Christianity is Pathetic – Part Three:  So who is this Jesus Fellow, anyway?

Pietro Aretino   

It has been Easter of late.  Christos Anesti and all that.  It is time to talk about the troublemaker at the heart of this sorry mess.

Some talk about this totally awesome dude who, like, helped people and had the sweet threads, and wanted to, like, free gay people and women and the oppressed.  And he was totally rad and not into rules at all, just loving each other and, you know, stuff like that. (At this point the speaker usually drops into a pleasant slumber caused by old age and senility or, what they were just smoking.  Sometimes both.) 

Then there’s the Jesus who only looks like a long-haired hippie freak, but was actually undercover because of the stinkin’ Jews and now he’s here to rid the world of all those dirty commie rats, degenerate faggots and all those scum that don’t love the smell of napalm in the morning.

And don’t forget – he’s a literary construct composited of various philosophies over time to serve as a figurehead for a conservative patriarchal discourse of society that continues to have a pervasive impact upon a society that has grown beyond it.  And he had a kid with Mary Magdalene.

None of these are Christ. Nor is the faith of Christ about charity, peace or compassion, pieties and devotions or some sort of utopian community.  Christianity is about one simple thing.

The innocent God-Man freely chooses to die a horrible death for the whole of humanity to take on himself all that is evil.  He returns having conquered it to bring everyone with him, by offering as food and drink his flesh and blood.  He is the innocent scapegoat, the greatest member of a mythological pantheon of heroes and villains.  But, as pointed out by Rene Girard, this myth is true.

The things he said in his life are the things said by many other thinkers.  Why shouldn’t they be?  They crackle and spark through the nerves of creation. They’re about as radical as drinking clean water – ok, so that can be a pretty radical idea to some people.

His mother is oft seen as some peaceful and retiring figure, someone who spends a lot of time pleading, a woman who doesn’t threaten men.  Hhmm, yeah right.  Accepting the call to be the mother of God would certainly require some humility, but it would also require tremendous courage. 

It’s often forgotten what a mother is.  These women tend to be fierce.  They are the last line of defence for their children.  They are responsible for making their children strong. She was there at the beginning. She fled with her husband when she needed to.  She was there at the end, one of the few left at the foot of the cross.  And she was there afterwards. 

As an aside, falconers tend to prefer female raptors as they’re larger, stronger, more reliable and more ferocious. 

I’ve got to admit, Christ as Warrior-Philosopher, Poet-King has a particular appeal. As does Mary, Mother of God, Battle-Queen and Last Defender.  Unlike some sort of nice, insipid perfect family, these are individuals worthy dying for.  They certainly aren’t pathetic.

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get over your lamentations and philosophies

Didn't you know? Christ didn't die for any of us. We only get one shot at a physical life and at overcoming the obstacles, which are: nature and all those whose sole purpose it is to stop us from living due to their hangups, twisted attitudes and other such ignoble reasons; and then we meet our maker - that's it. Not very romantic is it?
So get over it and get on with it.
Why do we only point the finger at Christ anyway - if he exists? After all the title of this blog is "..who is this Jesus Fellow anyway?" If you are uncertain of who he is then why bother working him to a pulp with such self-centred resenting comments and pondering? If you feel he's over-rated, why keep bringing him up for critical analysis and discussion?
Remember there are other well-known deities, cult figures and pagan personalities and practices. How about we lay blame on them, curse them, and write demeaning comments about them, pray to them for help and then fold our arms and wait to see what happens? Who knows, we might just get our prayers answered; and if not, how about we make demands on them to get their act together and meet our needs? Like right now.

barney , November 05, 2009

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Of course Christ exists. Christ is God. And God exists. You've built a college and christened it as Christian in name. Why establish a forum of blogs that invites such scepticism or doubting as this forum does? Do the founders of Campion College doubt their own cause?
And what do any of us know who Jesus really was and is?

gina , November 06, 2009

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Of course Christ exists. Christ is God. And God exists. But can anyone really say they know who Jesus was? A college has been built and christened as Christian and yet this forum is inviting scepticism and doubting.

Gina , November 06, 2009

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Faith and Reason

Thanks for your contribution Gina. All opinions are allowed on this blog unless they are libelous or profane, in the usual way with blogs. (see below)However, we expect that people will defend their positions with intelligence.

This blog is intended to uphold the great traditions of Catholic intellectualism.I am sure there will be many people, including students of Campion, who can defend faith and reason very intelligently.

Best wishes

Ed

Paul Abela , November 06, 2009 | url

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Gina, "Be not afraid".

Gina,

We should all have a healthy skepticism. If we can't question our own faith, can we honestly expect Muslims and Atheists to question their own?

The good things about this forum is that even though people try to undermine Christianity, creating possible skepticism, this blog is an opportunity to show the inadequate reasoning and logical fallacies usually attached to such attempts, creating greater confidence.

S.J

Jesuit , November 06, 2009

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