For whatever reason, the question of whether or not Judas is in hell or not comes up from time to time in the classroom. Recently, in similar fashion, the topic the morality of Hitler's actions came up and the students declared something I hadn't heard of before - something a bit shocking. They proposed that "maybe" Hitler's actions were "right" because (you guessed it) "he thought he was doing the right thing" (relativism right before my eyes). I thought maybe this class was just confused... but then it happened again in another class. This other students defended the same idea by saying "some people are saying that Hilter had his reasons...." I'd like to know who these "some people" are! Oy vey! My father, a WWII Veteran would have been livid. Imagine the sacrifices made to put down such an evil only to have Hitler's actions defended one generation later - and on such flimsy grounds.
It took some explanation to show the students the reality of objective truth and why it right and good to declare evil actions as evil. Some in the class felt that doing that (calling an evil act "evil") would be judgemental and they were taught never to be judgmental. We explained to them the difference between making judgments about actions and being prejudice against a person. This was tough for them to understand. So my husband gave them an analogy of selecting apples from a produce stand. He asked them if they would put every apple they picked up in the basket. They said "no" and were able to come up with reasons for being selective (like worms or bruise). He told them that evil actions are to the soul what bad apples are to the body so we have to choose wisely.
From there we delved into the mercy of God and our hope for the conversion and salvation of all - and of course Judas and Hitler are forever linked as the two men who committed the worse sins we can image and so the question arrived: could even men such as these receive God's mercy? We spent some time teaching them about mercy but then it somehow played into their first position of non-judgmentalism and they began to imagine that God is nothing but merciful therefore "God's judgment is nothing to fear." This is the error in thinking brought about by a lack of understanding of objective truth and subjective culpability. We should fear - have great reverence - for God who is perfect in both his judgement and mercy.
For many young people, coming to terms with these things involves several tricky questions.
- Can an action be objectively evil? (many think not)
- If we name an action as evil are we being judgemental, unfairly bias, a bigot etc? (many think that we are) and
- If we know an action as evil does that mean the person committing the action is going to hell? (they usually take an easy "yes" or "no" answer)
- If God is merciful then doesn't he let everyone go to heaven, even if they have done evil things? (they usually think "yes")
The Catholic answers are yes, no, we pray not, and yes. These questions come-up often enough that I wrote a step-by-step answer to the question of Judas' salvation. I did this in part to help students work through the logic of sin, grace, and God's justice and mercy. I hope you get some benefit from it:
Is Judas in Hell?
In order for a person to go to hell, two conditions must apply at the time of death: (CCC 1033)
Now, let’s take a closer look:I. Guilty of a mortal sin
II. Unrepentant
I. The person must be guilty of a mortal sin
A) What is a mortal sin? (CCC 1855)
§ The word “mortal” refers to something that causes death. A “mortal wound” is a wound that is deadly. A “mortal sin” is a sin that causes “death” to the soul. It cuts the person off from God; not because God turns away from the person but because the person, through their mortal sin, freely chooses to turn away from God.
B) In order for a sin to be mortal three conditions must apply: (CCC 1857)
1) The sin must be serious. We call serious sins “grave.” (CCC 1858)
2) The sinner must have “full knowledge” of his/her sin - including the fact that it is mortal (CCC 1859)
3) The sinner must have the “deliberate consent” to sin. Meaning they know its bad and they choose to do it anyway.
Did these conditions apply to Judas?
1) Grave Matter: No doubt, the sins that Judas committed were “grave.”
· He betrayed Christ AND
· He hung himself
These are both evil things to do.
2) Full Knowledge: It is reasonable to think that Judas had knowledge of his sin since
- He was a companion of Christ’s for three years and heard him teach truth.
- At the Last Supper when Jesus foretold of his betrayer, Judas inquired, “Is it I, Lord?”(Matt 26:18) To this St. John Chrysostom comments, “Oh insensibility! He inquires, when conscious to himself of such things.”
However, There is no way of knowing the fullness of Judas’ knowledge because
- No one knows the fullness of another’s thoughts, desires, or knowledge
- Passions, sickness and other things can cloud the “fullness” a person’s knowledge. (CCC 1860) Did these things apply to Judas? We do not know.
3) Consent: Scriptures show us that Judas had intent to sin due to the fact that he didn’t just have a passing thought but he acted on his desire/thought to sin:
· He watched for an opportunity to betray Christ (Matthew 26:16)
· He accept the money to betray Christ
· He led the officials to Christ and kissed him to identify him to those who came to arrest him (Matthew 26:47)
In law we call this "premediation." That means that a person thinks about and plans to commit a crime. This makes the crime more serious. It is the same with sins. If we think about and plan to sin it makes the sin more serious.
II. The person must be unrepentant for what they have done at the time of their death.
A) What does it mean to be unrepentant?
§ A person who is unrepentant DOES NOT feel sorry for their sins. The heart of the unrepentant is hard and unchanging; they refuse to accept God’s forgiveness. (CCC 1864)
§ A person with a soft heart can and DOES feel sorry for his/her sins and is able to receive the grace and mercy from God that helps him/her to turn back to God.
B) Was Judas unrepentant?
Well, Judas gives us mixed signals...
§ We DO know that Judas showed some sign of remorse for the betrayal:
· “Then Judas, who betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood…. and he cast down the pieces of silver into the sanctuary, and departed; and he went away and hanged himself.” (Matt 27:3)
§ We ALSO know that he was “full of despair” and hung himself:
· Despair is considered the only “unforgivable sin” because a person that is in deep despair does not turn to God for forgiveness. (CCC 2091)
· Scriptures tell us that Judas’ despair, prompted by Satin, led him to suicide.
· However, understanding the mercy of God, the Church tells us that anguish and fear can lessen the responsibility of suicide (CCC 2282) and that God can somehow provide the opportunity for repentance (CCC 2283).
§ We DO NOT know if Judas confessed his sins to God before he died. Holy Scripture and the Church teach us that no one knows the extent of God’s mercy.
III Did Judas go to Heaven or Hell?
A) Sheol:
§ At the time of Judas’ death all souls went to the “place of the dead” called Sheol, (CCC 632) although not everyone in Sheol shared the same fate. Some of those in Sheol were evil and some were righteous. The evil remained apart from God and the righteous awaited Christ the Redeemer.
§ When Jesus died he descended into Sheol and preached the Goodnews to the captives. Those who “heard his voice” were set free: “The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live” (CCC 635, Jn 5:25)
B) Was Judas set free from Sheol?
§ The most compelling “evidence” that we have that Judas suffered eternal punishment is Jesus’ words at the Last Supper, when he said of his betrayer, “woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born." (Matt 26:25)
§ To this verse the St. Augustine asks, “Can it mean, that it were better for him not to have been born to the Devil, namely, for sin? Or does it mean that it had been good for him not to have been born to Christ at his calling, that he should now become apostate?” In other words, as St Jerome put it, “better not to be, than to be in evil.” They make these suggestions after defending the positions that being born is always considered a good thing therefore, the birth must be another kind of birth - a birth into evil.
§ Even these words, in my humble opinion, do not tell us the ultimate fate of Judas but rather the state of his soul in that moment.
§ In the end, however, only God knows:
· We CAN rightly judge actions: We have the ability to identify sinful action. We are able to say that Judas’ actions were sinful. In addition, we are able to say that his sins were serious enough to separate him from God for all eternity.
· We CAN NOT judge the heart of others: We can not say whether or not Judas received grace to repent at the “hour of his death” or to cry out for God’s mercy. Because of this, only God knows if Judas entered Sheol with the ability to “hear the voice” of Christ when he arrived to set the captives free.
§ God did not give us, or the Church, the ability to know who is in hell:
· We know for sure that hell exists and that anyone who dies with a mortal sin and a hardened heart will suffer eternity apart from God but we don’t know who is there– not even Judas or Hitler.
· The Church does not have a “list of the damned” the way that she has cannon, or a list, of saints.
§ God wills the salvation of all: (CCC 74 and CCC 1037)
· “I will not the death of the sinner, but that he be converted and live.” (Ezek 33:211)
· “[God] desires that all men be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4)
§ The Church Hopes for the Salvation of all: (CCC 1058)
· In the prayer taught to us at Fatima by the Blessed Virgin Mary, we pray for the salvation of “all souls” especially those in “most need of God’s mercy.”
· We pray for Mary’s intercession “at the hour of death” especially for those who approach death in the state of mortal sin. For this reason, the Church has a sweet prayer to protect the faithful from “sudden death” in which they would be unprepared and unable to repent.
In conclusion, the Holy Spirit helps us to understand the difference between morally good and morally evil actions. Calling the "kettle black" is not being judgmental but a gift of the Holy Spirit. Being judgmental is when we deem a person unworthy or when we think we know how a person will be judged by God. This is not for us to say. For this, we rely heavily on God’s mercy.
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