Weekly Newsletter from Christian Vegetarian Association CVA - November 23, 2017
From Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA)

  1. Original Sin, part 16
  2. This Week’s Sermon from Rev. Frank and Mary Hoffman

1. Original Sin, part 16

Prior essays have discussed difficulties with seeing Jesus’ death as a sacrifice for humanity’s sinfulness. One problem is that attributing Jesus death to the Roman authorities, the priests, and the mob requires that those responsible for murder have achieved salvation as a consequence of their crime. Attributing the gruesome murder of Jesus to God is unsatisfying in that it seems to portray God in an unfavorable light. Perhaps Jesus’ own, voluntary choices inevitably led to his death.

When John the Baptist introduced Jesus, he declared, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). This suggests that Jesus takes away the sin, not God or the humans who were involved in Jesus’ execution. The Bible frequently describes Jesus anticipating his death, I think it is reasonable to conclude that Jesus recognized that his radical teachings would threaten both the priestly and Roman authorities to the point that they would be compelled to kill him. Jesus’ death was by no means a suicide, and Jesus in Gethsemane makes clear he does not want to die. But, he ultimately chose to die for what he believed.

Next week, I will start to discuss how Jesus’ death can be a path toward addressing original sin and gaining personal and communal salvation.

Stephen R. Kaufman, MD

2. This Week’s Sermon from Rev. Frank and Mary Hoffman

Thanksliving Produces Real Thanksgiving

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