Since you are apparently a slave to what the Bible says nothing, even the most obvious rational explanation, will be good enough.
A slave huh? I guess I am to some degree.
Except he is; calling it something prettier doesn't change what it is.
No he's not, blackmailing is when you present something to someone and threaten to use it against the if they don't do what you say. God didn't present hell to us and say, "if you don't worship me, I'll send you there."
Originally he created humans "Very good" and designed to be in a relationship with him. Adam's choice ruined that relationship brought sin into the world. So as you can see God didn't present us with hell, we brought it upon ourselves. However God did provide us a way out of hell by sending Jesus.
You simply wish to place the blame on people, and avoid blaming God; but the premise is absurd.
And you want to blame God instead of people, so what? I believe we should be punished for sinning against God, and you don't.
And taht pair of choices shows how it is blackmail; we can follow the choice he prefers, or suffer an eternity of fire. Im sorry that this isn't sinking in for you.
It's not blackmail because we brought it upon ourselves. And also God didn't even have to give us the option of heaven.
Because, as I said, the bible would not lay the blame in God's lap; the book is there to make him look good, do you not understand?
Yes I understand and God is good. I'm sorry you can't accept that human beings don't deserve to be blamed for our sins.
But a rational examination, free of the Bible's one-sided propaganda, reveals the truth.
The fact that Adam's bad choice would lead to every single subsequent human being inclined to sin, IS God's fault. Notice it didn't just change Adam? That's where God made it happen.
What made sin some 'hereditary' inclination? *bzzt* you guessed it.. God's magic.
Adam brought sin, but we each make choices to sin(go against God) every day, we're going to hell because of our sins.
Well, I am a finite being so the punishment has to be finite.
Okay but when you sin against an infinite God(and all sin is primarily oriented toward God)you accrue an infinite debt.
IN any case, your reasoning here is poor. Justice = 'the punishment fits the crime'. This isn't justice, by the definition of the word.
Actually justice is, "the quality of being fair and reasonable.
This is also poor reasoning. Think about it yourself: we are talking about someone who is already dead. They cannot go back to sinning.
If you were in hell and then God decided to take youout and bring you back to earth you really don't think the peopel wuld sin again just because they'd already died once?
Are you really asking this?
Yes, please humor me? Why is torture immoral?
No, Lazarus was raised. Jesus did his own rising himself.
And God couldn't have raised Jesus form the dead? God can do things that are scientifically impossible.
And because that's what 'sacrifice' means! Words have actual definitions; the point of a sacrifice is that you give up something forever for some others' sake. It's like taking back a donation you give to a charity: did you really make a sacrificial gesture, if you grab your money back?
Oh well Jesus did have the sin of the world on him and he was forsaken of his father(for the first time ever) so in that sense you could say he lost something. However the actual definition doesn't say you have to lose something forever.
No, we really can't. it says he died because it needs to manufacture a story that is supposed to tell something. But it's a bad story, poorly thought out. It vacillates between Jesus being divine and Jesus being only a man,
It's not just an assumption.
It's a direct observation.
He was both 100% man AND God. and it's not a direct observation because you weren't there. You didn't check his vital signs or do any other tests to see if he was really dead.
No, that wouldn't be the case.
Witnessing has ZERO to do with it.
Witnessing the event has everything to do with it. The gospels were written by people who actually witnessed his death and fellowshipped with him after he rose.
Dead people don't rise. If you do rise, you're not dead anymore, therefore, you did not die. Death is permanent. Or did you not know that?
God can do things that are scientifically impossible for us to do.