One of the most glaring and shameful contradictions in the Christian mind is that between their explanation for Jesus' death and their continual need to blame the Jews for it.
The primary Christian myth is that Jesus was god's son, sent to Earth for the very purpose of being killed so that he might "take our punishment" for us. This, they assert, was planned by god. This is the notion that is most central to Christianity as a religion.
If it is the case that Christ came to Earth with the determined purpose of dying for our sins, then the Jews (or the Romans or any party somehow guilty of killing him) would have simply been carrying out god's will (if they were in fact guilty in some way for Christ's death). To blame them for it at all, much less hate them for it, would make no sense if one truly believed that central myth of Christianity. This is clearly an irreconcilable contradiction indicating that Christians themselves don't truly accept their central myth as truth.
Apparently, this contradiction has been inherent in the minds of Christians from the very beginning because the earliest Christian writings include passages clearly blaming and vilifying the Jews for killing Christ. This seeming contradiction, however, is yet another bit of evidence that Jesus was probably an actual person whose sudden death left his followers stunned and confused. How could the Messiah simply be killed by the Romans? Why didn't his people recognize him as the Messiah and rally to his side?
His stunned followers tried to make his death seem sensible, noble, and celestially pre-ordained. This is another point that James Carroll makes very well in his book "Constantine's Sword". The hodgepodge of conflicting claims that they left us is very compelling proof of Mr. Carroll's thesis and of Jesus' humanity. It is also compelling evidence of the moral madness that religion in general, and Christianity in particular, instills in people.
The primary Christian myth is that Jesus was god's son, sent to Earth for the very purpose of being killed so that he might "take our punishment" for us. This, they assert, was planned by god. This is the notion that is most central to Christianity as a religion.
If it is the case that Christ came to Earth with the determined purpose of dying for our sins, then the Jews (or the Romans or any party somehow guilty of killing him) would have simply been carrying out god's will (if they were in fact guilty in some way for Christ's death). To blame them for it at all, much less hate them for it, would make no sense if one truly believed that central myth of Christianity. This is clearly an irreconcilable contradiction indicating that Christians themselves don't truly accept their central myth as truth.
Apparently, this contradiction has been inherent in the minds of Christians from the very beginning because the earliest Christian writings include passages clearly blaming and vilifying the Jews for killing Christ. This seeming contradiction, however, is yet another bit of evidence that Jesus was probably an actual person whose sudden death left his followers stunned and confused. How could the Messiah simply be killed by the Romans? Why didn't his people recognize him as the Messiah and rally to his side?
His stunned followers tried to make his death seem sensible, noble, and celestially pre-ordained. This is another point that James Carroll makes very well in his book "Constantine's Sword". The hodgepodge of conflicting claims that they left us is very compelling proof of Mr. Carroll's thesis and of Jesus' humanity. It is also compelling evidence of the moral madness that religion in general, and Christianity in particular, instills in people.
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