Alexis Georg Hoen
New member
The interpretation of the sacrificial death of Jesus by the Roman Catholic Church and many others is the one proposed by St. Anselm, namely that Jesus paid by his death for the sins of humanity. It echoes the passage in the letter to the Hebrews (9:11-14) which sees him as taking place of the "goats and calves" sacrificed by a priest on the Day of Atonement.
But I do not believe that that sacrificial ritual relates to the death of Jesus. He did not die on the Day of Atonement but on the Day of Passover and identified not with the "goats and calves" but with the Passover Lamb. The sacrifice of the Lamb was a means of escaping from captivity in Egypt, just as we may escape from sin and death by sacrificing our selfish acts and desires. Jesus's sacrifice is not a payment for sins but an example pointing a way out of the captivity of sinful selfishness. It is a culmination and validation of the entire body of his teaching.
The theory of "payment" is based on the view that evil in the world is the result of human wickedness, of a debt incurred by Adam and his descendants. But in reality evil is needed for the definition of good, and death for the realization of life. God exposes the world, his beloved child, to suffering and death so that it may live. This is symbolized by the suffering of Jesus, the Son of God, and by his Resurrection.
But I do not believe that that sacrificial ritual relates to the death of Jesus. He did not die on the Day of Atonement but on the Day of Passover and identified not with the "goats and calves" but with the Passover Lamb. The sacrifice of the Lamb was a means of escaping from captivity in Egypt, just as we may escape from sin and death by sacrificing our selfish acts and desires. Jesus's sacrifice is not a payment for sins but an example pointing a way out of the captivity of sinful selfishness. It is a culmination and validation of the entire body of his teaching.
The theory of "payment" is based on the view that evil in the world is the result of human wickedness, of a debt incurred by Adam and his descendants. But in reality evil is needed for the definition of good, and death for the realization of life. God exposes the world, his beloved child, to suffering and death so that it may live. This is symbolized by the suffering of Jesus, the Son of God, and by his Resurrection.