthful or hateful or slanderous against human beings and our astonishing human capacity, especially the capacity lent to us by language.
Perhaps a new generation of writers will create increasingly true narratives of this kind, to augment and I hope replace the fractured and often bizarre narratives that our violent and abusive history has passed down to us.
P. Julian
5 September 2018
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"Finally there arose one who did not have any lover, yet whose suffering is our best symbol of the depth and constancy of love. Brave Judas Iscariot, the most slandered son of the world, the self-hanged God so viciously accused for the latter part of history. Ruby saw what Judas had given, and how he had been repaid, despite how he ought to have been remembered for his great love and great loyalty. But she also saw the poor and the earnest kneeling in praise of Judas, as he hung there in their churches, and how this devotion had reached him and sustained his soul even in the deepest parts of hell. So that he might now rise and shine forth, the sufficiency of his silver now transmuted into gold."
From the Chronicles of Lupa 2:17 - A Season in Hell