Thou Shalt Kill
Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood…
Matthew 26:26–28
Did Jesus not command us to kill him? To break his body and drink his blood? He commanded us to take and bind him, scourge him, and ultimately crucify him. He went to the cross willingly so that we could find nourishment in pieces of his rent flesh and spilt blood. His corpse was the bread of life and the fountain of living waters. We locked his body in the tomb of our churches, thinking to reverence it. His truth defied the sepulcher of our reverence. He rose on the third day, free from the prison of our pallid devotion. If we look for Jesus in the tomb of our faith, we should expect to hear the answer which mocks our pride “He is not here, for he is risen.”
It is only in his death that we find salvation from error and deceit. The truth is not in our books, doctrines, myths, sacraments, beliefs, ordinances, rites, dogmas, idols, commandments, or beliefs. The truth is too large for them to contain it. It is the sweet aroma which escapes from their dead bodies. Our Jesus-shaped idols will not answer our prayers. Jesus demands that we kill him that we may gain life. He that loves Jesus’ life shall lose it. He that hates Jesus’ life shall gain eternal life.
Only one Apostle had ears to hear His words. Only one Apostle had the courage to follow the commandments of his Lord. Only his most beloved Apostle loved Jesus enough to set him free.
Kill God. Lay him on the altar. Stay not the blade that ends the innocent life. Let the burnt offering send a sweet savor up to the empty heavens. Consume the offering of Jonah’s flesh and blood. Digest him in the depths of your belly bringing health to your navel and marrow to your bones. Make his carcass live again in the temple of your own body and blood. Bid all saints to come forth from the grave and walk among the living, rejoicing in the deliverance of the tyrant Jesus crucified. Proclaim to the world “God is dead! I am become God!”
Tags: Atheism, belief, church, death, fear, Gnosticism, love, Mysticism, myth, poetry, prayer, religion
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June 2, 2007 @ 8:03 pm
“You have to go past the imagined image of Jesus. Such an image of one’s god is a final obstruction, one’s ultimate barrier. You hold on to your own ideology, your own little manner of thinking, and when a larger experience of God approaches, an experience greater than you are prepared to receive, you take flight from it by clinging to the image in your mind. This is known as preserving your faith.…
“When you experience your god as with form, there is your envisioning mind, and there is your god. There is a subject, and there is an object. But the ultimate mystical goal is to be united with one’s god. With that, duality is transcended and forms disappear. There is nobody there, no god, no you. Your mind going past all concepts, has dissolved in identification with the ground of your own being, because that to which the metaphorical image of your god refers is the ultimate mystery of your own being, which is the mystery of the being of the world as well.”
The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell, pp. 262–63
Cybr said,
June 2, 2007 @ 9:35 pm
You stated “Jesus demands that we kill him that we may gain life. He that loves Jesus’ life shall lose it. He that hates Jesus’ life shall gain eternal life.”
25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that ahateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. First of all, Jesus is speaking to the people and speaking of the people. Second, he isn’t necessarily talking about physical death. So this is a lame assumption.
Now while different Christian denominational mythos will differ in this, Mormon mythology dictaties that Jesus did have to die a physical death. But, he had to more than just die, he had to suffer pain and humiliation and sickness in order to feel all that mortals feel. Jesus had to die. Now to kill Jesus is something else. This is where I get pissy about some Christians who accuse Jews as a whole for killing Jesus. You can’t blame the decendants for something that had to happen in order to bring about redemption. So a Christian who denies Jesus had to die denies the process of redemption. This does not mean that we kill Jesus but that we accept that Jesus had to die.
Many religions have a savior that has to die for their people, Christian mythology, Greek & Roman mythology, Norsic belief. Now, these savior/heroes willingly gave their lives. They did not ask of their followers to kill them, there was already a nemesis ready to do so. But, they had to die.
Now, a side step, Klingons are the only ones I know of who killed their Gods. But that is science fiction. Humans nowadays do kill their Gods in disbelief, which is I am sure what you are eluding to. Then, that would lead to the death of religion as well. Which is obviously the key idea here.  
God is Dead! Long Live God! Since He/She is gone, I can get back to my popcorn.
June 2, 2007 @ 10:22 pm
I admit that I played fast and loose with the ideas in the scriptures. I think of this post as poetry with a scriptural flavor. You could riddle what I said full of holes using the scriptures, but that doesn’t make what I say untrue.
Jesus is entombed in the beliefs and institutions that bear his name. The truth of Jesus story can only be set free by letting him rise from that tomb through our disbelief. The stories of his life are not prose, no matter how much we want them to be. When we look beyond the image of Christ, we see the truth of the metaphor of Christ.
June 2, 2007 @ 10:25 pm
Also, if you haven’t read the Gospel of Judas, there is another side to his story.
Cybr said,
June 2, 2007 @ 11:01 pm
Yes, as does the Book of Lemuel and probably as true as the Gospel of James.
I’m more incline to believe the accuracy of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
June 2, 2007 @ 11:20 pm
To each his own.
While we’re throwing apocryphal books around, the Gospel of Thomas is said to likely be the most authentic sayings of Jesus.
Even if a book isn’t historically true (I’m looking at you, Bible) I’m still willing to see what truth is there. Historical accuracy is irrelevant. Many of the most important books of human wisdom are works of fiction. If we treat them like nonfiction, we’re likely to miss the point.
I suppose I should get to bed so I can make it to church on time.
June 4, 2007 @ 10:08 am
I had no idea how wrong I was about Jesus-shaped idols answering our prayers! The universe is just keeping me honest, I guess.
June 8, 2007 @ 7:29 am
June 10, 2007 @ 1:03 pm
The Zombie Last Supper
cybr said,
June 10, 2007 @ 1:19 pm
Ah poetry, art, music, these are about as usefull as a god. They are just the expressions of our thoughts and beliefs. By that regard as you have put that God is a human creation, and so are these. Sure, they are not a necessary form of communication. If they didn’t exist, the other things around us would still be here. They are human concepts and therefor false and we should desolve ourselves of them. They have no real relevence. And don’t tell me that there is music and beauty all around us. Those are only human opinionated perceptions.
June 10, 2007 @ 2:19 pm
Now you’re getting it!
Actually, I plan to post about God as metaphor and poetry pretty soon which may address some of what you’re saying.
cybr said,
June 10, 2007 @ 2:36 pm
So then you would support and extinction to art as well? I could support that idea. Math, math is all we need. It’s an actual tool that can be used with purpose. It helps us measure and evaluate without prejudice. And, it can be double checked for accuracy.
June 10, 2007 @ 3:04 pm
Math is useful and so is art. Math can be tested and verified. Art cannot. Art is useful despite being nominally about something that doesn’t exist (i.e. there may never have been a real Mona Lisa who sat to have her portrait painted).
I think where I differ from many of the religious is to what domain I assign God: math or art?
cybr said,
June 10, 2007 @ 10:14 pm
Nominal could be an understatement. I’d still have to debate with you on the usefulness of art. I’ve always found it useless. Sometimes I wonder why the Mormon Church tolerates it (other than singing cause that is at least in the scriptures). There is no logical purpose for art. I don’t see how it would help us on a physical evolutionary path.
Whether Mona Lisa posed for her portrait or not, the painting has no meaning to me. It is just another assembly of colors that illustrate someones perception of a female who is foreign to me. A painting of her becomes about as revelent as a painting of Jesus. Neither will feed me, cloth me, or help me survive. I guess that’s because I’m not a painter
June 14, 2007 @ 9:50 am
How atheists start their morning (via Pharyngula)