Jesus

by Peter Saint-Andre

2000-06-19

Today I posted at Monadnock my poem Jesus in Atlantis. I've had this poem inside me for a long time. Back when I thought that I might write a novel or two, I was fascinated by the idea of a fantasy novel that would take place in Atlantis or Valhalla or wherever you think the heroes go when they die. I envisioned the novel starting with Jesus waking up in Atlantis and wondering where he was. The plot would have centered on Jesus learning to love this earth. But now I know I'm not going to write any novels, so this poem is the closest I'll come to bringing this concept into reality.

I'm not one of those who questions the existence of the historical Jesus. I see no reason to doubt that an extraordinary man named Jesus gathered a large following, made trouble for the Jewish authorities, and was executed by the Roman authorities during the reign of Herod. At the same time, I see no reason to believe the assertions of the Christ cult that this man was the son of the Yahweh and that he gave his life so that his followers might be cleansed of sin. I certainly don't think that Jesus would have approved of the hierarchical, authoritarian, anti-individual, anti-woman institution of the Church. My sense is that the Gnostics had a similar view of Jesus, although they still believed he was the Christos - the annointed one. The ideas of the Gnostics are definitely something that I want to explore.


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