I was just reading that Nietzsche’s two favorite historical figures were Socrates and Jesus. Nietzsche wasn’t a big fan of Christianity or religion in general. But he admired the fact that Jesus, like Socrates, went down for a vision and a cause.

Nietzsche also wondered why Jesus got a religion, one that has has lasted thousands of years, and Socrates didn’t. (Well, actually there was an attempt back in 2005 to get a Neoplatonic Church going; but their web site, www.neoplato.org, seems to be out of service these days). I guess it’s all in who picks up your cause. In Jesus’ case, it was Paul. Paul was hard-wired to start a new religion (obviously I disagree with those scholars who say that he was just as faithful a Jew as Jesus was). With Socrates, it was Plato. Another brilliant dude, but not a guy who warmed a lot of hearts. So, despite Socrates’ courage, integrity and wisdom, he remains mostly an academic subject, whereas Paul’s concept of “Jesus the Christ” was taken to heart by the masses. Paul and Plato were both brilliant, but in different kinds of ways.

You have to wonder how Jesus and Socrates would feel if you could bring them both back today and let them know the aftermath of their lives. I’m sure that they’d both be thrilled that they made such a huge dent in history, and that their names are still in common usage some 2,000 to 2,500 years later. But who would feel that their message got thru the centuries with the least distortion? I get the feeling that it would be Socrates.