Peter Stanford

Judas

The Most Hated Name in History

This fascinating biography “asks Christians and non–believers alike to look anew at Judas”, revealing the Apostle’s cultural significance and impact on world history (Fox News).

Deconstructing the myths and hatred—often anti-Semitic in nature—surrounding the most vilified of Bible characters.

In this fascinating historical and cultural biography, Peter Standford brings to life Judas Iscariot, who famously betrayed Jesus with a kiss. Beginning with the gospel accounts, Stanford explores 2,000 of cultural and theological history to investigate how the very name Judas came to be synonymous with betrayal and, ultimately, human evil.
 
But as Stanford points out, there has long been a counter–current of thought that suggests that Judas might in fact have been victim of a terrible injustice: central to Jesus’ mission was his death and resurrection, and for there to have been a death, there had to be a betrayal. This thankless role fell to Judas. Should we in fact be grateful to him for his role in the divine drama of salvation? “You'll have to decide,” as Bob Dylan sang in the 1960s, “whether Judas Iscariot had God on his side.”
 
An essential but doomed character in the Passion narrative—and thus the entire story of Christianity—Judas and the betrayal he symbolizes continue to play out in much larger cultural histories, speaking to our deepest fears about friendship, betrayal, and the problem of evil.

“A satisfying left–field approach to the entire history of Christianity.” —The Sunday Telegraph