Deicide literally means "
God-killing" (
Latin Deus, "God" +
-cida, "killing") and usually refers to the
execution of
Christ by
crucifixion. The
Jews, as a race, were alleged by
Christians to have a special responsibility for this crime and to have been
cursed by God for it, and until the middle of the 20th century even the mainstream churches included references to deicide in their
hymns and
liturgy. The following, for example, is a verse from a hymn used in
Protestant churches to call upon God to convert the Jews to Christianity:
Though the Blood betrayed and spilt,
On the race entailed a doom,
Let its virtue cleanse the guilt,
Melt the hardness, chase the gloom;
Lift the veil from off their heart,
Make them Israelites indeed,
Meet once more for lot and part
With Thy household's genuine seed.[1] (http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/t/t/ttcforon.htm)
("Thou, the Christ Forever One", words by William Bright[?], from Supplemental Hymns to Hymns Ancient and Modern[?], 1889)
See also:
Deicide (band) is also the name of a
death metal band from
Florida.
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