CHAPTER SEVEN
CHRISTIANITY
Christianity
has exploited the human instincts of fear and favour with a skill which is
peculiar to itself. It has been declared as the natural religion of mankind by
projecting Jesus as the logos and the active revelatory principle of God which
existed long before the creation. The medieval scholasticism indulged in
balancing reason and revelation. Even in the 18th Century, the enlightenment
theology tried to demonstrate Christianity as rational in essence.
Mythology has never been delineated
with a greater skill and charm than these statements have done. Christianity is
an extension of mythology yet its spiritual fascination has aroused millions of
Christians to die for the honour of their Saviour as willingly as a burning lamp
incites moths to seek self-cremation.
Christian Articles of Faith
The Christian cult is the most
beautiful mythological symposium owing to the aura of divine beguilement that
pervades its major constituents, as follows:
1. The Creator God
2. Revelation
3. Virgin Birth
4. Trinity
5. Grace and Salvation
6. Sin (Human Nature)
7. Kingdom of God (Hell and
Heaven)
Virgin Birth
3. Having already expressed my
views about the Creator God and revelation, I may start this discussion with the
third item i.e. Virgin Birth.
None of what we know about the
birth of Jesus, can be traced back to himself because neither he left any
written account of his life nor the contemporary sources record anything about
his existence. The Christian details about him emerged in the Synoptic (parallel
view of sources) Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke at least seventy years after
his crucifixion, and John's account did not appear until another three decades
later. It is also said that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are names only because
they were written some two hundred years after the death of Christ to satisfy
the needs of the Church and believers!
The evidence for the existence of
Jesus himself is very tenuous indeed. He was said to be a learned man. If he
really had a mission, it was his foremost duty to put it in writing but he never
did. This makes him an imaginary figure, dreamt up by those whose purpose it
serves. Small wonder that Christianity has become the largest business on earth.
Parenthood of Jesus
The picture has been further
blurred by the Jewish traditions which declare Jesus as the illegitimate son of
Panther, a Roman soldier. The Old Testament also seems to have been tampered
with by the over-zealous Greek translators:
Commenting on Isa. 7:14, scholars
have remarked that the Hebrew word "Alma', has been wrongly translated as
"virgin" in the Septuagint because it actually means "young
woman".
Despite all the manipulative
efforts of the Christian Fathers, whose own sanctity rose and fell with that of
Jesus, we can still trace his parenthood in the New Testament without making
Jews the target of everything blasphemous and corrupt.
St. Matthew, Chapter One, Verse
Sixteen, records the genealogy of Jesus as follows:
Jacob fathered Joseph who was the
husband of Mary. She gave birth to Jesus who came to be known as Christ.
Mary was betrothed to Joseph, the
carpenter. Since every human, without exception, has a human father, Jesus must
also have a human father.
The doctrine of the Virgin Mary is
very puzzling, indeed. Mark (6:3? clearly states that Jesus was the son of
Joseph, and had several brothers and sisters. If Mary needed a husband to
produce all these children, how come that she had no physical father for Jesus?
According to the Christian mythology Mary was God's bride but she got married to
a man. Obviously, she did not have the ability to stay a virgin. Nor did God
care about her virginity. Yet the Christian Church has sung praises of celebacy!
John 6:42 further confirms that Jesus was the son of Joseph. Luke 2:48, however,
provides the conclusive evidence because Mary herself refers to Joseph as the
father of Jesus.
Of course the next verse seeks to
contradict it but it is the evidence of the mother that shall be held reliable
and final.
Revealed religion is the greatest
secular business that has ever existed and its success solely lies in its power
to brainwash people with the promise of eternal life, an assured place in heaven
and total safety from hell. Such fascinations being supernatural in character,
are logically beyond the power of a normal person. Therefore, the merchants of
divinity have to create a mythological figure of super-gigantic proportions who
must look great and numinous enough to make supernatural promises look natural,
and deliver them with the same ease as an eagle shows in capturing a sparrow, an
elephant in carrying a bag of cement or a camel in crossing a furlong of desert.
The Virgin Birth is a part of the
miracles that Jesus is supposed to have performed in rebuking the sea and winds,
exorcising devils, healing the sick, raising the dead, transfiguring in the
presence of his disciples, feeding thousands of people with a couple of loaves
of bread and fishes and, above all, the resurrection.
Trinity
4. Though Trinity is treated as the
basic doctrine of the Christian faith, there is no evidence in the Bible that it
is the original principle of Christianity. Reluctant though the Christians are
to admit, it is a variant of the Hindu precept: Trimurti which is an expression
of the Reality in three forms.
This is a developed concept and was
not finalised by the Christians until the end of the 4th century A.D. It grew
out of the Great Commission which commands the disciples to convert and baptise
all nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
(Math 28:19). In 11 Cor. 13:14 is to be found the apostolic benedictions which
also contributed to the growth of this doctrine.
Since Christianity is an offshoot
of Judaism, though blasphemous according to the Jews, it had to be displayed as
based on the strict monotheism of the Old Testament. The Cappadocian Fathers
eventually gave it its present interpretation which declares that the three
constituents of Godhead are of the same essence In other words, Father, Son and
Holy Spirit are the three modes of expressing the One God, and are not distinct
within the being of God Himself.
Jesus and viceroyalty
The faithful are always inclined to
brush the fiction of their beliefs with the varnish of facts, no matter how
feeble, fictitious and farcical, but an independent seeker of truth is entitled
to look at their scriptures with investigative detachment. When we adopt this
approach, Jesus appears to represent what I have repeatedly called "the
theory of Divine Viceroyalty" which enables its practitioner to declare his
own Godhead in the name of God as His prophet or messenger.
Let us see how Jesus developed this
theme:
He propounded that God is one and
all powerful; everything is possible for Him and He is love. Having declared
that, he told mankind that God wanted to be loved sincerely and passionately.
What was the relationship of Jesus
with God? St. Luke (11:49) speaks of a divine system of prophets and apostles
who are sent by God to guide mankind. For example' John, the forerunner of
Jesus, was a prophet (John 3:27-28). And so was Jesus, People called Jesus ``the
prophet of Nazareth". In fact, the Bible depicts Jesus as a prophet who
came into the world to establish the truth. He himself made it known
unambiguously that it is not he who dispenses salvation but God; what he
preaches is God's doctrine and not his; he has come to the earth to do the will
of his Father who is greater than he is.
However, this relationship of
prophethood and human inferiority starts crumbling when Jesus the man and son,
begins to assert his own divinity. It is claimed;
1. Everything has been delivered to
the Son by the Father who cannot be known without the agency of Jesus (Matt.
11:27).
2. Everything has to be asked of
the Father in Son's name, and it may be granted (John 15:16).
Father gives Son the entire power
of judgement (John 5:22).
4. All-power in heaven and earth is
claimed to be invested in Jesus who commands his disciples to baptise nations
"in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost"
(Matt. 28:19).
5. St. John, Chapter One advances
the doctrine of God and Word which asserts the co-existence of God and Jesus. In
Ch. 10:30, Jesus asserts that he and his Father are one, and verse 38 makes this
claim final.
6. Eventually, Jesus dominates God
by telling Him to glorify him (Jesus) because he had existed with Him (God)
before the universe.
7. Through the device of
viceroyalty which initially consisted of prophethood and Sonship, he wanted to
establish his own Godhead (John 13:13).
How Jesus sought Godhead
The urge of dominance demands
submission; devotion through love and self-debasement (known as worship) is the
highest form of submission which is available to gods only. This is the reason
that men with a burning dominance-urge seek Godhead.
To start with, Jesus declares:
1. He who is not with me is against
me (Matt. 12:30).
2. There is only one way that
people can establish their relationship with Jesus, that is, loving him more
than anybody else, including one's father or mother and son or daughter (Matt.
10:37).
He goes even further and demands
that to be his disciple, one must hate his father, mother, wife, children,
brothers, sisters and even his own life (Luke 14:26).
Bribe to the Faithful
3. The only way to secure salvation
is by giving up all one's relations and possessions. In return, one shall get a
hundred fold reward and an everlasting life.
What a model of divine love! It
advocates renunciation and degradation of all those who have a natural claim on
our love and respect, and thus undermines all cultural and spiritual values.
Since this is the most difficult game to play.
Jesus places irresistable
temptation in the way of those who are equally self-centred and will stop at
nothing for the hope of salvation. He tells them directly and through his
disciples:
1. The true work of God, is the
belief in Jesus (John 6:29).
2. Those who have not seen yet
believe, are the blessed ones (John 20:29).
3. A Christian with a grain of
faith can command a tree to be uprooted and planted in the sea (Luke 17:6).
It is obviously the least that a
Christian can do. Is there one Christian alive today, including the Pope, who
can do so? Since there is not one Christian having this capability Christianity
calls its own bluff and proves the hypocrisy of faith which is nothing but the
extreme form of self-deception.
Grace and Salvation
5. Having pitched sky-high the
value and sanctity of blind faith, his disciples struck at the root of law and
morality despite the fact that the New Testament upholds the authority of the
Mosaic laws, and purity of deeds. They did so to make conversion easy and
developed the fascinating trick of Crucifixion for tempting the unbelievers and
sceptics to embrace the ravishing idol of faith and renounce the goddess of
reason, who is deaf and dumb to the overtures of fools.
The basic approach of this
philosophy, though captivating, was simple: why suffer the pangs of deeds when
the paramountcy of faith can secure the desired goal? It is the part of man's
attitude to love the opportunities that guarantee him reward for doing nothing;
man will not toil for food and shelter if he is assured a free and fruitful
living. Therefore he is inclined to follow the religion that promises him
eternity without moral effort which entails self-discipline and hard work.
The process of salvation through
faith and grace is well described in Chapters 4 and 5 of Romans. However, I may
draw attention to the following:
a. Christians are not under the law
but grace (Romans 6:14).
b. If you confess Jesus to be your
Lord you shall be saved (Romans 10:9).
c. Grace to be grace has got to be
irrelevant to works (Romans 11:6).
d. The life of a just Christian is
based on faith (Gal. 3:11).
e. Law is a curse, and Christ has
liberated us from it (Gal. 3:13).
f. Law is not for the righteous but
the wicked (I Timothy 1: 9-10).
Chapter 11 of Hebrews also
glorifies faith to assure the faithful that they are on the winning wicket.
Working of Grace
Redemption from the curse of the
law, contributed to the formation of the Christian principle known as Grace
which is the gift of divine favour that ensures salvation of the believer. This
grace is given in Christ, and is always initiated by God. Thereafter, man
must respond to God and the responsibility to continue l this relationship
solely rests upon him. It is believed by the Christians that God's saving grace
is bound to the sacraments but it is not guaranteed by them. It is because God
is free to grant grace to whom He likes and when He likes. He is not bound by
any principle. What good is it to be God and observe a rule of conduct? Aren't
God's viceroys and anointed rulers on earth dictatorial, despotic and
destructive? Why should He be fair to the non-Christians? Hindus of India and
Buddhists of China, when thrown into hell, shall have no right to complain that
they did not receive the saving grace because they were born into non-Christian
families. Obviously what is grace for the Christians, is disgrace for the
nonChristians!
Sin (Human Nature)
6. To give the principle of Grace a
magical appeal, the Christian Fathers have devised an extraordinary
interpretation of human nature. Genesis 1:26 declares that God created man in
His own image, and likeness, and gave him superiority over other creatures.
The Tree of Knowledge
Here, the emphasis that God not
only created man in His own image but also after His own likeness, seems to
prove similarity between God and man, or at least their basic common nature. If
this were true, man could not go astray, regardless of what he might believe in.
Yet the Christian Fathers have invented a philosophy which renders man evil by
nature and thus incapable of attaining salvation without God's grace. As the
biblical story goes (Genesis, Chapter 2), God created man and woman and
appointed the Garden of Eden as their abode where there was neither unhappiness
nor sickness, nor death. Above all, they did not have to toil for their living.
Everything was gratis, and as desired. However, God grew in the Garden, the Tree
of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and forbade Adam, the genitor of mankind, to eat
its fruit. Being misguided by his wife, Eve, they both ate the (1) forbidden
fruit and (2) committed the cardinal sin which became the fountain of human
sorrows such as toil of agriculture, the pain of childbirth, disease and death.
It is to encounter this sin that God sent Jesus as grace to mankind for saving
them from eternal death.
However, if we look deeper into
this episode, Genesis 3:22 tells us that God is alarmed by the fact that man
becomes like Him by knowing the difference between good and bad.
Forbidden Fruit and its true
meaning
1. It clearly shows that God had
not created man in his own image and likeness because "man becomes like
God" only after he had eaten the forbidden fruit.
2. God must have created man as an
animal which had no sense of good and evil. Since the forbidden fruit gave man
the knowledge of good and bad and thus increased his chances of self-elevation
through moral conduct, i.e. the ability to avoid the evil and pursue the
righteous path, God was alarmed by jealousy in case the man attained divinity.
It follows that eating the
forbidden fruit was a righteous act because it infused man with moral virtue but
the good Lord branded it as a sin! Assuming that the biblical interpretation of
sin is correct, even then man is innocent of this charge because:
1. It was wrong of God to expose
man to such a devastating temptation which he could not resist
2. God is incompetent to give man
an uncorruptable nature.
3 Since God claims to have created
man in His own image and likeness, He is as much likely to go astray as man is.
4 Creation of man is just a
childish fun for God, otherwise He would not have given man such a perishable
nature which could not stand the test of one act of disobedience.
The Original Sin
The creator God is responsible for
what He has created, yet man is used as a scapegoat to carry the can of divine
follies. This event of eating the forbidden fruit against the express command of
the Maker, is termed as the Original Sin. Explaining the Christian steriology,
that is, salvation beliefs and doctrines, St. Paul described in his letter to
the Romans that even at birth, a child was subject to God's wrath and
condemnation for being a descendant of Adam who had committed the original sin.
It meant that man's nature, if it was ever clean, had been polluted, and he was
incapable of attaining salvation through his own will and skill. His only hope
lay in the saving grace of Christ.
Salvation as a business
The lot of mankind would have been
much easier, had St. Paul remembered that Adam committed the sin because he did
not have the ability to show complete obedience for avoiding what he did. Had he
said that it was unfair of God to punish the Children of a thousandth generation
for the offence of their parents, it would have served the cause of. justice
which man needs so desperately. But such a comment would have led to the
dissolution of Christianity, and under such circumstances St. Paul himself would
have gone out of apostolic business. After all, there is no business like
salvation business because its customers are always willing to pay a
disproportionately high price for this most illusive commodity with money, blood
and life, and also impatient to crawl before the merchants of divinity.
Crucifixion: Resurrection
7. However, we should remember that
the Christian concept of sin transcends the boundary of disobedience to God
because it also implies man's subjugation of himself to the devil. Therefore,
Christology propounds that Christ was incarnated, that is, appeared in human
form as divine grace; he was crucified as an atonement for the original sin and
rose again for the resurrection and salvation of mankind (the believers).
"Treasury of the merits of
the Saints"
It is the merit of atonement by
crucifixion which had made salvation possible At papal level, the philosophy of
merits cost the Christians a good deal in money and lives. The Church held that
although man is a sinner, he is given by God a measure of grace which he can
augment by his own deeds. Thus he may die with a greater credit than he needs
for his salvation. These extra credits, not needed by the saved people,
constituted, what was called in papal jargon, "the treasury of the merits
of the saints". Those who lacked sufficient credit of their own but did not
want to suffer the pangs of purgatory, could pay the papal authorities an
appropriate sum of money for transferring some credit from the Saints' treasury
of merit to balance the sinners' books!
Spiritual Banking: Indulgence
This transfer was called
"indulgence" and the sinner had to make a contribution to the Church
for it. It was Martin Luther of Germany who first protested against this
spiritual banking, effectively. Many a woman had agreed to mortgage her
chastity, for the promise of salvation, to the local priest whose celebacy
played havoc with him. This was one of the major causes of concubinage in the
Christendom.
Examination of Crucifixion
Though the Saints' treasury of
merits has been exposed, the merit of Christ's crucifixion as grace for the
original sin has not yet been questioned by the faithful. Let us have a rational
look at it:
1. Jesus is the Lamb of God who
carries away the sins of mankind (John 1:29).
2. Jesus tasted death for every man
(Hebrews 2:9).
3. Jesus died for human sins and
rose again for our resurrection (Romans 4:24-25).
4. God loved the world so much that
He sacrificed His only son to save the world (John 3:16-18).
5. God is one. Jesus, who gave
himself as a ransom for mankind, is the mediator between God and man (Timothy
2:5-6 also Matt. 20-28).
6. Jesus, the beloved Son of God,
existed before the creation (John 17:24).
7. God redeemed mankind through the
blood of Jesus. Everything was created for him, and in him should dwell all
fullness (Coloss 1:14-19).
From these paraphrased verses, it
becomes evident that:
1. Jesus was the Lamb of God who
was crucified as atonement for man's sin.
2. Since he tasted death for every
man, he ranks as Grace.
3. Jesus was crucified for human
offences and raised up for our justification, that is, to make our resurrection
possible.
4. Jesus was God's only begotten
son.
5. God crucified His Son to save
the world because He loves it most dearly.
6. Whoever believes in Christ
cannot perish but shall live for ever.
7. Jesus is the Saviour of mankind
through his crucifixion because he was crucified as a ransom
8. God is one. Therefore, there can
only be one mediator between God and man - that is Jesus Christ.
9. Jesus existed before the world
and was loved by God in the state of preexistence God created everything for
Jesus.
10. He is the image of God and
represents "all fullness".
Even a cursory look at the above
postulates is sufficient to shatter the edifice of Christianity:
1. The concept of Jesus as
"Lamb of God" was developed to exploit man's weakness for the
sacrificial cult which holds that gods are appeased and pleased when members of
the human species or animals are killed as offerings to them.
This custom has been practiced all
over the world since inception of history. Though human sacrifice has become
extinct with the advance of civilization animal offering is still as rampant as
ever, especially in the Islamic lands.
a. Crucifixion was a device of
torture and death, used to eliminate the wicked such as traitors, murderers,
rapists, robbers and the like. Using such a heinous contrivance to achieve the
purpose most holy, negates the value of Christ's death on the cross.
2. Christ's death could not have
been Grace because he did not die for mankind. The Christians believe it as a
matter of faith and not as fact. Mark clearly states in verses 60-63 of Chapter
14 that Jesus was convicted by the Jews on a charge of blasphemy. Though Pontius
Pilate, the governor, believed in his innocence, the Jews were so sure of his
guilt that they fully accepted the responsibility for his crucifixion (Matt.
27:25). To them it was the greatest blasphemy (John 19:17).
a. The vice or virtue of an act
depends upon the volition behind it. If I join the army voluntarily to defend my
country against an aggressor, I am a patriot but if I am enrolled against my
volition, then I qualify as a conscript. It goes without saying that though they
both serve the same purpose, the difference between a patriot and a conscript is
the same as it is between gold and brass or diamond and coal. The Bible bears
testimony to the fact that Jesus did not accept crucifixion voluntarily. He was
so scared of crucifixion that he fell on the ground and prayed to his Father to
relieve him of this agony, knowing full well that it had been predestined for
him (Mark 14: 35-36).
b. My assertion that the intention
of an act determines its Duality becomes even more significantin this context
because the process of history as envisaged by the Bible is based on
predestination.
Predestination
I have already stated that Jesus'
crucifixion had been predestined by God and, therefore, his prayers could not
avert it. Now let us look at the further evidence that the Bible provides on the
subject:
God has complete grip over the
conduct of every particle and nothing can move without His will (Matt. 5:18).
Everything that has been
pre-written about Jesus in the Old Testament must be fulfilled (Luke 24:44 and
Luke 18:31).
Christ's life had been determined
but he cursed he who betrayed him (Luke 22:22).
Crucifixion was an integral part of
the divine plan (John 4:34).
Mercy and condemnation depend upon
God's will (Romans 9:18).
Even the number of hairs on a
person's head is pre-numbered (Matt. 10:30).
Above all, Jesus knew that it was
pre-written for him to be betrayed (Matt. 17:22-23) and he was aware of the
identity of Judas who was to betray him (Matt. 26:21-25). He even told Peter how
he (Peter) would deny him (Jesus) thrice before the cock crowed (John 13:38).
c. We must remember that our planet
which is a part of the universe, is not a Fools' Paradise; all its physical laws
as well as our practical lives are governed by reason because we do not respect
fantasy as the basis of reality. Unfortunately, however, we accept exaggeration
as moderation, the profane as sacred, and the impossible as possible, in the
field of religion to provide ourselves with the shield of faith as a protection
against the fear of the unknown. It is just a make-believe.
One ordinary event of history will
not convince a reasonable person that it can form the foundation of the divine
salvation plan. Again, we ought to remember that predestination is the focal
point of Christianity. If everything has been precisely determined then both
Grace and Crucifixion are a farce. God becomes solely responsible for everything
that happens and man plays no part in it. Then, why should he crawl for Grace or
seek indulgence?
Secondly, the God who is projected
as Love, is a false God if He is so cruel to His own innocent Son. Even Pilate
did not want to crucify a guiltless person. It shows that Pilate was far ahead
of the Christian God in the field of justice and mercy. Again, if God can be so
ruthless with His own son who had done no wrong, how would he treat mankind
which is not related to Him by blood, and what would He do to the wrong-doers?
3. The idea of resurrection, as
stated in an earlier chapter, had existed in the Middle Eastern countries long
before Christ's birth. Declaring himself as the fountain of resurrection through
faith, was a masterly stratagem to win over converts. Of all things, death
frightens man the most. Attaining eternal life just through faith in Jesus, was
the greatest bargain that man could ever dream of. Is it just of God to punish
Jesus for the sins of mankind? It is wrong to apprehend A for the wrongs of B.
Justice demands that every one should be held responsible for his or her own
deeds. Again retributive punishment is a sign of barbarity, and it is only
reformative punishment which forms a part of civilisation or divinity; punishing
A for the sins of B. does not reform the latter; it rather encourages him to
persist in wrong doing, and, therefore, comes within the category of barbarity.
Is God a barbarian?
True meaning of Resurrection
a. The belief that Christ was
resurrected after crucifixion clearly proves that he was never really sacrificed
in the true sense of the word. If his death had any connection with salvation at
all, he would not have been resurrected; his crucifixion must result in his
permanent extinction. The myth of resurrection shows clearly that God, neither
loved the world enough to save it by sacrificing His "only begotten
Son", nor such a sacrifice could have any relevance to salvation.
Business of divinity
A prettier myth than this was never
invented. It is good for the divine business because the hope of salvation
tempts believers to bow and bend at the priestly altar and place their
hard-earned wages at the feet of the ecclesiastical idols as oblation. No wonder
that these holy men live in superb homes in a luxurious style without ever
thanking the Lord for the manipulative power that He so naively bestowed upon
them. On the contrary, the believers intoxicated with the miracle of
resurrection indulge in beautiful dreams of the next world without ever
complaining about the twists, trickeries and torments of this life.
Is there really any relevance
between crucifixion and salvation? How will it revive the dead body of Mark if I
kill Anthony? How will it satisfy Arthur who is dying of thirst if I drink a
gallon of milk? How will it give me the flying power if I rear a colony of
eagles?
An action to be effective, must
have a rational link with the purpose it aims to achieve; I can, for example,
fly by manufacturing an aeroplane and not by rearing a colony of eagles.
4. If God has a son, he must also
have a father, a grandfather, and so on. Such a God cannot be omnipotent or the
creator. The true God would not devise the salvation plan - so totally removed
from the working of the cosmic phenomenon which is the sole index of the divine
purpose.
5. You cannot crucify the ones that
you love dearly, especially when they have done nothing wrong. The true love
demands that one should give one's own life to save one's beloved and righteous
son. Shouldn't God have adopted this path - the only right path? Didn't He use
His son as a scapegoat for creating the world which has become so vicious, vain
and vindictive? Can such a God be rational, respectable and redeeming?
6. A belief cannot be a substitute
for a deed. I believe that food satisfies hunger. Can belief in the satisfying
power of food save me from the destructive effects of starvation? I will have to
work hard to earn money for buying food. Not only that, I will have to digest it
as well, to preserve myself.
It is not the belief but the deeds
that can form the basis of hope and eternity.
7. Crucifixion of Jesus as a
ransom, raises a tricky question because ransom is always paid to a blackmailer:
a kidnapper, a slaver, a thief or an aggressor. Was this ransom paid to God? If
He received it, then He is not divine or magnificent but a thief, a trickster
and a tormentor. It also jeopardises the sanctity of Jesus himself. What did he
do to give his own life in ransom? Finally, if the ransom was paid to the devil,
then he is more powerful than God who recedes into second place, and thus ceases
to be the Creator, the Omnipotent and the All-Wise.
8. If Jesus is grace, then
mediation becomes irrelevant because the former implies mercy whereas the latter
means justice.
9. Since God loved the world so
much that He crucified His own son to save it, He could not have created the
world for Jesus. The world must have extisted before Jesus because he was
dispensable but the world was not.
It is not the belief but the deeds
that can form the basis of hope and eternity.
10. Jesus is the image of God and
represents "All fullness". Does he? The truth is that Jesus, if he
ever lived, was a human. To say that he was fathered by God, or he had no
physical father, is totally against the natural law. Nobody has ever been born
without a father because this is the law of nature. To cover it up, Christians
claim that Jesus was God himself in human flesh, and he came into this world to
quell evil. This is a Hindu doctrine called Avatara and so is the Trinity - the
three in one, which is also the adaptation of the Hindu principle Trimurti, yet
the Christians have never acknowledged their indebtedness to India.
When the Christians are questioned
on this issue to prove that Jesus had no physical father or he was
God-incarnate, they say that it is not a philosophical doctrine but a principle
of faith. This is not good enough because in all our serious dealings, plannings
and deliberations, we are always guided by reason and evidence. It should be
even more so in the matter of faith because the doctrine of life-after death is
more serious than anything else. Of course, certain things cannot be proved or
disproved conclusively, yet they cannot escape rational scrutiny and only a very
tiny part of a problem can be accepted on trust, and that is only if it is not
against the established rules of reasoning. Thus faith, unless it is treated as
a make-believe or purely day-dreaming, does not qualify as faith - without
conspicuous authority of reason. Put it differently, faith is far more a fact
and far less a fiction.
When this test is applied, Jesus
looks every bit a human. We certainly cannot accept the validity of the train of
miracles ascribed to him. If such miracles were true, his vicars, such as pope,
cardinals, bishops, etc. must be able to perform them in his name. But this is
not the case. Therefore, they cannot form part of any serious discussion and I
shall have to draw reader's attention to certain facts which prove he was a man,
and not God. Consider the following:
a. As a human, Jesus knew that to
err is human. When an adulteress was about to be stoned to death, he expressed
his displeasure by stating that let the sinless cast the first stone at her
(John 8:7).
b. Like most humans, he loved
flattery and praise because he loved being called `'Master" (John 13:13).
c. More than other humans who long
for honour, Jesus wanted to be glorified even by God (John 17:5).
d. When Mary, whose brother Lazarus
had died, wept with grief, Jesus was so moved by her tears that he also wept.
(John 11:35).
e. Jesus inflamed the wrath of the
Jews. As they were about to stone him, he escaped. He hid himself and went out
of the temple as Jews took up stones to cast at him.
Jesus ". . . would not walk in
Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him".
He was obviously afraid of pain and
death like any other human. God is surely immune to such conditions.
f. When he was hungry but found no
fruit on the fig tree, he cursed it in a fit of temper (Matt. 21:19).
Cursing trees is not a sign of
divinity, it expresses human temperament.
g. He rebuked and swore: angrily
called Peter "Satan" and he named Herod a "Fox".
Swearing is a part of humanity, and
not of godhead.
h. He possessed a partisan
character because he prayed for the well-being of his followers only (John
17:19).
i. When asked if he was the Son of
God, he replied that this is what they said (Luke 22:70).
ii. When Pilate questioned him if
he was the King of the Jews. He answered "'You have said it" (Luke
23:3).
History has recorded it quite
clearly that neither the Jews accepted Jesus as the Son of God nor did Pilate,
the Roman governor, acknowledge him as the King of the Jews. In each case, he
refused to give straight answers by putting words into the enquirer's mouth.
Is it not human to evade the issue
and adopt a circuitous route when convenience demands it?
j. When unclean habits of his
disciples were questioned (Matt. 15:2), Jesus defended his disciples in a way
which is more than astonishing. Cleanliness has been described as
``godliness" yet Jesus who claimed to be God, did not uphold this
tradition. One wonders if he himself was an admirer of water.
k. Jesus was impolite to his
mother. One wonders what she had done to deserve this attitude. The man who
claimed to be God and believed in the Mosaic laws which command children to
respect and honour their parents, ignored this commandment completely. Even if
we may have difficulty in agreeing his fatherhood, Mary, without doubt, was his
mother in the true sense of the word yet he addresses her as "woman",
rebuffs her and seems to disown her (John 19:26).
It is amazing that he acknowledges
to be her son, yet he shows her no respect by way of politeness such as calling
her "Mother"!
1. He tells people repeatedly that
the Mosaic law is binding on all his followers. Therefore, it is incumbent upon
him to set a practical example of obeying the divine code, but he openly flouts
it. The Old Testament preaches that Yahwe is the only God and has no son. This
is the foundation of the Scriptures yet he declares himself to be God or God's
Son, depending upon the situation.
m. There is yet another episode in
the New Testament which I find disturbing but shall refrain from interpreting it
as a deference to the believers:
John 13:21-23 states that when
Jesus was about to be crucified, he was in a troubled state of mind: he declared
to his disciples that one of them would betray him. As he uttered these words,
the disciple whom Jesus loved, lay with his head resting on the bosom of Jesus.
His disciples wondered who it could
be, but none of them had the nerve to ask Jesus about the would-be traitor.
Simon Peter thinking that the one who lay on Jesus' breast had a special
relationship with him, beckoned to him for solving the mystery (John 13: 24-26).
This man who is repeatedly referred
to as "the disciple whom Jesus loved", did have the courage to ask
him, and he answered.
"The disciple whom Jesus
loved" is mentioned again in Chapter 20 when Mary Magdalene finds the stone
taken away from the sepulchre. He outruns Simon Peter and reaches the sepulchre
first but is the last to enter it. This hesitation shows his effeminate
character.
When Jesus had been resurrected,
"that disciple whom Jesus loved" was the first to notice the Lord.
During their last encounter, Peter asks Jesus about his beloved disciple as what
he was good for.
It is an obvious reference to the
worthlessness of the beloved disciple. Jesus' leaning towards this particular
disciple was so pronounced that John repeatedly calls him "the disciple
whom Jesus loved".
Considering that Jesus was not
married and allowed this disciple to lie on his bosom and ask him such questions
which other disciples were afraid to ask, leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.
What was Christ's relationship with
this "beloved disciple" as the other disciples called him?
Let the reader interpret it for
himself. I have been reluctant to mention this episode but it is wrong to ignore
it in a serious book like this.
Kingdom of God
The concept of the Kingdom of God
is probably better described as an extension of the principle of resurrection.
Originally, the early Christianity inherited it from Judaism, and it expressed
two expectations: firstly, an earthly messiah from the house of David was to
establish a kingdom on earth with its capital at Jerusalem. The second
expectation told of the heavenly messiah, Son of man, who was to inaugurate a
heavenly Kingdom which was to be participated by the elected comrades of all
times after resurrection.
As time marched on, these two
expectations got fused into the concept of the 1000 year or millenial Kingdom,
which is founded on the belief that it is a Kingdom of the privileged elect,
especially the martyrs and all those who defended Christianity with their blood
and bones. It is they who will receive the administrative and judicial posts and
thus hold the reins of power. This is the carrot that has kept the Christian
mouths watering throughout the centuries.
The concept of the Kingdom of God
draws its charm from the age-old doctrine of heaven and hell which has been
exploited by gods and gurus to activate human instincts of fear and favour for
securing blind submission.
What is Christian heaven?
Heaven being a reward for faith, is
a place of rejoicing and excessive pleasures.This is where God lives (Matt. 5:
12 and 16).
From its foundation to the top, it
is built with gold and costly stones such as jasper, sapphire, chalcedony,
emerald, sardonyse, sardius, chrsyolite, beryl, topaz, jacinth, amethyst, and so
on. The pleasure of heaven is equally balanced by the pain of hell in the New
Testament. After all, people are driven both by expectations of fear and favour.
What is the Christian hell?
It is a lake of fire and brimstone
where the devil, his angels, false prophets and non-Christians shall be
tormented day and night (Matt. 5: 22).
After the last Judgement, all
non-Christians will be thrown into hell. This is how, through the concept of
hell and heaven, Jesus exploits human instincts of fear and favour for securing
Godhead!
The Christians
I can indulge in a considerably
longer discussion of Christianity but I think I have said enough to expose its
basic dogma. A more important reason for not prolonging this argument is that
Christians have become highly civilised all over the world and equate
Christianity with humanity. They are prepared to argue all religious matters
with patience and tolerance, and treat religion as a personal affair; neither
they use it to usurp others people's rights nor do they use it as a weapon of
persecution and murder. This is an achievement and I salute them openly.
The right to be religious
This is exactly what I
believe: religion is a personal affair and must not be the cause of interference
in other people's lives, especially by harsh persuasion and violence. Again, it
must be a source of tolerence and mutual respect. Under such circumstances, a
person is entitled to have any religion he chooses.
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