Enda80

Any notice that if (as Paul says) Jesus had to die for our sins, it seems strange that anyone would be hated for killing him. Why should anyone involved with Jesus' death be scorned? Somebody had to kill him.....was he supposed to die in some other way?

advancedatheist

If we have to be punished for our sins by going to hell forever, and if Jesus took that punishment upon himself so that some of us get pardoned, then why didn't Jesus go to hell and stay there forever in our place?

Catholic Convert

Christians don't (or shouldn't) hate those who killed him, especially since He died for those who tortured him, just as much as He died for anyone else. Most Christians who understand thier faith and themselves identify with those who killed him, and feel a sense of responsibility and a sense that they are participating in it by their sins, which is why Mel Gibson made sure that he filmed his own hand nailing a spike into Jesus, in The Passion.

Queen of Swords

Maybe "blame" is a better word than "hate". For instance, a fundamentalist I know once claimed that Jews deserved to die in the Holocaust, because when they asked for Jesus's crucifiction in the bible, they said, "Let his blood be on us and on our children". So, in other words, they were asking to be punished, and several hundred years down the line, their descendants were. Though if they hadn't supposedly asked for Jesus's death, none of us would be saved, according to the theology.

Free Thinkr

Oooh.. Good stuff! I've previously argued that, because God is eternal, his death on the cross is irrelevent, but you really hit the nail on the head here: if we get eternal suffering as punishment for sin, shouldn't Jesus, then, receive the same?

Avatar

So why was Jesus tormented by Jewish children who turned into demons?

Catholic Convert

Because God is perfect and pure, even a slight scratch which shed just one drop of his blood would have been a sufficient injustice for him to suffer, and use for the redemption of mankind.

Catholic Convert

It was a good movie, but I do not accept all of "The Gospel of Mel Gibson."

This was one of many times he used artistic license.

Avatar

So God sacrificed himself to save us from...himself?

capsaicin67

I've posted that before too. I agree. The whole point of HELL is the FOREVER dealie. That's what makes people suffer and wail and gnash teeth---the utter loss of hope for escape. Telling Jesus that he's going to vist for the wkend is not the same as going there to stay. Not one bit. That's like when administrators do your job for a week vs knowing that's where they are going to be stuck permanently. It's a whole different thing to know you can just dodge problems for a week and then escape, vs. knowing it's where you will be staying indefinitely.

Exactly. Absurd at best, cruel at worst. People ask how atheists can deal with mindbenders such as the alwaysness of the universe, but they don't have any trouble digesting this braintwister....?