How can God die?

Discussion in 'Religion & Philosophy' started by OJLeb, Feb 22, 2012.

  1. OJLeb

    OJLeb New Member

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    I don't mean this to offend anybidy, but I'm sitting here posting in another thread, and this question popped in my head.

    Christians believe that Jesus PBUH is God, right?

    And they believe Jesus PBUH, as God, was killed. Well, sacrificed.

    But, how can God be killed?

    I would appreciate if somebody could explain how God was killed by humans.
     
  2. The Wyrd of Gawd

    The Wyrd of Gawd Well-Known Member

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    People kill gods all the time because all gods are imaginary and people stop believing in them.
     
  3. Incorporeal

    Incorporeal Well-Known Member

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    Wrong understanding on your part. Jesus was clearly, even by the language of the scripture, a flesh and blood man. Yes! Jesus died on the Cross. The Christ did not die on the cross.
     
  4. fifthofnovember

    fifthofnovember Well-Known Member

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    Well, the whole resurrection thing was supposed to demonstrate that you can't kill God.
     
  5. charliedk

    charliedk New Member Past Donor

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    we all know this fairy tale story..
    he died for our sins only to be reborn and then sit up there with the head honcho god and the holy spirit..
    see, I went to catholic school from the 3rd to the 8th grade where those loving, god fearing nuns would beat that story into me with rulers and swift head whacks against the chalk board..
    so the moral of the story is he never died..
    Sister Mary, keep that hell pit warm for me, I'll be joining you soon with a baseball bat..
     
  6. leftlegmoderate

    leftlegmoderate New Member

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    Well, if memory serves me right, the story goes that Jesus was God incarnate in the form of man. Human yet divine. It's clear in the Bible that Jesus was human, as he experienced the same sufferings that we do. For example, when he was being tempted by Satan for 40 days and nights, Jesus was hungry and worn to the point that the Devil sought to manipulate him with a bribe to end his suffering. Further, the Devil tried to tempt Jesus by appealing to his human side by offering power and some measure of invincibility/safety. When Jesus was forced to carry the cross before crucifixion, he became too weak to carry it on his own, and it's clear that much suffering was involved in the actual crucifixion. As Jesus was dying on the cross, he yelled out "My God, why have you forsaken me?". All these things point to Jesus being a human, but also more than that. After all, he was supposedly born of a 'virgin birth' (without human intercourse) to a human female. Though not necessarily consistent within the different Christian sects, the concept of The Trinity might go some ways in helping you understand how Jesus could be not only human but God as well. In the Christian tradition, God resurrected Jesus three days after his death in order to fulfill his mission before finally ascending to heaven.
     
  7. bugalugs

    bugalugs Banned

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    You need to drive a stake made of kryptonite through his heart.
     
  8. Diuretic

    Diuretic Well-Known Member

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    It always bothered me in primary (grade) school. Like charliedk I am a survivor of Catholic schooling (in primary) but I knew instinctively not to ask questions like that or get a belting. But it just doesn't make sense. Then I'm no theologian so perhaps I'm just ignorant.

    There is still much conjecture about this. Parallels are drawn with other mythologies - http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_jcpa5.htm
     
  9. OJLeb

    OJLeb New Member

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    But you also think Jesus OBUH himself was God, don't you? He was Christ.

    It's just confusing for me to understand..

    But how can something not dead be resurected? If God died, who resutrected Him?

    But when you die, it's your spirit that dies, not your physical body, right?

    Which, I would think, that if God was "in" Jesus PBUH - like a possession sort of - that the one being killed was God.

    It just seems really confusing. Who died on the Cross, Jesus PBUH or God in Jesus' (PBUH) body?

    I know Jesus PBUH was a human, born from the virgin Mary PBUH and sharing the message of God. Where our belief differ is what happened on the Cross - and what Jesus PBUH was: son/God or Prophet - we believe a decoy was put in place and Jesus PBUH was brought to Heaven as the figure on the Cross was being killed.

    What I don't understand, clearly, is

    a) Who died on the Cross?
    b) How, if it was God, God could die?
    c) Who, if it was God, resurrected God after?

    Of course, if it wasn't God being killed that would change a lot, but then where did the idea it was God come from?

    I also am confused, because there are people who say Jesus PBUH himself was/is God, too, which makes it even more confusing...
     
  10. OJLeb

    OJLeb New Member

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    Yeah I felt the same way, doesn't make sense and confusing. But I don't know much about Christianity, so I asked on here.
     
  11. Bishadi

    Bishadi Banned

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    the religious belief is that jesus died for the sins of mankind.


    But i bumped into a youngster who could read and comprehend the story and he asked a solid question:

    "If Jesus died for our sins, what happens now; He didnt stay dead?"
     
  12. yguy

    yguy Well-Known Member

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    Some professing Christians do, others don't. If He ever claimed to be God, the Gospels bear no record of it.
     
  13. _Lisa_

    _Lisa_ New Member

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    God is not dead.
     
  14. Wingless

    Wingless New Member

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    Another good question to consider: if he died to take the punishment of sinners, isn't his sacrifice nullified by his resurrection? If the wages of sin is death (and an eternity in hell), how can anyone be saved when he only took part of the punishment sinners receive?
     
  15. MisLed

    MisLed New Member

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    so i'm wondering. All the anti-god types, are they former catholics? If you got smacked with rulers or belts if you even had a question about the whole matter then i can understand the anger, resentment and denial of God's existence.
     
  16. OJLeb

    OJLeb New Member

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    That's actually a good question...


    Thats seems like a major thing to be divided on.

    Where did the idea he was God come from then?


    Then who died on the Cross?
     
  17. Diuretic

    Diuretic Well-Known Member

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    Dunno. I'm agnostic, have been for many years. I was quite a religious child in the Catholic Church but as I got older the theology (not that I'd use that word back then) didn't make sense to me. I was encouraged to be a free thinker by my parents, one was religious, one not, and eventually arrived at agnosticism.

    My anger and disdain is reserved for those who handed out the corporal punishment and ritual humiliation. I did have some excellent teachers (religious and lay) and did know some fine priests (I worked as an altar boy - nope, never saw any of that nasty stuff) but I remember the nasty b@stards by name. I haven't generalised to the religion as a whole on that regard, I just have no interest in being a believer.
     
  18. Diuretic

    Diuretic Well-Known Member

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    My dearth of knowledge on this topic is remarkable. But from memory I think - just think - that some sort of mix of religion and politics took place much later after the death of Jesus the man. I think that may have had something to do with the claims about Jesus being the Son of God. Someone else here would know more than me on that though.
     
  19. GeneralZod

    GeneralZod New Member

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    When the last human alive, stops believing/thinking of god.

    It will simply dissapear from existance.
     
  20. stig42

    stig42 New Member

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    Why can’t a supposedly all powerful god who can make people from dirt not operate a meet suit i mean body of its own and allow it to be slain and then putt it back together into working order and give it another drive?


    it makes sense to question why it would do that but if you going to accept the existence of such a powerful god it not much of a trick
     
  21. OJLeb

    OJLeb New Member

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    But if God died for your sins, who resurected God afterwards?

    I was waiting for a response like that... It doesn't really explain my main question.

    I just want to know how God could allow himself to be killed, then revive himself 3 days later. More importantly, how God can be killed by humans?
     
  22. stig42

    stig42 New Member

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    by choosing to be in a killable body and not stopping the people that wanted to kill him from doing so


    Are you trying to sack about the mechanics of how divine power is supposed to work i dont know that

    or are you asking why god would choose to do that good question but i don’t have an answer for why a god would choose to do anything there no reason and need for a self-sufficing all powerful being to want to do much of anything

    so for any proposed action of an omnmax god I guess the reason is an unsatisfying because that’s how it is

    any action on the part of the Christian or Muslim god while perhaps being a a part of some larger design of the god is nothing but a behavioral trait in the nature of existence itself it is that way and acts that way because that’s how it is
     
  23. BFSmith@764

    BFSmith@764 Banned

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    Simple, He became subjected to death when He became a mortal human being. Remember, nothing is impossible for God. So since He is all powerful then it means He is capable of becoming a human being and become subjected to death just as we are. God in the form of Jesus was subjected to death because He had a mortal body......to die one would need to have a body......it is the body that dies but the spirit remains. Before the Word became flesh He did not have a body.......spirits, including God the Father does not have a body.......only through Jesus does God have a body.
     
  24. GeneralZod

    GeneralZod New Member

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    Or if like surrealism, the tv series of 'monkey' from the 1970s, (Saiyûki)

    The buddha gifted the world with monkey that hatched from an egg and the only thing that could kill him, was his own incompetance.

    In the worlds before monkey, primal chaos reigned. Heaven sought order, but the phoenix can fly only when it's feathers have grown. The four worlds formed again and yet again. As endless aeons wheeled and passed. Time and the pure essence of Heaven, the moistures of the earth, and the powers of the Sun and Moon all worked upon a certain rock - old as creation, and magically became fertile...Elemental forces caused the egg to hatch. From it then came a stone monkey...The nature of Monkey was irrepressible!
     
  25. bee

    bee New Member

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    God didn't die for your sins, Jesus did. And, after he died, no one resurected Him.

    You're not going to find a plausible answer to that question no matter what book you read or what interpretation someone tells you. If you DO end up believing it will be based on blind faith or someone cramming into you.

    I fought long and hard for answers but my realization was that Jesus was just a man who really thought He was dying on that cross to save me from some eternal burning place and it's for that reason that I still go to church. He was the ultimate soldier who laid down His life for me.

    I believe when He said "Why hath thou forsaken me" it was done in desperation and the realization that even He had doubts of being saved. Mother Teresa had those same doubts.

    I wish you good luck in your pursuit for an answer.

    Bettina
     

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