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193:4 Causes of Judas' Downfall (view source)
Revision as of 21:23, 8 July 2011
, 21:23, 8 July 2011Created page with 'File:lighterstill.jpgright|frame 193:4.1 It was in the first part of the Master's farewell message to his apostles that ...'
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193:4.1 It was in the first [[part]] of [[the Master]]'s [[farewell]] [[message]] to his [[apostles]] that he alluded to the loss of [[Judas Iscariot|Judas]] and held up the [[tragic]] [[fate]] of their [[traitorous]] fellow worker as a [[solemn]] warning against the [[dangers]] of [[social]] and fraternal [[isolation]]. It may be helpful to [[believers]], in this and in [[future]] ages, briefly to review the [[causes]] of [[Judas Iscariot|Judas]]'s downfall in the [[light]] of [[the Master]]'s remarks and in view of the accumulated [[enlightenment]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Christianity succeeding centuries].
193:4.2 As we look back upon this [[tragedy]], we [[conceive]] that [[Judas Iscariot|Judas]] went wrong, primarily, because he was very markedly an [[isolated]] [[personality]], a personality shut in and away from [[ordinary]] [[social]] [[contacts]]. He [[persistently]] refused to [[confide]] in, or freely fraternize with, his fellow [[apostles]]. But his being an [[isolated]] [[type]] of [[personality]] would not, in and of itself, have wrought such [[mischief]] for [[Judas Iscariot|Judas]] had it not been that he also [[failed]] to increase in [[love]] and [[grow]] in [[spiritual]] [[grace]]. And then, as if to make a bad matter worse, he [[persistently]] harbored grudges and fostered such [[psychologic]] [[enemies]] as [[revenge]] and the generalized craving to " get even " with somebody for all his [[disappointments]].
193:4.3 This unfortunate combination of [[individual]] peculiarities and mental [[tendencies]] [[conspired]] to destroy a well-[[intentioned]] man who failed to subdue these [[evils]] by [[love]], [[faith]], and [[trust]]. That [[Judas Iscariot|Judas]] need not have gone wrong is well proved by the cases of [[Thomas, the Apostle|Thomas]] and [[Nathaniel]], both of whom were [[cursed]] with this same sort of [[suspicion]] and overdevelopment of the [[individualistic]] tendency. Even [[Andrew, the Apostle|Andrew]] and [[Matthew, the Apostle|Matthew]] had many leanings in this direction; but all these men grew to [[love]] [[Jesus]] and their fellow [[apostles]] more, and not less, as time passed. They grew in [[grace]] and in a [[knowledge]] of the [[truth]]. They became increasingly more [[trustful]] of their brethren and slowly [[developed]] the [[ability]] to [[confide]] in their fellows. [[Judas Iscariot|Judas]] [[persistently]] refused to [[confide]] in his brethren. When he was impelled, by the accumulation of his [[emotional]] [[conflicts]], to seek relief in [[self]]-[[expression]], he invariably sought the [[advice]] and received the unwise [[consolation]] of his unspiritual [[relatives]] or those [[chance]] acquaintances who were either indifferent, or actually [[hostile]], to the [[welfare]] and [[progress]] of the [[spiritual]] [[realities]] of [[the heavenly kingdom]], of which he was one of [[the twelve]] [[consecrated]] [[ambassadors]] on [[earth]].
193:4.4 [[Judas Iscariot|Judas]] met [[defeat]] in his [[battles]] of the [[earth]] [[struggle]] because of the following [[factors]] of [[personal]] [[tendencies]] and [[character]] [[weakness]]:
*1. 193:4.5 He was an [[isolated]] [[type]] of [[human being]]. He was highly [[individualistic]] and chose to grow into a [[confirmed]] " shut-in " and unsociable sort of [[person]].
*2. 193:4.6 As a [[child]], life had been made too easy for him. He bitterly resented thwarting. He always [[expected]] to win; he was a very poor loser.
*3. 193:4.7 He never acquired a [[philosophic]] [[technique]] for meeting [[disappointment]]. Instead of [[accepting]] [[disappointments]] as a regular and commonplace feature of [[human]] [[existence]], he unfailingly resorted to the [[practice]] of [[blaming]] someone in particular, or his [[associates]] as a [[group]], for all his [[personal]] [[difficulties]] and [[disappointments]].
*4. 193:4.8 He was given to holding grudges; he was always [[entertaining]] the [[idea]] of [[revenge]].
*5. 193:4.9 He did not like to face [[facts]] frankly; he was dishonest in his [[attitude]] toward life situations.
*6. 193:4.10 He disliked to [[discuss]] his [[personal]] problems with his [[immediate]] [[associates]]; he refused to talk over his [[difficulties]] with his real [[friends]] and those who truly [[loved]] him. In all the years of their [[association]] he never once went to [[the Master]] with a [[purely]] [[personal]] [[problem]].
*7. 193:4.11 He never [[learned]] that the real rewards for [[noble]] [[living]] are, after all, [[spiritual]] prizes, which are not always [[distributed]] during this one short life in the [[flesh]].
193:4.12 As a result of his [[persistent]] [[isolation]] of [[personality]], his [[griefs]] multiplied, his [[sorrows]] increased, his [[anxieties]] augmented, and his despair deepened almost beyond [[endurance]].
193:4.13 While this [[self]]-[[centered]] and ultraindividualistic [[apostle]] had many [[psychic]], [[emotional]], and [[spiritual]] troubles, his main [[difficulties]] were: In [[personality]], he was [[isolated]]. In [[mind]], he was [[suspicious]] and [[vengeful]]. In [[temperament]], he was surly and vindictive. [[Emotionally]], he was loveless and unforgiving. [[Socially]], he was unconfiding and almost wholly self-contained. In [[spirit]], he became arrogant and [[selfishly]] [[ambitious]]. In life, he [[ignored]] those who loved him, and in [[death]], he was friendless.
193:4.14 These, then, are the [[factors]] of [[mind]] and [[influences]] of [[evil]] which, taken altogether, [[explain]] why a well-meaning and otherwise onetime [[sincere]] [[believer]] in [[Jesus]], even after several years of [[intimate]] [[association]] with his [[transforming]] [[personality]], forsook his fellows, repudiated a [[sacred]] cause, renounced his [[holy]] [[calling]], and [[betrayed]] his [[divine]] [[the Master|Master]].
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_193 Go to Paper 193]</center>
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Urantia_Text_-_Contents Go to Table of Contents]</center>
[[Category:Paper 193 - Final Appearances and Ascension]]
193:4.1 It was in the first [[part]] of [[the Master]]'s [[farewell]] [[message]] to his [[apostles]] that he alluded to the loss of [[Judas Iscariot|Judas]] and held up the [[tragic]] [[fate]] of their [[traitorous]] fellow worker as a [[solemn]] warning against the [[dangers]] of [[social]] and fraternal [[isolation]]. It may be helpful to [[believers]], in this and in [[future]] ages, briefly to review the [[causes]] of [[Judas Iscariot|Judas]]'s downfall in the [[light]] of [[the Master]]'s remarks and in view of the accumulated [[enlightenment]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Christianity succeeding centuries].
193:4.2 As we look back upon this [[tragedy]], we [[conceive]] that [[Judas Iscariot|Judas]] went wrong, primarily, because he was very markedly an [[isolated]] [[personality]], a personality shut in and away from [[ordinary]] [[social]] [[contacts]]. He [[persistently]] refused to [[confide]] in, or freely fraternize with, his fellow [[apostles]]. But his being an [[isolated]] [[type]] of [[personality]] would not, in and of itself, have wrought such [[mischief]] for [[Judas Iscariot|Judas]] had it not been that he also [[failed]] to increase in [[love]] and [[grow]] in [[spiritual]] [[grace]]. And then, as if to make a bad matter worse, he [[persistently]] harbored grudges and fostered such [[psychologic]] [[enemies]] as [[revenge]] and the generalized craving to " get even " with somebody for all his [[disappointments]].
193:4.3 This unfortunate combination of [[individual]] peculiarities and mental [[tendencies]] [[conspired]] to destroy a well-[[intentioned]] man who failed to subdue these [[evils]] by [[love]], [[faith]], and [[trust]]. That [[Judas Iscariot|Judas]] need not have gone wrong is well proved by the cases of [[Thomas, the Apostle|Thomas]] and [[Nathaniel]], both of whom were [[cursed]] with this same sort of [[suspicion]] and overdevelopment of the [[individualistic]] tendency. Even [[Andrew, the Apostle|Andrew]] and [[Matthew, the Apostle|Matthew]] had many leanings in this direction; but all these men grew to [[love]] [[Jesus]] and their fellow [[apostles]] more, and not less, as time passed. They grew in [[grace]] and in a [[knowledge]] of the [[truth]]. They became increasingly more [[trustful]] of their brethren and slowly [[developed]] the [[ability]] to [[confide]] in their fellows. [[Judas Iscariot|Judas]] [[persistently]] refused to [[confide]] in his brethren. When he was impelled, by the accumulation of his [[emotional]] [[conflicts]], to seek relief in [[self]]-[[expression]], he invariably sought the [[advice]] and received the unwise [[consolation]] of his unspiritual [[relatives]] or those [[chance]] acquaintances who were either indifferent, or actually [[hostile]], to the [[welfare]] and [[progress]] of the [[spiritual]] [[realities]] of [[the heavenly kingdom]], of which he was one of [[the twelve]] [[consecrated]] [[ambassadors]] on [[earth]].
193:4.4 [[Judas Iscariot|Judas]] met [[defeat]] in his [[battles]] of the [[earth]] [[struggle]] because of the following [[factors]] of [[personal]] [[tendencies]] and [[character]] [[weakness]]:
*1. 193:4.5 He was an [[isolated]] [[type]] of [[human being]]. He was highly [[individualistic]] and chose to grow into a [[confirmed]] " shut-in " and unsociable sort of [[person]].
*2. 193:4.6 As a [[child]], life had been made too easy for him. He bitterly resented thwarting. He always [[expected]] to win; he was a very poor loser.
*3. 193:4.7 He never acquired a [[philosophic]] [[technique]] for meeting [[disappointment]]. Instead of [[accepting]] [[disappointments]] as a regular and commonplace feature of [[human]] [[existence]], he unfailingly resorted to the [[practice]] of [[blaming]] someone in particular, or his [[associates]] as a [[group]], for all his [[personal]] [[difficulties]] and [[disappointments]].
*4. 193:4.8 He was given to holding grudges; he was always [[entertaining]] the [[idea]] of [[revenge]].
*5. 193:4.9 He did not like to face [[facts]] frankly; he was dishonest in his [[attitude]] toward life situations.
*6. 193:4.10 He disliked to [[discuss]] his [[personal]] problems with his [[immediate]] [[associates]]; he refused to talk over his [[difficulties]] with his real [[friends]] and those who truly [[loved]] him. In all the years of their [[association]] he never once went to [[the Master]] with a [[purely]] [[personal]] [[problem]].
*7. 193:4.11 He never [[learned]] that the real rewards for [[noble]] [[living]] are, after all, [[spiritual]] prizes, which are not always [[distributed]] during this one short life in the [[flesh]].
193:4.12 As a result of his [[persistent]] [[isolation]] of [[personality]], his [[griefs]] multiplied, his [[sorrows]] increased, his [[anxieties]] augmented, and his despair deepened almost beyond [[endurance]].
193:4.13 While this [[self]]-[[centered]] and ultraindividualistic [[apostle]] had many [[psychic]], [[emotional]], and [[spiritual]] troubles, his main [[difficulties]] were: In [[personality]], he was [[isolated]]. In [[mind]], he was [[suspicious]] and [[vengeful]]. In [[temperament]], he was surly and vindictive. [[Emotionally]], he was loveless and unforgiving. [[Socially]], he was unconfiding and almost wholly self-contained. In [[spirit]], he became arrogant and [[selfishly]] [[ambitious]]. In life, he [[ignored]] those who loved him, and in [[death]], he was friendless.
193:4.14 These, then, are the [[factors]] of [[mind]] and [[influences]] of [[evil]] which, taken altogether, [[explain]] why a well-meaning and otherwise onetime [[sincere]] [[believer]] in [[Jesus]], even after several years of [[intimate]] [[association]] with his [[transforming]] [[personality]], forsook his fellows, repudiated a [[sacred]] cause, renounced his [[holy]] [[calling]], and [[betrayed]] his [[divine]] [[the Master|Master]].
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_193 Go to Paper 193]</center>
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Urantia_Text_-_Contents Go to Table of Contents]</center>
[[Category:Paper 193 - Final Appearances and Ascension]]