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I would like first to express my deep gratitude to Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology for organizing this International Conference on Biblical Studies and for inviting me to participate in this gathering in honor of Professor Savas Agourides. Let me state that I am not a biblical scholar. My work and publications have been in the area of systematic theology. Nevertheless, I consider it a great privilege to participate in this symposium in honor of Professor Agourides whose theology has significantly influenced my thinking. In fact, just as Professor Agourides has connected biblical studies with other areas of theology, so also have I tried to assimilate biblical insights in my theological work. This is probably why I am here today among noted biblical scholars to speak on my topic, "The Temptation of Judas," in relationship to the contemporary life and mission of the Church of Greece.
In Christian theology and worship, as well as popular piety and literature, the personality and act of Judas remain the archetype of guilt1 and betrayal. Judas, "the son of perdition,"2 is the archetype of denial and apostasy. Anything related to this archetype must be shunned as being opposite to the attributes of the faithful Christian, who has decided according to the baptismal formula "to be joined to Christ." In many cases the collective will, or illusion, to escape and be differentiated from the archetype of Judas, has been expressed by enactments and frenzied manifestations such as the burning of Judas' effigy.1 Such acts, apart from the fact that they undoubtedly contain the elements of popular anti-Semitism, interest us here from a different perspective. Despite the cries and the fantasy of being differentiated from the prototype of Judas, in fact, what is eventually shown in our spiritual life, or the lack of it, is that we are all potentially Judas to the degree that we adopt his criteria and priorities. It is tragic to realize that, whereas we passionately condemn and abhor Judas, nonetheless the way we perceive Christianity, as well as the role and mission of the Church today, discloses that we have unintentionally adopted mutatis mutandis Judas' messianic religio-nationalistic views. What I am suggesting is that we import through the back door the otherwise condemned...