A Course in Miracles: Ayn Rand's Faulty Perception of Jesus Christ

For some unknown reason, Ayn Rand failed to check her premises regarding Jesus Christ and somehow concluded that Jesus Christ taught living for others.

Here is Ayn Rand writing of Jesus:

"There is a great, basic contradiction in the teachings of Jesus. Jesus was one of the first great teachers to proclaim the basic principle of individualism - the inviolate sanctity of man's soul, and the salvation of one's soul as one's first concern and highest goal.

"But when it came to the next question, a code of ethics to observe for the salvation of one's soul, one must [by Jesus' ethics] love or help or live for others. This is a contradiction that cannot be resolved."-Ayn Rand (in a letter to Sylvia Austin)

To be sure, if it had been the case that Jesus had taught living for others, there would indeed have been an unresolvable contradiction. But regarding ethics, Rand had apparently relied on human misinterpretations of the teachings of Jesus. She had not looked deep enough to see that Altruism or self-sacrifice is not what Jesus really teaches.

The only "ethics" Jesus teaches can be summarized, "listen inside and do as told." Such "listening to one's spirit" is always in one's highest self-interest and never a sacrifice. It was practiced by Ayn Rand herself (see Leonard Peikoff's introduction to Atlas Shrugged).

Now hear the words of Jesus Christ himself seemingly directly answering Ayn Rand:

"The Crucifixion did NOT establish the Atonement. The Resurrection did. This is a point which many very sincere Christians have misunderstood. Nobody who was free of the scarcity-fallacy could POSSIBLY have made this mistake.

"If the Crucifixion is seen from an upside down point of view, it certainly does appear AS IF God permitted, and even encouraged, one of his Sons to suffer BECAUSE he was good. Many very devoted ministers preach this every day. This particularly unfortunate interpretation, which actually arose out of the combined misprojection of a large number of my own would-be followers, has led many people to be bitterly afraid of God.

"Sacrifice is a notion totally unknown to God." -Jesus Christ in A Course in Miracles