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Deicide is the killing (or the killer) of agod. The concept may be used for any act of killing a god, including alife-death-rebirth deity who is killed and thenresurrected.
The term deicide was coined in the 17th century frommedieval Latin*deicidium, fromdeus "god" and-cidium "cutting, killing."
The Aztec god of war,Tezcatlipoca, tricked his rivalQuetzalcoatl into over-drinking and wantonry. Quetzalcoatl burned himself to death in shame.
The crimes listed in theAnantarika-karma include killing anArhat and shedding the blood of aBuddha.
Devadatta, a monk, andAjātasattu, king ofMagadha, attempted to kill theGautama Buddha.
According to the New Testament accounts, the Judean authorities in Jerusalem underRoman rule, thePharisees, charged Jesus withblasphemy, acapital crime under biblical law, and sought his execution. According toJohn 18:31, the Judean authorities claimed to lack the authority to have Jesus put to death, though it is doubtful what legal basis such a claim would have had; theJesus Seminar historicity project notes forJohn 18:31: "it's illegal for us: The accuracy of this claim is doubtful." in theirScholars Version. Additionally,John 7:53–8:11 records them askingJesus about stoning theadulteress andActs 6:12 records them ordering thestoning ofSaint Stephen.
They brought Jesus toPontius Pilate, theRoman Prefect of Judea, who was hesitant and let the people decide if Jesus were to be executed. According to the Bible, Pontius Pilate only ordered Jesus to be flogged. Washing his hands, Pilate said he would not take the blame for Jesus' death, to which the crowd replied, "His blood is upon us and our children."[1]
Pilate is portrayed in the Gospel accounts as a reluctant accomplice to Jesus' death. Modern scholars say it is most likely that a Roman Governor such as Pilate would have no problem in executing any leader whose followers posed a potential threat to Roman rule.[2] It has also been suggested that the Gospel accounts may have downplayed the role of the Romans in Jesus' death during a time when Christianity was struggling to gain acceptance in the Roman world.[3]
TheCatholic Church and otherChristian denominations suggest that Jesus' death was necessary to take away the collective sin of the human race. The crucifixion is seen as an example of Christ's eternal love for mankind and as a self-sacrifice on the part of God for humanity.[4]
TheGnosticGospel of Judas contends that Jesus commandedJudas Iscariot to set in motion the chain of events that would lead to his death.[5]
Against certain Christian movements, some of which rejected the use ofHebrew Scripture, Augustine countered that God had chosen theJews as a special people,[6] and he considered the scattering of Jewish people by the Roman Empire to be a fulfillment of prophecy.[7] He rejected homicidal attitudes, quoting part of the same prophecy, namely "Slay them not, lest they should at last forget Thy law" (Psalm 59:11). Augustine, who believed Jewish people would be converted to Christianity at "the end of time", argued that God had allowed them to survive their dispersion as a warning to Christians; as such, he argued, they should be permitted to dwell in Christian lands.[8] The sentiment sometimes attributed to Augustine that Christians should let the Jews "survive but not thrive" (it is repeated by authorJames Carroll in his bookConstantine's Sword, for example)[9][10] is apocryphal and is not found in any of his writings.[11]
Set killedOsiris, who was later resurrected byIsis. In Greek sources,Typhon replaces Set as the murderer.
Ophiotaurus was a creature whose entrails were said to grant the power to defeat the gods to whoever burned them. TheTitans attempted to use them against theOlympians. After learning that his children were destined to usurp him,Cronus devoured his children. However, his children were later freed byZeus.
Lanikaula, a prophet, killed the followers of the trickster god Pahulu onLanai.
The goddess of creation,Izanami died while giving birth to the fire godKagutsuchi. Kagutsuchi's father,Izanagi, beheaded Kagutsuchi out of grief.
InBabylonian mythology,Kingu, along with his dragon mother,Tiamat, were slain by the war-godMarduk in the primordial battle of theEnuma Elish. Afterward, the gods mixed Kingu's blood with clay and created humans. A variant of this myth, from theAtra-Hasis epic, says that the minor godGeshtu-E was sacrificed to make humans with his blood.
Loki trickedHöðr into killingBaldr.Váli avenged Baldr's death by killing Höðr.
Most of the major figures die inRagnarök. According to theGylfaginning,Jörmungandr killsThor by poisoning him,Fenrir killsOdin, whileHeimdall andLoki kill each other.