Vampires, Myth, and Christianity
So we made it to Texas and it has been a crazy week. I finally have my laptop connected to the internet and am stealing a few minutes to sit down and write. But as I considered what to blog about (usually whatever is on my mind at the time…), I realized that I’ve spent a lot of time recently thinking about vampires. Yes, vampires. But bear with me here.
I actually bloged about my encounters with vampire (books) three years ago (here), so it’s not a new subject on this blog. But after reading through Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series recently, vampires have once again been on my mind. If you haven’t heard of the series that means you are most likely not a teenage girl (or a huge fantasy geek). I was intrigued by any book that merited a midnight release for it’s fourth installment and had been following the debates as to if the books were sexist or not (I personally think not). So I decided to give the books a go and ended up throughly engaged.
As you probably gathered at this point the books are about vampires (sorry for the spoiler). But the main characters in the books are “good” vampires - they feed off animal blood, not humans. What I found most intriguing though was the process by which these characters became vampires. Each of them had been at the brink of death and were at that point transformed into vampires - immortal, perfect creatures (at least in this series). Given the author’s expressed religious devotion, I can’t help but see the spiritual parallels there. The chosen ones being essentially resurrected into strong, beautiful, gifted, eternal (yet physical) beings. Interesting concept.
But the obvious spiritual connection in the books reminded me of other conversations I have had relating Christianity and vampires. The whole concept of blood being shed to give another eternal life mirrors vampire lore. There are of course those that recognize that with derision as this quote demonstrates -
“Almost two billion people on the face of this planet are Christians,” he said. “That means every Sunday you’ll find hordes of these creatures lining up to drink the blood of their god in a ritual called communion.
“And what does their god and his church offer them in return? “Everlasting life …
“If that is not the promise of a vampire religion, then I don’t know what is …”
Sinton said Christianity was the only religion that worshiped a corpse and one of a handful that still engaged in blood rituals.
“Visit one of their churches and you’ll often find a huge statue of their vampire Christ looming over the congregation,” he said. Instead of blood dripping from fangs, Christ’s blood drips from his hands, feet, side and crown.
“1.9 billion people believe this immortal god is their salvation and that his blood can redeem and protect them. “Listen to some of the hymns they sing,” he said, “as they sway hypnotically before this eerie preternatural creature …”
Are You Washed In The Blood?
Jesus Thy Blood and Righteousness
Nothing But The Blood
Saved By The Blood
The Blood-Washed Throng
The Bloodwashed Pilgrim
There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood
There Is Power In The Blood“With all this blood imagery,” Sinton said, “no wonder the congregations descends like vampires when the priest calls them up for communion …” The Christian Bible states that Jesus actually said “Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:54).
By drinking the blood of Jesus and eating his flesh, Christians believe they die and are reborn as immortals.
But others see those same elements and embrace the similarities. I’ve heard of goth oriented churches that play up the vampire connection especially related to communion. I guess it’s just another form of cultural contextualization. Some churches reach yuppies by presenting Christ as the ultimate CEO, other churches reach the goths by comparing Christ to vampires. (I think I’d rather attend the vampire church…)
The connection of shed blood and immortality is an ancient one - one of the oldest religious beliefs around. Some dismiss Christianity for dwelling on it. Others (like C.S. Lewis) believe that in Christ myth became fact - making it all resonate with our deepest cultural longings. As he wrote in God in the Dock -
The heart of Christianity is a myth which is also a fact. The old myth of the Dying God, without ceasing to be myth, comes down from the heaven of legend and imagination to the earth of history. It happens — at a particular date, in a particular place, followed by definable historical consequences. We pass from a Balder or an Osiris, dying nobody knows when or where, to a historical Person crucified (it is all in order) under Pontius Pilate. By becoming fact it does not cease to be myth: that is the miracle.
In Christ in a way we have the fulfillment of legend. An interesting concept if nothing else.
But I’m sure that’s not the reaction most have to the books. Obsessing over Edward Cullen seems more the norm…
Julie Clawson
Topics: Culture, Theology, War |
August 17th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
[...] make this connection, but Julie Clawson over at one hand clapping, made an interesting one in this post. Got me thinking, anyway. I suppose this is just one more aspect of the offence of the gospel. [...]
August 19th, 2008 at 9:29 am
This is a great post with wonderful theological nuances. Thank you.
I’m glad you made it to TX safe and sound. Good luck with the house hunting.
August 24th, 2008 at 8:05 am
You will want to look into “WES CRAVEN’S DRACULA 2000″ for a VERY interesting take on the origins of the curse, and the first of all vamps. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but seriously, considering this post from you, you will really, really want to see this film for its significance…
R. Abanes
December 24th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
I absolutely love Dracula 200 and yes she would be interested in this.
Also look into the
Jewish myth of Lilith- the first wife of Adam being a vampire
January 30th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
First off, I am a Christian, and I do feel, to a certain extent, that the “vampire theory” is accurate. That may seem counterproductive and somewhat blasphemous, but I give my reasons:
1. The word for God in the very beginning of the Bible is not “god” but “gods.”
2. These gods walked with man. Now, that may be interpreted figuratively, as is normally accepted, or literally, as in, alien lifeform.
3. There is a stark difference between the baser elemental forces which took up the space at the beginning of creation, and the physical entity afterwards. Line by line, if time is not referred to directly, the stage of creation is actually very close to what is accurately seen in physics and the knowledge of our universe to date.
4. If you lived in that technology-less time frame, and saw someone lift off into the air with something that resembled wings (perhaps a technological device???), wouldn’t you think they were the gods, the primeval creators of the universe? Pride has a strange way of playing in the hearts of creatures - if you are rewarded for something, you continue to do it, right?
5. The Nephilim, the “sons of God,” “fell” from the heavens and mated with the daughters of men. Well, now, since we could assume that we got our military strategy from such beings, then wouldn’t it serve to think that they had the same tactics? Hmm, a superior officer = God, and those beneath him = primary messengers. Those other messengers who were simply doing orders are referred to as angels with no direct context.
6. It is possible that these beings were vampiric in nature. Considering the need for blood in rituals, and the forbidding of taking of “the fruit of the tree of life,” we may assume that this in itself was blood. After all, without blood, can a living thing live effectively? No, of course not.
7. The possibility of Jesus being Nephilim, the Son of the Gods, and a vampire are all one and the same. After all, if he is half supernatural bloodsucker and half human, then wouldn’t he be “wholly God and man?” Of course he would! If a person is mixed, then they are half and half. They are a separate thing altogether because they are both things at once!
8. The nature of the “Divine presences” is purely that of an extraterrestrial nature. After all, bright lights from the heavens, liftings up, and voices that boom like thunder sound suspiciously like loudspeakers, huge overhead lights and those natures of which, if one is unwilling, seem like abductions.
9. The Last Supper is essentially vampiric in nature. Considering the vampiric myths that in order to be free of a vampire’s control, one must take of his blood, and the effective usage in the Last Supper, one could deduce that conclusion. “Well, it was purely symbolism,” some would argue. Yes, fine, but so is the formula for the Philosopher’s Stone, which has been at times proven to exist, though containing a difficult formula. Plus, that is only using the “one cup and one bread” philosophy. No, if one carefully pieces together the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John - all of whom were at that supper - then we notice that there were TWO cups given. The bread was probably either bloodless or had the blood baked in - he gave Judas Iscariot the first piece, which he broke off and soaked (to wash off the blood, perhaps???). Judas then left before he could take any more of it. The other 11 disciples took of the wine, and the second cup of blood. Therefore, when Jesus died, it was curious that at the same time, Judas Iscariot did also. As Jesus was revived, by another of these men in dazzling white clothes (alien doctor???), Judas was also, cursed to wander the Earth for eternity (the immortal Judas myth).
March 19th, 2009 at 10:46 am
This business about Christianity being a myth is entertaining at best, downright offensive at worst.
Jesus is no more a mythical character than was George Washington. His historical existence is documented not only by the New Testament writers, but also by his enemies (ever heard of the Jewish historian Josephus, or the Roman Imperial historian Tacitus?) Both mention the historicity of this Jesus close to the time of His death. If such historical documentation is not reliable in your opinion, you might have trouble establishing the life of ole George, our founding father, since the same kind of documentary research proves that he lived.
Myths are generally written many years, even centuries, after the events they describe allegedly happen. No so with the historical data surrounding Jesus! And of those pagan myths of a dying god rising from the dead, that predate the resurrection of Jesus, isn’t it odd that not one of them mentions any appearance of such “gods” among the living following their “rise” to immortality? Such is not at all like the numerous accounts of the appearances of Jesus, which accounts could easily have been disproven by either the Jews or Romans parading the body of Jesus through the streets, effectively squelching rumors of His resurrection. But that didn’t happen, did it? Why couldn’t the enemies of Christ not parade His body thus? They could not find it, though the authorities certainly knew where His tomb was. Oh, I guess you might say that the disciples stole the body. (Hmmm!) Curious why these same disciples would go to their deaths claiming the resurrection of their leader while knowing it didn’t happen? Hey, men may die for another man’s lie, but never for their own! You might want to rethink the “myth” theory regarding Jesus. If He is a myth, hey why bother. Does anything matter? But if He is not a myth, but rather a historical character whose resurrection is so well-attested that the evidence for it could stand on its own in a court of law, you really cannot afford to wrong about Him, can you?
March 19th, 2009 at 11:27 am
Ric, I think you completely missed Julie’s point.
1) Myth is not the opposite of fact. Myth is a way of telling a story to convey a certain sort of meaning, but it has no bearing on whether or not it actually happened. The story of Jesus can be both myth and fact at the same time.
2) Julie acknowledged as much when she referred to C.S. Lewis’ idea that Christianity is a “myth which became fact”. Did you even read her post? She wasn’t saying that Jesus isn’t historical. She was saying that perhaps he is both history and myth at the same time - a “myth” that actually happened.
March 28th, 2009 at 4:15 am
first of all,the bible talks of unicorns,dragons,angels,creatures with heads of oxen,men and bird with wings covered with eyes..in the old test. The princes of Jacob or Israel were descibed as wolves by night,which sounds like werewolves to me…to believe in angels and God himself and not believe in vampires is absolute denial when Christ himself said”unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you have no life in you.” the gift of God is his son whom was sent to establish the blood covenant which would bring us back to rightstanding with the Heavenly Father..we were created to be eternal and we lost that gift so Christ came to give it back by the cleansing through the Blood which knew not sin…In the bible it says blood is required for the removal of sin..So to have the blood of Jesus in you makes you immune to death which is the wages of sin,which is what we would have to pay…but since we drink blood now we are transformed into new creatures..vampires or werewolves! so we don’t have to pay dues when death comes around cause the old things have become new,which is to be born again…because people don’t drink blood and eat flesh so when death comes around they have to pay-up..but to be a vampire and to feed on anything less than the best flesh and blood is to sell yourself short so I’m gonna tell you where to find the best blood!So if you’re already a christian and can’t make you’re way”here comes the light….The bible is the body of God..in the beginning there was the Word,and the Word was with God and the Word WAS GOD.Jesus is the Word in the flesh and he’s the bible. to read the bible is to feed on the flesh of Christ….The books of wisdom[JOB,Psalms,Proverbs,Eclessiastes and the Songs os SOLOMON]are the blood of the Bible.. for they are sweet to the soul.also they are the books of wisom and it says that Wisdom cries out! remember how God said that Abels’ “blood cried out to him” after Abel was killed by Cain..The rest of the Bible is the Flesh and it’s funny how the books of wisdom/THE BLOOD is located in between Flesh & Flesh…it’s impossible to please God without Faith.But, Faith without Deeds is Dead…so if you have faith that the Flesh & Blood Of Jesus will give you eternal life…prove it with the deed of filling yourself with the word of God..because the Word of God/the Holy BIble is equivilant to Jesus in the Flesh…if you read the books of wisdom less than the rest of the Bible..you’re probably a werewolf!.they are creatures who feed on more flesh than blood.Me??? I’m a pure blood…can’t do without the taste of a sweet psalm on my lips..I like a story that’s kinda tuff to digest every now and then,but, it is what it is,and that it will be..and with that I’m gonna leave you with a flesh and Blood scripture..and the vampire & werewolf scripture
FLESH & BLOOD
Proverbs 30:8&9
Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full,and deny thee, and say,Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.
Vampire & Werewolf
Proverbs 30:14
There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords,
[vampires]
and their jaw teeth as knives,
[werewolves]
to devour the poor from off the earth,
[by turning you and making you rich in life]
{vampires are the best converters}
and devour the needy from among men
[by giving them the truth needed to set them free]
{werewolves are the best preachers}
Working together Vampires & Werewolves can change the world!
p.s. the word devour means :to eat up greedily or ravenously.
which is exactly like a vampire and werewolf..
March 28th, 2009 at 8:58 am
Oh, boy…
March 28th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
Whoa. That is so incredibly rad….
April 9th, 2009 at 9:20 am
I love this discussion string. I have always believed, somewhat, that immortals existed, and it was somehow tied to the beginnings of Christianity and “other worldly” (alien) life-forms. Several movies have tied the vampire tradition to Christianity as well.
Thanks for this.
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:41 pm
Greetings, I am a Christian, and have been
fighting off a development of psyfeed vampirism
on my part.
While I agree there is a parallel to vampirism
in some things about Christianity, it is erroneous
to see Christ as the vampire. The analogy in that
view, is that a head vampire supposedly turns
people by feeding them his or her blood, but in
the Christian thing it is more that we are the
vampires, and Christ the Great Donor, Who unlike
usual donors is in control of the transaction.
It is an act of love on His part.
And His Blood alone can give life to the world.
The rest is a sham, or a mere liquified carnivorism, with a dash of paranormal transfers
of energy. And parasitism.
Christ is beyond these merely natural transactions.
May 3rd, 2009 at 11:31 pm
I am a preacher’s kid and I have read Twilight myself. As a Christian I have learned to understand people who are different from us. There is real evil out there, however, there are many dark and terrible things that are in fact misunderstood. I like how Stephanie Meyer makes the characters have an attitude that they dont want to be monsters. And there is somewhat of a parallel here. The vampire gives the choice of being a vampire or not. Jesus gives us the choice of accepting him or not as your savior.
one other thing. Not everything we see as evil may not really evil, but instead is is a misunderstood hurting life. Vampires according to twilight do not want to be evil but want to have relationships with humans. In the same sorta way God wishes to have a relationship with us.
May 13th, 2009 at 2:00 am
Jesus spoke often in parables in the bible, and when he said drink of my blood and eat of my flesh, he did not mean it literally. Just like, holy is the lamb, he uses this statement because a lamb is meek and mild, it does not mean a lamb is holy, God loves the poor, meek and mild, more so than the powerful. As he said the meek and mild will inherit the earth. There is nothing meek and mild about vampires. Jesus shed his blood on the cross to save us, thus using the words, drink of my blood. having communion is in rememberance and honour of him, whereas vampires actually do drink blood. Christians do not drink blood and are not a bunch of vampires gathering on a Sunday to drink of God’s blood. We work hard at being christians, it takes allot of effort and self control. To compare the two is ridiculous. Be careful, evil comes in many disguises and is made to look very mysterious, and alluring to appeal to our senses, as Twilight does. Twilight embraces and promotes the power of a vampire. There is only one power, God and he certainly does not liken himself to vampires, nor is there any suggestion of this in the bible, it is just a matter of taking things out of context or changing them to suit your lifestyle or personal beliefs. If there are vampires in this world, which I believe there are,as the devil is out there everywhere, if they had to meet God face to face, first of all I do not think they would survive his light and glory, but if they did call upon him, if they wanted to change from being a vampire, would they not ask God to forgive their sins, and come into their heart and be their saviour, for this to be possible, God would cast that spirit out and that spirit would leave them and they would be free of the curse. They certainly would not be vampires anymore. Or certainly would not be trying to be good vampires as they would be cured of this curse and human again. So, no vampire is a good vampire. Read, William Duma, who cast out many an evil spirit.
June 27th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
It interesting to read what all have said on this string/post. However, over everything that I have taken in, I must ask Lindy; What’s the point of following a religion where it takes a lot of work and self control? If faith and belief in His word can guid one, and the bible preach to respect one another and not judge, are these not the basic fundamentals of how we want to be treated? To do theses things are a lot of work and self control? What God would require one to limit such joy from others?
July 2nd, 2009 at 7:44 pm
In Christ in a way we have the fulfillment of legend.
Sorry my dear, but you gave yourself away with this statement.
jr