Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: vm0t+@andrew.cmu.edu (Vincent Paul Mulhern) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Importance of sacrifice Message-ID: Date: 5 Aug 90 23:44:55 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Lines: 44 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu >Why did Jesus have to die a torturous death on a cross? If God is truely >infinite and omnipotent, He could have saved by mere intention! But instead >He chose to have His only son torturously murdered on a cross. Why? Because >He was showing us how much He loves us. (somone posted another statement similar to this one...something like "God could have saved us by any means He wanted..." or something to that effect.) No, He couldn't have. He had to do it with Jesus's death. (ignoring all previous prophecy, He probably could have been killed by another means, but O.T. and Jesus's prophecy point towards crucifixion, specifically). Jesus prayed, in the garden, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt." (that's from Matthew; Mark has Jesus indicating that ALL is possible for God) To the best of my understanding, Jesus didn't pray ineffectively, and His prayers didn't go unanswered. So there WAS NO OTHER WAY. No, we couldn't have been saved "by mere intention." I do not limit God's ability in my assertion...I separate what He is capable of from what He would do. For example: I would claim that it is not possible for God to destroy all life on the earth by a flood of water. It is obviously "within His ability"; He did it, once. But because of the promise He made to Noah, it is not possible anymore. So to say that God could have 'willed' us all to be saved is not true. Second, to say that He chose this way (Jesus's crucifixion) to show us He loves us is sick. If, for some reason, He was able to accomplish redemption by another means, but He chose this one anyway, it isn't a display of love; it's a truly sick mind that would cause Jesus that kind of suffering if it were not ABSOLUTELY necessary. I believe the explanation of why Jesus's sacrifice was the only way lies in the story of Abraham. His sacrifice of Isaac (aborted at the last minute) was meant to parallel the way Israel was to be redeemed. (God wasn't just playing cruel mind games with Abraham...there was a reason for these events). The earthly "father of Israel" couldn't do this by sacrificing his only son; only the Heavenly Father of Israel could. Perhaps someone with some theological background can better explain this... Vince Mulhern