Sacrifice
Sunday, December 11th, 2005*** BELATED NARNIAN SPOILER WARNING ***
Further to the previous post, which is long enough as it is, I have a real problem with the notion of sacrifice as portrayed by Aslan the noble [vegetarian?] lion, who gives himself over to be murdered by the White Witch and her rabble of hideous snot-covered trolls. Sure he goes willingly to his death, but he does it knowing full well that he will return; in effect he is simply exchanging a rather unpleasant and painful experience for a higher state of being. He knows he will be resurrected, stronger and purer than ever. So where’s the sacrifice?
Show me someone who would give their life up for a friend or a cause even when they see nothing but oblivion waiting for them and I might be impressed. I think the Christian story would be a much more powerful one if Jesus had accepted total destruction (or perhaps eternal exile) so that we mere mortals might live on… rather than just experiencing the worst of our hospitality and then returning to sit at his father’s right hand and rule over heaven until the end of days. It makes the whole "so loved the world that he gave his only son" thing seem totally melodramatic; it would be more correct to say "so liked the world that he lent his only son."
December 11th, 2005 at 4:13 pm
Actually, Christians believe not only that Christ was tortured physically during his death but that he took upon himself the collective guilt of the entire universe. They believe that the infinite pain caused by this suffering could only have been overcome by a sinless godlike being who is himself endless. Christ dreaded this moment of atonement so greatly that he pleaded, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Matt. 26:39) So according to Christians, the suffering you mention was only the tiniest fragment of what Jesus really went through.
December 11th, 2005 at 4:15 pm
I should add that I don’t believe even He knew for sure if He could make it. If He did, why would he have been surprised when God forsook him on the cross? (Matt 27:46)
December 12th, 2005 at 8:43 pm
I just can’t buy that… guilt and shame are [almost] uniquely human, providing some of the worst torments imaginable, and I think part of the reason for this is that they are non-transferrable. They can however be absolved; a strong drawcard for the Christian faith. How can Jesus take on the guilt of the universe when, being a sinless godlike being, he cannot truly feel it?
December 13th, 2005 at 2:44 pm
Yeah well, what about a bloody ***Bible Spoiler Warning*** some of haven’t finished reading THAT yet!
December 14th, 2005 at 6:58 am
Mark, I’m not asking you to “buy it,” I’m just asserting that your entire original premise is flawed because what you are passing off as the story of Jesus is not, in fact, what Christians claim. Believe it or don’t believe it, but what you are ridiculing is a straw man, and not the actual story of Christianity.
December 14th, 2005 at 7:06 am
As far as your questions about the mechanics of the atonement are concerned, I honestly have no idea how it happened, but one interesting theory I have heard is that Christ did not really effectuate a transfer of guilt, but that his suffering was so great that he essentially gained the right, because of the mutual deference and admiration of all the Father’s subjects, to allow whom he will into the Father’s kingdom, not based on any merits of their own, but because they submit to Christ’s terms and His will commands the respect of all because of what He went through. It’s just one of many theories. FYI the Catholic encyclopedia has a long discussion of various atonement theories that are somewhat interesting (disclaimer: I’m not a Catholic). You can find it online. I don’t expect you or anyone else to believe this, just attempting to provide some kind of response to your earlier point.
December 14th, 2005 at 7:11 am
Also, perhaps it is not necessary to transfer “guilt” to suffer for it. If you had perfect comprehension of the suffering that another person was going through, and you cared very much for this person (for example, if he was your own son), don’t you think you would also suffer? You might even suffer more, being more aware of what could have been done to help this person. Perhaps merely being perfectly cognizant of another’s sufferings, and having perfect empathy, would be sufficient to cause Jesus to suffer. Just thinking out load. Once again, I don’t expect you to agree with me here.