‘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.  

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