Child Sacrifice and Jesus' Death

[MysticMissMisty]

Salvete, omnes!

(First, again, I’m not quite sure where a post like this should go, so, please feel free to move it!)

This question has been bothering me, in some form or another, for some time now.

Jesus Christ is called the Son of God. He died on the Cross as a sacrifice for our sins.

Is not this, then, in some way, a kind of child sacrifice? I mean, I realize that Jesus has, in some way, been co-existent with the Father and the Holy Spirit, but, if He is called the Son of God, He seems to, in some sense, have a kind of Father-Son relationship with God the Father, does He not?

Also, we must remember that, yes, Christ has a Divine Nature, but He also has a human one, and that they both exist at the same time. We must also remember that God, in some human sense, “bore” Jesus to Mary, even though He did so in a supernatural way. So, here again, we have a possible Father-Son relationship with God the Father to (at least the uman aspect of) God the Son.

Even if the “Son of God” title is not representing any kind of parental relationship, if God prohibited child sacrifice to the Jewish people, why would God even allow Jesus to be called the Son if it would likely cause, and possibly for good/valid reasons, Jews to stumble at this potential idea that God was committing child sacrifice contrary to His Own Will?

I get that Jesus is said to have sacrificed Himself willingly, and maybe this is the real issue at hand here in the earlier prohibition against child sacrifice vs. the situation with Jesus’ death?

As I understand it, many so-called “oneness” Pentecostals as well as JWs and even some (many?) Jews bring this up as proof against the traditional Christian doctrines regarding the Trinity.

Guys, I am really having a hard time with all this right now, and it is causing me to question (while never outright rejecting, of course!) some fundamental things. Please help where you can!

Gratias maximas!

 

[Della]

But Jesus wasn’t sacrificed as a minor, with no say in the matter. He was fully adult when he decided to allow himself to be condemned and crucified. He laid down his life of his own free will, knowing full well who he is and what his relationship with the Father is. It’s more like a soldier who throws himself on a grenade to save his buddies, than the killing of a child on a pagan altar. Those who use this are skewing it to seem like he was a victim with no say, but far from it. He longed to do the Father’s will–he was fully on board with redeeming mankind, to be the alter Adam, the second Adam to make reparation for sin as Adam couldn’t. Even as a Protestant this shouldn’t be a problem–rather it should be something for which we thank God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for the willingness to die for us when he had no sin and had done nothing wrong, but wished to save us and restore us to God’s grace–to his grace as much as to his Father’s and the Holy Spirit’s.

 

[808Catholic]

Agreeing with @Della.

Jesus offered His Life as sacrifice for all. This is vastly different from someone offering up something’s that not his/her’s to offer like the pagans did with child sacrifice. Final thought: Jesus is like no other being who ever lived. He is God Incarnate so we cannot draw any direct parallels between His Passion and what we can offer as mere humans. Hope this helps in some way.

 

[captainrick]

Jesus was God. Therefore He sacrificed Himself. His sacrifice substituted for, and put an end to, human sacrifice as practiced by pagans, and the animal sacrifice practiced by the Jews.

 

[Antegin]

A Dr. Jill-Amy Levine presents a series on the old testament. She has a deep controversial discussion of the Abram, Isaac story. She explains that the people of the time universally sacrificed their first born to their god. That seems horrific to us but in an age with no written language, no science, polytheism, (the Schma Yshra,'el and the whole concept of monotheism wasn’t introduced until the time of Moses,) disease, famine and illness everywhere, people were pretty desperate to appease the gods and the life of the firstborn seemed a fitting price.

These ‘‘child’’ sacrifices were not necessarily of children. The first born child could be sacrificed as an adult and after siring children. Dr. Levine told protostories (stories that were the literary root of inspired stories such as Gilgamesh was for Noah) including one in which the only son was killed at 33 years of age.

In the inspired story of Isaac, the child is spared and God Himself provides the sacrifice. It portends not just another child sacrifice but the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, who was born for the no other purpose than uniting mankind and God.

 

[fhansen]

Salvete, omnes!

(First, again, I’m not quite sure where a post like this should go, so, please feel free to move it!)

This question has been bothering me, in some form or another, for some time now.

Jesus Christ is called the Son of God. He died on the Cross as a sacrifice for our sins.

Is not this, then, in some way, a kind of child sacrifice? I mean, I realize that Jesus has, in some way, been co-existent with the Father and the Holy Spirit, but, if He is called the Son of God, He seems to, in some sense, have a kind of Father-Son relationship with God the Father, does He not?

Also, we must remember that, yes, Christ has a Divine Nature, but He also has a human one, and that they both exist at the same time. We must also remember that God, in some human sense, “bore” Jesus to Mary, even though He did so in a supernatural way. So, here again, we have a possible Father-Son relationship with God the Father to (at least the uman aspect of) God the Son.

Even if the “Son of God” title is not representing any kind of parental relationship, if God prohibited child sacrifice to the Jewish people, why would God even allow Jesus to be called the Son if it would likely cause, and possibly for good/valid reasons, Jews to stumble at this potential idea that God was committing child sacrifice contrary to His Own Will?

I get that Jesus is said to have sacrificed Himself willingly, and maybe this is the real issue at hand here in the earlier prohibition against child sacrifice vs. the situation with Jesus’ death?

As I understand it, many so-called “oneness” Pentecostals as well as JWs and even some (many?) Jews bring this up as proof against the traditional Christian doctrines regarding the Trinity.

Guys, I am really having a hard time with all this right now, and it is causing me to question (while never outright rejecting, of course!) some fundamental things. Please help where you can!

Gratias maximas!

How could this be an argument against the Trinity? The groups mentioned still believe Jesus is the Son of God, and that He was sacrificed.