> In article ole!Curiosity.doesn't.kill.the.cat.@uunet.uu.net writes: > > I guess what my intention in the previous questions was to find > out the reason why someone has to accept Jesus to be "saved". > > In you educative mail that you sent to me direct, you talk about > sacrifice et al. A number of questions arise as a consequence. > > Who was Jesus? Why is He considered son of God? Was it only > because he was put on a cross? How was he different from the > other people who were put on the cross? In a sense, what was > so special about Jesus that he was considered divine? > > Why do I have to believe in Jesus at all? All I need to do is > repent of all the sins that I have committed, and I will be free > from the effects of those sins. Where does Jesus fit in this > picture? Not to sound too aethistic, why do I have to believe > in God at all? And if I *have* to believe in God, why does it > have to be in the form of Jesus? > > -S > ole!ssave@sumax.seattleu.edu > I wasn't sure whether this was intended as a posting or private email. Since it looked like it might not have been intended for public posting, I'm responding to it directly. I'd say there are three major things that made Christians consider Jesus special: (1) contact with him when he was alive, (2) his resurrection, and (3) Christian religious experience. It's hard to be entirely sure about people's reaction to Jesus during his life, since the accounts in the Bible are obviously affected by what people came to believe later. However I'd say Jesus made an unusual impression on people even during his life. Some of them appear to have concluded that he was the Messiah, which at the very least means he was a special representative of God. It's hard to describe exactly why they concluded this -- it's hard to describe in detail the reasons for our reaction to people and events. But the Gospels talk about a special "authority" to his teaching, by which I think is meant that he seems to have had a special insight into God. And his way of dealing with people was unusual: note that he was able to work with a range of people from the dregs of society to socially prominent people, and to show them all the love of God. He dealt with Jews, Romans, Samaritans, and treated women with repect, in a way unusual at the time. And of course his healing and other acts showing God's power marked him as unusual. It's hard to say that any one of these things is completely unprecedented: There have been holy men in many cultures. But at the very least, his teaching and actions did mark him as someone with a special knowledge of and relationship to God. Early Christian testimony is clear that the resurrection of Jesus made a decisive difference. Of course his death on the cross is important. But as you point out, many people died on the cross. However Christians saw this not as a routine political execution, but as an act of sacrifice. That early Christians saw the act this way is clear from the writings of Paul and others in the New Testament. That this interpretation goes back to Jesus is a bit harder to establish. But I think there's enough evidence in the Gospels (which I cited in my previous note) to establish that he did. That is, I believe that Jesus said in advance that he was going to die for the people. It's clear from the early sermons in Acts -- which show the reaction of Christians within a few years of his death -- that the resurrection was seen as God's validation of Jesus and his mission. His followers saw it as God's seal of approval on Jesus' teaching and actions. A good part of Jesus' unique role within Christianity comes from the resurrection. Only he has conquered death. Finally, Christians base some of their claims about Jesus on Christian religious experience. They find Jesus to be a way to God, in a number of different ways. I'd say his status as "son of God" is a result of all of these considerations. Note by the way that his divinity is a matter that is often misunderstood. Christian doctrine does not say that Jesus is superhuman or in any way other than a normal human being. However he is also God's vehicle for being present in human history, and the way God has set up for us to come to him. But this particular role does not change the fact that he's a human being. The classic 4th Cent. formulations of Christian doctrine are always careful to emphasize that in Jesus there are two different things going on: a normal human life, and God's presence. God's presence does change the fact that we're dealing with a real human being. Christians often give the impression that somehow Jesus is seen as being superhuman, maybe sort of a demigod. But that's not what we really mean. However we do see God as being present *through* Jesus, so that for human beings at least (who can say whether there are other analogs of Christ on other planets?), Christ is the way we come to God. Frankly I don't know what kind of limits there are on salvation. I can't say for sure whether non-Christians can be saved or not. Certainly there are non-Christians who seem to me to have really come to know God. Some of Paul's comments in Romans seem to say this as well. But when you say all you have to do is repent of your sins, maybe we have different ideas of what repentance is. The Christian idea is that more is involved than just feeling sorry. Repentance is establishing an ongoing process whereby God is able to help you overcome sins. In my view, human beings are not designed to be self-contained. I don't believe that we can help ourselves. Now whether this means you have to believe in Christ by that name, or even in God is a question I don't have an answer to. Only God knows the limits to how far he is prepared to go. But I do believe that the problems that cause sin are too deep for us to escape simply by deciding we are sorry about sin. I think we are designed for communion with God, and as long as we try to live without it, our lives will be our of joint. But God may respond to calls for help that are addressed to Allah, Brahma, or even to atheists who are moved by love for their fellow people. On the other hand, I have to believe that we'll be in better shape by knowing the true source of our help. Note that in my view as a Christian, Christ plays a specific role in this help. We see him as our mediator. That is, much of our experience of God is in some sense through Jesus. Jesus is seen as the ideal human being, the only one who is capable of being truly what we should be, and loving God fully. While God certainly loves us directly, and we him, our relationship is not a purely individual matter. We are invited to join Jesus in his fellowship with God, and he always goes before us. I think this is really what is meant by calling him savior: it's that he mediates our relationship with God.