Judas betrayed Jesus and was punished and is now in hell. But Judas only betrayed Jesus because god planned it that way. So we get free will and we’re punished for it, but god planned it all so it’s not really free will is it. It’s just a capricious god playing a game and punishing people for the actions he made them take.
The story of Judas was one of the things that made me break away from religion. It’s one of the stories that makes me realize I’m better than god, more moral and compassionate. So if I a regular dude am better than god, god is weak and useless or not real at all
Some people think, when Jesus foretells Judas’ betrayal, it was actually a command, which Judas followed of his own free will and loyalty, even though it would make him look very bad. https://www.bibleserver.com/ESV/John13:26
By giving the command Jesus could be arrested in a controlled situation on his own terms without much collateral damage, as he knew he had respawn powers, which he vaguely foretold as well.
Some Christians also believe that Judas dying before Jesus resurrection means he might have been freed from hell as part of the Descensus Christi ad Inferos aka the Harrowing of Hell.
If there’s that much bending over backward to try and justify an ancient story then maybe the story is kinda nonsense
You should leave a bad review on goodreads.
Who says I haven’t?
It leaves a lot of space for interpretation, but other religious texts do even more so, eg. the Quran.
No spoilers! I’m still in the second gospel
