Program Explores Judas’ Relationship with Jesus

Entitled “Jesus or Judas: Friend or Foe,” the program will be held from 4:30-7:30 p.m. in Wingate Hall’s lower auditorium.

Those attending the event will have an opportunity to participate in a re-enactment of the final hours of Jesus and Judas in Jerusalem. Called a Bibliodrama, the program will be led by Bjorn Krondorfer, a professor in the philosophy and religious studies department at St. Mary’s College in Maryland.

“According to the gospel of Matthew, Jesus and Judas had a rather close relationship, with disappointment on both sides,” Krondorfer said. “To press Judas simply in the role of the ëenemy’ has unfortunately led to the stereotyping of Judas as a Jew responsible for the betrayal of the Christian messiah.

“The following questions may emerge during the session: What motivates Judas to ëbetray’ Jesus? Does our emotional attachment to these figures influence our understanding of the stories? Why does Judas kiss Jesus? Since Bibliodrama is an interactive and open process, a very different set of questions may also emerge during the workshop.”

The Bibliodrama is part of Wake Forest’s Year of the Arts, a yearlong celebration of the arts featuring special performances, speakers and exhibitions. It is also one of three programs in a March discussion series, “Befriending, Difference, Dialogue: Women, Men and Religion.” The series is directed by Wake Forest’s humanities program.

Other events in the series are:

• “Women and Interreligious Dialogue,” (7:30 p.m. Monday, March 17, Scales Fine Arts Center, Room 102), a panel discussion sponsored by Wake Forest’s women’s studies program examining women’s roles and experiences within their religious communities and the possibility for cooperation across religious boundaries; and
• “Giving Life as Resistance to the Holocaust,” (4:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 19, Scales Fine Arts Center, Room 102), a lecture by Katharina von Kellenbach, a professor in the philosophy and religious studies department at St. Mary’s College in Maryland. In the program, sponsored by Wake Forest’s religion department, von Kellenbach will examine whether Jewish mothers’ decision to have children during the Holocaust should be considered an act of resistance against Nazi annihilation or a selfish escape and denial of genocide.

All three programs are free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required for the Bibliodrama. To register, call Ulrike Wiethaus at (910) 759-7169 or send e-mail to wiethaus@wfu.edu.