Jesus died for our sins. But he was only dead for 3 days. So what did he sacrifice? His weekend. Jesus gave up his weekend for our sins.— Michael Shermer (@michaelshermer) June 6, 2017
From the great atheist theologian Michael Shermer. It's always a mistake when someone tries to be more clever than they are. The result is to expose how dumb they are.
Shermer's quip is a category mistake. Jesus died to atone for the guilt of sin.* Guilt (culpability, blameworthiness) is a moral category, which makes it a qualitative rather than quantitative category. Duration is quantitative. The duration of his death is irrelevant to its atoning value. The principle isn't duration but substitution.
*To be more precise, to atone for elect sinners.
The length of time seems irrelevant. He voluntarily gave up his dignity. Was spat on. Beaten. Scourged and crucified.
ReplyDeleteWhat a nasty piece of works this man is.
> It's always a mistake when someone tries to be more clever than they are.
ReplyDeleteQuite. Could someone just check with Mr. Shermer whether he believes that if someone punches him every time he walks out of his front door, and spits in the face of his wife or daughters etc., all it would cost them is a fraction of a second, and therefore he'd count that as an inconsequential and thus unobjectionable act?