A Self Refuting Argument Against Judas Being In Hell
There is good reason to believe that Judas is in hell. Our Lord says of him that it would have been better for him to have never been born. If Judas was finally saved, it would make no sense to say that it was better for Judas to have never been born. So Judas was not finally saved.
A common pious sounding counter argument goes like this. Since the Church does not definitively declare who is in hell, we cannot know whether Judas is in hell or not. There are a few problems with this response. First, it seems as though Our Lord does declare it, so even if the Church has not declared it, a credible witness, God Himself, has, and that is sufficient reason.
Second, there is a more serious problem with the argument, namely, the argument is self refuting. The argument rests on an assumption that if the Church has not declared some article of faith, then we cannot know it. But that statement is itself an article of faith. So the question should be asked, when did the Church declare that? It has not, at least, not to my knowledge. And it would be odd if the Church said you couldn't know anything, including the meaning of scripture, unless the Church declared it. So the major premise of the argument is self refuting. We have good reason to believe Judas is in hell, even if the Church has not declared it.
As an additional point: we pray and act as if we know the eternal fate of some people even though the Church has not declared it, and the Church treats this normatively. For example, in order to get someone canonized, that is, to have the church officially declare someone in heaven, there needs to be some kind of devotion to them. But how would that be possible if they don't know that person is in heaven before their canonization? So the church herself seems to allow the faithful to act is if they do know some article of faith without the definitive declaration of the church.
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