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I want to know the rationale behind this event, in order to try and determine what processes might be at work beyond our normal day-to-day existence. If God really does accept sacrifices, then how come we don't ritually slaughter beasts or even people anymore? Does the sacrifice have to be pure? Given of its own free will? Does it have to be a man, or does it have to be a supernatural sacrifice? And that leads us back to this question of Jesus' divinity.
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I'm going to take them a bit out of order, if that's alright. There are many arguments and many points to be made, but I'm only going with what is the strongest argument in my opinion and the points that support it.
That being said...
asaris is right in saying that the sacrifice of animals in the OT was an imperfect in the eyes of God. In fact, God didn't really like the fact that we sacrificed anything to him. He spoke both through Jeremiah and Hosea.
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Originally Posted by Jeremiah 7: 21-24
"Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh. For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:
"But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
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Originally Posted by Hosea 6:6-7
"For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me."
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That's what it says in the Bible and presumably the words of the Prophets carry a great deal of responsibility for the abolition of sacrifice. In the real world, there were some very practical reasons why this happened.
I'm simply going to quote a
Straightdope article and say... (definitely read the rest....)
The short answer is that sacrifice was centralized in the Temple at Jerusalem, and when the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD by the Romans, sacrifice was no longer possible. Prayer replaced sacrifice as the form of worship.
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Hmm. Well, the most specific thing that I can think of is this so called 'good news' that Jesus was our saviour and that he 'died for our sins'. I just don't see it being a rational transaction. I can see how Jesus was a great teacher, and can see how his message of love thy neighbour can bring both practical and spiritual benefits.
I can see how a strong faith can give someone strength through adversity and provide cohesion to a society. And perhaps I could describe him as a saviour in terms of inspiring a socially cohesive society that spread through much of Europe, holding it together and helping to preserve the technology and learning of the ancient times (Israel, Greece, Egyptian, and Babylonian knowledge) through the dark times (in monestaries and the like) that followed the collapse of the Roman Empire. Though without the Roman Empire (and Constantine in particular) in the first place, and the expansionist kingdoms of Europe from the 1500s onwards in the second, I wonder whether Christianity would be anywhere near as widespread as it is today.
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I agree on that last point. It's interesting to wonder what would have happened had not all the cards fallen into place for the spreading of Christianity. Would Paul have been has successful in spreading his message travelling in another empire, especially a less 'civilized' empire?
That straightdope article I linked to above has a bit on the different types of sacrifice. I've read all kinds of arguments and I tend to agree, that Jesus, I think probably would've fallen under the definition of a 'peace offering' as Jesus had no sin to expiate or atone for. Even the undeniably strange acts of Jesus at the Last Supper seem to make a bit more sense if you look at it this way. Jesus claims the bread his his flesh, the wine his blood and encourages his disciples to partake. Sacred meal. Sacred sacrifice shared (metaphorically) among priests (well, disciples...
) and donors.
So, Jesus didn't die
for our sins, but rather was a peace offering to God, who was irritated at us
because of our sins. I assume Jesus offered himself because he seen something worth a crap in mankind worth saving. I certainly don't think he had to, but he did. Isn't that 'good news.' Well, I guess it depends on how you look at it, eh?
The Trinity is a little tougher to handle. It would be simplisitic to say that Jesus sacrificed himself to...himself. (I did it earlier, but that was wrong...)
The vast majority of Biblical scholars that believe in the Trinity tend to argue that while God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost may be of the same stuff, they are definitely distinct entities, kind of like twins.... Although even that's not entirely accurate because, as I've mentioned before, Jesus and God may be of the same stuff, but they certainly aren't equals in any sense of the term. Jesus is a servant of God and the Bible (through various instruments) goes to great lengths to suggest that Jesus, while superior to man, is inferior to God. (....servant of God; whom God raised.)
God is all powerful, all knowing...so on and so forth; Jesus seems to have none of these qualities. He has limitations both in his 'power' and in his 'knowledge,' which, of course, God doesn't.
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Mark 6:5 And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them
Mark 13:32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
Luke 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
Hebrews 5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
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Was Jesus just God in limited form? Limited form (imperfect knowledge and limited power) seems to imply that God can change, which doesn't happen. God is God in every and all forms.
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Malachi 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
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Can he become God later? No. God is forever. The Alpha and the Omega, right?
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Psalms 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
Isaih 43:10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
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That's a little long winded and kind of piece meal, so I'm not sure I answered all you're questions...or even one question completely.
