A word on “Antipoetry” with an introduction to “Antipoems from the Nicene Creed” (Luis Cruz-Villalobos)

Introduction

We present here three poems from Luis Cruz-Villalobos’ recent poetic work on the ancient creed from Nicaea which has now been translated into English, French and Romanian and is available under the title, Antipoems from the Nicene Creed.

On the term “antipoem,” we remember his broader term, antipoetry, which formed the basis of our first posts in this section of the site (featuring there Nonsensical Wisdom, Are Vampires Happy, Bloody Windmills, The 10 axioms of unhappiness, and Worldly Theorists). Antipoetry, as we might then briefly summarize it, represents a unique genre that seeks to elucidate philosophical and theological truth through a poetic examination of their opposite (The “anti-”).

As an example, The 10 Axioms of Unhappiness view the truths embedded in the Ten Commandments from the perspective of their contravention. Man can now break free from the divine laws given to order his life under the twin laws of love.

Now, instead of the restriction of the First Commandment,

You will have all the foreign gods that you crave

Now, instead of the Law of Sabbath rest,

You will work without rest like a beast 

Now, instead of the injunction against lying,

You will lie and lie and lie that something will remain

Prof. Cruz-Villalobos delved deeper into the world of antipoetry in his subsequent poetic exegesis of the Beatitudes. And in these poetic laws that undergird true human happiness and human flourishing, Christ unveils what we might call anti-theological truths, extending divine blessedness to the most unlikely of men and women—those who are poor and mourning, those meek and hungry, those rejected and persecuted.

Prof. Cruz-Villalobos now turns his attention to the great 4th century Creed that has maintained unity in the churches of the East and West over the last millennia and a half.

The statement from the Creed is capitalized and in bold. The poetic exegesis follows below.

Enjoy!

And, as always, thank you Luis!

ALMIGHTY FATHER, CREATOR OF ALL THINGS

VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE...

Here the Nicene Creed, 1700 years old

Illuminates the path of our reasonable trust

It tells us not only that we believe in a reality thrice holy and

one

But also speaks of its character

He is not a tyrant

Not a warlike, despotic emperor

Still less a civil engineer with a pocket quantum computer

Nor a mad genius playing with dangerous materials

Even less a publicist or lawyer

Not the Wizard of Oz nor a supreme technological

singularity

Never a doctor seeking profit

Nor a CEO of a multinational pharmaceutical

No

He is simply a father

Now then

Think it through

I said a father

Not a manager

Not a general

But a father

This may sound very simple

But it is also profoundly beautiful

If we truly consider it

The creator and general director and sole shareholder of all

universes

From subatomic particles to galactic systems

Of all baryonic matter and energy, and all else that fills and

constitutes space

He

Is a father

That is

Someone to whom we are fundamentally bound, and who

loves us

With a love that transcends all circumstances and

conditions

Someone who awaits us with open arms and heart when we

return home

After having wandered the world, squandering his gifts like

foolish prodigals

A father

Not like our imperfect fathers

But a platonic one

An ideal father

Who corresponds to our deepest longing for a father

An essential father

An archetypal father

Full and perfect

And who cannot be contained in existence as one more

being

But who is the ontological ground of all beings

Pure aseity

And not only that

Also an omnipotent father

Pantokrator

That is

A sovereign father

Almighty

From whom nothing escapes

And over whom nothing has dominion

For he is the creator of all that can be observed and

measured and tested by scientific method

And of all we do not yet know exists, but whose presence is

truly effective

(as is the case with more than 80% of the matter and energy

of the universe, as noted above)

A creator who knows how everything works

And who, for that very reason, knows what we really need

And what are our maintenance requirements and the most

urgent inputs to avoid breakdown—momentary or

eternal.

WHO FOR US HUMANS AND FOR OUR SALVATION

CAME DOWN AND WAS INCARNATE, BECAME

HUMAN, SUFFERED AND ROSE ON THE THIRD DAY,

ASCENDED TO HEAVEN, AND WILL COME TO JUDGE

THE LIVING AND THE DEAD…

But he did not merely come here

He became one of us

He took on flesh with all its pain and troubles

He suffered in birth

In growing up

In sleeping and in dreaming

But especially in confronting the wisest and holiest of his time

Who condemned him to death for claiming to be one with the very heaven of heavens

For he suffered for the truth

That he spoke—and that he was

And he did not simply die

He was murdered

By blind powers who could not bear such light in their pupils

Yet even though he died the vilest, most savage death

At the hands of those who spoke of Pax and sustained it by

crosses and taxes

They could not defeat him

For he rose on the third day

And here we must pause drastically

Because remember

You cannot rise from the dead!

Death is the ultimate end

But here was someone who did exactly the impossible

And that confirmed that he was who he said he was

And not merely a dreamer

A fraud

Or a schizophrenic with megalomaniac delusions

No

He was the eternal Logos made flesh

God-with-us

Kissing us on the mouth

Just as he did with the Grand Inquisitor in Dostoevsky’s story

And for that reason

Because of that irrefutable factual argument called

resurrection

We know that just as he left

Full and smiling

Powerful and invincible

So one day he will return

But this time as judge of the living and the dead.

AND IN THE HOLY SPIRIT

And finally

As a perfect closure

Just as the Creed proclaimed that God is above us

As Father

And that he was among us

As Son

It also invites us to believe that God can be within us

As Spirit

For the Eternal gives not stingily

He pays all laborers the same

Because he cannot pay more

Because what he gives

Is not a figure

Not a sum

For he gives himself

Just as he gave himself in flesh and blood on the cross

At Pentecost he gave himself in Spirit

To all those who trusted in his name

Let us not forget that INRI spells YHWH in Hebrew

Oh, wondrous mystery revealed!

Love became flesh and gave itself on the cross

And conquered it in the resurrection

And then the Spirit

Chose to be born in the manger of the hearts of all who wait

For the return of the only King before whom we must bow

Amen.