In ancient times, most people were uneducated, and myths helped them to make sense of their lives and the physical world’s naturally occurring phenomena. Myths employ symbolism, metaphors, allegories, and other imagery to communicate and promulgate life lessons and wisdom. The unlettered because of their ignorance were misled to believe that certain things (the ocean, the sky, fire, etc.) and humans were gods as demonstrated in the story of Perseus. The irony is that when folks deify humans, they unwittingly personify God. Does God, as described in the Bible, get jealous or angry, the way that we do? No! Dark thoughts and emotions like jealousy and anger are conditions peculiar to the human experience. God, on the other hand, is manifested by positivity. Examples of deification throughout history are many; there were Pharaohs, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Dalai Lamas, Chinese and Japanese Emperors, Incan rulers, Fard Muhammed, Popes, and, of course, Jesus.
The movie, ‘Clash of the Titans’, illustrates how deification comes about and I want to show, with this essay, that in fact Jesus Christ never existed. The truth is that Jesus is a mythical character derived, in part, from ancient stories and beliefs that existed long before his supposed time on earth. My motivation for writing about Jesus comes from an experience I had while listening to a sermon at a ‘friends’ church. It was Christmas Eve and the sermon was about Jesus Christ. He had said many things in the past that I didn’t agree with, but I always held my tongue. On that particular day though, when he said that Jesus IS the Word of God, I openly disagreed. He told me to leave the church and to never contact him again, even though I have known him for more than 50 years. I had a similar experience at the Mennonite church which I attended from age four to thirteen, the age of culpability. At that time, they asked me if, to be saved, I wanted to be washed in the blood of Jesus. Even at that age, I instinctively knew that the belief (that to go to heaven an innocent man must suffer and die for my sins) was too repulsive to accept. So, I said no. And when I did, it was time to leave. I didn’t belong anymore. I now know that the story of Jesus’ sacrifice is just a spinoff of an ancient religious practice - the scapegoat ritual. During part of this ritual, an unblemished sheep/goat is sacrificed, dying for a nation’s sins. Christianity expanded on the ritual with the caveat that sacrificing an animal would no longer suffice. Which led to the story of the ultimate sacrifice - the scapegod.