Has there ever been a notable attempt by an individual or institution in Church history to 'rehabilitate' Judas Iscariot?

by eeeeeep
talondearg

Unlike Pontius Pilate (venerated in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church), Judas has never been rehabilitated by an institutional church.

The closest thing to answer your question is the portrayal of Judas Iscariot in the 2nd century gnostic Gospel of Judas, part of the Tchacos codex, and dated to the late 2nd century.

In this text, Judas emerges as the only disciple strong enough in spirit, and wise enough, to recognise the truth about Jesus. For this reason, Jesus revealed secret truths to Judas. Furthermore, Judas' 'betrayal' of Jesus in the GJudas is by a special agreement with Jesus, and is in fact a heroic act.

There is, however, continued debate about how to translate (it's in Coptic) and interpret this text. The Kasser/Meyer/Wurst line of things is largely as above, but April DeConick interprets the text along a much more negative line (i.e. that the text still presents Judas negatively).

If you wanted to read more:

  • Kasser, R., M. Meyer, and G. Wurst, eds. 2006. The Gospel of Judas from Codex Tchacos. Washington: National Geographie.
  • Ehrman, Bart D. The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot: A New Look at Betrayer and Betrayed. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
  • DeConick, April D. * The Thirteenth Apostle: What the Gospel of Judas Really Says* (2nd ed.). London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2009.