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Biggest Problem of Christianity (Vicarious Redemption)

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
I'm unaware of any laws governing angels that are mentioned in the Bible.
Well sin certainly seems to be a contention. One would think that would apply uniformly to the point that you would think man was really not the first to sin nor was even made pure from the start of it all considering Genesis and the account of the fall of the Angels from the perspective of Christianity.

Anyways just even having laws suggest disobedience by which laws are necessitated and subsequently implemented.
 

sandy whitelinger

Veteran Member

Thats not love. Love doesnt involve the death of people but the life.

Where is gods love in justice?
Man clearly needs laws. God must be just in His handling of the law. Love comes through grace. His greatest attribute is that He is a just God or He would not be a proper judge of man nor would He be righteous. God is not to be seen through a narrow lens.
 

sandy whitelinger

Veteran Member
Well sin certainly seems to be a contention. One would think that would apply uniformly to the point that you would think man was really not the first to sin nor was even made pure from the start of it all considering Genesis and the account of the fall of the Angels from the perspective of Christianity.

Anyways just even having laws suggest disobedience by which laws are necessitated and subsequently implemented.
This is your view, not the view of God. Sin is the violation of law. Where there is no law there is no sin.
 

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
Yeah, Christianity's salvation theology never made any sense to me even as a Christian. None of the different ways of viewing it make sense. It's really just excusing human sacrifice and makes God look nasty.
Even when I was a Christian I wondered what exactly you needed to be saved from. Christianity was never clear about that and kept blaming the act of sin.

The only thing is they make sin sound like it's some sort of communicable or inherited disease that can be spread like it's in somebody's genetics or something.
 

Axe Elf

Prophet
I don't understand why people always see death as a "punishment." We're all going to die, same as every other creature on Earth. Nobody ever screams how unjust God must be for putting all the squirrels to death. The sacrifice of Jesus (God becoming man and abandoning his human nature to death) allows some of us to abandon our human nature to death and take on the nature of God for eternity.

Now, don't ask me for all the metaphysical mechanics of how this transference of divine nature works--I don't know--but the point is that it's not about avoiding punishment, it's about escaping mortality. Without the sacrifice of Jesus, we would all simply die and cease to exist. Because of the sacrifice, some of us will survive. The only thing being tortured is an explanation that turns this into a bad thing, and God into a monster for providing the escape hatch.
 

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
Man clearly needs laws. God must be just in His handling of the law. Love comes through grace. His greatest attribute is that He is a just God or He would not be a proper judge of man nor would He be righteous. God is not to be seen through a narrow lens.

Man doesnt need laws from another. I am man so are you. I see no need for spirituals outside myself; thousands of people agree with me.

Justice does not show love. The act of punishment by definition is negative (someone hurting another in relation to whats best from the hurter not the one hurt.) It is a form of anger even if that word is uncomfortable. For years the christian god was negative in how he handles sinners. He is a reflection of man-you and I-not god.

Once you take out punishment y9u have love left. Love shows by example. Love teaches. Love engages. Love does not hit. No human sacrifice (roman barbarics), but plain parent in which ghe fhild is Taught to follow tbe parent out of love npt obligation.

I see no love in justice. Seeing love through a negative lens got many people killed by the death penalty. It got people beheaded and others thrown by lions.

It got people sacrificed.

Where is the justice of love through the death rather than life of another. Usr only humans to answer sobI get the idea without religious filters.
 

A Vestigial Mote

Well-Known Member
Where is gods love in justice?

Excellent question.

Our own secular courts would never claim to "love" either the plaintiff nor the defendant. Can you imagine how we'd think of the courts if they started off by stating that they "loved" both sides? In order to be justice in the first place, it has to be as impartial as possible.

Think also about how many times people "in love" forgive even the worst trespasses against themselves by their intended lover. In love is just about the worst place to be if trying to discern "justice."
 

1213

Well-Known Member
... Why could he not just forgive the sins of humankind without having to torture and kill his own son ...QUOTE]

According to the Bible, God had given Jesus authority to forgive sins even before his death. Therefore, death was not necessary for God to forgive sins:

The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this that speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?" But Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, answered them, "Why are you reasoning so in your hearts? Which is easier to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you;' or to say, 'Arise and walk?' But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" (he said to the paralyzed man), "I tell you, arise, and take up your cot, and go to your house." Immediately he rose up before them, and took up that which he was laying on, and departed to his house, glorifying God.
Luke 5:21-25

And actually, same right is given also to disciples of Jesus:

Whoever's sins you forgive, they are forgiven them. Whoever's sins you retain, they have been retained."
John 20:23

And according to the Bible, God doesn’t kill or torture His son.
 

RedDragon94

Love everyone, meditate often
How can anyone think this doctrine makes the least bit of sense, from a moral or rational perspective?
Well obviously the Trinity is also a major problem for you. Let me tell you how I think about this. The Trinity is a community of three fully divine individuals or persons. One of them has a body (Not important, just thought I'd throw it in there). And the Son of God is not the Father. While the Trinity's members are coequal, they are not the same person. Therefore, when Jesus died, the Father separated him from himself on your's and my behalf. But three days later God raised him from the dead. If Jesus had not been resurrected then one could claim that God was cruel and that vicarious redemption mattered nothing but that's not how the story goes. Jesus wins in the end.
 

sandy whitelinger

Veteran Member

Man doesnt need laws from another. I am man so are you. I see no need for spirituals outside myself; thousands of people agree with me.

Justice does not show love. The act of punishment by definition is negative (someone hurting another in relation to whats best from the hurter not the one hurt.) It is a form of anger even if that word is uncomfortable. For years the christian god was negative in how he handles sinners. He is a reflection of man-you and I-not god.

Once you take out punishment y9u have love left. Love shows by example. Love teaches. Love engages. Love does not hit. No human sacrifice (roman barbarics), but plain parent in which ghe fhild is Taught to follow tbe parent out of love npt obligation.

I see no love in justice. Seeing love through a negative lens got many people killed by the death penalty. It got people beheaded and others thrown by lions.

It got people sacrificed.

Where is the justice of love through the death rather than life of another. Usr only humans to answer sobI get the idea without religious filters.
You're confused. This little fantasy of yours as to how man should be differs diametrically from how we are. Even without God, man has made his own laws. Outside of religion, orderly society must have order. Order is law. How else would you know which side of the street to drive on?
 

sandy whitelinger

Veteran Member
Now, don't ask me for all the metaphysical mechanics of how this transference of divine nature works...
It would really seem to be simply a higher ordering of our energy. We moved from a lower form, elements, to a more complex ordered form, man. Why would moving past this form into a more ordered energy state not be the next step. Nothing too metaphysical about this.
 

shmogie

Well-Known Member
There are many criticisms I could make of Christianity, but to me the biggest problem is also the central, most fundamental doctrine of Christianity, namely, Christ's supposed substitutionary atonement for the sins of mankind. The idea is that since humankind sinned by rebelling against God, that God must punish humanity for their sins, however, instead of punishing mankind, the story goes that God literally tortures and kills his own innocent son in man's place. This is the probably the most profoundly stupid and immoral doctrine anyone could come up with. Why would God torture and kill an entirely innocent person for the sins of others? Why could he not just forgive the sins of humankind without having to torture and kill his own son (who, paradoxically, also happens to be himself, but that's another issue for another post). I can anticipate that the response is that justice has to be delivered, and someone must receive a punishment, and Jesus willingly chose to take the punishment for mankind. But there is obviously a problem with this, since Jesus receiving man's punishment is not justice at all, in fact, it is simply indiscriminate vengeance on God's part. Basically, Christians are saying that God is so angry that he has to violently punish someone. It doesn't matter who he punishes, as long as someone gets punished. He can't just forgive humankind, he has to vicariously sacrifice himself to himself and punish himself to save humankind from his own indiscriminate anger. How can anyone think this doctrine makes the least bit of sense, from a moral or rational perspective? Do y'all actually think the guy who created the whole universe is this twisted and convoluted?
Multiple erroneous conclusions. A) God is both just and merciful B) Disobedience has a stated consequence C) Justice requires that the consequence be applied. D) if it isn´t God is a liar and unjust. E) Mercy requires empathy and compassion on those who by free will choose to disobey, and every generation since has been disobedient. Their free will has been compromised F) The original great disobedience was chosen by one who was perfect, in that there was no previous environment of disobedience, no culture saturated by disobedience, no reason by external and internal forces to disobey. G)If that original perfect prototype had chosen wisely, every subsequent human would have his/hers advantage of nothing but cool reason with no extraneous influences to exercising pure free will. H) Recognizing that humanity was handicapped, and recognizing that justice and itś penalty had to be served to be just J) Once again a perfect human chose the path of grappling with the choice to disobey, the task was exponentially more difficult because disobedience was inculcated in all humanity. K) Never disobeying he earned the right to by proxy substitute his life for sinful humanity, ensuring they representatively were perfect L) He earned the right to, by proxy, take the consequences all of humanityś committed disobedience upon himself, which is death. He got what they deserved, they got what He deserved. M) God is perfectly just. perfectly merciful. The penalty was exacted with God experiencing great pain, and failure at catastrophic cost could have occured. Mercy was served by giving those who choose, what Christ deserves, life not death, He being a perfect proxy for both....................There ya go
 

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
You dont need to insult me to have a full conversation.
You're confused. This little fantasy of yours as to how man should be differs diametrically from how we are. Even without God, man has made his own laws. Outside of religion, orderly society must have order. Order is law. How else would you know which s

Reread my post. I said man doesnt need laws (spiritual) from an outside party. It comes from us individually.

I am man. So are you. No one has the upperhand.

How can I benefit from your god when your god seperates you from "man"?

Who are you if not man?

We dont need others to define our spirituality. Politics are not included.
 
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Mindmaster

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
THe can't just forgive humankind, he has to vicariously sacrifice himself to himself and punish himself to save humankind from his own indiscriminate anger. How can anyone think this doctrine makes the least bit of sense, from a moral or rational perspective? Do y'all actually think the guy who created the whole universe is this twisted and convoluted?

Well according to science free will is an illusion so we can't sin anyway. :D

As far as God as some angry father figure no, I don't believe that guy exists. In fact, it would be mere stupidity to assume that whatever it actually it is it needs to be limited to our silly ideas. Such a thing may not even exist as a being per Se, but as something much more nebulous... It may be completely unthinking and unaware. Whatever it is, it created everything regardless of how we perceive it. Good, bad, whatever...
 
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