How did Judas die? (Not for the faint hearted) :)

The death of Judas Iscariot has often been cited as Bible critics as an apparent "contradiction". The verses which pertaining to his death seem to describe two different methods as to how he met his end. Let us examine the verses:

Matthew 27:5 (NKJV) Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.

Acts 1:18 (NKJV) Now this man (refers to Judas) purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out.

Ok, so now we are confronted with two different scenarios. According to Matthew, Judas hung himself. Meanwhile, Luke (purported author of Acts) wrote that Judas fell down and his guts spilled out. So how can we reconcile this difference? Well, the explanations that apologists generally forward is that both events are accurate and actually describe two perspectives of the same event.

The two explanations often quoted are:
1. Judas hung himself on a tree, but the noose snapped and he fell down and his body burst upon impact.
2. Judas hung himself on a tree successfully. :) In Middle Eastern nations, the temperature tends to be relatively high. And with high temperatures the decomposition process progresses rapidly. That is why nowadays Middle Eastern societies practice burying bodies on the same day when death occurs. Decomposition produces a lot of gaseous by-products and this accumulates in body cavities. When the rope gave way eventually, it wouldn't require much impact for the body to burst open. Find it hard to believe? Take a look here.

There are various other explanations, but these two are the most common ones used to counter critics. The bible is simply providing different details to give us a better perspective of the whole situation.

God bless. :)

A Bit On Apologetics

1 Peter 3:15-16
15But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

As the verse says, we have to be prepared to give an answer to those who asks us about the hope and faith we hold on to but we have to do it with gentleness and respect. To do this, we ourselves as Christians have to be grounded in the Word of God. If we ourselves are not grounded, how are we going to give an answer? Furthermore, we can be easily shaken ourselves if we are not firm rooted in God's Word.

In addition, we have to answer those who ask us in gentleness and respect. To win the debate is not the aim. Notice the verse says just to give an answer. We shouldn't go arguing until things get out of hand. God will help us to speak up and the Holy Spirit will work on the other person's heart. Like I said, the goal is not to win the debate but to speak God's love and salvation. Thats why we are called to have "good behaviour". Ultimately, its deeds that will speak the loudest like the famous English idiom "action speaks louder than words".

If we use harsh verbal language to lash out at the other person, that is not showing love and will further crush our testimony. When they see that our actions is synonymous with what we say, and the love we show, they will have nothing to say-"so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander."

That all I have to say now. Give me your opinions as well yah. We are all learning and growing together in this.

Soli Deo Gloria!!!

child_of_God

Welcome!

This blog has been created with the purpose of defending the Christian faith, which is also the meaning of the name of this site in case you are wondering. In this day and age, as religion is gradually dismissed as mere supersitions and liberal philosophies gaining ground worldwide, we Christians must stand up and be ready to give an answer to those seeking to undermine our faith, lest we appear as fools. Day by day, we see more people rejecting God for atheistic beliefs. Day by day, we are gradually being pushed closer towards the basket labelled "extremists and bigots" for our dogmatic faith. Do we just stand by doing nothing and be swept away by this tide of darkness?

A failure to provide an adequate answer to any question, even one that is seemingly innocuous (eg. How do you know God exists?), will not only compromise our testimony for Christ in the eyes of others, but it could sow doubts and force open cracks in our faith.

God bless!