WHY was Jesus cricified?

[orangebox21]

So, how does this mechanism work?

He symbolically pays everything while functionally paying nothing to somehow erase the real sins? That sounds a lot like me paying for a mansion with a giant novelty check that isn't actually worth any money.

Christ didn't symbolically pay our sin debt, He functionally paid it.

Sin is a legal debt to God (see more in depth here). Colossians 2:14 says: (About Christ) 14having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Therefore, our sin debt to God was removed by Christ on the cross.

The simplicity of the atoning work of Jesus Christ is this: our sins and the punishment that we deserve were imputed to Christ on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21), and the righteousness of Christ and it's subsequent reward was imputed onto us (Romans 5,10, Philippians 3:8-10). To all who are in debt, this is the good news of the gospel.

You said that the sacrifice of Jesus was necessary because of the very nature of atonement. The point is that the dictionary definition of atonement says it the reconciliation of God through the sacrifice of Jesus. As an explanation of why Jesus was sacrificed, that really means no more than BECAUSE.

I agree with you. If you do not understand what the nature of atonement is then you wouldn't understand how Christ's work on the cross is an example of atonement and the definition wouldn't answer the question.

Let's see if I get this:

Humans kill (surely you really just mean injure here) God
God's son who has done no harm to anyone (and is god) offers to be killed
God say OK son and self, good idea.
God kills son/self in very painful humiliating manner.
God resurrects son/self three days later.
Humanity absolved.

I think you've understood the analogy pretty well.

@ no one in particular:

Is it that you don't understand what Christianity teaches about Christ's sacrificial atonement, or is it that you reject what Christianity teaches about Christ's sacrificial atonement?

I can recite several different permutations of the Christian view of how Christ's sacrificial atonement is supposed to work, but they make no emotional, logical or moral sense to me. If there were a god and he operated in such a way, then divine moral sense and human moral sense would have little to do with each other.

So you do understand what atonement is, but you reject Christ's sacrificial atonement because it makes no emotional, logical, nor moral sense to you?