<p>I am not a Christian and by no means an expert on the subject, but I've been asking a lot of Christian friends this question and I can't seem to get a satisfactory answer, so I figured I'd try you guys. Here goes:</p>
<p>As we all know, according to the Bible, Jesus died in order to redeem all our sins. My question, however, is why? Why is it that Jesus' death absolves us of our sins? To me, it seems like such a "scapegoating" mechanism shouldn't work. For example, if I murder someone and find someone else willing to be punished in my place, should I get off scot-free? Does it work because God says it does, or is there logical justification for why Jesus is able to die for everybody's sins?</p>
<p>LisaSimpsonReborn -- please don't disrespect something about which you know nothing. Here's an explanation.</p>
<p>The main assumptions Christians make are that 1) Man is fallen and evil...he cannot redeem himself by his own works and 2) Jesus was God incarnate: a fleshy form of God. Arguments about those facts are for another forum. These are the assumptions we must make to answer OP's question.</p>
<p>There are numerous ways of looking at the question. One way many people look at it is in terms of debt. Christians say that all men owe some sort of debt to God because they have rebelled against Him by sinning. The problem is that, because God is perfect, paying back their debt is impossible for them because it would require amounts of suffering and repentance that no man is capable of because he's imperfect. It's sort of like a poor man smashing the jewelry inside a jewelry store...there's no way he can repay the debts he's incurred.</p>
<p>The only way that the debt could possibly be repaid would be for someone else to pay it off for us through some sort of suffering. This person would have to be perfect and not owe God any debt. Jesus is God incarnate and has never sinned, so that's how he gets the right to pay for the debts of others.</p>
<p>Jesus' death on the cross was the money exchange, if you will. It's the point at which the businessman hands over millions of dollars to the jeweler in the poor man's name. An infinitely perfect being did the suffering that billions of imperfect beings were incapable of. Remember: we said that suffering is like money. The only way that debt can be repaid to God is through humility, repentance, and suffering. SOMEone needs to be punished for the bad things that humans have done, and that punishment happened on the cross.</p>
<p>In terms of your question about the unfairness of scapegoating...I'm not entirely sure that I see why this is all unfair. If someone is willing to pay a fine for a misdemeanor I commit, the court will be happy with the decision. Why can't this be extended to time in jail and death sentences? I also think that the analogy is a little off. God isn't a court system...he's a being. Sin is more of a personal affront to Him than anything else. He doesn't punish us to keep us from doing more bad things (although that is a great side effect)...He punishes us because we've disobeyed Him, like a parent would.</p>
<p>I'm still trying to work it all out myself, so I hope I haven't been confusing. I certainly hope I've helped.</p>
<p>I still dont' understand...if Jesus died for your sins, then are you not liable for your own mishaps???....i'm Muslim and I'm taught to believe that the three prophets, Moses, Jesus and Mohammed were assigned to spread God's message to the people....that people were givin simple guidelines to follow, and if they could show the willingness and strength to work within these guidelines, that the sin Adam and Eve comitted would be forgiven.....it's like...Adam and Eve failed us all, so we lost our lives in Heaven...but not indefinately....now we must prove ourselves worthy in this world....if we are pure, with very few minor sins, and if we truly repent the ones we've committed, then we're worthy of entrance in to Heaven.</p>
<p>But...at all times....the people were liable for whatever sins they had comitted.</p>
<p>I gotcha. The main place where our views differ, then, is the ability of humans to redeem themselves.</p>
<p>Christians believe that works alone are simply not good enough to redeem us from all of our sins. No matter how many good things we do, no matter how good our hearts are, we can never bring ourselves up to God's level because He is absolutely perfect and we will eternally have black spots of sin on us once we commit the sin. We don't believe that humans can clean that black spot off, no matter how sincere their hearts may be. </p>
<p>Think about the most sincere, kind, loving person you know. He still does things wrongly, at times. He still holds grudges, has poor motives, etc. No one is perfect, and no one can ever reach perfection. Christians believe that God's standard is perfection, so humans are simply incapable of reaching such a high standard.</p>
<p>In your view, there's some grey area in terms of who will be allowed into heaven and who won't be. There's not a very fine line distinguishing thsoe who are fully committed and those who are half-committed, so the criteria for entrance is a bit tough for me to see. The Christian criteria is simple: God expects perfection from those He communes with. But no humans are perfect, so "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).</p>
<p>Which is where Jesus comes in. Because he paid the price that it takes to bring us up to that high standard, God sees us as if we had reached it. That's basically how we differ, I suppose, from your view.</p>
<p>OK, let's use the analogy of a poor man smashing the jewelry in the jewelry store. Even if he somehow manages to repay the jeweler, aren't his actions still punishable with jail time, etc? What if Hitler had been apprehended before he killed himself? If a "good German" decided that he was willing to die in Hitler's place, I can't see anybody justifying letting Hitler go without punishment. When gang murders are committed, gang members often confess to the crime, even though they weren't involved, in order to try and draw attention away from the real perpetrator. However, the police don't accept this.</p>
<p>As for the point about Jesus being able to do it because he's God and he can't sin, I don't see how this follows. If anything, it's even worse, since an (infinitely!) good person is taking punishment for bad people.</p>
<p>Additionally, if God is so offended by sin, then why, in his omnipotence and omniscience, did he intentionally create humans with the knowledge that they would sin? It's like getting a dog and then being horribly offended when it wags its tail. In know someone is going to raise the "free will defense," but I don't think that's a satisfactory explanation, since our circumstances largely determine our actions, as well. I'm sure that, being born into a certain situation, any one of us could become a homicidal maniac.</p>
<p>To sum, I haven't seen a good reason why someone else should be able to suffer on my behalf--just Biblical justifications that Jesus did and God thinks it's OK, which I already understand. Thanks for all the responses, though!</p>
<p>"I'm taught to believe that the three prophets, Moses, Jesus and Mohammed (pbuh) were assigned to spread God's message to the people"</p>
<p>Islam had way more than three prophets. The only person in common with Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, is Abraham (pbuh). As far as the whole issue of Jesus Christ, Islam and Christianity has a very contrasting ideas.</p>
<p>Since I am not Christian, I want to ask a question to any Christian that has an answer. Was Jesus ever mentioned in the Old Testament? And is the belief that Jesus was the son of God originated from the New Testament?</p>
<p>The amount of eloquence required to answer these questions is not possessed by myself or anyone here (although y2k did a fantastic job with his explanations), I would recommend reading some Lewis, Shea, or other reputable theologian for explanations of your questions. Although in the end, if you are dead set against invalidating Christianity, than any answer we give is quite pointless. But if you are really curious, do some research, theologians write surprisingly well and easy-to-follow.</p>
<p>"Islam had way more than three prophets. The only person in common with Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, is Abraham (pbuh)."</p>
<p>How about Moses?</p>
<p>"Since I am not Christian, I want to ask a question to any Christian. Was Jesus ever mentioned in the Old Testament? And is the belief that Jesus was the son of God originated from the New Testament?"</p>
<p>Jesus is not directly mentioned in the Old Testament. I'm a little hazy on the area, but in the Old Testament there are prophecies regarding a Messiah. Christians make the case that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament prophecy.</p>
<p><em>Technically</em> Christians believe the Old Testament and New Testament. But when the New Testament contradicts the Old Testament, the New Testament wins.</p>
<p>Enjoi...ummm....I'm Muslim.......I've been taught this stuff from the day I was born and I've read many of the Holy Doctrines....we believe in 3 "Prophets of the Book": Moses(Torah), Jesus(Bible), Mohammad(Quran). As for other prophets there is Ibrahim(Abraham), Soloman. Dawood(David), Yusuf(Josef), Ismail, etc. etc. so on and so forth...they aren't the "main prophets" of Islam, but they're still considered prophets to an extent.</p>
<p>You'll find all of these prophets in either the Bible or the Torah as well..the prophets of Judaism end at Moses, and the prophets of Christianity end at Jesus.</p>
<p>nahrafsfa, I am Muslim too. And yes, those are the three main prophets in Islam. I was just assuming that you didnt have any idea of other prophets of Islam lol. There are many, and those three are most recognized ones. Sorry.</p>
<p>In Islam, Muslims believe that Jesus is the only prophet still alive, with his soul reserved in heaven. There will be a Day of Judgement (something similar to what Christians and Jews believe), and he will return to earth that day.</p>
<p>Another questions for Christians : Wasnt Jesus originally a Jew (or so I was told)? If so, then why is there a whole new branch of religion? Sorry about the broad question, but i am just curious how Christianity originated.</p>
<p>"Wasnt Jesus originally a Jew (or so I was told)? If so, then why is there a whole new branch of religion? Sorry about the broad question, but i am just curious how Christianity originated."</p>
<p>Yes. Jesus was a Jew and so were his followers. The answer to your question has many aspects to it, but I'll try and tell you what I know. Christianity originally emerged as a sect of Judaism, but one of the main reasons it seperated entirely from Judaism was to escape persecution. In the first century (I believe) there was a significant Jewish-led uprising against the Roman Empire and the Christians, to escape retribution, tried to dissociate themselves from the Jews.</p>
<p>Do Muslims consider the Torah and New Testament holy. I know Muslims consider the Qu'ran to be the final and true revelation and i think that Muslims view the Prophets of the Old and New Testament(Moses, Jesus, etc.) to be actual messangers of Allah, but that the actual writings were corrupted. Am i correct, if not please explain. THanks.</p>