 |
|
|
|
April 21st, 2011
12:01 AM ET
My Take: Is Judas in heaven or hell? God only knows
By Craig Gross, Special to CNN I heard a news clip promoting my recent speaking engagement at a church, and they mentioned that I deal with some of "the greatest sinners of all time." I thought to myself: Do I? Would people who are caught up in porn and sexual sin addictions consider themselves some of the greatest sinners of all time? Probably not. Without a doubt, Judas, the biblical disciple of Jesus, is considered the greatest sinner of all time because of what he did to Jesus. Here is the passage from Luke 22:21-22.
No surprises there. But for the one who turns him in - who turns traitor to the Son of Man - this is doomsday. Let me tell you a little bit about what the Bible says about Judas: He was personally chosen to be an apostle by Jesus. He spent 3 1/2 years traveling with Jesus. He saw all the miracles of Christ in person. He watched as Christ healed the sick, raised the dead and cast out demons. In terms of experience with Jesus, whatever you can say about Peter, James and John, you can say about Judas. On top of all this, he handled the money, which is most of the time the most trusted one in the bunch. No one suspected that Judas would betray Jesus, which tells me he was a believer. His life was changed. He knew Jesus personally. In a dark moment of his life, he made a mistake. A big one. He sold Jesus out for 30 silver coins or so. The moment he knew what he had done, he felt remorse, and he killed himself. I am not here to debate theology. The facts are the facts. I don't think Judas was “The Mole,” like the reality show character who's there to sabotage the game from the beginning. I think he made a mistake and now has gone down as committing the biggest sin of all time. Judas heard every message, saw every miracle, and still screwed up. Recently, I asked on my Facebook page: "Is Judas in heaven or hell?" The first response was:
There is a button on Facebook that I have started to love. It is called “unfriend.” I won't unfriend you because you believe differently than I do, I just don’t need more theologians as my friends on Facebook who speak with such confidence when it comes to someone's place in eternity. A debate continues on my Facebook wall. I love how everyone is so convinced they know whether Judas is in heaven or hell. I don't know who gets in, actually. Do I believe in heaven and hell? Yes. I believe one is dark and one is light, and they both last forever. Belief Blog: What if there is no hell? What is interesting to me is that in the upper room where Jesus and his disciples shared their last supper together, the 12 disciples all talked about how they were so great. Peter left the room and denied Jesus three times. Judas left the room and sold Jesus out for 30 coins. One committed suicide, and one went on to build the church as we know it today. Both Peter and Judas committed the same sin. They both denied Jesus. But why do most people think one goes to heaven and one goes to hell? This is not the debate Christians need to be engaged in. We don’t know. Instead of wasting our time on these types of arguments inside our little Christian world, maybe we should look inside ourselves this Easter. It is easier to debate these issues and make speculations about others than it is to actually look at ourselves in the mirror. It is always easier to think someone else is worse off then we are. But maybe as we approach Easter, we can be reminded that for Christians, the cross and the grave should silence all of these debates. We all fall short and deserve death, but because of what Jesus did on the cross 2,000 years ago, we are able to have life. And I believe that where you end up, God only knows. |
  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
|
|
|
Editor's Note: 
I believe all sin is equal and we all are sinners so we are equally at sin everyday of our lives.
The only saving grace is the Lord Jesus Christ who died for our sins.
I believe no one has a right to say who is in hell or who will go to hell.
This is between each living soul and the creator!
But we all need to repent on a daily basis in the name of Christ
to begin the process of true communication with our creator.
The Muslim faith was created by the Vatican.
Why do you believe that:
1 Sin is all equal (and what does that actually mean)
2. We are all sinners
3. We are equally at sin everyday of our lives (compared to ourselves on other days, or other people on the same day)?
Help me here.
******************************************************************************
EASY. JUDAS IS IN HELL. JESUS ANSWERED IT HIMSELF INDIRECTLY AS RECORDED IN THE GOSPELS....
Jesus said in Matthew 26:20-25 and Mark 14:18-21: "The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.".
If Judas was going to heaven, then what Jesus said would have been incorrect (Jesus doesn't make mistakes, right?), it WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER for Judas to have been born... going to heaven for eternity (which is super great) makes any temporary troubles people experience on earth like nothing. Therefore, logically, since only heaven or hell (lake of fire eventually) are the final destinations for humans according to the Bible in other places, hell is the only place he can be... only Judas being in hell would make Jesus's words certainly true.
******************************************************************************
seriously. STFU, already, Douglas.
Wake up. It's fiction. Do you religiously believe EVERYTHING you read?
No, why would you think anyone does?
****************************************************************************
EASY. JUDAS IS IN HELL. JESUS ANSWERED IT HIMSELF INDIRECTLY AS RECORDED IN THE GOSPELS...
Jesus said in Matthew 26:20-25 and Mark 14:18-21: "The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.".
If Judas was going to heaven, then what Jesus said would have been incorrect (Jesus doesn't make mistakes, right?), it WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER for Judas to have been born... going to heaven for eternity (which is super great) makes any temporary troubles people experience on earth like nothing. Therefore, logically, since only heaven or hell (lake of fire eventually) are the final destinations for humans according to the Bible in other places, hell is the only place he can be... only Judas being in hell would make Jesus's words certainly true.
****************************************************************************
Heaven and hell are on Earth now. It has always been that way–get use to it! But you won't so go live out your fairy tales.
Seriously??? That's like asking is the tooth fairy green or purple. Why does CNN print these articles about fantasies? Why don't they print stuff about the Koran or other religions????
And Sophie – you're right. god is a psychopath. apparently he's all-powerful and all-loving yet still lets, for example, children get molested. sounds like a vile, evil god to me.
No no no. Everyone knows that gOD's only responsible for the good stuff, like winning football games.
I think Job and a number of the Prophets would disagree.
***************************************************************************
EASY. JUDAS IS IN HELL. JESUS ANSWERED IT HIMSELF INDIRECTLY AS RECORDED IN THE GOSPELS.
Jesus said in Matthew 26:20-25 and Mark 14:18-21: "The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.".
If Judas was going to heaven, then what Jesus said would have been incorrect (Jesus doesn't make mistakes, right?), it WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER for Judas to have been born... going to heaven for eternity (which is super great) makes any temporary troubles people experience on earth like nothing. Therefore, logically, since only heaven or hell (lake of fire eventually) are the final destinations for humans according to the Bible in other places, hell is the only place he can be... only Judas being in hell would make Jesus's words certainly true.
***************************************************************************
In response to the quote: "The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born."
This really got me thinking. I never noticed before how the personality of jesus as portrayed in the bible co closely matches that of Charlie Sheen. If I heard someone say the above quiote, I would laugh in their face because they are obviously delusional.
Not so easy actually...for some reason, people forget the line in our Lord's prayer regarding God's will being done on "earth" as it is in heaven, along with others indicating that the earth abideth forever. In other words, in addition to a heavenly salvation and hell (do a word study and it simply means the grave, that is non-existence for eternity), in due time the majority of earth's billions (in particular those who lived/died before Jesus came on the scene) will live on earth for eternity if obedient. The scripture dealing with Judas having been better off not being born, simply relates to the shame he will feel in due time when he is resurrected on earth to find earth's billions acknowledging him as the betrayer of the world's saviour, yikes!! Once again, this stuff is pretty straight forward folks, but sadly the theologians have been muddling it up for centuries 🙁 Lord bless.
I've been trying to read these comments, and find most of them laughable. On both sides of the equation. Athietsts, you're not going to convince a Christian that there isn't a God or that there was never a man called Jesus. Christians, You're not going to convince athiests that there is a God. Everyone thinks that their words are going to carry so much authority that an earth-shaking change is going to occur. Ain't gonna happen. Some of you say, "there is no heaven or hell, so live life the way you see fit." Well, some of us believe that there is a heaven and hell, so let us live our lives that way. hat's the way we see fit to live. So leave us alone, and quit trying to change us. By the same token, Christians, quit trying to bash athiests over the head with the bible. It's obvious that they don't want to hear it. And no word of yours is going to change them.
There are some on here that isn't really trying to change anyone's mind.
**************************************************************************
EASY. JUDAS IS IN HELL. JESUS ANSWERED IT HIMSELF INDIRECTLY AS RECORDED IN THE GOSPELS.
Jesus said in Matthew 26:20-25 and Mark 14:18-21: "The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.".
If Judas was going to heaven, then what Jesus said would have been incorrect (Jesus doesn't make mistakes, right?), it WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER for Judas to have been born... going to heaven for eternity (which is super great) makes any temporary troubles people experience on earth like nothing. Therefore, logically, since only heaven or hell (lake of fire eventually) are the final destinations for humans according to the Bible in other places, hell is the only place he can be... only Judas being in hell would make Jesus's words certainly true.
**************************************************************************
Of course one would have to be a literalist to completely agree with you.
According to the Bible, Christ specifically says that it would have been better for him [Judas] to have never been born. That would be a meaningless statement if Judas was in heaven. (As Christians, we don't believe Christ made meaningless statements.) There is only one interpretation for that statement, i.e., Judas was condemned for eternity.
I believe all sin is equal and we all are sinners so we are equally at sin everyday of our lives.
The only saving grace is the Lord Jesus Christ who died for our sins.
I believe no one has a right to say who is in hell or who will go to hell.
This is between each living soul and the creator!
Thanks and Happy Grace from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Wake up! Your country is being taken away from you! The Supreme Court decided that money=speach and that corporations have the same rights as American citizens! Instead of taking to the streets, outraged, demanding their country back, Americans are arguing over what fictional place fictional characters ended up at in a book of fiction!
Maybe if you are this concerned, you should head over to the politics and business section of CNN.
I've often contemplated this myself and come to the conclusion that Judas was a necessary evil and that he is indeed in heaven. What a terrible part to have too play in all of history.
Judas was the priest that offered the ultimate sacrifice for humankind redemption, wasn't he?
Opinion: does Santa Claus live on the North Pole? I can't believe a legitimate news source is concerning itself with childish fairy tales as though they're actually relevant. Sad, sad, sad.
@Jesse- What is more sad is when someone complains about a religious topic on the religious section of a website. I mean, come on...how dense are you?
Santa is real and is tracked evry year by the North American Aerospace Defence Command (www(dot)norad.(dot) mil/about/Santa.html). For this Jesus guy, however, there is not much proof....
Four books about his ministry isn't much proof to you?
"Four books about his ministry isn't much proof to you?"
I believe there are seven Harry Potter books...
@Godless- Very good...you also know that those HP books are labled as "fiction".
Here's where the evangelistic atheists all predictably come out and say "NEITHER CUZ THEYRE NOT REAL LOL!!!11"
Just as predictable as the religious folk blindly thinking about the answer and the thought of no heaven or hell never even crossed their minds. At least the athiest aren't held back from free thinking. The christians can't even question the question, who wants to live a life where your thoughts are controlled?
@Jimbo- How wrong you are. There is nothing in the Bible or Torah that says one cannot question things.
The bible says that when Adam sinned he went back to the earth, "dust you are and to dust you will return." The bible also says that the dead are "conscience of nothing at all." Jesus himself referred to his friend Lazurus as "sleeping." Not that he was off in heaven, or maybe hell. Even the Jews believed when you died, you died, that was it. But through the Messiah you could be ressurected one day. It wasn't until Constantine "tickled the ears" of pagans to get them into the church that the idea of going to heaven or hell entered. In Revelation it talks of only 144,000 going to heaven. The others would live on a paradise earth one.
So where is Judas? He is dead. In the grave. That is it. What was different between Peter and him? Peter repented of his sin. Judas did not, he felt bad then killed himself. Jesus stated that Peter would be one of those 144,000 that would rule with him in heaven. Judas lost that privilege, so no he is not in heaven. It's all in the bible 🙂
You need to keep studying your Bible... Try re-reading Revelation for example...
Which part am I off about, do you think?
You have studied well. You are correct in both the 144,000, Peter being amoung them, when mankind dies they return to the ground. And a great resurrection to physical live a second time after the 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ on Earth. You are not wrong in particular to your understaning of Revelation.
I am actually impressed that you hit so many truths that mankind as a whole cannot grasp in this age.
The 144,000 in Rev. That refers to the beleivers (Jews) who will be left living during the tribulation period as witness to call unbeleivers to repentance.
Heaven and Hell don't exist duh! This moron is your typical attention whre just like every other religious speaker who thinks he can comprehend what happened in some fairy tale better than the other full of dog sht preacher. All you religouis retrds who think these topics are important, do yourself a favor and become a martyr.
Jimbo,
Think about the suffering this man did for all of us... The beatings, spitting, punching, stabbing, nailing...
Then again tell me that all HE DID WAS retarded or to no purpose.. NO ONE WOULD DIE FOR
NO REASON... So if you dont believe,, then watch or see what he went through and think again!!
Hey Norm, the poor baby called Jesus was brain washed from day one that he was the son of god just becasue his unmarried mom couldn't keep her legs closed. Prove me wrong budy.
Jumbo...why do you come onto a religious thread? Did you just want the attention?
@Jimbo- one cannot prove a negative. How about you prove what you just claimed.
normmm,
Try not to tell another sane person to think about something that never happened cept in some fantasy world where 95% of mankind was ignorant to the world around him and the other % was high on readily available opiates and power trips.
'Think about the suffering this man did for all of us... The beatings, spitting, punching, stabbing, nailing...'
you think he was unique in that treatment of prisoners condemned to crucifiction? and you think that once he was in control of the authorities he could have stopped it?
"ignorant to the world around him"
Unlike you?
Lycidas,
there is no negative claim as there is no positive claim as there is no proof to any of it.
FYI: Bambi and the Tooth Faerie don't exist either only Santa Clause of all things actually has some creditability
Jimbo – the Bible and Jesus are legit. To think otherwise is sad and illiterate. You need help bro'.
"Lycidas
"ignorant to the world around him"
Unlike you?"
Oh I'm sorry 2000 years ago the populace knew why it rained, why earthquakes happened why using Lead pipes for plumbing was bad.
Ah never mind u r too ignorant to comprehend that
"the poor baby called Jesus was brain washed from day one that he was the son of god just becasue his unmarried mom couldn't keep her legs closed."
"there is no positive claim as there is no proof to any of it."
Now I don't know to exactly what you was responding to me about but you do not consider the first quote to be a claim? As to proof, what proof would suffice?
Actually bam, you might be the one that needs to understand a little more about ancient history and what they achieved.
That, and that scientific knowledge doesn't mean much when talking about such things like ethics, logic, spirituality or other such things. But I doubt you knew that.
The wrote: " the Bible and Jesus are legit. "
Perhaps you'd like to buy some shares in Ascot Partners, or would a bridge in Brooklyn be more to your taste?
PraiseTheLard- Does that person's faith offend you at some level?
The dissemination of ignorance is always worrisome
@PraiseTheLard- Does direspecting a person's right to worship bother you too? Or are you selective at what worries you?
[3:50] "I confirm previous scripture – the Torah – and I revoke certain prohibitions imposed upon you. I come to you with sufficient proof from your Lord. Therefore, you shall observe GOD, and obey me.
[3:51] "GOD is my Lord and your Lord; you shall worship Him alone. This is the right path."
[3:52] When Jesus sensed their disbelief, he said, "Who are my supporters towards GOD?" The disciples said, "We are GOD's supporters; we believe in GOD, and bear witness that we are submitters."
[3:53] "Our Lord, we have believed in what You have sent down, and we have followed the messenger; count us among the witnesses."
The Death of Jesus*
[3:54] They plotted and schemed, but so did GOD, and GOD is the best schemer.
[3:55] Thus, GOD said, "O Jesus, I am terminating your life, raising you to Me, and ridding you of the disbelievers. I will exalt those who follow you above those who disbelieve, till the Day of Resurrection. Then to Me is the ultimate destiny of all of you, then I will judge among you regarding your disputes.
[3:56] "As for those who disbelieve, I will commit them to painful retribution in this world, and in the Hereafter. They will have no helpers."
[3:57] As for those who believe and lead a righteous life, He will fully recompense them. GOD does not love the unjust.
[3:58] These are the revelations that we recite to you, providing a message full of wisdom.
[3:59] The example of Jesus, as far as GOD is concerned, is the same as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him, "Be," and he was.
[3:60] This is the truth from your Lord; do not harbor any doubts.
If anyone wants to know if he or she is going to hell or heaven.....it clearly says in John 3:16.
Jesus was good all his life.... it stands to reason that good people follow HIS example throughout their lives.
God sees all things... If you are Good in life as HE was then ONE falls automatically in HIS grace and
so you can be assured to get the rewards HE promised. When you lead a GOOD life HE enters that life
and influences that life. To be GOOD is to FALL as you say in HIS grace. To be EVIL is to fall in
to other guy wishes...
So if you are good in life, you follow the example that Jesus said you should follow and will
enter in HIS rewards.. Not to argue with anyone, just telling the truth as it should be...
Woe unto those who spurn the Tooth Fairy's flying carpet.
Amen!!
Well written normmm
this question is definitely a reason to branch off from the main wacko religion that thinks differently and fight them to the death over it.
aka do what religion has done for thousands of years when there is a conflict of human ideas over the super beings human interpreted meanings.
"Jesus was good all his life"
And you know this how? Do you have 24x7x365 video coverage of Jesus's life? No, you have stories in a book.
What about followers of other religions who "do good in life"? According to a lot of Christians, seems like they'll be pitched right into a lake of fire, regardless of how good they lived.
@Anon A. Mouse- Available evidence shows he was. Now if anyone has some new evidence to the contrary....
The gospels that showed Jesus wasn't good were kept out of the final bible, otherwise it wouldn't be believable that he was the son of God. That's called great editing for a book of fiction.
@Ok- possible, but can you prove it?
Lycidas your an idiot, because you're just playing dumb.
Non-biblical gospels have been discovered because actual physical remains have been found. Examples include the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel of Mary, and the Gospel of Judas. All of these were discovered in modern times. But only fragments or secondary translations have been found, so the complete original forms of all of them are still unavailable.
Ancient writers mentioned a number of other gospels which they knew about, but which apparently no longer survive. These include the Gospel of Matthias, the Gospel of Perfection, the Gospel of the Seventy, the Dialogue of the Savior, the Gospel of the Twelve, the Gospel of the Hebrews, the Gospel of the Nazarenes, the Gospel of Bartholomew, the Secret Gospel of Mark, and the Gospel of Eve. Other gospels may have also existed, but even their names have been lost.
@OK- No, I am afriad you are ignorant. I simply asked you the same type of question and atheist asks when they say, prove God exists. All you have shown was that there was texts not included in the Bible. I asked you to show us where texts were left out because Jesus wasn't good. You failed. Sorry, but that is the truth.
No you are ignorant not to know. Obviously you have done your homework and want me to do it for you. Stay ignorant that is your choice, which is why you believe in something that doesn't exist and is based on fiction.
@OK- I would wager I know more on this subject than you do. But I am only guessing, unlike you who has way too much faith in their own knowledge that is only held up by their big ego 😉