‘God is dead’ - the literally dead gods

Staff Writer


Table of Contents

To say that ‘God is dead’ does not make him dead. It is like a boy venting his anger on his daddy for grounding him for two weeks. In reaction, he utters: ‘I wish my dad died.’ At that moment of seething resentment, he wanted him dead, but did he mean it? When inconvenienced or in a tight corner, we want immediate solutions or answers to our problems or questions. Usually, in human minds auto-suggestions of relief or balancing acts pop up. The boy’s strength cannot match his dad’s, so he resorted to a verbal duel.   

To say that ‘God is dead’ is like a verbal duel that arises from one’s feelings of dread, frustration, or despair. It is a declaration that has no foundation. A God that is immortal does not die. This claim may be influenced by some Christian background. Reviewing the ideas of ‘god-death’ or ‘deicide’ can be compartmentalised into two: God that is immortal and god that is mortal; while the former seems immortal and eternal, the latter seems changeable and eternal.

Historically, there are literally gods that are known to be dead or killed by another god who still lives in on and continue to influence some people’s lives or from the ashes of the dead gods arise other gods. So, in this writing, we will describe the gods that have been killed, the mortal but eternal gods as different from the immortal and eternal God. 

God is dead

When Friedrich Nietzsche declared in his 1882 collection, The Gay Science that God is dead, it was literally bought by those who wanted God dead. Though, he was writing about the influence of the Enlightenment that resulted in increasing unbelief in God. The idea of the death of God is a thought movement that has lived on and continues to map people’s behaviour or beliefs, when compelled, they move from the sacred to the profane and when redeemed, they move from the profane to the sacred. Is God truly dead? To answer this question, Nietzsche argues:  

God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?

There are a few things to learn from Nietzsche. He was arguing in his thoughts and with his autosuggestions about his feelings or anxieties. The thought of the death of God was an idea he wanted to remain permanent in the minds of all peoples: ‘God remains dead. And we have killed him.’ One might view Nietzsche’s argument as casuistic in the sense that he was lamenting about the level of ‘unbelief’ among those who profess the existence of God.

To say that ‘God is dead’ does not make him dead. Nietzsche’s ‘God is dead’ is like a verbal sword that is driven deep into the heart of ‘unbelief’ and which has not stopped bleeding ‘unbelief.’ That does not make God dead. It was a clever but unsound way to call for a change of heart. However, there are literally gods that are known to be dead and yet they remain dead but also eternal.

The literally dead gods

We will describe the different gods that lived and died. I hate to say that it is a contradiction to suggest that a god dies, and not only that the god dies, but the god also still influences the lives of the people who worship them. While describing the gods that had died, we will view them from two categories: mortal/eternal gods and an immortal/eternal God.

Mortal/Eternal gods

By way of explanation, mortal here means something that is subject to death or transient. Some descriptions will show that some gods’ nature, state, or activity lasted for a short time before they changed or metamorphosized into something different. Even upon dead or changes, they live on in other capacities.

Tezcatlipoca and Nanauatzin

In Begrudging & Infightings: Aztec’s Theogony & Cosmogony (this link will take you to the article), the different Aztec gods were engaged in many rivalries that saw a series of coup d’états among the gods. Tezcatlipoca, who was the first creator, and ‘Sun-god’ was toppled by another god known as Quetzalcoatl. As a result, Tezcatlipoca changed and became a jaguar. However, Nanauatzin, the fifth sun god was consumed in a bonfire. Metaphorically, it may mean that Nanauatzin, is shining upon humans for eternity.

Osiris

He was the god of fertility, the afterlife, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian mythology. His brother, Set killed him by dissecting him into pieces but was put together by his wife, Isis and he returned to life.

Izanagi and Izanami

In Japanese mythology, Izanagi is the creator deity of life and creation and he and his sister-wife, Izanami were the last of the seven generations of primordial deities that came to be after the formation of heaven and earth. The union of both gave birth to the different islands that became the Japanese archipelago as well as the different deities that occupy the lands. While giving birth to those deities, one deity, Kagutsuchi, the fire god led to the death of Izanami. In anger and grief, Izanagi killed Kagutsuchi with his ten-grasp sword. But that was not the end. From the excreta of Izanami, the blood and dissected body of Kagutsuchi and the tears of Izanagi came into existence more gods.

Immortal/Eternal God

What is described as immortal and eternal here is considered a divine being contrasting with other deities who can change or die? Such supreme divinity is a capacity only possible by God. One clear example is the Christian account of Jesus Christ.

Jesus

The New Testament, especially the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), describe the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. More about Jesus has been written. Please see this article “Christ – Jesus in the Bible: Son of God and Messiah, killed by Crucifixion – (Jesus Factors in Islam & Christianity Series 2)” (When you click the link, it will open the article). The death of Jesus is a happy deed and a necessity. His death is what redeemed the human race from eternal damnation. His death is viewed as God’s eternal love for humanity. No love is greater than this, that God gave his only Son for the salvation of the entire world.

The highest point of such a sacrifice was that Jesus did not remain dead. He rose on the third day. One may ask: Was Jesus truly dead? He was dead. Clinically, the soldiers tested that by piercing his side with a lance. Nevertheless, he came back to life.

Conclusion

Nietzsche’s ‘God is dead’ declaration is different from Deuteronomy's declaration of God’s promise of a ‘Promised Land’, a “land flowing with milk and honey” (Deut. 31:20). The former is like a casuistry while the latter is a prophecy. Such a declaration is prophetic but requires some human efforts to create the realities.  

Nietzsche’s declaration of the death of God was smart but contradicts sound reasoning. A God cannot die but a god can change nature, state or activity.  

Popular posts from this blog

Early Contacts between Christianity and Islam

Staff Writer
Table of Contents Early Contacts between Christianity and Islam Monk Bahira The Migration to Axum Kingdom Christianity and Islam have always been two noxious bedfellows and yet always proclaim and wish peace on earth. It would not be a crass assumption to state that the two religions have over the centuries crossed paths and re-crossed paths many times. Crossing paths might have been in their ideologies, conflicts, doctrinal interpretations and even sharing some physical spaces. Therefore, in this brief writing, we will explore the early contacts between Christianity and Islam and see how they have influenced each other. Early Contacts between Christianity and Islam The early contacts between Christianity and Islam were not short of frames.  According to Kaufman et al., “frames are cognitive shortcuts that people use to help make sense of complex information.” They are means of interpreting our world and perhaps, the world of other people around us.  Such interpretations helped them to
Read more

The Connection between a Personal Name and Name Groups in Shawnee Social Organisation

Staff Writer
Table of Contents Shawnee People The Divisions The Name Groups and Personal Names I’m always attracted to and interested in the culturally distinct and characteristic elements of different traditions or societies. Reading about the Shawnee people of Native American tribes is no different. I immediately fell in love with the linkage between Shawnee name groups and personal names. The name groups seem to present the Shawnee as a one-descent group with five major divisions. To examine this connection between a personal name and name group, a brief description of Shawnee will help in understanding the Shawnee social organisation. Shawnee People The term ‘Shawnee’ written in different forms ( Shaawanwaki, Shaawanowi lenaweeki, and Shawano ) is Algonquian like the archaic term ‘ shaawanwa ’ meaning ‘south.’ Thus, the term ‘Shawnee’ is (pronounced shaw-nee ) meaning the ‘southern people.’ The Shawnees are categorised as Algonquian-speaking North American Indian people whose pristine ho
Read more

The Akamba – Concept of the Supreme Being & Totems

Staff Writer
Table of Contents Supreme Being (Worships and Venerations) Mulungu   Mumbi  Mwatuangi  Ngai  Asa  Ancestors Totems Here is a brief account of the religious beliefs of the Akamba. Spanning through Central Bantu, the Akamba ethnic group is estimated to be about 4.4 million people and occupies Southeastern Kenya in areas, such as Kangundo, Kibwezi, Kitui, Machakos, Makueni and Mwingi Districts and the Ukamba. A swathe of the Akamba population can also be found in the Mazeras and Kwale Districts of the Coast Province in Shiba Hills. The Akamba languages are Kikamba and Swahili. Globally, the Akamba are not exclusively a Kenyan or African tribe. They can be found in Uganda, Tanzania, and Paraguay, which makes it partly an indigenous group and partly an autochthonal group. Argument from migration theory suggests that Akamba came from Kilimanjaro (a word that means ‘mountain of whiteness’), basing their arguments on the similarity of certain cultural features with the Wachagga people of Kili
Read more

Begrudging & Infightings: Aztec’s Theogony & Cosmogony

Staff Writer
Table of Contents Tezcatlipoca Quetzalcoatl Tlaloc Chalchiuhtlicue Nanauatzin Cosmic Order – The Balance Aztec is a name used to describe the Nahuatl-speaking people who thrived in central Mexico circa the 14 th  and 16 th  centuries as an empire and dominated large parts of Mesoamerica. Variously, the Aztecs had different names. They are known as Aztlan (which means ‘White Land’), the Tenochca (a name adopted from one of their ancestors called Tenoch), and the Mexica, which was a derivative from Metzliapan (which stands for ‘Moon Lake’). Ancient Aztec religious beliefs and practices were tied to their understanding of the world; the people were deeply amazed by the thought of the unknown, the universe and the end of time. These thoughts arouse some curiosity and awareness to understand better their world and how it came about. I used the term ‘theogony’ to describe the Aztecs’ generations of gods however, not in the context of Greek mythology where the ‘primordial deities’ were the fi
Read more

Nigeria’s Pledge Vs the President’s Mandate: An Antithesis of Patriotism

Staff Writer
Table of Contents Nigeria’s Pledge The President’s Mandate Loyalty to the President or the Constitution? In recent years, the Nigerian polity has been bedeviled by one general term, ‘mandate.’ As years passed, the term mandate gained more ground and replaced the allegiance or any public or private declaration of loyalty to Nigeria, as a country. The contract the people signed with the country was gradually torn into bits by the politicians (or leaders) and by extension, the citizens, (and foreigners living in Nigeria). The current political and economic climate of Nigeria is the main reason for this article. The people have openly rejected Nigeria’s Pledge and have taken recourse to different political mandates of some politicians. The aim here is to bring to the fore the salient points of Nigeria’s Pledge against the mandate of the president. Nigeria’s Pledge The clear and concise words of Professor Felicia Adebola Adedoyin in 1976 describing the terms of the Nigerian oath of
Read more

The Aesir Vs the Vanir – The gods at War

Staff Writer
Image
Audio – The Aesir vs the Vanir – The gods at war Table of Contents Introduction Norse Mythology The different deities under the Aesir Family The different deities under the Vanir Family Other deities Ullr Loki Conclusion Introduction ‘The gods at war’ is a phrase or statement I have chosen as a theme that will help me understand the claim about the many conflicts between the Aesir and the Vanir gods and goddesses. The Aesir gods and goddesses are Odin, Frigg, Höðr, Thor, Baldr, and Tyr. Then, the Vanir gods and goddesses are Njörðr, Nerthus, Freyja, Freyr, Óðr, Hnoss, Gersemi, Skírnir, Kvasir, Gullveig. There is Jotnar, the giant gods who are constantly warring with the Aesir gods and goddesses and they are seen as chaotic and destructive. Then comes Kvasir. According to Norse mythology, Kvasir is a creation borne from the mixture of the saliva of the Aesir and Vanir gods and goddesses at the end of their wars. Kvasir is considered a wise god and he went up and down their sovereig
Read more

Nigeria’s 2023 Presidential Election - from preparation to verdicts

Staff Writer
Table of Contents Before the February 25, 2023, General Election During the Election – 2023 After the Election – 2023 The Verdicts – 2023 Moving Forward The insouciant and nonchalant comportment of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the face of angst that has inbuilt despair among Nigerians is the reason for writing about Nigeria’s February 25, 2023, presidential election, and the outcome. Yes, it’s seven months after the election was conducted by INEC and the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT) verdicts in Abuja on September 6, 2023. Some argued that the entire election was marred with violence, rigging, and corrupt practices and some others argued that it was the freest election ever held in Nigeria, by Nigerians (not ‘Nigeriens’) and for Nigerians. After the results were announced and Mr Ahmed Bola Tinubu was declared winner, his opponents filed petitions alleging that it was a rigged system. In this writing, an attempt will be made to describe
Read more

The Weyekin in Nez Percé Tribe and Catholic Angels

Staff Writer
Table of Contents The Nez Percé People Catholic Teachings on Angels The Spirit, Weyekin in Nez Percé Tribe This writing is to briefly identify and recognize some cultural values of the Nez Percé tribe, especially their belief in Weyekin, often described as a personal guiding angel. The concept of a guiding angel provokes Catholic teachings about angels and comparison with the Nez Percé Weyekin, as the guiding spirit. But that will be a new piece of writing for the future. There can be a cross-cultural gleaning of ideas from nature, beliefs, and interactions.     The Nez Percé People The term Nez Percé, meaning “pierced nose” is the French coinage to describe the Nimiipuu tribe. The term Nimiipuu, meaning “we, the people” is a name the tribe used for themselves and their language, a part of the Sahaptin family. Early contacts with the Europeans, especially French explorers made the name Nez Percé popular because they unfairly adopted the name Nez Percé and used it for the Nimiipuu and n
Read more

The Conflict between the Deities (Igwe and Amadioha) in Igbo Mythology over a Heat Wave

Staff Writer
Table of Contents Introduction The Deity – Igwe The Deity – Amadioha The Conflict between Igwe and Amadioha Introduction The current heat wave reminds me of the conflict between two Igbo deities, namely: Igwe and Amadioha. Just as it was noted somewhere in this blog: Nigeria's Diversity and the South-East/South-South Peripheral Inclusions: Biafra's Raison d'etre , November 15, 2021, the Igbo people are the third-largest ethnic group who live in southeastern Nigeria. They have a very rich culture and tradition among which is their concept of God which varies from one community to another but essentially, they believe that the gods guide and control their life and affairs in many ways. The Igbo concept of God stems from the idea of a chief god who creates everything. This god is supreme. The Igbo variously call this god Olisa bu uwa (the god who carries the world), Olisa bini Igwe , (the god who lives in the sky), Chukwu (the great god), or Chineke (the god who creates
Read more