So I was having a discussion with my friends about Christianity.
I asked them a simple question: Why did Christ die on the cross for our sins?

In an attempt to answer, they try and explain what sin is and why god is merciful and forgives if we repent.

The conversation changed completely.

It seems to me that the cornerstone of faith is a shifting one - it can only be explained in it's most basic form by citing a reason. To put it into an analogy... It's like someone wrote 'the word of god' and left out chapter one. You come into the story after the exposition. ANYTHING could have happened before.

I need "Chapter One" in order for all the lofty ideas to be plausible. You know?

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:D = LW when i talk to myhairitsnice

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Christ Died for our sins cause he was the only acceptable sacrifice to atone for what we have done.

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But.. WHY?
Why him?
Why only him?

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:D = LW when i talk to myhairitsnice

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Quote: from driscoll1997 at 4:02 pm on Nov. 12, 2008

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Christ Died for our sins cause he was the only acceptable sacrifice to atone for what we have done.

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But.. WHY?
Why him?
Why only him?

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Because he is the only one who was pure of both original sin and sin throughout his life. He was the son of God and thus the only acceptable sacrifice.

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i hate her....

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Quote: from Everlongx at 7:03 pm on Nov. 12, 2008

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Quote: from driscoll1997 at 4:02 pm on Nov. 12, 2008

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Christ Died for our sins cause he was the only acceptable sacrifice to atone for what we have done.

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 But.. WHY?  
 Why him?  
 Why only him?

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Because he is the only one who was pure of both original sin and sin throughout his life. He was the son of God and thus the only acceptable sacrifice.

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But sin STILL exists.
So why did he for our sins?
It's in chapter one.

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:D = LW when i talk to myhairitsnice

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I think you're trying to dress up your ignorance of Christian theology as "insight", and it's all a bit boring really.

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Alright then.... If i'm ignorant, then answer the question.

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:D = LW when i talk to myhairitsnice

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Quote: from driscoll1997 at 4:13 pm on Nov. 12, 2008

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Quote: from Everlongx at 7:03 pm on Nov. 12, 2008

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Quote: from driscoll1997 at 4:02 pm on Nov. 12, 2008

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Christ Died for our sins cause he was the only acceptable sacrifice to atone for what we have done.

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  But.. WHY?
  Why him?
  Why only him?

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 Because he is the only one who was pure of both original sin and sin throughout his life. He was the son of God and thus the only acceptable sacrifice.

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But sin STILL exists.
So why did he for our sins?
It's in chapter one.

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theologically time is not linear in Christianity and Judaism. So his sacrificed happened as if it is happening simultaneously in the past present and future.

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i hate her....

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Quote: from SpM at 4:20 pm on Nov. 12, 2008

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I think you're trying to dress up your ignorance of Christian theology as "insight", and it's all a bit boring really.

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Alright then.... If i'm ignorant, then answer the question.

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Anyhow, we are in a state of sin (you can take a literal interpretation of the Fall and original sin or just hold that humans are bastards) and the wages of sin is death. This death takes two forms: physical and spiritual. Anyone who sins and falls short of the glory of God dies both in the flesh and in the spirit - in other words, they go to Hell (although how you take Hell very much depends on denomination).

However, we can atone for our sin through sacrifice. In the Old Testament this took the form of innocent fluffy baby sheep, but lambs are far from a perfect sacrifice and did a pretty poor job of it.

Luckily for us, God so loved the world that He sent down His only begotten son to die for us. Jesus, being perfect, was the perfect sacrifice and thus the redeemer of all humanity. He died for our sins, so that we do not have to die a spiritual death. We can instead go merrily off to Heaven. That's not to say sin doesn't still exist in the world, it's just that we now have a way out of this mess.

If you believe such things, anyway.

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<snip> We can instead go merrily off to Heaven. That's not to say sin doesn't still exist in the world, it's just that we now have a way out of this mess.

If you believe such things, anyway.

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You know, this is the one point where Catholicism (I think it's Catholics who believe it, anyway) actually makes more sense - we go merrily off to purgatory for a few hundred to a few thousand years first (a small blip in the timeline of eternity), then merrily off to heaven.

(edit for tag fail)

Post edited at 9:21 pm on Nov. 12, 2008 by The Nowhere Man

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