Does the Crucifixion inspire you?

[charsan]

Does the Crucifixion inspire you? It doesn't inspire me. I don't even feel sorry for Jesus as a fellow human being who suffered, because it was so long ago and I have heard the story so many times. The teachings of Jesus inspire me though. If Christianity was only about the teachings of Jesus then I could probably buy it.

Just wondering how you feel about it and why?

The Crucifixion makes me sad but the Resurrection inspires me.

 

[Ignatius the Kiwi]

To be frank most of the year I don't think about the crucifixion. This is why good Friday and the services around it a good reminder, as well as lent. We don't even come close to approaching the suffering if Jesus but we deny ourselves good things to emulate him.

The crucifixion then inspires in Christians a fear of God and a love of Christ. To the rest of the world i suppose it is just one more random person whose died in history. Though one cannot talk about Jesus without the resurrection. If not for that latter event Christians wouldn't even be Christians.

If Christianity was only about the teachings of Jesus then I could probably buy it.

I doubt this claim. Mainly because Jesus demanded more of you than you can accept. Hence why your not Christian. Be it faith in God or faith in Jesus, it's to much for some to accept.

 

[cloudyday2]

I doubt this claim. Mainly because Jesus demanded more of you than you can accept. Hence why your not Christian. Be it faith in God or faith in Jesus, it's to much for some to accept.

I'm not a Christian, because I do not believe Christian theology and historical claims. I am inspired by the teachings of Jesus as I understand them. They are a goal. A person can use a goal to try to do better without ever reaching that goal.

 

[zippy2006]

Does the Crucifixion inspire you? It doesn't inspire me. I don't even feel sorry for Jesus as a fellow human being who suffered, because it was so long ago and I have heard the story so many times. The teachings of Jesus inspire me though. If Christianity was only about the teachings of Jesus then I could probably buy it.

Just wondering how you feel about it and why?

In the crucifixion we find the most poignant example of the idea that even when one is crushed, they are not abandoned by God. That when God himself became incarnate he was, as a result, crushed by the world, and that he is always close to those who suffer (Matthew 5:4).

The image of the crucified Christ, which is the focal point of the liturgy of Good Friday, makes us realize the true seriousness of human misery, human aloneness, human sin. Yet, throughout all the centuries of Church history, it has constantly been regarded as an image of consolation and hope. The Isenheim Altar of Matthias Grünewald, which is perhaps the most moving painting of the crucifixion to be found in all Christendom, was located in a monastery of the Antonian Hospitalers, who cared for victims of the terrible plagues that afflicted the West during the late Middle Ages. The crucified Jesus is depicted as one of these victims; his whole body is disfigured by the boils of bubonic plague, the most terrible of the pestilence of that time... This painting made them realize that precisely by reason of their sickness they were identified with the crucified Christ, who, by his suffering, had become one with all the suffering of history; they felt the presence of the Crucified One in their cross and knew that, in their distress, they were drawn into union with Christ and hence into the abyss of his eternal mercy. They experienced his cross as their redemption. (Ratzinger, Co-Workers of the Truth)​

 

[MehGuy]

Does the Crucifixion inspire you? It doesn't inspire me. I don't even feel sorry for Jesus as a fellow human being who suffered, because it was so long ago and I have heard the story so many times. The teachings of Jesus inspire me though. If Christianity was only about the teachings of Jesus then I could probably buy it.

Just wondering how you feel about it and why?

Hard to say, I think my brain blocks out this part of Christianity for the most part.

As a kid imagery of the crucifixion scared me. I didn't like watching films about the crucifixion and would mainly skip that part of the Bible. Since I believed suffering was required for divinity, I thought it was something God logically had to do.

I never really felt anything as far as forgiveness of sins go. Or felt love from it, or guilt.

 

[Ignatius the Kiwi]

I'm not a Christian, because I do not believe Christian theology and historical claims. I am inspired by the teachings of Jesus as I understand them. They are a goal. A person can use a goal to try to do better without ever reaching that goal.

Rather what seems to inspire you is the select portions of Jesus' teaching you accept out of the Gospels. Not Jesus' teaching in general which I'm sure you dismiss a good portion of. Such as when Jesus says that we should love him more than our Mother and Father. Who does he think he is, God?

IT rubs me the wrong way when non-Christians say they appreciate Jesus as a teacher. It would be akin to me saying that I appreciated Muhammad as a teacher. I might ignore a vast majority of what he wrote in the Quran or what has been reported to be his words, but I respect and am inspired by his teachings. Essentially I would have to do what Jefferson did and get rid of all the parts i didn't like to say that.

 

[GospelS]

It's the same for me.

God, despite being all powerful, is seemingly bound to the technicality of carrying out a blood ritual to forgive sin - I can see how this is a very powerful metaphor to an audience that still practised ritual sacrifice but to 21st century me it feels, I don't know, kind of superfluous?

What would we need to wash and clean our body?
Clean water. Yes.

What would we need to wash and clean our soul?
Clean blood. Yes.

For we cannot see our soul but God does and He said so. And He also provided that pure blood which works to clean our soul so we can be washed.

It needed a sacrifice of an innocent animal to cover the naked body of Adam and Eve. Animals are still being butchered to become our food/clothing to sustain and help our bodies and yet we are unable to see what our soul would need in order for it to survive beyond the physical space.

 

[cloudyday2]

Rather what seems to inspire you is the select portions of Jesus' teaching you accept out of the Gospels. Not Jesus' teaching in general which I'm sure you dismiss a good portion of. Such as when Jesus says that we should love him more than our Mother and Father. Who does he think he is, God?

IT rubs me the wrong way when non-Christians say they appreciate Jesus as a teacher. It would be akin to me saying that I appreciated Muhammad as a teacher. I might ignore a vast majority of what he wrote in the Quran or what has been reported to be his words, but I respect and am inspired by his teachings. Essentially I would have to do what Jefferson did and get rid of all the parts i didn't like to say that.

It rubs me the wrong way that you are making a lot of assumptions about me. LOL Essentially you are classifying me with the non-Christians who say blah blah blah rather than bothering to read what I say as an individual and trying to learn who I am as an individual. That is the essence of bigotry - laziness. It is normal and unavoidable, but none of us like it, and we all try not to do it. (For example, I am trying not to classify you negatively based on your unfair classification of me LOL. So I try to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you are a nice person with good intentions. It's always an effort not to unfairly classify people, because it is so convenient.)

Also, I sometimes even share your frustrations with non-Christians who express their admiration for the teachings of Jesus without actually knowing much about those teachings. It is very common and annoying.

 

[Ignatius the Kiwi]

It rubs me the wrong way that you are making a lot of assumptions about me. LOL Essentially you are classifying me with the non-Christians who say blah blah blah rather than bothering to read what I say as an individual and trying to learn who I am as an individual. That is the essence of bigotry - laziness. It is normal and unavoidable, but none of us like it, and we all try not to do it. (For example, I am trying not to classify you negatively based on your unfair classification of me LOL. So I try to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you are a nice person with good intentions. It's always an effort not to unfairly classify people, because it is so convenient.)

Also, I sometimes even share your frustrations with non-Christians who express their admiration for the teachings of Jesus without actually knowing much about those teachings. It is very common and annoying.

Yet I remain unconvinced that you are truly inspired by Jesus' teachings. Just as I am uninspired by Muhammad or another number of religious figures. It's like a said, you can claim all you want to respect the teachings of Jesus (Like Jesus saying to hate our mothers and fathers in order to be disciples) and say you would follow them but it comes off as a utterly hollow statement, devoid of real meaning in your life. Because evidently, you don't like many of the teachings of Jesus hence why your not Christian. He demands too much of you and you don't believe in the things he said.

 

[cloudyday2]

Yet I remain unconvinced that you are truly inspired by Jesus' teachings. Just as I am uninspired by Muhammad or another number of religious figures. It's like a said, you can claim all you want to respect the teachings of Jesus (Like Jesus saying to hate our mothers and fathers in order to be disciples) and say you would follow them but it comes off as a utterly hollow statement, devoid of real meaning in your life. Because evidently, you don't like many of the teachings of Jesus hence why your not Christian. He demands too much of you and you don't believe in the things he said.

Being a Christian by the definition of CF means accepting the Nicene Creed as truth. How a person feels about and practices the teachings of Jesus is secondary to whether a person believes X, Y, and Z in the Nicene Creed. I can sort of believe most of the Nicene Creed too (depending on my state of mind). I was raised in the Episcopal Church and I spent a couple of years as a member of an Orthodox Church. So if anything it takes some effort to remind myself to NOT believe rather than to believe.

BTW, as I was rereading the Nicene Creed, I noticed the wording suggests that the salvation came from the Incarnation rather than from the Crucifixion. Many or most Christians see the Crucifixion as the moment when salvation became available to people. Kind of interesting, and maybe I am reading to much into a detail of the creed's wording that wasn't intended by the authors.

who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary, and was made man;

Nicene Creed - Wikipedia

 

[Robban]

Does the Crucifixion inspire you? It doesn't inspire me. I don't even feel sorry for Jesus as a fellow human being who suffered, because it was so long ago and I have heard the story so many times. The teachings of Jesus inspire me though. If Christianity was only about the teachings of Jesus then I could probably buy it.

Just wondering how you feel about it and why?

There is something fishy going on.


Surely those who took him down were not following his words;
Matthew 8:21-22

 

[cloudyday2]

There is something fishy going on.


Surely those who took him down were not following his words;
Matthew 8:21-22

I suppose Jesus was trying to impress upon his listeners the urgency of repenting before the Kingdom of Heaven commenced, but after the Crucifixion the disciples assumed that something had gone wrong and they could go back to standard Jewish practices. I had never thought about this saying of Jesus in light of the importance paid to burials in Judaism. To say that there was no time to go home and bury your father was pretty extreme.

 

[Robban]

I suppose Jesus was trying to impress upon his listeners the urgency of repenting before the Kingdom of Heaven commenced, but after the Crucifixion the disciples assumed that something had gone wrong and they could go back to standard Jewish practices. I had never thought about this saying of Jesus in light of the importance paid to burials in Judaism. To say that there was no time to go home and bury your father was pretty extreme.

May have to do with being "born again",

in practice.

 

[Eyes wide Open]

Does the Crucifixion inspire you? It doesn't inspire me. I don't even feel sorry for Jesus as a fellow human being who suffered, because it was so long ago and I have heard the story so many times. The teachings of Jesus inspire me though. If Christianity was only about the teachings of Jesus then I could probably buy it.

Just wondering how you feel about it and why?

Yes it does inspire me. I think Jesus would have known that to push the status quo in the way that he did would have meant his demise.
That is a courageous and selfless act.
I also find the process of his death to be reflective of human nature and our desire to see punishment of some sort when our ego is subjected to information or action that puts it under pressure. For me he didn't die for our sins, he died because of them. A point sadly missed in my view.

 

[Arthra]

Does the Crucifixion inspire you? It doesn't inspire me. I don't even feel sorry for Jesus as a fellow human being who suffered, because it was so long ago and I have heard the story so many times. The teachings of Jesus inspire me though. If Christianity was only about the teachings of Jesus then I could probably buy i Just wondering how you feel about it and why?

Baha'is acknowledge that Jesus was crucified. The Gospel of Luke 23:46 has the verse:

Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When He had said this, He breathed his last.

Abdul-Baha the Son of Baha'u'llah commented:

"…..we say that the meaning of Christ's resurrection is as follows: the disciples were troubled and agitated after the martyrdom of Christ. The Reality of Christ, which signifies His teachings, his bounties, his perfections, and his spiritual power, was hidden and concealed for two or three days after his martyrdom, and was not resplendent and manifest. No, rather it was lost; for the believers were few in number and were troubled and agitated. The CAUSE of Christ was like a lifeless body; and, when after three days the disciples became assured and steadfast, and began to serve the CAUSE of Christ of Christ, and resolved to spread the divine teachings, putting his counsels into practice, and ARISING to serve him,... his religion found life, his teachings and admonitions became evident and visible. In other words, the CAUSE of Christ was like a lifeless body, until the life and bounty of the Holy Spirit surrounded it." - From a chapter of Some Answered Questions, old edition, pp.119-121

Resurrection

 

[ThievingMagpie]

What would we need to wash and clean our body?
Clean water. Yes.

What would we need to wash and clean our soul?
Clean blood. Yes.

For we cannot see our soul but God does and He said so. And He also provided that pure blood which works to clean our soul so we can be washed.

It needed a sacrifice of an innocent animal to cover the naked body of Adam and Eve. Animals are still being butchered to become our food/clothing to sustain and help our bodies and yet we are unable to see what our soul would need in order for it to survive beyond the physical space.

I dont see how that's a necessity. If god is all powerful he could forgive sin by doing.. anything really - like clicking or blinking. When you're dealing with an all powerful being why would it "need" to do anything? If it had to follow the rules, it wouldn't be all powerful.

Again I see why this works from the perspective of a fable or parable - the audience is used to animal sacrifice so the metaphor of jesus sacrificing himself is very powerful. But if we're talking about the crucifiction and resurrection as historic events... it just seems like needless theatrics on the part of God.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

I dont see how that's a necessity. If god is all powerful he could forgive sin by doing.. anything really - like clicking or blinking. When you're dealing with an all powerful being why would it "need" to do anything? If it had to follow the rules, it wouldn't be all powerful.

Again I see why this works from the perspective of a fable or parable - the audience is used to animal sacrifice so the metaphor of jesus sacrificing himself is very powerful. But if we're talking about the crucifiction and resurrection as historic events... it just seems like needless theatrics on the part of God.

Why is it that, these days, whenever skeptical folks talk about the nature of God and the act of His forgiving us of our trespasses against Him, the concept of Holiness never enters the overall equation? I mean, unlike when we merely play around with the concept of the 'god of the philosophers,' Holiness in the biblical sense is an integral aspect of God's being, not just an optional consideration. But somehow, holiness just never makes it into the pantheon of concepts like omnipotence, omniscience, and the like.

No wonder many people have such a hard time figuring out the nature of God as it has been revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. They seem to think they can just parse the idea of 'god' as they see fit and expose the bits and pieces to their own whims and choices in applying so-called 'logic.'

 

[ThievingMagpie]

Why is it that, these days, whenever skeptical folks talk about the nature of God and the act of His forgiving us of our trespasses against Him, the concept of Holiness never enters the overall equation? I mean, unlike when we merely play around with the concept of the 'god of the philosophers,' Holiness in the biblical sense is an integral aspect of God's being, not just an optional consideration. But somehow, holiness just never makes it into the pantheon of concepts like omnipotence, omniscience, and the like.

Probably because it's a foreign concept, I'm happy to hear your explanation.

No wonder many people have such a hard time figuring out the nature of God as it has been revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. They seem to think they can just parse the idea of 'god' as they see fit and expose the bits and pieces to their own whims and choices in applying so-called 'logic.'

I'm sure you 'parse' the ideas of other philosiphies and religions from the POV of an outsider - ot doesnt make those ideas inherently true because they have an internal complexity. Anyway as above, happy to hear you out.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Probably because it's a foreign concept, I'm happy to hear your explanation.

Yes, holiness is a foreign concept, as is Christianity on the whole, really (being that it extends from ancient Jewish concepts in its essentials, not so much from Roman [Western] ones ...)

I'm sure you 'parse' the ideas of other philosiphies and religions from the POV of an outsider - ot doesnt make those ideas inherently true because they have an internal complexity. Anyway as above, happy to hear you out.

Actually, I have often attempted to evaluate to some extent what the thought processes could be in the minds of those who, situated as they are in foreign lands with other cultures and languages, have their own thoughts regarding their own respective religions.

Granted, though, I think you are correct to say that if we simply recognize the structural nature of some single religious idea, that recognition in and of itself doesn't make that idea true. And I quite readily realize this situation as a fact. However, my minor rejoinder to this fact would be that it's very difficult to parse and/or then even attempt to test some religious concept for "truth-icity" if one doesn't really even come close to understanding the religious concept that may be questioned; it's even worse if an integral concept to the conceptual structure being analyzed isn't even recognized.

So, I think we all have to ask ourselves: if we were to attempt to learn to "appreciate" the crucifixion of Jesus, what kind of fuller insights would that entail?

 

[muichimotsu]

When I think of why He came and took the body of man on this earth, to put us back in good standing with the Father through the Cross, I can only believe that He loves me.

Most folks that can't accept Christ think well I can't do this or that anymore. They have never read God's Word in faith,

Phil 2:13
"for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."

It's God through the Spirit that changes us. Paul tells us about the regeneration of man through faith. We no longer want to do those things, and it's His doing, not ours.

He does it all, that's why the bible calls it Grace, all we do is believe and he does the leading. We just surrender to Him and maintain the relationship.

The hardest thing for man to do is to give up his life for Christ, and let Him live through us. There is no other way, one must make that commitment to Christ.

Most of the world simply will not do that. Not realizing that life in Christ is a peace that can't be described.

So basically you're in a special group because you've surrendered what you think is unnecessary to live a fulfilled life? Seems awfully cultish...like you're "saved" and that somehow makes all your arguments compelling rather than appealing to novelty or the like in faulty reasoning