Why did god have to incarnate as a human, anyway?
Posted by Conference Herald on July 31st, 2010 at 02:00pm
Question by Anarchlown: Why did god have to incarnate as a human, anyway?
It’s generally accepted by Christians that God sacrificed his only son (John 3:16) to free the world from the burden of original sin (a burden he himself inflicted), the thing that’s never been convincingly explained to me is WHY?
Since god imposed the original curse, surely he sets the parameters for it being lifted. It could have been, someone has to hop around mecca twice, backwards. It could have been, “You are cursed to eternal death until everyone in Barnsley says ‘cod roes’ simultaneously”, Original Sin could have been lifted at the hour when a dog waterskis with a hamster on the evening news. Instead, an all-loving, omnipotent god decided that his own curse could only be lifted by incarnating on this earth, and then being tortured to death. WHY?
The Muslims, Gnostic Christians and probably other sects I’m unaware of believe that Jesus Christ was a divinely inspired holy prophet, one in a succession. This gets rid of the need to create increasingly complex and irrational tales to explain the incarnation of a monotheistic, infinte deity into a separate, human form.
Has the church painted itself into a corner here, and can’t excape it’s position because they’re too proud to admit they’re wrong? Doesn’t logic demand that we rethink this whole thing? it’s crazy.
Alternatively, has anyone seen or read a convincing argument for precisely why it had to be this way? The most convincing arguments I’ve seen talk of God being bound by laws he himself cannot break, but for me this simply raises more questions. Who established these rules, and who has the authority to enforce them? What happens if god breaks these meta-rules, how is he punished and by whom (and has this already happened)?
Assume that I believe in the teachings of Christ, and assume that I know my scripture. Spare me the second-hand fire and brimstone routines, please.
Best answer:
Answer by Swarm
It’s a lie.
Add your own answer in the comments!
Under Summer
16 Comments for Why did god have to incarnate as a human, anyway?
1. Faith | July 31st, 2010 at 2:46 pm
no answer, but just curious- what form do you think would have been more suitable?
2. Franhusda | July 31st, 2010 at 3:22 pm
Jesus did that to save YOUR sorry A*** !
May God bless you as you study His Word
<: )))><
3. Ptah | July 31st, 2010 at 4:06 pm
Someone had to be the first Pharaoh …
4. Karim Benjamin | July 31st, 2010 at 4:32 pm
Any Christian will tell you it was the only way God could forgive us. That really puts a lot of limits on God and also makes Him out to be bloodthirsty if he needs a living sacrifice to forgive. Sounds a bit like what the Aztecs did to please the gods. For me, all that is needed for forgiveness is a sincere heart, lament for what you did, and asking in God alone to forgive you and help you.
Thanks for the question, as salam wa laikum.
5. Lightandtruth | July 31st, 2010 at 5:13 pm
First to overcome death. He was resurrected. He was given that power. Then gave us that power to come out of the grave perfect and whole. Unconditional.
Second, to overcome sin. To bear the sins of the world of those who repent, otherwise we must. The law states all sin must be punished, the Law of mercy says if that sin is suffered (Christ) then it is forgiven and you become clean by his act. Conditional
6. panda | July 31st, 2010 at 6:08 pm
We are not meant to know in this life time but I promise you one day we will all get to see the big picture and ALL will be revealed but it want happen in this life time as humans. We must walk in faith until the time comes.
7. melody j | July 31st, 2010 at 6:20 pm
Man invited sin and therefore death. He sent His son because humans feel pain, showing that Jesus would suffer excruciating pain and even death for us. God doesn’t break those laws;, because it isn’t his nature he enforced them, established them, and has all the authority.
8. pleaides.phoenix | July 31st, 2010 at 6:45 pm
In my belief, God is unique without any son or daughter, without any parent. Original sin is a fiction perhaps. We have fallen to this earth to live and pass the time to arrive in another world to continue the way of perfection, all religions have many false things that you have to omit such subjects and get it fruits which is good thought, good speech and good deed from Adam to Abraham, from Mousa to Jesus and to Mohammad, there is not any complicated things, just good thought, good speech and good deed.
9. nebulajr@ymail.com | July 31st, 2010 at 7:40 pm
The Gnostic’s do not think Jesus was a person. Gnostic means “to know”. The ancients believed the story in the sky written by God was to be lived identically on earth “so above , so below”. The jesus story is one of many stories about the suns path through the zodiac. The story of Jesus is a guide on how each and every one of us should live our lives. Jesus Christ is you. A story about human kind.
the books below will give more details.
10. Ready for Action | July 31st, 2010 at 7:54 pm
First of all Gnostic’s had no “doctrine” concerning Jesus. Secondly, your definition of “Original Sin” is the generally accepted one in the West. Where-as in Orthodoxy the fall of man is called the ancestral sin. It means that we inherited the fallen state of man and earth from Adam, but not his “guilt” for his “sin”. In the Garden Man was at one with God (not in the Buddhist sense) in that we partook in the life of God. This included eternal life. Mans disobedience to God called the world to fall. Jesus came to right that circumstance. That is why he is sometimes called the Second Adam or the Son of Man. He makes right what Adam made wrong. Through his salvific act we can again participate fully in the life of God. Not just after physical death, but in this life through constant prayer, meditation and study.
11. Mrg_Love_and_Wisdom | July 31st, 2010 at 7:58 pm
But you deny the most basic affirmation of Christianity !!! — That GOD is not under necessity…not in Creation and not in Redemption. It is not a matter of logic.
And that matter has not been decided. There is the Scotist position and the Aquinas and the Church has never come down on either side. In fact John Henry Newman came out for the Scotist position which surprised a lot of people like you who thought this was settled.
So until you stop with ‘it had to be this way’, there is no talking with you. Both Scotus and Aquinas agree on that : IT DID NOT HAVE TO BE ANY WAY.
And you don’t know your Scripture. In Genesis it says that man was made in the image and likeness of God, which is why there are many theologians who say Jesus would have come even if no one had sinned.
You are simply big-time ignorant.
12. Joe R | July 31st, 2010 at 8:18 pm
The teachings of the faith weren’t “figured out”, they were revealed. They reflect the faith of the earliest believers from their experience of Christ. Faith is a way of grasping what the intellect can’t fathom in its limitation. So there’s no intellectual “box” for the Church to paint itself into.
God also didn’t impose a curse on mankind. He made us intelligent beings, who could choose for ourselves what we want to be about; we chose pride and set up a whole dynamic away from union with Him.
God respects our choice and won’t impose His will on us. If we’re to attain bliss, He needs us to cooperate with Him. He didn’t have to become incarnate, but He’s God and that’s how he chose to connect with us at our creaturely level to “open the door” back to Him, and to teach us what it takes to walk through it.
The free choice is still ours and He’ll wait.
No tortured explanations here.
13. rebelizcar | July 31st, 2010 at 8:23 pm
Many people wouldn’t have accepted God if His Son had not died.
His Son went through the many temptations we do. Jesus had even been tempted by the devil in the desert for 40 days. So He has expirienced first hand how hard it is living in a world with sin.
God is God, we are not meant to understand him fully until we die. I have been a christian for a long time, and i still don’t fully understand it.
But from what I do know and beleive in my heart, God is so big and powerful that humans aren’t meant to undrstand him. God made the rules and lives by them, he made the rules after his image, and technically the rule is to try and be more like Jesus and less like the world. All these rules he made are what he was already doing before time began.
I have learned and seen a lot of branches of Christianity, and the one that explained the Bible to me most clearly is Baptists. I would ask a preacher for more info about this. also, try finding “The Message” it is
the Bible but in modern language.
Hope this helps!
14. inquisitive1 | July 31st, 2010 at 8:55 pm
I think you need to seek your answer from a book called “The Case for Christ” by Lee Strobel. In this book it answers most of the faqs regarding Jesus by theologians, scholars, and professors. In this way you may find the answer you seek and have it by reputable people.
Also, there is a radio program called “To Every Man an Answer” which answers questions such as this.
You may assume I am a follower of Christ. Shalom.
15. Fr Alexander | July 31st, 2010 at 9:10 pm
I agree with “Ready for Action”.
God incarnated for many reasons –
a) To demonstrate His Love for His fallen creation
b) To renew the fallen human nature, by His own sinless perfection during His incarnation in human flesh
c) To provide us with an avenue to Holy Communion with God – i.e. the Holy Body and Blood of Christ
d) To teach us about God, who is inherently unknowable unless He is revealed to us
e) To show as a perfect example of humanity (as it was meant to be) for us to emulate
f) To allow the Infinite God to come into direct contact with the fallen finite world
g) Perhaps the most important by Christ’s Death – He destroyed Death!
I could go on, but the point is – God chose to redeem the world in a manner that was pleasing to Him. It is _not_ the false teaching of “infinte satisfaction” but a more lofty/fundamental redeeming of human nature from its fallen state.
John 12:24
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
16. Denise M | July 31st, 2010 at 9:59 pm
So you understand the curse, lets just change that word or sake of explaination to consequence. Man (Adam and Eve) were incapable of following one rule (ONE RULE, ONE) that always gets me. We couldn’t get it right with just one. Now consider all we lost in the Garden of Eden (as we understand seeing what happened in the old testiment) intimacy with God (man was required to go through a holy man), dominion (we lost the authority and were now bound to rules, rituals, etc) innocense (along with knowledge of good and evil came the consequence for sin), provision of God (man now had to toil the land), fellowship with God (in the garden man walked with God), immortality (our lifespan was shortened to 150 years.
Jesus came to give life and life in abundance. He came to restore to man what God intended in the first place. All of this and more. Jesus broke the vail (which represented the inner court where only they holy priest could enter), donimion, Jesus left us the Holy Spirit which in the power of God, Innocense through His sacrafice of His precious blood we are made pure, trust in God Jesus it is our trust in Jesus that restores us to the Father, fellowship with God, we can through Jesus walk with God.
Compare all that was lost in the garden and all that was gained after Jesus’ death.
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