Jane D.
Member
This is just the first of many questions that will go through my mind about the Bible, Christianity, etc etc etc.
I was talking to a friend of mine the other day about religion (imagine that), and one thing that I heard her say struck something in me. When anyone asks the question, "Why should we worship the biblical God, and why should we accept Jesus into our hearts, for any other reason other than if we don't, we go to hell?" The popular answer is something like "Jesus died for us" or "God gave his only son for us"
These comments usually just pas sthrough my mind as being unimportant because they don't contain any logic or moral reasoning, just simple unprovable facts. But then I started thinking about it more. It's actually a very telling statement about the religion of many people, and maybe those people should think twice about using this answer.
Yes, according to the Bible, Jesus did die willingly for our sins. What? He was forced to die? Killed, you say? Well, maybe. But lets just imagine that he died willingly. Of course, this is an honorable thing to do, dying for the sake of others. But honestly, he was Jesus and he "Knew" that as soon as he did die, he would be with his father in Heaven, worshiped by all humans for all eternity. If I knew for a fact that this was coming to me, I would also be happy to hand over my life. It just doesn't sound so amazing to me that it should decide the fate of millions of people to come. They either decide to accept that he died for our sins, or they don't -- leading to them either going to Heaven or Hell. I'm sure everyone knows someone or knows of someone that has done this very thing that Jesus has done. Soldiers give up their lives daily to protect thier countries, families, values, and beliefs. And not just soldiers. Every day people sacrifice themselves to save others -- thier children, family, friends, or complete strangers.
About God sacrificing his only son. Can anyone else see that this is just a bit dramatic? Granted, losing a son is a terrible thing, but in reality, he didn't really lose him. Not even close. God created his son when he decided that he was needed, knowing that his life on Earth would eventually end, bringing him closer to his father. And need I even mention the fact that God could create a million more sons if he wanted to? Oh wait...isn't that what he did? Isn't that what we all are?
Look, I'm not saying that Jesus wasn't as great as everyone is saying that he was, and I'm not saying that he wasn't really the son of God (at least not yet) -- all I'm saying is that when defending your religion, you might want to come up with something more substantial then happenings that, once stripped of all their glamour, are just every-day occurences.
I was talking to a friend of mine the other day about religion (imagine that), and one thing that I heard her say struck something in me. When anyone asks the question, "Why should we worship the biblical God, and why should we accept Jesus into our hearts, for any other reason other than if we don't, we go to hell?" The popular answer is something like "Jesus died for us" or "God gave his only son for us"
These comments usually just pas sthrough my mind as being unimportant because they don't contain any logic or moral reasoning, just simple unprovable facts. But then I started thinking about it more. It's actually a very telling statement about the religion of many people, and maybe those people should think twice about using this answer.
Yes, according to the Bible, Jesus did die willingly for our sins. What? He was forced to die? Killed, you say? Well, maybe. But lets just imagine that he died willingly. Of course, this is an honorable thing to do, dying for the sake of others. But honestly, he was Jesus and he "Knew" that as soon as he did die, he would be with his father in Heaven, worshiped by all humans for all eternity. If I knew for a fact that this was coming to me, I would also be happy to hand over my life. It just doesn't sound so amazing to me that it should decide the fate of millions of people to come. They either decide to accept that he died for our sins, or they don't -- leading to them either going to Heaven or Hell. I'm sure everyone knows someone or knows of someone that has done this very thing that Jesus has done. Soldiers give up their lives daily to protect thier countries, families, values, and beliefs. And not just soldiers. Every day people sacrifice themselves to save others -- thier children, family, friends, or complete strangers.
About God sacrificing his only son. Can anyone else see that this is just a bit dramatic? Granted, losing a son is a terrible thing, but in reality, he didn't really lose him. Not even close. God created his son when he decided that he was needed, knowing that his life on Earth would eventually end, bringing him closer to his father. And need I even mention the fact that God could create a million more sons if he wanted to? Oh wait...isn't that what he did? Isn't that what we all are?
Look, I'm not saying that Jesus wasn't as great as everyone is saying that he was, and I'm not saying that he wasn't really the son of God (at least not yet) -- all I'm saying is that when defending your religion, you might want to come up with something more substantial then happenings that, once stripped of all their glamour, are just every-day occurences.