A man who was completely innocent offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act. -- Mahatma Gandhi Happy Easter! Gandhi was a very spiritual man and remarkably Christ-like for a non-member of the religion. Despite his obvious admiration for Jesus the Christ, Gandhi never became a member of the faith. He explained his reluctance to become a Christian by saying, "Jesus is ideal, and wonderful. But you Christians, you are not like Him." Can anyone blame Gandhi for what he said about Christians as opposed to what he said about Jesus? He was absolutely right, and on both counts. He really nailed those of us who call ourselves Christian. For that very reason - our failure - Jesus was nailed to a cross. … [Read more...]
Contemplating the crucifixion and resurrection
Unless these are the first words I've written that you've ever read, you probably know that I'm not particularly shy about admitting that I consider myself a Christian. By that, I mean specifically that I believe Jesus really lived roughly two thousand years ago, and was crucified and died on a cross. Furthermore, I believe that God raised him from the grave, and Jesus ascended into heaven, just like the Bible says. And today is Easter Sunday, the holiest day on the Christian calendar. In my opinion, it's not a bad idea to contemplate the resurrection on an Easter Sunday. On the basic points concerning Christian beliefs, I believe it is safe to say that the vast majority of other people who considers themselves a Christian would agree with me about the divinity of Jesus, and that his resurrection really happened. Where we may or may not agree is on the question of why Jesus suffered, died, and rose again. Those who, on faith, accept the Bible is literally true, and without error will assert the answer is original sin -- in other words, it's Adam and Eve's fault for listening to Satan, and partaking from the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. I will admit that I have my doubts about that particular belief, but I will explain why in a moment. My approach to reading the Bible is rather straightforward -- I assume that what I am reading is true. The problem with that approach, of course, is the content of the Bible itself. How do you reconcile when two accounts contradict each other? There are clearly instances where the same story is told … [Read more...]
