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The quickest way to dispute what your mom says is to ask her to find the passages in the bible where it states Judas was a black man or Ethiopian.My mom, who is quite fundamentalist, (and Southern), swears that Judas was a black man. Have you ever heard of this? Is this just something that my mom made up, or is there a basis for it in scripture or tradition? Was Judas Ethiopian?
I have no idea. She just asserts it.Why Judas in particular?
Judas had an amazing singing voice.Well, he was played by a black actor in the movie version of Jesus Christ Superstar.
My mom, who is quite fundamentalist, (and Southern), swears that Judas was a black man. Have you ever heard of this? Is this just something that my mom made up, or is there a basis for it in scripture or tradition? Was Judas Ethiopian?
I think she means African American, since she lives in the South of the US, where there is a long history of racism among a portion of the population. Obviously, since there were probably no African Americans at the time the New Testament was written, she is making a rather obvious mistake of conflating a local racial group with behaviour in a different place and time, namely that Judas betrayed Jesus, so he must be "bad", which in her eyes is African American.A lot of people had dark skin in Biblical times. Jesus was a Jew, Judas, and so on. I think Peter is both Roman (Caurcasian) and Jew. Having dark skin tone doesnt make someone "Black" unless she means actual skin tone not ethnicity/heritage.
What does she mean by black?
Black American or dark skin tone? (Judas wasnt from Africa)
I think she means African American, since she lives in the South of the US, where there is a long history of racism among a portion of the population. Obviously, since there were probably no African Americans at the time the New Testament was written, she is making a rather obvious mistake of conflating a local racial group with behaviour in a different place and time, namely that Judas betrayed Jesus, so he must be "bad", which in her eyes is African American.
One of the many ironies here is that in the story, Judas' betrayal was a necessary part of Jesus being killed and humankind apparently being redeemed. So is he really the bad guy anyway?
I have heard this from other people from the American South.