In TVJ, Borges does an examination of Judas through the character of Nils Runeberg, a theologian who has proposed that the things attributed to Judas are false. One point of evidence is that the "Judas kiss" should have been unnecessary to identify Jesus. If Jesus really had all these crowds following him, and was despised by Jewish leaders and feared by Romans, they would be able to recognize him. Judas was, in effect, representing all of man in making a sacrifice of himself. This parallels nicely with the sacrifice that Jesus made for all men.
At this point in the story, theologians refute Runeberg's theory for various reasons, and he comes up with another. The new theory says that God spending only one afternoon on the cross as a sacrifice is "blasphemous." Also, Judas was chosen by Jesus himself to be a disciple, which entailed many moral qualities. Borges' Runeberg has Judas as the ultimate ascetic, who scorns his own happiness for that of the Lord's. "Judas sought Hell, because the happiness of the Lord was enough for him. He thought that happiness, like morality, is a divine attribute and should not be usurped by humans."
In addition, Runeberg reasons that it would not be possible for God to become a human without being able to sin - "the attributes of impeccabilitas and of humanitas are not compatible." The final conclusion that Runeberg reached is that God did not become Jesus - God became Judas.
I'm not sure I did a very good job laying out the logic involved with Runeberg's conclusion. I'm not sure the logic is even sound, but as I read it straight through it was convincing. Overall, this story is an interesting one, despite its brevity (Six pages). I recommend Borges to anyone who likes bits of philosophy in their stories. This collection contains many of Borges' short stories, as well as some undeveloped thoughts, many of which play out like the thought experiments philosophers often use.
Posted by mill1991 at August 12, 2004 2:10 PM
Of course Judas is the Messiah according to both the Hebrew scriptures and the N.T. Just in case nobody got it,it was no place else than at the house of Judas where the apostle formerly known as Saul from Tarsus gets his eyesight restored after being blinded by his vision of Christ on the road to Damascus. Moreover,the house of Judas is located on a street called Straight (like a highway in the desert made straight for the Lord).And it was there, at the house of Judas where the chosen vessel of the Lord not only received meat after three days with nothing to drink or eat, and it was also there where he was baptized and received the Holy Spirit. Yes, there's quite a lot going on at the house of Judas.
Posted by: eric sachs at September 6, 2004 11:36 AMThe three versions of Judas, by Sir Jorge Luis Borges, is Logic at its very best and thus challenge the central belief of Christian theology and reveal its incongruities. This work reveals Borges as a finest theologian, that is "given reason of his faith" in the divinity of the Word. As one of the greatest intellectual poet of all times, Borges was agnostic because he was sceptic, attentive reader. A Poet, basing his faith in the Word, cannot possible be an atheist. Borges believe, as Bernard Shaw did before him, that every book worth reading was the work of the Holy Spirit or of the Muse or of Freud's unconscious, a modern version of the Jew and Greek previous mythologies ... to learn more, please visit our website http://FriendsofBorges.net
Posted by: Dr Miguel-Angel Meizoso at April 7, 2006 4:12 AM