Theists: would you view the truth?

[vorlon13]

Here's the link if you want to see the entire article:  http://www.call-to-monotheism.com/lack_o..._luke_acts

and that's not an isolated opinion piece either.  Ehrman is on board, and as we all know (or should know) as a Moody Bible College trained biblical scholar, Ehrman, whether you agree with the conclusions or not, knows the bible forwards and backwards.  If he says there are huge problems (my words, Ehrman tries to be diplomatic to a greater extent than me) in Luke regarding Christ's death failing to be described as providing atonement for sin, then there are huge problems in the Gospel of Luke for those desperately wanting Luke to describe Christ's death as providing atonement for sin.  As further confirmation of this problem, even to my un-Moody Bible College trained eye, the apologetics on this problem are even worse than the apologetics spewed forth in support of Mormonism, and that is no mean feat.




Lack of Atonement in Luke/Acts
 
This is our third rebuttal to Shamoun (previous rebuttals can be seen here *,*). We will respond to all of Shamoun's shoddy polemics, though not in the precise order in which he raised them.
 
I. Jesus (peace be upon him) as a righteous martyr in Luke/Acts
Consider the following passage in Mark 10:45:
"For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many"

The bit in italics conveys an atoning salvific value and significance to Jesus' (peace be upon him) death.

The author of Luke/Acts (henceforth known as 'Luke' for the sake of convenience), who is using Mark as his source, does not quote the above saying.

Some, however, claim that Luke does reproduce the above Marcan passage, albeit in a severely altered form, in :

For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

If so, then Luke has removed from Mark 10:45 the atoning significance of Jesus' (peace be upon him) death. There is no mention here of Jesus (peace be upon him) being a 'ransom' or giving his life 'for many'.

Luke also alters the confession of the centurion. Unlike the Marcan centurion, who says (15:39), "Surely this man was the Son of God," the Lucan centurion says (Luke 23:47):
"Truly this man was innocent." (or: "Surely this was a righteous man" - )

Even putting the above aside, consider the following passage from Acts 8:

25 So, when they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.

 26 But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, "Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a desert road.)

 27 So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship,

 28 and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah.

 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go up and join this chariot."

 30 Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?"

 31 And he said, "Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

 32 Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this:
         ")HE WAS LED AS A SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER;
         AND AS A LAMB BEFORE ITS SHEARER IS SILENT,
         SO HE DOES NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH.
    33 "IN HUMILIATION HIS JUDGMENT WAS TAKEN AWAY;
         WHO WILL RELATE HIS GENERATION?
         FOR HIS LIFE IS REMOVED FROM THE EARTH."
 34 The eunuch answered Philip and said, "Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?"
 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.
Above, Luke has an Ethiopian eunuch read a passage from Isaiah 53 - a passage which came to be employed by Christians to explain Jesus' (peace be upon him) death as a vicarious atonement. It is precisely here where we should have expected a reference from Luke to Jesus' (peace be upon him) atoning death. But astonishingly enough, Luke makes no reference to the Servant of the Lord who was "wounded for our transgressions" (Isaiah 53:5), who was "bruised for our iniquities" (53:5) and who made himself "an offering for sin" (53:10). Luke stops citing Isaiah at a crucial point. He avoids citing the statement regarding the servant who was "stricken for the transgression of my people" (53:8).  Instead, Luke uses Isaiah to argue that Jesus (peace be upon him) died as an innocent victim who was subsequently vindicated.



Check the link to read the rest, or even better, go read Jesus Interrupted, and know the truth.