I never thought I'd be grateful for the viewpoint of an atheist, but surprisingly I am. One particular atheist pointed out the stupidity of those believing in the divinity of Christ. Specifically, he claimed that if Jesus was/is actually God, then no real sacrifice was made. Although the atheist's concept of the word "sacrifice" was lacking in understanding, he did indeed have a valid point.
Although this article was addressing another challenge made against the Bible, the third and fourth paragraphs in the answer are applicable here. In those paragraphs, the respondent (wrongly) claimed that since Jesus was God, this wasn’t human sacrifice. So the evidence of the claim that some do believe Jesus was/is God is provided there. But I wanted to consider some of the supposed proofs that were given.
"One human life couldn’t possibly cover the sins of the multitudes who ever existed…. One finite human life [could not] atone for sin against an infinite God." Really? Then how is that one finite life (Adam’s) could wholesale all mankind into sin and death in the first place? The claimant is very wrong in this matter. In fact, even the apostle Paul would argue with him:
Romans 5:12 "That is why, just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because they had all sinned.”
Romans 5:15 "But the gift is not like the trespass. For if by one man’s trespass many died, how much more did the undeserved kindness of God and his free gift by the undeserved kindness of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to many!”
The fact is, it is not the quantity that matters, it is what God deems is necessary. The principle that comes into play here is the “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” (like for like) compensation rule. What was lost was one perfect human life that affected all mankind thereafter. What was needed was one perfect human life that maintained his loyalty (unlike Adam) thus meeting the requirement set out by God. (“For just as through the disobedience of the one man many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one person many will be made righteous.” Romans 5:19. See also 1Tim.2:5,6) There is/was however, two differences between Jesus as a man and the rest of humanity. First, he was perfect in every way. Second, his role and life was also prophesied in scripture.
Next up…
“God didn’t sacrifice Jesus. Rather, Jesus, as God incarnate, sacrificed Himself.... God the Son sacrificed Himself to God the Father.” This is so far from what the Bible teaches that it made me laugh. There is nothing from scripture in the above claims. First, Jesus is not “God incarnate” nor is that phrase nor concept nor even the phrase “God the Son” found anywhere in scripture. Truly, just as the apostle John concluded and surmised the purpose of his “gospel” account, “These have been written down so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and because of believing, you may have life by means of his name.” (John 20:31). The only thing that comes remotely close to having an inkling of truth is the use of John 10:18. Yes, it is true that no one forced Jesus to do what he did, that doesn’t make him God. I also noticed that the respondent conveniently dropped the end of the scripture (which would have debunked his premise) that states: “This commandment I received from my Father.” It is beyond absurd to think that God would have to command himself to do anything.
In case any atheist is reading this blog, know that there are a group of Christians that do not believe Jesus was in any way, shape, or form part of a triune godhead. Those people are Jehovah’s Witnesses.
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