JUDAS IN A NOVEL

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 139, 13 June 1936, Page 2 (Supplement)

JUDAS IN A NOVEL

INSIGHT AND IMAGINATION,

Apart from .Testis it is doubtful if any other Scripture character has been as much discussed and written about as Judas. He is an enigma. Why Jesus chose him to be one of the lwelve, and why he betrayed Jesus are problems of which no one has ever been able to suggest a satisfactory explanation. The latest attempt at a solution, though it. is rcallv a story about Christ and IJjs disciples, is a novel by Paul Gurk entitled "Judas" (C'hatto and Windus). Mr. Gurk follows the Gospel narratives to some extent, but draws a good deal 011 his imagination. He represents Judas as a man past middle life when he becomes a disciple—lonely, cynical and scornful, without a friend, and without the faculty to make a friend until he is attracted to Christ. And, even then, he is a being apart. He speaks with scorn and resentment of the Romans, despises his countrymen, and sees little good in anyone.

It is a curious book, rather sombre, but is strongly and tersely written, and has some impressive passages in it. Ts Mr. Gurk right, however, in making Judas say that Peter and James and John saw the transfiguration of Jesus because they had missed Ilim and had gone to look for Him? And is it likely that ho learnt what Jesus and the woman of Samaria were talking about by crouching behind the bushes at the well and listening secretly to what they said? One wonders, too. about the description of Thomas. "His face is narrow, and his beard parts hi two long points that spread. His eyes arc restless: they prowl like the hunting panthers of the Romans. Noticing him. I find that he has fallen victim to the search after cause and effect, though he has no knowledge of them, for lie is unlearned."

All this is interesting, but is it true? The reference to how the three disciples came to witness the transfiguration is certainly not in keeping with what is told us'in the Gospels. Though powerfully and impressively written, and showing a good deal of psychological insight, the book does not clear away our°difTiculties about Judas, and the Jesus it depicts is hardly as vital and magnetic as He seems in the New Testament.