Monday, 18 May 2009

• A Question of Possibly Infinite Importance

  A question.
  
  If you were going to die and a stranger pushed you out of the way and died for you, would you be passive about it? 
  
  An analogy.
  
  You are alive and healthy but have amnesia.  There are people who swear that someone pushed you out of the way of a truck and saved your life, sacrificing his well-being instead.  Someone that they know.  But you cannot remember clearly.
  
  It is a clear possibility that the only reason you're living is because of this person. 
  You don't take time to ask the witnesses that say the stranger was hit in your stead.  You don't take time to ask about this person, or find him.  After all, this is a person whom you cannot ascertain actually exists, because you have neither time nor energy to waste on trying to seek out the truth.
  
  You're living, and you know you're living, so that is that.
  
  ---------------------
  
  If the above scenario really did occur, would we remain passive?  Humankind has always found affinity with the idea of noble sacrifice for the sake of another-- characters in literature and films are often heroes for that very reason.  If we are so affected by a sacrifice made for someone else, shouldn't we be impacted and transformed by a sacrifice made for us, because of our guilt and imperfection, by someone who had no share in our sin but paid for it in death?  It is obvious what would be done in the case above.  So how can we be passive about a similar situation possibly infinitely more importance?
  
  "Christianity, if true, is of infinite importance.  If false, it is of no importance.  The only thing it cannot be is moderately important."
  
  If there was a possibility that a person saved you from getting hit by a truck and became a paralytic instead of you, if true, it would be of incredible importance to you.  If not, if there was no such situation with a truck, then there was no great sacrifice and you would not waste your time looking for the nonexistent savior.
  
  Though the analogy is imperfect,
  Jesus is represented by the person who is said to have been hit in your stead.  He faced the infinite wrath of God on the cross, was forsaken, and died for us, to pay the punishment for our sin.  Side note for those narrowing their eyes while reading “our sin”: How do we measure our goodness?  If the point of reference is a God who is absolutely holy, and we do, say, 5 bad things a day, that adds up.  We can do our best to be good, but we cannot work our way up to perfection and save ourselves.
  
  If the creator of the universe, completely holy, humbled himself to be born into the world and die for the sake of saving mankind, that is of infinite importance.  To address the immensity of this claim, it seems more logical to contemplate it sincerely and look for evidence rather than ignore the possibility without knowing what is actually being dismissed.  Sometimes there is reliance on preconceived or maybe erroneous notions, even though they are countered by the most critical of historical scholars*

  
  

  Isn’t it fair to seriously contemplate and gather reliable information about a question that, if true, would involve the single most momentous event in the history of the universe?

  
  

  
  

  *... for instance, eye witness accounts and Jesus’ claim of divinity are dismissed by some skeptics, while affirmed by scholars.
  

  The Gospels were written around the time period of the same generation that would have witnessed Jesus’ resurrection, and therefore people would have protested had no one seen a resurrected Jesus, especially considering that names of witnesses are actually recorded.  Fabrication is rather out of the question; a few of the various reasons: the Gospels record the disciples' behavior, which makes them look pretty bad at times.  Also, the disciples who were martyred would not have died in the name of Christianity had they not themselves believed.  Jesus himself claimed divinity several times; there are instances in which the Gospel writers record the people tried to stone him or injure him for making such a claim. If he isn't who he says he is, the only options that remain are that he is either insane or a blasphemous liar whom non Christians today respect as a great moral teacher.

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