Talkin' about Je-sus

[redmomoko]

Yesterday I posted a question on FB asking Christian friends their reaction to question "If Jesus had died in bed at ripe old age, would he still have died for your sins?" Unfortunately, I was not able to phrase the question quite so pithly at the time so there was a lot of confusion about what I was asking. Here's where that came from

Comments

[_earthshine_]

I like to think that, for the people who truly get what Jesus was about, he probably did not need to die. However, i also believe that in order to reach the world to the extent that he did, he did need to. ... and to rise again, as well. Had his story not gone that way, he would've been merely another prophet (as he is in some non-Christian religions) to a much larger group of people, and not had the effect that he had

[airsucker]

The whole guilt thing is one of the many things that I really dislike about Christianity. Its also kind of sad that so few are willing to consider the question or are even able to try to answer it. Its like faith and thinking are two separate things. That bugs me.

[bjorng]

I thought your question was fascinating. I've never really thought of myself as christian, so I didn't really feel I my perspective was valid. My take on it is based on having heard that christianity was originally an apocalyptic cult, i.e. that the original apostles thought that the second coming would be within their lifetimes. That puts a whole different spin on the death/rebirth cycle.

I never liked the whole "original sin" concept, and I guess neither did the writers of the new testament. Though I don't know that the modern "Jesus died for your sins, so feel guilted into following these rules" angle would have occurred to them; if it had I don't particularly care for that thought process either.

[judyyu]

Religion is a very difficult subject for my mind to really grasp.
As a kid I was thrust into a Roman Catholic private school where the implicit and unspoken assumption was that religion (a very specific type) was necessary for a person to be good. I lived in a household where my parents adopted an ad hoc assembly of local regional traditions, Buddhism, and Daoism. Then I lived in Kansas for a while and had a first-hand look at what religious really looked like - they're a lot like everyone else except for their religious views. I actually met an undergrad majoring in evolutionary biology who DID NOT BELIEVE IN EVOLUTION. It was mind-boggling, and I never could understand it.

This dichotomy between what I'll call neo-conservative Christianity and reason is something I will never understand. Having lived abroad this is a very unique and puzzling part of the US I don't think I'll ever understand.

Hmm, unpacking it in a new way

[namaste_bound]

not being a 'christian' I am not your target audience, I realize. I was still intrigued by the query; as well as the recognition of underpinnings impacting the "american" (though arguably 'western' psyche. I am also affronted and humbled, simultaneously, by the sentence "only Jesus and American soldiers died for me