Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] The Passion

[Stephen Montgomery-Smith <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

To answer your latter question first - yes, these are definitely the 
kinds of questions that you will hear in Sunday school.


Mike Miller wrote:
> On Sun, 29 Feb 2004, Stephen Montgomery-Smith wrote:
> 
> 
>>This movie was not about teaching the whole gospel message - it had one
>>purpose, and that was to show us how much and how lovingly Jesus
>>suffered for us.
> 
> 
> But just for 12 hours, right?  I know this is a religious thing and I
> can't expect dispassionate discussion, but wouldn't a lot of people suffer
> very terribly for 12 hours in order to open the gates of heaven to all
> humanity and to take their place at the right hand of God in an eternal
> paradise?  I think so.  There was a lot at stake.
> 
> Supposedly, Jesus was part man, part God, so didn't that give him an
> advantage and make his achievement a little less impressive?  I mean,
> kinda like a weightlifting champion on steroids.  I don't know though --
> maybe being half God makes it harder to tolerate torture.
> 

I have heard it said that rather Jesus was fully God and fully man.  In 
particular, he had no advantage over anyone else in putting up with pain 
- indeed as you suggest, being a more connected individual he would have 
had less ability to live in denial, and hence would have felt both the 
physical and emotional pain with more sensitivity than we would have done.

As for the former point - the issue is that Jesus was sinless, and as 
such only his suffering was sufficient payment for our sins.



> 
> I'm hoping he'll forgive me for not believing this story, if I'm wrong.
> Maybe God and Jesus will congratulate me as one of the few people who
> stood up to social pressure and asked probing questions.
> 

It is good to ask probing questions.  Jesus said "seek and you will 
find."  If you are truly honest in your search for the truth, one day 
you will find it.  People like Augustine, Aquinus, Luther, Calvin, John 
Newton, Jan Hus - these are examples of those who asked the probing 
questions and resisted social pressure, and these are examples of people 
who changed history.


-- 

Stephen Montgomery-Smith
EMAIL:PROTECTED
http://www.math.missouri.edu/~stephen
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