Throughout the years, I've heard time and time again that Jesus loves us so much that he died for our sins. He was painfully crucified and tortured on the cross, all for our sake. Any such devotion is admirable and heartwarming, no?
Needless to say, there are more than a few issues with that.
First, the issue of Jesus's pain. Every day, there are millions of people starving in poverty, almost literal ghosts of their former selves (if they were any different to begin with). Every day, millions of people die of horrible painful diseases that wrack their bodies unimaginably even after death, such as the horrific Ebola virus. Ever day, millions of people have their dreams crushed, coming to realize that what they have devoted their very life to can never be in such a cruel world. I could go on, but I won't.
The question is: Compared to all of this horrible suffering that runs rampant throughout the world today or then, was Jesus's single sacrifice even meaningful? Furthermore, even God knew that he would rise from the dead; that was his plan, no? Death with resurrection is not a suitable sacrifice. Imagine all of those dying people, some thinking that they will live on, while others doubt their consciousness's survival; in addition, whether these people go to heaven or not, they will never again exist on Earth. Next to that, Jesus's sacrifice is nothing. The only thing that could come close to the sacrifice morally justified would be Jesus taking all of our place's in Hell for all eternity, suffering everything that we would have. That would be true love, not this giving away of something that you know you'll get back in 36 hours.
Also, the sacrifice of Jesus makes no sense from a logical perspective. Simply put, why go to the lengths of being killed in order to forgive everyone? Why was it necessary for God to, effectively, commit suicide in order to be able to forgive his own people. At the very least, this implies that God is under threat from a more powerful being that controls sin, and the only way to win is to die. In addition, it makes no sense for an innocent- even God- to die for someone else's sins. That would be like a jury summoning the cousin of a convicted murderer to do the time instead, which is obviously unjust. An objection could arise that the cousin could willfully go to prison to protect his cousin; however, this action does not stop the murderer from continuing to commit crimes and is thus ineffectual.
So, my question is this: How can Jesus's sacrifice be regarded as the ultimate price and gift to humanity if there are so many today who suffer much worse and gain nothing from it? In addition, how, from a logical and lawful perspective, does Jesus's substitution make sense?
T&U
Edited by Teapots&unicorns, : No reason given.
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