Duder
December 31st 2005, 06:15 AM
If you could write a letter to Jesus, and expect a written reply to it, what would you say? What would you most want to know? Would you be curious about the small details of his life, or would you ask important religious questions of him?
I think I would write something like this:
____________________________________
Dear Jesus,
My letter comes from 2000 years in the future. It is said that you were called the Christ, and Christianity, a religion about you, is one of the major faiths in the world at his time.
The reason for my letter to you is to find out if orthodox Christianity correctly expresses the spirit of your ministry, or if what we have is an imbellishment or an interpretation on the part of some of your disciples and other Christians who wrote after your departure. Here, in essence, is what orthodox Christianity says:
When Adam ate from the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil, sin first entered the world. Sin is not just understood to be an immoral act, but rather, it is a condition which infects the souls of men and condemns every one of them to an eternity of fiery agony or annihilation. The act of the first man condemned every man who has ever lived.
Christianity says that you are the one and only begotten son of God, and that God sent you to earth to take the punishment that we all have coming to us because of the sin of Adam. It says that your death was an atonement through which we may all escape the destruction that otherwise would await us.
There are two main theories about why this was necessary. One theory says that God is so angry at us because of our sin, it is impossible for him to be reconciled with us unless he properly vents his wrath - and it was you who stood in our place and accepted God's wrath on our behalf so that we could be reconciled to God. The other theory says that the Satan captured humanity when we fell into sin, and your death was a ransom paid to the devil to liberate us from his clutches.
It is said that after your execution on Golgotha you physicaly rose from the dead and ascended bodily into heaven. And if one has the correct perspective on what happened, and believes it, and repents of his sin, he will rise with you and thus avoid the annihilation or the fiery torments.
To what extent, Rabbi, does Christianity correctly express your theology? If I may, I would like to ask you a few specific questions:
Did all humanity fall out of God's grace because of the original sin of the first man?
Was a blood sacrifice required to redeem humanity from sin? If so, why?
Are you the one and only begotten son of God?
What was the purpose or meaning of your death on the cross?
Did you physicaly and bodily rise from the dead?
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your kind consideration,
A 21st century follower
I think I would write something like this:
____________________________________
Dear Jesus,
My letter comes from 2000 years in the future. It is said that you were called the Christ, and Christianity, a religion about you, is one of the major faiths in the world at his time.
The reason for my letter to you is to find out if orthodox Christianity correctly expresses the spirit of your ministry, or if what we have is an imbellishment or an interpretation on the part of some of your disciples and other Christians who wrote after your departure. Here, in essence, is what orthodox Christianity says:
When Adam ate from the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil, sin first entered the world. Sin is not just understood to be an immoral act, but rather, it is a condition which infects the souls of men and condemns every one of them to an eternity of fiery agony or annihilation. The act of the first man condemned every man who has ever lived.
Christianity says that you are the one and only begotten son of God, and that God sent you to earth to take the punishment that we all have coming to us because of the sin of Adam. It says that your death was an atonement through which we may all escape the destruction that otherwise would await us.
There are two main theories about why this was necessary. One theory says that God is so angry at us because of our sin, it is impossible for him to be reconciled with us unless he properly vents his wrath - and it was you who stood in our place and accepted God's wrath on our behalf so that we could be reconciled to God. The other theory says that the Satan captured humanity when we fell into sin, and your death was a ransom paid to the devil to liberate us from his clutches.
It is said that after your execution on Golgotha you physicaly rose from the dead and ascended bodily into heaven. And if one has the correct perspective on what happened, and believes it, and repents of his sin, he will rise with you and thus avoid the annihilation or the fiery torments.
To what extent, Rabbi, does Christianity correctly express your theology? If I may, I would like to ask you a few specific questions:
Did all humanity fall out of God's grace because of the original sin of the first man?
Was a blood sacrifice required to redeem humanity from sin? If so, why?
Are you the one and only begotten son of God?
What was the purpose or meaning of your death on the cross?
Did you physicaly and bodily rise from the dead?
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your kind consideration,
A 21st century follower