Here is the premise.
Humans need rescuing from death.
Why do they die in the first place?
They INHERIT death.
How?
???????????
From who?
Their ancient proto-parents: Adam and Eve.
Explain please.
1.Humans were contingent creatures. The contingency meant they had to supply their physical bodies with the energy fuels from the death of other living things. Further:
2.They had to do as they were told to do. The only autonomous feature of their so-called FREE WILL was to choose to do as they were told. (How this is considered superior to being created with built-in RIGHT instincts is a separate issue).
3.Adam and Eve were offered information that appeared to be superior to the contingency plan. They could be like God. God didn't have to follow anybody's plans but his own. They chose this course and were punished.
4.Punishment? Death. The transmission of death continued in all humans.
STOP RIGHT HERE!
The next part is very important. Why? Because it is the PREMISE for all that follows.
1.(God) By choosing to make humans INHERIT (?) sin without having yet committed it (!) all humans would die regardless of how carefully they lived.
2.The humans now needed a rescue or they would all die eventually.
Does anybody notice how contrived this is?
1.Rather than letting each human have equal standing in obeying god (as Adam and Eve did) he puts an EXTRA barrier between them. a.They must be rescued from the inherited sin FIRST and only then will they be allowed equal standing in regard to obedience. b.They must recognize the method of rescue and go along with it.
2.The Rescuer figures heavily into the equation. The Rescuer (Messiah) is a proxy. Instead of humans dealing with God they must deal with the proxy.
This whole Byzantine (Rube Goldberg) twisty "plan" of rescue only exists in the first place because decided it would.
Note: The above "interpretation" is just plain nonsensical. It is mainly the invention of Origen and Augustine.
Sin is entirely what God chooses to regard as wrong behavior. But, being "born" with sin is just plainly impossible! There is no mechanism of transmission of bad behavior that hasn't happened.
You may as well punish somebody for being tall or blue-eyed or left-handed for all the justice of it.
The ancient Jews' view of Messiah was far less complex than the above. The Jews believed a man would come along who was "in good" with God and would be selected to be a King and a Priest. This chosen and anointed man would be the greatest ruler of all time. This Messiah would rule a world government. Everybody would benefit from his rulership. The idea of Messiah requiring of his constituency that they "believe" in him is absent.
The "apostle" Paul hijacked the history of Jews and their concept of Messiah and contorted it into something entirely foreign. It was a Platonic ideal. Jesus was something Pagan's could easily understand. Jesus was a god in human form. He would rule "up there" and not down here. (No proof required).
It was all assertion and salesmanship.
The apostles had walked and talked with Jesus and he had explained himself to them. But, Paul seems to know everything and they know nothing. How? Paul's interpretations were entirely contrary! He invented his own apostleship. He invented the plot of rescue and the greater Adam substituting for the original Adam. Paul's explanation supplied the ONE missing piece of information the genuine apostles lacked. Paul could EXPLAIN WHY THE MESSIAH (Jesus) DIED!
All of Paul's sci-fi ideas were untestable. They were easy for Pagan's to accept and they filled in the missing part of the logic for the natural Jews who had followed Jesus.
That is why Christianity was successful and Judaism was consigned to fringe lunacy.
The Jews had to be accused of being the culprits for their non-belief. They were the only true witnesses of the actual events and the ones best qualified to give counter-evidence.
The rest is history.
