A saviour dying for our sins is FOREIGN to the Abrahamic message.
However, it is exactly the same concept found in the Greek pagan religions that worshipped Mithra the SUN God (who was born on December 25th)
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2007-07-27 20:53:17 · 12 answers · asked by wwhy 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
A pope chose to have Christians celebrate our Savior's birth on December 25th to oppose the pagan celebrations. The Bible says nothing about His birth happening then. (I've heard it was most likely in the spring.)
And how does God test us? He created us, and He set down some ground rules for us to follow. We failed miserably (and continue to do so!) But God so loved the world He sent His Son to die for our sins. Our free will allows us to accept Him as our Savior, or not. God does not force us to love Him, nor does He force us to trust Jesus with our eternal lives. Those with faith, do.
2007-07-27 21:05:32 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
What if I told you that Jesus went on to serve another 20 years after he came out of that tomb? What if Peter and Paul went on to package their version of the whole story like a couple of con artists, along with setting their church up as the middle-man between God and the individual person?
If you are a little piece of God incarnate in a physical body, then you test yourself almost daily. Yes, we have free will and can change our own lives at will. We attract what we project into the world around us with our thoughts and feelings. If your thought process is that "life is hard" and "this must be a test", then you will attract all of that into your experience.
2007-07-27 21:05:12 · answer #2 · answered by revsuzanne 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Abrahamic message is reflected in baptism, the new covenant, which points to the death of Christ on the cross. Your relation of Christian salvation to pagan religions may have parallels, but they're not the same thing.
2007-07-28 03:53:18 · answer #3 · answered by ccrider 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
During the days of Abraham sacrifices were made in the form of animals-flaw free animals & of the fruits of the first harvest. God wanted to have ONE symbol for sacrifice and he chose his Son.
Think how guilty you feel when you do something wrong. What if you had to die for all the wrongs you did and felt the pain of them all. Jesus knew no sin so he was chosen to bear the weight of OUR sin on his body. Think of everyone who would ever live all the pain hate illness etc. he felt.
That he loved me enough to take this on himself makes me wonder why he thought I deserved to be spared. Jesus became that flawless sacrifice for us. He knew no sin.
2007-07-27 21:15:07 · answer #4 · answered by Bashful Reader 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
But a Christian will say that you still need free will to CHOOSE Jesus, After that there is no point to life really other than spreading the Word. And even that doesn't really matter if you believe in absolute salvation. About as motivating as communism is to a capitalist, I'd say.
Wings- The truth hurts, but do some research and you'll see the clear links.
2007-07-27 21:04:08 · answer #5 · answered by MBC 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It like saying...you had to work in order to have money. He could have come down but He knew what his job was. Yes, paganism is the root of religion but some used their free will to go a different direction with it.
2007-07-27 21:03:58 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
man are you wrong the greeks didnt worship mithras the romans did and mithras wasnt a savior dont believe me? look it up on wikipedia i love mythology and in my 20 pplus years of reading it i never came across mithras being a savior and LIFE ISNT A TEST if it is PROVE IT
2007-07-27 21:00:23 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why do you think that God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac? You don't seem to have a grasp of the Scriptures so stop condemning them.
2007-07-27 21:00:07 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well Jesus wasnt axeactly born on Dec 25th. I cant say when he was born or why we changed the date exactly but I know it wasnt on the day we believe to be Christmas.
2007-07-27 20:58:39 · answer #9 · answered by Titus M 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why would someone who you never met die for the sins you personally chose to commit??
Why would a God, who has infinite love for his children, demand a sacrifice and see his son get beaten and peed on to death to be able to forgive??
EDIT to reply to Spiker:
God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son as a test, to see how Abraham believe in God.
However, God sacrificed his Son, based on Christianity, to be able to forgive!!
2007-07-27 20:59:18 · answer #10 · answered by Ahmed A 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋