Did Jesus die on the cross?

Question

Some early Christians, most notably the Gnostics believed the crucifixion of Christ was actually a gigantic fraud, an illusion perpetrated by Jesus who actually stood off to the side laughing while Simon of Cyrene died in his place.

How did Simon die? Where did he go?

Answer 1

no! he died on a stake...its a common misconception perpetrated
by many years of false teaching.(or tree as the K.J.says )

Answer 2

Gnosticism traces its roots back just after the beginning of the Christian Church. Some researchers state that evidence of its existence even predates Christianity. Whichever the case, the error of gnosticism had affected the culture and church of the time and possibly even a earned a mention in 1 John 4.

The word "gnosticism" comes from the Greek word "gnosis" which means "knowledge." There were many groups that were Gnostic and it isn't possible to easily describe the nuances of each variant of Gnostic doctrines. However, generally speaking, Gnosticism taught that salvation is achieved through special knowledge (gnosis). This knowledge usually dealt with the individual's relationship to the transcendent Being.

A more detailed Gnostic theology is as follows. The unknowable God was far too pure and perfect to have anything to do with the material universe which was considered evil. Therefore, God generated lesser divinities, or emenations. One of these emanations, Wisdom desired to know the unknowable God. Out of this erring desire the demiurge an evil god was formed and it was this evil god that created the universe. He along with archons kept the mortals in bondage in material matter and tried to prevent the pure spirit souls from ascending back to god after the death of the physical bodies. Since, according to the Gnostics, matter is evil, deliverance from material form was attainable only through special knowledge revealed by special Gnostic teachers. Christ was the divine redeemer who descended from the spiritual realm to reveal the knowledge necessary for this redemption. In conclusion, Gnosticism is dualistic. That is, it teaches there is a good and evil, spirit and matter, light and dark, etc. dualism in the universe.

What we know about Gnosticism is gained from the writings of Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Tertullian, Origen, and some later manuscripts discovered in the eighteenth century such as the "Codex Askew, Codex Bruce, the Berlin Gnostic Codes and, most recently, the Nag Hammadi collection."1 Nag Hammadi is a town in Upper Egypt near ancient Chenoboskion and 13 codices discovered were discovered about 1945.

The danger of gnosticism is easily apparent. It denies the incarnation of God as the Son. In so doing, it denies the true efficacy of the atonement since, if Jesus is not God, He could not atone for all of mankind and we would still be lost in our sins.

There is debate whether or not this is a Christian heresy or simply an independent development. The evidence seems to point to the later. Nevertheless, the Gnostics laid claim to Jesus as a great teacher of theirs and as such requires some attention. It is possible that 1 John was written against some of the errors that Gnosticism promoted.

Answer 3

Brenda, why does someone believing the Bible threaten you? Why does someone believing in God put you on the defensive. Could it be guilt, fear, something else? I think you should look at that. If you truly didn't believe, you wouldn't even care to answer this question. Simon is the man that helped Jesus bear the cross. In 1941, the Israeli archaeologist Eleazar Sukenik from the Hebrew University, and his assistant Nahman Avigad, discovered a rock tomb in the Kidron valley in eastern Jerusalem that is still believed to be Simon of Cyrene's along with his sons Alexander and Rufus. Simon was a Jew who had traveled to Jerusalem for the passover festival.

Answer 4

you have to realize one thing. the Jesus of the bible was supposedly alive during the time of Augustus (ya know..they guy that had Cesar killed, Marc Antony hunted down and Cleopatra killed her self rather than be taken by him....that Augustus)...right moving along.
it was a VERY brutal time in Roman history. and Crucifixion was a ROMAN method of punishment. hundreds of THOUSANDS of people were crucified.
the Romans lined the roads to conquered cities with the dead and dying corpses of the crucified.
so the possibility that a man, named Jesus (a very common name for the time), was crucified by a horrid Roman leadership for being an outspoken rebellious prophet...I'd say are pretty good.
and actually there are some records that support that a man with that name was executed in such a manor. ancient Roman records. i love history....now..after three days did this prophet (and there were many mind you..considering the oppression of the Roman rule there were many rebels!) rise from the dead? um...I'd have to say No. after all...I'm a realist, a rational thinker..i don't buy fairy tales. evidence is what i crave.

as for the Simon therory...WOW..very bible like in it's fairy tale methodology..but alas im still not buying it.

*peace*

Answer 5

Many people were executed by crucifixion, an act meant to dehumanize and humiliate as much as it was meant to rid the state of undesireables. Moreover, the cross rarely looked the way it is depicted today, like a large minor-case letter "t". They were often as not simply hung by their wrists from the branch of a convenient tree - arms spread as wide as possible, no nails - painful and guaranteed to result in death in a matter of hours if not minutes - an agonizing way to die. Torture, remember, was considered an approprite part of the punishment. But as for "Jesus, the King of the Jews or 'the Christ'" - no evidence of his existance is recorded in Roman documents of the time. There were frequent executions all over the Empire at the time, including those of many who were named Jesus. It was and is a very common name in that part of the world, as it is in Central and South America today - it's pronounced "hay -soos". Kewl, huh?

Answer 6

Yes Jesus did die on the cross. Simon of Cyrene is the man who carried Jesus cross when Jesus was to physically weak to do it. The bible does not tell us how Simon died. Jesus was resurrected three days after His death.

Matthew 27:32-33 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. They came to a place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull).

Mark 15:30 (those who insulted Jesus said) come down from the cross and save yourself!"

Luke 24:4-6 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!

Answer 7

Jesus died on the Cross.

Answer 8

I don't know about Simon, but Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead three days later and was seen by many. It may take faith for you to believe this, but I don't have a problem believing it.

Answer 9

If you are referring to Jesus in the Bible, then you're dealing with fantasy, and so basically you can answer any old way you wish.

The Bible is just a man-made play script, with several actors God, Devil, Jesus, Satan, Adam, Eve etc, and of course some intriguing imaginary places like Heaven, Hell, Purgatory and Limbo.

I certainly don’t believe in the Bible and I doubt any reasonably intelligent person would either. However, if you view the Bible as a man-made play script, with several actors God, Devil, Jesus, Satan, Adam, Eve, Noah, and so on, then you can certainly start to see a clever interwoven plot, that the audience is unaware of. It’s really just a drama thriller with clever twists.

You see, if you seriously think about it in an unbiased manner, then clearly the actor God in the Bible could really be the Devil, and the audience (religious believers) are being sucked into being the bad guys, who then use religion to get everyone fighting each other.

On the other hand, the more intelligent audience (Atheists) spot the plot and try their best to teach believers that this is just nonsense, stop getting sucked in. Some people have over time decided that the play is real. That's very sad.

Answer 10

That gnostic theory has been around in various forms for centuries. Christian mainstream belief says he died on the cross after three hours. Personally I think he did. In order to save us and redeem us for our sins he had to have died.

Answer 11

Yes, Jesus did die on the cross. Even people who do not believe that he is God's son have proven that there was a man named Jesus....and he was cruicified on the cross.