Notoriously, the Marquis de Sade stole some consecrated wafers, pushed them into a prostitute’s vagina, and had sex, saying, “Avenge yourself, if you are God.”
He meant this as blasphemy, and it is. But his blasphemy only shows just how insurmountable Jesus is. Sade thought himself innovative, but he only repeated a gesture already more than a millennium and a half old, the gesture of Jews and Romans, priests and soliders. His blasphemy can do no more than eroticize the story of the cross - God comes to man, manifesting Himself in a vulnerable body, to be pierced with nails and a spear.
Even the blasphemers acknowledge Him.
Peter Leithart
Peter J. Leithart is President of Theopolis Institute. He is the author of numerous books on theology, literature, and culture, including Theopolitan, Defending Constantine, and Baptized Body.
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