(January 2, 2012 at 11:58 am)Shell B Wrote: Chip, you are exempt from this poll, as I already know your opinion on it.
I realize this is something of an appeal to popularity. However, I am trying to establish what the common Christian feeling on Jesus' sacrifice was, so bear with me.
If you look at the theological literature there are a number of ways of looking at it. Typically you see something along the lines of Jesus willingly suffering death in order to effect some sort of change in the fate of humanity because of the "joy set before him" and because there is, "no greater love than to lay down your life for a friend." (Two verses usually used to describe the reason.) Academically speaking the most honest answer would be something akin to, "don't know" since there are such a variety of opinions in modern theology. The only real consensus is that Jesus acted voluntarily and with love in order to restore something amiss with creation. Beyond that there are an infinite number of metaphors people use to describe it and conclusions drawn from it. The use of the word "sacrafice" isn't even agreed upon. There's a great deal of subtlety in the various positions, I feel I could be more helpful if you were more specific about what it is you wanted to know. I know I'm being a tad vague here but asking a theologian that question is like asking, "what is the meaning of everything?" It is a very good question though.
