Up to now, for two thousand years, Christianity has depended on the miracles. Those were its basic foundations to prove it a superior religion to any other religion…because Gautam Buddha does not walk on water, Mahavira cannot revive a dead man, Krishna cannot heal the sick just by touching them, Mohammed cannot make wine out of water.
These miracles have been, for two thousand years, the superiority of Christianity over all religions; otherwise what has Christianity got? But he is ready to drop the miracles because now they are continuously hammered. Nobody is ready to believe in them; they go against the very way things are. And nature does not change its rules, its laws, for anybody; it does not take anybody as an exception. So the new theologian feels embarrassed. He knows himself that it is impossible to prove the miracles.
So it is a bold step, but very dangerous. If you take away all the miracles of Jesus then a very poor man, just a carpenter's son, is left behind, with nothing to be compared with Gautam Buddha or Mahavira or Zarathustra. Really you take away all his glory, which depends on miracles. But you cannot prove miracles, and because you cannot prove miracles you create suspicion about Jesus. So it is better to drop miracles; at least the suspicion about Jesus will be dropped. But you don't understand the implication: without miracles Jesus means nothing. But Christianity has depended on these miracles in proving its superiority over other religions; in fact those religions are far superior, because they don't depend on such stupid, childish ideas.
One theologian takes God away, another theologian makes Jesus himself a myth, another theologian takes miracles away, and the fourth theologian takes religion itself away — he wants a religionless Christianity, but Christianity has to remain! I don't understand: when you have taken all the contents, why cling to the box? Now even religion has to be taken away because half of humanity is already religionless.
It seems you are clinging just to the label, to the name "Christianity." It is a desperate effort, and stupid too. Why not accept that Christianity is dead? God is dead, miracles are dead, religion is dead, Jesus is no longer born out of a virgin Mary — so what are you saving?
And then there is another effort...because you cannot carry an empty box for long; you will also feel that you are doing something foolish. And others will start feeling, when they look into your box, that you have a great Christianity! — Jesus is missing, God is missing, miracles are not there, the Virgin Mary is not there. All that was Christianity is not there; then why are you carrying this empty box? So there is another effort going on, side by side, to fill the box with something.
Christian theologians are studying other religions, so as to have something similar. It is going to be imitation, inauthentic, because it is not their experience. They call it "comparative religion"; in all Christian colleges they study comparative religion. They are collecting all kinds of things in the box where Christianity used to be. It is so eclectic that it does not make one organic whole. If you look into the box you will get into a madness, because the things they are taking belong to different systems. Within those systems they have a living quality; out of those systems they are dead. Somebody's eyes, somebody's hand, somebody's legs, somebody's heart.... Do you think in your box there will come a man, because you have arranged everything that is needed for a man? — hands, head, eyes, heart. Everything is there, but it is just nonsense. Those eyes were able to see in an organic unity in a body; now they cannot see. There is no organic unity, and you cannot bring an organic unity.
Christianity is dead. Their desperate effort to save it simply confirms that it is dead. But it needs guts to accept it. Those superstitions have been the very backbone of your Christianity. Without those superstitions your Christianity will lose all its life. And it will be more absurd to believe in a Christianity devoid of all superstitions, miracles, God…even of religion.
Now, finding nothing in their doctrines, they are falling back on ethics, saying that the essential thing is not doctrine…because all their doctrines have been proved wrong. Up to now it was doctrine; now because all doctrines are proved wrong, or at least questionable, and they have not been able substantially to support their doctrines and their truth....This is the last effort of a dying religion. You drop those doctrines — they are dangerous, they are killing you — so you jump upon something else that can give you a resurrection. But ethics is purely a science in itself. It thinks about values…which have nothing to do with Hindu, Mohammedan or Christian. Ethics is not going to save Christianity; it is not going to give a resurrection.
There is no possibility for Christianity. It will be good that they accept it and drop the dead body. It is a great load, and by carrying it unnecessarily, you are missing your life. Living with a dead religion you are bound to become dead. Your churches are graveyards. There is no song of life, there is no dance of existence. It is better to simply get out of the old habit. These are just old habits. I don't know why Christian priests', nuns', bishops' old clothes are called habits — I don't know. But one thing I know: just drop the habit! — whatever it means. Just be natural and human.
Man has come of age, and he does not need those old, superstitious religions; he needs a more scientific approach to explore his being. And that will be possible only if he gets rid of the old habits. And they are very dirty, because for thousands of years the same habits have been used by so many people. They are stinking! Get out of those habits as quickly as possible.
Millions of Christians will be shocked, and will be shocked even more because it is the Christian scholars who have found that all other words in the Lord’s Prayer have been added by other people. They may not listen to the scholars – most probably they will not. But when Anando reported it to me, I was thinking that just to say, “Abba” – that is Hebrew for “father” – is enough; the prayer is complete. Just to relate with existence in a loving relationship, to call the existence “Abba,” the prayer is finished. What more can you say? You have shown your gratitude, you have shown that “You are the source of my being.” Hence “Abba” is exactly right, but more than that is non-essential commentary.
These same scholars, a few months ago, have done a tremendous job of research and they have threatened the whole of Christianity with their research. I was thinking that Christians would take note, but nobody has taken any note of it. And I am not the Christian, but I have to take notes!
They came to the conclusion that Jesus was not a Virgin Mary’s son, fathered by a Holy Ghost. Frankly speaking, he was really the son of Mariam and Joseph. But to avoid Joseph and to replace Joseph with God, this whole strategy was used. So, working through ancient scriptures they have found that this is absolutely false – Jesus was not a bastard!
But strangely enough, the Christian leaders around the world, rather being happy that Jesus was a properly licensed son, were shocked. He has to be a bastard; otherwise the main stone of the foundation will be removed. That is the first miracle, that God himself…because the Holy Ghost and God are one.
It is just a trick to talk about the Holy Ghost and then in the next sentence say that the Holy Ghost and God are one. Then why hide God behind the Holy Ghost? Why not bring him directly into the case of making a virgin pregnant? That would look a little awkward to the high position of God, so a mediator has been found: the Holy Ghost.
But if the Holy Ghost is really the father of Jesus, then God can at the most be an uncle – if he is a brother of Holy Ghost. It depends on who he is, in what way he is related with the Holy Ghost, but one thing is certain: he cannot be the father of Jesus.
The bishop of England immediately reacted, saying “The theory of the Virgin Mary and the Holy Ghost is the very foundation of Christianity and we cannot change it.” But their own researchers are saying that it is just an invention to make Jesus special. Everybody is born out of his father and mother, but to make Jesus special…poor fellow has to be made a bastard! And that is the very foundation of Christianity.
The same group of scholars has found that even God is not necessary for Christianity, because there is no evidence of God. Neither is there any evidence of the Holy Ghost. All that we can say is that Jesus and his crucifixion happened. There is no evidence even of his resurrection. The problem is, can you find anybody who will become a Christian just because Jesus was crucified? The whole religion is finished! God is taken away, the Holy Ghost is taken away, the resurrection is taken away, the virgin birth is taken away….
This makes a strange exposition of Christianity. These things make up Christianity, and nothing of them is essential to any religiousness.
