This is not meant in any way to "bash" your current religious viewpoint. It is meant instead as a means of expressing the knowledge I have gained over the past few years and a way of showing/demonstrating this knowledge to others. If you do not wish to read this I understand it because it will make some of the conclusions about your faith come into question. If you were to seek even deeper you would find even harder questions that need answered before you attempt to lead/convert others into your faith. I will leave it at that and just jump into this discussion of blood atonement.
First a history lesson. Christianity was spread by the sword more than the books that tend to portray the message that the various sectations believe in. The reason you might be a Christian is many times more likely linked to the fact that other religious view points were killed off and/or destroyed by Christianity (including the books that supported other religious views) than the fact that you chose that given religion. It is the same in the Muslim world of course. When a society is so focused on the protection of a single faith the destruction of any/all outsider viewpoints and the lack of preservation of anything outside that viewpoint means that you truly must be an investigator to find beyond your enculturation.
I find that most people do not seek beyond their enculturation and many time those that attempt to do so end up without a faith in anything because of the "world collapsing" vapidness they find in the arguments of the faithful. Many of such arguments end in nothing but circular logic. I was going to go into more detail here but I think I will jump right into the exact problems I have with this faith system and then go from there.
My first problem I have with Christianity is the way it uses the Jewish system of sin-offering to buffer the the belief that a human-body offering can bring about atonement. There actually is a passage in the New Testament that would seem to buffer such a belief the problem is when you compare what the unknown author of Hebrews writes to what the Jewish law of offerings states.
The author of Hebrews says, "Hbr 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission." The funny thing about this passage is that it is the only place in the entire Christian bible that requires blood to "pay" or "atone" for sins. Even if you were to simply read the "Old" testament you would find various examples of God forgiving his people without any type of bloodshed. I will offer a few examples here-in so I am not see as buffing my arguments with evidence:
A: 2Ch 7:14 "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
Note this does not speak of blood offerings at all.
B: Lev 5:11 "But if he be not able to bring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, then he that sinned shall bring for his offering the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering; he shall put no oil upon it, neither shall he put [any] frankincense thereon: for it [is] a sin offering."
Many Christians attempt to use the Jewish sacrificial law to say that only through the blood of their idea of christ are we saved. The problem is that the blood offering is NOT required under the Jewish law and far from it an offering of fine flour can be used. Thus there is absolutely no link between the Jewish idea of sin sacrificial offering and that of Christianity. The poorly drawn links are nothing more than syncretical views patch-worked together to poorly buffer a system of belief that in actuality has nothing to hold it up.
C: The Jewish bible offers three ways to atone for sin:
C1: Blood offerings (which were for sins you did not mean to do, or do not remember) [Numbers 15:27-28] which is an important distinction to make. All while these same offerings COULD NOT BE USED TO CLEANSE INTENTIONAL SINS!! [Numbers 15:30-31]. These sins required a guilt sacrifice and restitution to find atonement. A bloodless offering was given if the poor could not afford the higher levels of offering (quotation from HERE):
Leviticus 5:11-13
- (11) And if he cannot afford two turtledoves or two young pigeons, then he who sinned shall bring as his offering one tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering; he shall not put oil on it, nor shall he place frankincense upon it, for it is a sin offering. (12) He shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall scoop out a fistful as a memorial thereof, and burn it on the altar, upon the fires of the L-rd; it is a sin offering. (13) the priest shall make atonement for him from his sin which he had committed in any one of these [instances], and he shall be forgiven; and [the rest of] it shall belong to the priest, like the meal offering.
Note that an animal sacrifice is not required for atonement when an individual cannot afford the specified sin offering. One tenth of an ephah of fine flour, free of oil and frankincense, serves as an acceptable (bloodless) sin offering!
C2: The next way is through contrite repentance and prayer. As found in Deuteronomy 4:27-31– (27) And the L-rd will scatter you among the peoples, and you will remain few in number among the nations where the L-rd will lead you. (28) And there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which do not see, and do not hear, and do not eat, and do not smell. (29) And if, from there, you will seek the L-rd your G-d, then you will find Him, if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. (30) When you are in distress, and these words will find their way to you; in the end of days, you will return to the L-rd your G-d, and you will obey him; (31) For the L-rd your G-d is a merciful G-d, He will not forsake you and will not destroy you; and He will not forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.
C3: Finally, Charity. To help speed this up for myself I am just going to offer another direct quotation...
From HEREIt is quite obvious to any unbiased reader that the idea of blood offerings being the only route to atonement/righteousness is a total lie. The L-rd G-d says quite clearly (and this is one of my favorite anti-missionary scriptures) "For loving-kindness is what I desire, and not sacrifice; and knowledge of G-d more than burnt offerings." God never cared an ounce about what a man brought as a repentant act to Him at the temple it was the condition of that man's heart toward God (and his fellow man for that matter) that mattered the utmost. Therefore the claim made by Christianity does not hold and one of the primal foundations of their religion is nothing more than a lie. You do not need to believe upon anyone or anything that has died to find atonement for your sins and neither can another step in and take your place in God's eyes. Ezekiel is quite clear on this subject when he taught that:
Lastly, but not least, are the charitable deeds, הָקָדְצ (ts e
daqah), charity. Since Judaism is a religion based on "works", with special
emphasis on acts of charity, deeds of kindness are regarded as the most
important component in the atonement process. The importance of acts of
charity, and that the doing of good deeds is preferable to other actions, is
stressed throughout the Hebrew Bible. In fact, הָקָדְצ is mandated in the
Torah: Deuteronomy 15:7-8 – (7) If there will be among you a needy person, from
one of your brothers within one of your cities, in your land the L-rd your G-d
is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, and you shall not close your
hand from your needy brother; (8) For you shall surely open your hand to
him, and you shall surely lend him enough for his need which he is lacking.
This commandment is not limited to charitable acts exclusively toward Jews. In the
Hebrew Bible, the command to love, to befriend, and to be kind toward a stranger
is mentioned not less than 36 times, and frequently this command is linked with
the phrase, "… for you were strangers in the land of Egypt …"
Leviticus 19:34 –
"The stranger who dwells with you shall be to you as a native from among you,
and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of
Egypt;" I am the L-rd your G-d. [See also Deuteronomy 10:19]
The message is not restricted to the Torah: Proverbs 16:6 – Through loving kindness and truth will iniquity be atoned; and through the fear of the L-rd [you] depart from evil.
Daniel 4:24 [27 in Christian Bibles] - Only, O king, let my counsel be
acceptable to you, and your sins will be with charity removed, and your
iniquities by showing mercy to the poor; indeed, your tranquility will be
prolonged.
The Hebrew Bible also teaches which process is preferable to G-d:
Hosea 6:6 – For loving-kindness is what I desire, and not sacrifice; and
knowledge of G-d more than burnt offerings. [See also Jeremiah 7:21-23; Proverbs
21:3] Micah 6:6-8 – (6) With what shall I come before the L-rd, bow myself
before G-d on high? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with yearling
calves? (7) Will the L-rd be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten
thousands streams of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the
fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? (8) Man has told you what is
good; but what does the L-rd demand of you? To do justice, and to love
loving-kindness, and to walk humbly with your G-d. Clearly, charitable deeds and
justice are superior to sacrificial offerings.
Eze 18:20 "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the
iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son:
the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the
wicked shall be upon him."
The simple acts above (3 paths) to find remission of yours sins are to be done by you. And the condition of your heart toward others (and God) and the acts you do toward others decide your eternity more than any death of any supposed man-god centuries ago which took place away from the temple, not at/on an alter, and not done by a priest AGAINST the law of God.
J. B. A.
"McGyver"
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