Gibran on Religion, Gad and Jesus Christ

Abstract

       In his early works, Gibran is negative and critical towards the ecclesiastical rank. In his view, religion for clerics is a means of improving their personal well-being. The activity of a Christian Bishop, Muslim Imam or Hindu Brahmin is robbing of people. However, such an attitude of the writer towards the clergymen does not at all mean the rejection of religion, his atheism. On the contrary, religiousness is a characteristic feature of his work. In addition, a number of Gibran’s ethical concepts are stemming directly from the Gospel. Some works, written in the English language, e. g. The Prophet, are constructed according to the pattern of the Gospel. Gibran sees in a human being a reflection of the divine ray and regards him as a child of God. A drastically different position with respect to religion and God is found in Gibran’s works, written under the influence of Fr. Nietzsche in the 1910s. Like Nietzsche, Gibran in the Gravedigger even comes to the denying of God.The image of Jesus Christ, created by Gibran at various periods, is of interest. Jesus in his works is powerful, struggling self-sacrificingly for the well-being of people. Jesus came “tu make the human heart a temple, and the soul an altar, and the mind a priest.” That is why He was crucified, but He “has conquered death with death” and “became glorious and immortal, elevated over everyone and everything.”