Billy Budd Essay: Close, but no Christ Figure

In the Bible, God, sacrifices his only son, a respectable, revered "heavenly" figure, allowing Jesus to live amongst sinful people. In human form, Jesus treats the common people's illnesses and performs miracles to help them; above all, he cares for them and loves them.  Jesus is selfless, endlessly devoting himself to helping and serving others, and ensuring that they will

No matter how one refers to Him, He is fully God and fully human. Because of humanity’s departure from wisdom, God decided to become man as a last ditch effort to save His people. This is best demonstrated in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”. Jesus lived among His followers teaching them about the good news of the Bible and when it was time, He willing sacrificed Himself in order to forgive the sins of those who believed and guaranteed his/her salvation. Once He ascended into heaven, the Holy Spirit remained, filling those who believed with the eternal love and guidance so that he/she may now spread the good news, just as His disciples did. Jesus’ identity and work is significant to the Christian worldview because they are the very core of this faith-based belief system. One learns from the Bible that one does not have to witness these works, just by merely believing will lead one to salvation. According to Merrick (2014), “Jesus Christ represents all humanity and offers to God a sacrifice that reconciles humanity and God” (final

Over the course of history, the historical information regarding Jesus Christ has been interpreted by many different individuals and has led to different beliefs and views regarding the existence of Jesus Christ as a real man. Today I will be interpreting this evidence and i will be attempting to answer the question “Was Jesus Christ a real man?”. The evidence I will be looking at to answer this question will be information regarding the context of Jesus Christ, the historical accounts of non-Christian authors as well as the evidence for the Bible which is the main source regarding the life of Jesus Christ.

was able to die. However, unlike a regular mortal, Christians see his death as a symbol of

• Writes about James, brother of Jesus, who was called the Christ. Stoned to death in A.D. 62. Pg.78

Jesus Christ is the central figure of Christianity, the only way of salvation and the second person of the Trinity. (Funk & Wagnalls, 2015) The Gospels Matthew and Luke introduce the birth and childhood of God’s one and only Son, Jesus. His story began when the Angel Gabriel visited His virgin mother, announcing that she would give birth to a son, and that she was to call Him Jesus, for He would be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:30-35) The incarnation of the Messiah, was the Word

The Christ figure is a recurring symbol in American literature. Throughout Ken Kesey’s novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, various interactions and events portray McMurphy as a Christ figure. There are frequent visual and concrete references to Christ throughout the novel. Also, the reader discovers that the other patients view McMurphy as an inspiration and someone they wish to emulate. This cooperation enables him to oppose Nurse Ratched and do what he thinks is best for the patients.

Because of this, he created “Dogma” which mixes humor and the church to make Christianity more interesting (www.zap2it.com). One such example is when the people of New Jersey make a new icon named “Buddy Christ,” who is a figure of Jesus Christ with his thumbs up, winking and grinning at his fellow Christians.

From when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in 380 A.D. to the postmodern age, the Christian Church had varying degrees of control on Western society as an authoritative figure, dictating moral decisions and controlling mass culture. This cultural super-influence, of course, bleed into literature, music and film as well as everyday life. With the decline of believers, Jesus’ contribution to American culture has surely not shaken. The

Jesus is stripped of his clothing in public in order to embarrass and ridicule him in front of his followers

Part of Billy's appeal to his shipmates was due to his unparalleled feats of strength that had become canonized amongst them. Just as Jesus' tales of miracle workings and deeds helped to further His legend, Billy's prodigious exploits and physical attributes in turn furthered his own: "Tales of his prowess were recited. Ashore he was the champion; afloat the spokesman; on every suitable occasion always foremost" (1486). The recantation of Billy manhandling Red Whiskers, who is openly hostile towards Billy, and subsequent winning of his allegiance, can be viewed as an allegorical tale of Jesus winning over the stubborn Simon Peter into His congregation of Apostles. Billy, like Christ, is a symbol of peace and unites the other sailors into a familial contingent: "But Billy came; and it was like a Catholic priest striking peace in an Irish shindy. Not that he preached to them or said or did anything in particular; but a virtue went out of him, sugaring the sour ones" (1488). The familial aspect of the crew is alluded to in the description of Billy not having any known relatives or family members: "for Billy, as will shortly be seen, his entire family was practically invested in himself" (1490). This idea goes along with Christian theology often invoking the image of the

With the proclamation of the Kingdom of God, Jesus seeks to bring about God’s plan for humanity through physical, spiritual, and social healing. His purpose and mission is to prepare the hearts and minds of the people so they can build new lives in God’s kingdom. Jesus often uses stories to illustrate his message

Jesus is not a mere man. He is so much more than a man; we can see

As human, Christ had a body, he had a soul and spirit, he had human characteristics, and he was called by human names. In Luke 2:52, it is written that Christ, even though he had a virgin birth, He was born with a human body that was conceived by a human body. Christ's humanity included both the material and immaterial aspects of the human body (he was flesh but at the same time he was also Soul and Spirit).

With the knowledge that the human form was fit for Jesus, now the focus can shift to the evidence that he was human and his human form was humanizing. Jesus lived a life on earth and suffered like every other person does. As mentioned previously, Jesus experienced temptation by the Devil as seen in Matthew 4. He experienced hunger as seen in Mark 11:12. He experienced weariness as seen in John 4:6, “So Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well” (). He experienced sorrow many times as seen when Lazarus died in John 11 and several other places. He also experience pain and suffering on the cross and he died just as everyone on earth does as well. By every standard Jesus was a human being. He lived and died as everyone else on this planet does. His humanity was humanizing. He was a human being and demonstrated all the characteristics of being one. The only difference is that he was able to live a life without sin. So Jesus’ human nature was in no way dehumanizing; he exhibited every characteristic that humans face and conquered every struggle.