Did Jesus really die on a cross?

by moomanchu 27 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  moomanchu

  Believe it or not this was the very very begining of my demise as a dub.

  I picked the simplest thing that dubs disagree with christians on and I thought surely I could come to a conclusion as to wether dubs were right or christendom was right.I wanted to start building my foundation of faith in them.

  I can't believe they are still using this stupid illustration of the loved one murdered by the weapon illustration!

  Idiots, Jesus wasn't murdered he gave his life ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  They have this on their site.

  http://www.watchtower.org/e/200604a/article_01.htm

  more important issue for true Christians should be the propriety of venerating the instrument used to kill Jesus. Whether it was an upright single torture stake, a cross, an arrow, a lance, or a knife, should such an instrument be used in worship?

  Suppose a loved one of yours was brutally murdered and the weapon was submitted to the court as evidence. Would you try to gain possession of the murder weapon, take photographs of it, and print many copies for distribution? Would you produce replicas of the weapon in various sizes? Would you then fashion some of them into jewelry? Or would you have these reproductions commercially manufactured and sold to friends and relatives to be venerated? Likely you would be repulsed at the idea! Yet, these very things have been done with the cross!
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  Gopher

  I would guess that Christians focus on the end result, that they have hope because they believe their Messiah died on a cross. It gives them comfort, that Jesus is said to have loved them so much that he would go through that for them.

  The comparison between the death of Jesus and the murder of a family member or friend would be rejected by Christians who feel that Jesus is resurrected, his death was only temporary and served a greater purpose - as opposed to a senseless murder.
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  Stealth453

  I believe that he was spun to death on Vanna White's Wheel of Fortune.
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  OpenThe3rdEye

  Did supper man really marry Marge Simpson?
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  outnfree

  I'm with Gopher. The point of the crucifix -- Jesus portrayed on the instrument of his death -- is that he "climbed" up there voluntarily on behalf of those who had already or would later put faith in him. Thus the cross is not a MURDER weapon at all. This is why it was wrong for Christians to call Jews Christ-killers. Or for the Romans to be blamed, either. Just as Judas was used as the instrument of Christ's betrayal, and Peter made an example of with his denial, the cross was the means by which local authorities punished treason. Jesus knew full well what type of death he would undergo when he agreed to drink the cup the Father had asked him to drink. That it was a brutal way to die makes the love that he showed humankind that much more astonishing and gratitude inspiring. The crucifix is worn as a way to acknowledge/proclaim one's faith in the power of that sacrifice. It is displayed in houses of worship and homes as a focus for contemplation on that great gift.
  
  outnfree
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  sweet pea

  Someone once said to me that the great thing about the cross (the one without the wee man) was that when they looked at it it reminded them HE WASN'T ON IT ANYMORE! He had been resurrected and conquered sin and death and it was something to be CELEBRATED.
  
  Also, someone else when I threw the typical JW weapon illustration, came back with "well if someone had taken a bullet and died instead of my daughter taking that bullet, I would wear a gun round my neck!" he couldn't see anything wrong with wearing something as a reminder that someone else died for us.
  
  Outnfree sums it up for me in that it stands for us to contemplate the great gift we received for free.
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  Honesty

  Watchtower Society theology has never been well thought out.
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  gaiagirl

  Someone reviewing the film "The Wicker Man" (the original, not the newer version) on Amazon asked a good question, essentially: "If people believed that a man had burned inside a large wicker man, as in the movie, and that this act somehow cleansed us of our sins, would believers wear images of the wicker man as jewelry?" I'm thinking they might.
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  zack

  I believe he was executed on a cross. Christians do not "venerate" the cross, as in worship it as an idol. To them it is a symbol of the power of God's love and the redemption made possible by His son--- who was led as a "sheep" to the slaughter. he is called the lamb, no? JW's are just contrarian.
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  moomanchu

  If Jesus was murdered why didn't Jehovah intervene and stop the murder?

  Since Jehovah didn't intervene to stop the murder of his son is Jehovah guilty of the sin of ommision?