Welcome to my latest book

Over the years I have written, edited, or contributed to a number of Christian books and publications. However, I have produced very little for the past dozen years because, working as an official spokesperson and bishop’s administrator for a Church of England diocese, I believed strongly that the messenger should not become the message.

However, those days are now behind me and I have brought off the back burner a project which has been simmering there for some 30 years. The figure of Judas Iscariot in the Bible is intriguing. So little is known about him yet he played such an important – and infamous – part in the Jesus story. And what emerges, as we consider all the possible factors that lay behind his final, fatal actions, is that everyone is liable to mess up in very similar ways.

Each of the factors that may have contributed to his betrayal of Jesus’ whereabouts to the authorities are factors which can cause any one of us to stumble.

So I set about exploring those factors, discovering parallel examples from the lives of famous and ordinary people, and examining the research and the conclusions of experts in the relevant fields. And then thinking about how to both prevent and cure the weaknesses thus exposed. The result is The Judas Trap.

I took it to a small and relatively new British Christian commercial publisher, Instant Apostle, partly because they could offer a swift turn-round and partly because I liked their philosophy of largely (but obviously not entirely!) giving a platform to new authors. I also discovered, to my surprise, that their professional thoroughness in editing and proofreading far surpassed what (to judge from the grammatical and printing errors one finds in many recent books) appears to be a corner-cutting trend in publishing generally.

Below is the Foreword to the book written by a lay Christian woman who doesn’t have a theological background. It serves as a useful summary of what the book is. I asked her to do this because while the book is packed full of Bible stuff and carries commendations from two senior Anglican clergy, it’s written for thinking people like Hilary who don’t have the theological background I’ve been privileged to amass over the years.

Below her contribution are the other commendations and the practical details of the book for anyone who wants to buy a print or Kindle copy.

Foreword to The Judas Trap

The Judas Trap is a fascinating challenge to us all. We are challenged to understand what made Judas Iscariot deliver Jesus Christ to the Roman authorities, as described in the New Testament. Judas is a very important person in the story of Jesus for Christians, as he is considered to have "betrayed" Jesus. Judas is the person who started the process of Jesus being crucified. So, it is important to face the challenge that any one of us may have done exactly the same, if we found ourselves where Judas was.

Derek Williams gives us clear, possible explanations for why Judas did what he did, all backed by referenced evidence from the literature and lots of easy to read examples, both historical and contemporary. He has done a thorough job of investigating his topic of The Judas Trap. Maybe the reasons Judas did what he did can apply to all of us. We are challenged to think how we might be at risk of falling into one of the same traps, even 2000 years later.

The explanations use theories from many disciplines: psychology, sociology, economics, ethics, and more. Derek uses the evidence well. He uses it to support his proposed possible explanations of Judas' behaviour. Each chapter addresses a single possible explanation, starting with a clear, brief summary of what is in the chapter (what an invaluable aspect of this book), an apposite quotation, a description of the "trap" factor to be discussed, then the evidence and anecdote. But there is more. Each chapter then challenges the reader on whether we may fall into this specific trap, and then gives practical suggestions on what to do now to avoid doing that. Perfect!

We are led through the process of thinking how awful it was for Judas to do that; how, maybe, there was a reason why he did it; well, maybe, we sometimes behave a bit like that, too; but here's how we can avoid doing it any more. Phew!

This book challenges the reader to think. However, it is easy to read, well signposted and very engaging. You may want to read it one chapter at a time and have a pause between chapters to think. I suggest your thinking will be interesting. You will have been charmingly, gently challenged. Do accept the challenge and see where this excellent book takes you.

Dr Hilary Hearnshaw

Associate Professor Emeritus of Clinical Care, University of Warwick

What reviewers say:

“I highly commend this refreshing and engaging book in which Derek Williams uses Judas Iscariot, that unfortunate icon of betrayal, to challenge us to a better understanding of ourselves and more generous consideration of others. Williams’ accessible style, richly combining Christian reflection with telling historical and contemporary references, provides a realistic yet encouraging view of humanity, leading us to more gracious living.”

The Venerable Richard Brand, Archdeacon of Winchester

“Here is practical wisdom on how to protect against our in-built tendency to go wrong. Derek Williams is readable, thoughtful, brave, startling, challenging, encouraging: take this book seriously, and you will grow as a disciple of Jesus Christ. I recommend it highly.”

The Rt Revd Donald Allister, Bishop of Peterborough

Details of The Judas Trap

The Judas Trap – why people mess up (and how to avoid joining them) by Derek Williams is published by Instant Apostle and is available from 21^st October 2016 at Christian bookshops, bookstores and on-line retailers. ISBN: 978-1-909728-54-7. Non-fiction. Paperback 192pp £8.99. For Kindle readers, see online.

For review copies and media enquiries contact Manoj: info@instantapostle.com

 

Why did he do it?

Crosses on the hill outside Lee Abbey, Devon

OK, it’s past Easter and I’m late in terms of topicality – except that the question as to why Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus is always topical. Because people do it, or something similar, every day. We (which I prefer to “they” because none is totally exempt) betray our own principles, we turn against people who were once colleagues or friends, we do or say things behind people’s backs we would not repeat in front of them.

As Oscar Wilde once put it, “Yet each man kills the thing he loves, / By each let this be heard, / Some do it with a bitter look, / Some with a flattering word. / The coward does it with a kiss, / The brave man with a sword!”¹ 

The reasons, though, are usually complex. Social psychologist Philip Zimbardo admits that “Human behaviour is complex, so there is often more than one reason for any given act.” He notes that “Just when you think you understand someone you know only the smallest slice of their inner nature derived from a limited set of personal or mediated contacts.”² So with Judas; the reasons for his actions were probably complex. But let’s examine the usual theories.

MICE and the man

The FBI has an acronym for the most common reasons for betrayal: MICE. It stands for Money, Ideology, Compromise, Ego. We can see if any apply to Judas.

Money: He was paid for his information (Matthew 26:14-16; Luke 22:1-5). He was also said (after the event) to have had his hand in the till – he stole from the disciples’ common funds (John 12:4-6). So he might have been greedy, or in debt, or he just bent the rules: they’ll never know, never miss it.

Although the money motive has been the traditional allegation against Judas, it doesn’t totally add up. Although Matthew says he asked the authorities for something, it was more likely a token sum to seal the deal rather than (say) a hard-up man seeking to pay off his gambling debts; it wasn’t a huge amount. Besides, he gave it back when Jesus was executed (Matthew 27:1-5); clearly his intention wasn’t Jesus’ death, nor just to line his pocket.

Ideology: There are two distinct possibilities which are often put forward as the most likely single reasons for Judas’s actions. One is that he had become disillusioned with Jesus. Perhaps he expected Jesus to lead an armed rebellion against the occupying Romans and had belatedly realised that Jesus wasn’t that kind of Messiah (the other disciples appear to have been under the same illusion even after the resurrection, Acts 1:6). Frustrated and angry, he turned against his friends. Anger can do that to a person, but again his reaction to the crucifixion suggests he was far from glad at the outcome of his action.

The other option is that he tried to force Jesus’ hand by engineering an encounter with the religious authorities. He was getting impatient, and felt that Jesus was pussyfooting around: he needed to declare his Messiahship and work with the authorities to bring about change. So what better way than a private audience with the High Priest? This too is unlikely on its own, not least because the authorities had been intransigent opponents of Jesus almost from the start of his ministry.

Compromise: This is rarely levelled at Judas. We have no evidence that he was blackmailed into his actions as a contemporary spy might be; if he was being so pressured, there would have been no reason to offer him money. There is also no suggestion that he was an “agent in place”, planted by the religious authorities to report back on Jesus’ movements. Judas was one of the original twelve disciples and there was no indication in the early days that Jesus would prove such a thorn in the authorities’ side that they needed to keep track of him.

Ego:  Now we’re getting closer, and again there are two but not mutually exclusive possibilities. The Bible is clear that “Satan entered Judas” (Luke 22:3) but also that whatever that meant, Judas was still responsible for his actions (Luke 22:22); he did not suddenly become a demented demoniac.

A more modern explanation (which does not exclude malign spiritual influence) is that he was a “driven man”. Driven by ambition, desire and perhaps much else, his view of the situation became blinkered and he blundered on regardless until it was too late to turn back.

Mixed up mindset

There may have been other factors involved, too, that are not always taken into account. For example, Judas’s surname “Iscariot” almost certainly suggests that he came from the southern village of Kerioth. Most if not all the other disciples were northerners. Judas would have talked differently, and had different values to the rest. Was he perhaps too conscious of his “outsider” status, was he teased by the others, however much in jest, and this led him to exert himself: “I’m as good as (or more knowledgable than) they are”? Did he in fact suffer from a sense of inferiority or superiority and a desire to prove himself that had a disastrous effect?

Perhaps the biggest failure of Judas was not stopping to consider that there might be unforeseen consequences of his actions. He could see only what he wanted to see. He could imagine no outcome but the one he wanted (whatever that was). He consulted no-one else on the apostolic team; so far as he was concerned, his judgement was right and all others’ wrong.

Driven by powerful emotions, yes; motivated by an inadequate or inaccurate understanding of Jesus’ mission, possibly. The process smoothed, perhaps, by the warm feeling of extra cash. But most certainly, he was in the same position as Michael Bettany, an MI5 officer who passed secrets to the Russians in the 1980s: “There was no simple motive. It was a cumulative process,” he told his interrogators.³

And therein lies the warning. Most betrayals, most falls from grace, follow an incremental course. They don’t suddenly happen. Personality, circumstances, other people all contribute to a hardening of attitude, a changing mind, a determination to act in a certain way. The real question is not why did the final act occur, but what were all the small steps that led up to it. Might they have been avoided?

“If only”. We’ve all said that. Probably Judas did too as he tied the noose on his improvised gibbet. There but for God’s grace go many people. The moral is donlt go too far, too quickly.

References

1  Oscar Wilde, The Ballad of Reading Gaol

2  Philip Zimbardo, The Lucifer Effect , Rider 2009, p.365, 167
3  Christopher Andrew, The defence of the realm, Allen Lane 2009, p. 720

Think and talk

1  We’re often quick to judge people, whether we know them personally or by repute. Look again at Philip Zimbardo’s comments in the third paragraph. How might observing the truth of his words modify the way we criticise or judge others?

2   How might Judas’s loose attitude to money have affected his judgement? What does that tell us about how we should view and use money?
3  Judas may have been blinkered in some way because of his set beliefs. Many of us have strong beliefs. How might we balance these with keeping an open mind?
4  When we become convinced that we should embark on a certain course of action, what should we do before taking the final irrevocable step? Whom should we consult?