I was preparing my first cup of coffee for the day when my ears picked up that song by Jamie Rivera, Tell The World of His Love. I admit this was one of my favorite religious songs; it even put tears in my eyes whenever I heard this song because of the “powerful” message it conveys.
That was before.
“For God so loved the world
He gave us His only Son
Jesus Christ our Savior
His most precious one”
The story of how god “sacrificed” his only son to save us from our sins is a central belief in Christianity. This story is appealing to many people who see it as the ultimate example of love and god’s goodness. But then again, is it?
I have three problems with Jesus’ crucifixion story; they are the following:
1. Jesus didn’t stay dead, did he?
Sacrificing your life (or your son’s life) could be considered as the greatest love of all, but the problem with the Bible story is that Jesus was resurrected after three days. It’s not even a sacrifice in the same way as those firemen who sacrificed their lives (and the future of their loved ones) whenever they respond to a fire scene. How could we consider it as the ultimate sacrifice when god himself knew that Jesus would rise again after three days? I firmly believe that most people, given the chance, will choose to torture and “kill” their only son to save the entire human race from damnation provided that their son will return in mint condition after three days.
2. He died because of our sin which was supposed to originate from the fall of Adam and Eve.
“Why did god put the tree of knowledge in the garden?”
“Why did he create it (the tree of knowledge) in the first place?”
I remember when I asked this question to a religious group. They replied with “that’s a good question, give us your number, and we’ll text you so that you could attend our worship service and then you can ask our pastor”. Unfortunately, they never contacted me. The story of the origin of sin and the subsequent redemption of Christ is one of the most absurd stories I know. Humans made the mistake of eating the fruit of a tree that god himself put there (and god even introduced it to humans) and he can only forgive us by murdering his son who will eventually rise from the dead.
Ezekiel 18:20 states that “The person who sins is the one who will die. A son won’t suffer punishment for the father’s iniquity, and a father won’t suffer punishment for the son’s iniquity. The righteousness of the righteous person will be on him, and the wickedness of the wicked person will be on him.”
3. The crucifixion itself.
God was supposed to be the creator of everything and yet, for some reason, the only way he could think of redeeming us is through the death of his only son. We should kill his son so he could forgive us. Can’t god think of any better (and more humane) way for human redemption? Anyone who watched Mel Gibson’s very graphic movie Passion of the Christ will never take crucifixion lightly again. Calling it murder is an understatement. It is also interesting to note that most people find the ritual sacrifice of animals as terrible and yet they applaud the human sacrifice of the Bible. Can’t god just give us another way? One that doesn’t include murder and blood sacrifice?
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ah, good questions! you are absolutely correct, these are central issues.
1) there are two elements here. first, jesus was a man (he was also god, which is another issue). an aspect of being man is the abiity to feel pain, fear and have a lack of certainty during dark times — we all have this. doubt happens, and there are many instances in the narrative, where, (and here i’m understating things) wishes he didnt have to die. But he knows he must, and it is in using his freewill to devote himself to his calling that the ’sacrifice’ has real human stakes.
there is another element, separate, and in my opinion more important, ironically poigniant– Jesus is a gift to us.
in these old religous traditions, religious sacrifice was called for to attone for sins, asking for blessings. the person who wanted attonement was the one who had to take the initiative to ask for these things, and do the painful sacrifice. in the case of jesus, interestingly, the idea is turned on its head. its god who initiated the sacrifice, and its given to us freely. all we need to do is accept it.
there are other, very interesting theological issues which come into play here, such as jesus’ death is the fulfillment of the old testament, etc… all interesting stuff…
2) its important to know that the garden of eden is a myth-origin story. the eating of the fruit is supposed to symbolize the turning away of man from God’s edict. key word is symbolize — meaning, we are always free to turn away from God.
i think thats a good thing, and shows the fundamental truth that we are free to do what we want to do, reject god or not. hence, the tree (the freedom/opportunity to sin) is always present.
3) the mode of death is a function of historical times. the fact is, criminals are put to death in most(if not all) places, back then. thats not god’s call — its reality. crucifixtion is a fairly brutal way to go, and it was especially brutal in jesus’ case, i think, for political reasons.
is it uncertainty when you know you will rise from the grave in 3 days?
Pain and death is not what makes a man. It is uncertainty and knowing that you have no life to live but the one which you posses now; yet in spite of it you make the most daring of decisions without looking back; with no hope of corrections; most especially no certainty of resurrection.
Jesus didn’t die because of our sin. He died because he was a blasphemer.
why? dont stop there, and leave us hanging…
Why @ GabbyD, you don’t have a copy of the Christian Bible? You can read it there if you want.
sure i can, but what about the rest of us who are dying to know what you mean? surely i’m not alone in my curiousity, eh?
I think what John is trying to say is that if you read the Old Testament, Jesus was put to death by the Pharisees because he offended their sensibilities, and his popularity threatened their authority.
thanks twin. i thought he was discussing the relevant theological issues.
Count me in. Don’t be vague….
Was he vague?
I’ve not read the bible but I was attentive in class to know that answer. That cause and effect is one of the few observable that requires no interpretation of theology to understand.
The reason why John did not elaborate was because there is a tendency for some people who don’t make “required” reading about the subject they comment quite confidently about.
there are many ways of viewing this topic.
i thought we were free thinkers here? having to ability to freely use the tools appropriate to deal with different kinds of intellectual ideas?
I thought he died because an angry mob preferred to release a convict instead of him, when they were given a choice by Pontius Pilate.
Vox Populi indeed
Nope, he didn’t. Christ died for HIS people, to save His people from their sins, to satisfy God’s wrath. The blasphemy accusation was of the Pharisees.And it is not true in the case of Christ.
But the Pharisees weren’t the ones who actually voted him up to the cross, were they?
Jesus knew that he will be resurrected ba? If yes, then his sacrifice cannot be considered as one. And If no, i think point number one is contestable.
Luke 18:31-34 (King James Version)
31Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.
32For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on:
33And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.
34And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.
John 20:9
9For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.
Luke 24:6-7
6 He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, 7 saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’
this is what i meant when i wrote: ”
“there are other, very interesting theological issues which come into play here, such as jesus’ death is the fulfillment of the old testament, etc… all interesting stuff…”
Thanks! Another question: Alam ba ni Mary his mother that he will be resurrected? Most probably not ‘no? Then the real sacrifice came from Mary since she allowed this thing to happen to her only son.
Jesus knew that he be resurrected…he told His disciples so before his death. But it won’t disqualify his Sacrifice…he bore the sins the world.
what a constructive statement
A statement that can neither be proven, inferred, argued objectively, cleared up by evidence, experimentation, logical premise, and any sources outside bible or authority.
I love God… So much!
I used to be an atheist, until I realized that I AM GOD.
Love you too! Rimjob?
Understanding God would be easier if we had infinite IQ. You need to truly understand the message of the cross. The greatest blogger sin is to write something with limited thinking. I’m a pinoy freethinker but I have my own definition of who freethinker is.
“Understanding God would be easier if we had infinite IQ. You need to truly understand the message of the cross. The greatest blogger sin is to write something with limited thinking. I’m a pinoy freethinker but I have my own definition of who freethinker is.”
Interesting, It would be nice if you would explain your arbitrary definition of “free-thinking”.
The greatest love of all is to love yourself.
In my perspective, god is only a metaphor…when you say i love god, it is just like saying i love myself..god is just in your heart and mind..
Each person is a god…
You cannot love anybody unless you love yourself first and foremost..it is like saying , i believe in god (myself).
I BELIEVE IN MYSELF!