Rehabilitating the traitor in Taylor Caldwell's I, Judas

Abstract

During the course of the previous century, authors from various genres attempted to clear the name of Judas Iscariot, or alternatively, tried to explain why he betrayed Jesus Christ. One of the most ambitious attempts at this was that of the wellknown British-American author Taylor Caldwell in her book called „I, Judas‟ (1977). The strategy supporting Caldwell‟s partial exculpation of Judas is analysed against the background of various early descriptions of Judas. The conclusion is that Caldwell‟ s excessively fertile literary imagination, combined with the encroachment of postbible traditions in this apparent first-person narrative of the accused disciple undermines the credibility of her alternative perception of Judas