Sometimes I wonder why Jesus Christ is attacked with such viciousness. I don't know the answer. Maybe it is because people know deep inside there maybe something right about it but would rather attack it than think about it or change. Maybe it is because becoming a Christian is so against everything we now believe in our culture (being cool, materialism, it is all about me, PC politics, etc.). Maybe it is because some live their entire lives in a set of beliefs and near the end of it look back and see it all mattered for nothing and are pissed.
Sometimes the concept of hell gets people worked up. The argument on "How can a good God cast people into hell when they have lived a pretty good life" is false logic. Hell is a place where God is absent. This is exactly what the people who rejected God all their lives wanted. The "pit" of hell maybe a very comfortable place where everyone who rejected God their entire lives must now reside knowing they had lived their lives in a lie. That they had wasted it all. That actually may be worse than a guy with pitchfork.
God has given us all the "free will" to chose. God has sent his only son to die for us, to suffer for our sins and to show us the way. God could have easily made a bunch of robots that would do everything he said but instead loved us enough for us to make our own decisions. I tell people to make their own decision after they have reviewed the evidence. After all, Jesus Christ's resurrection is either the supreme fact in the history of mankind or a gigantic hoax. If Christ's resurrection is true -- people ignore its implications at their own peril. If not -- Christianity is the biggest fraud in the history of the world and should be easy enough to disprove. If they believe it is a hoax, then they must take an honest look at the evidence. And the evidence is overwhelming...
"Sometimes I wonder why Jesus Christ is attacked with such viciousness."
Not sure, but I think a lot has to do with accountability and judgment, combined with denial. If you deny Him, or attack Him, then you can rationalize sinfulness and bad behavior that can be so satisfying on a base level.
Unfortunately the answer is simple, there is not much power with the "other gods" however, when the name of Jesus Christ is mentioned you automatically feel guilty of your sin, whether you believe in him or not, that is what true righteousness does it convicts the soul of its misdeeds. You can only feel comfortable with the name of Jesus once you repent.
Who attacks Jesus Christ "with viciousness"? Christians maybe, but Christ himself?
Maybe it's because some Christians are very poor representatives of their religion.
As an example; my child is diagnosed with a life-shortening disease, then my other child is diagnosed (a year later) with a crippling disease. I was devastated and trying to come to terms with a loving, just God and the whole *wrongness* of little kids being struck down so young in life. My Christian acquaintance stops by to see if we need anything and offers me this comfort: The reason both my children have been hit with this is because of the sins of our Fathers. Since we're *all* sinners, I, my husband or even the kids themselves must have done *something* to deserve this and once we're all convinced and repentant, then the children will either be healed "by the Stripes of Christ" or we'll be at peace carrying the cross of our sins through these diseases.
Now, I wasn't offended by all this. She's a good heart and I know that she meant well, but I will *not* convince my kids that it's somehow their fault or their parents' fault that their bodies have betrayed them. They did *nothing* wrong. My husband and I have both screwed up in our lives and we both have repented and straightened ourselves out. (And we repent every day that we continue to make new mistakes or fall back on our too human faults and work very hard to do better next time.)
I adore Christ, but Christians, on the other hand...
Christ was the Redeamer. Christ taught us that we can change and be forgiven. Christ was the sacrifice. And yet many, many Christians still believe that *everyone* needs a good whuppin'.
Because he came to make ALL religion obsolete, and DID...
Atheists more or less could care less.. BUT the...
(You know)...
He essentially went from atheist to deist.
This is big since of his scientific claim, but he still will be in hell.
"Sometimes the concept of hell gets people worked up. The argument on "How can a good God cast people into hell when they have lived a pretty good life" is false logic. Hell is a place where God is absent. This is exactly what the people who rejected God all their lives wanted. The "pit" of hell maybe a very comfortable place where everyone who rejected God their entire lives must now reside knowing they had lived their lives in a lie. That they had wasted it all. That actually may be worse than a guy with pitchfork."
Or as Viggo Mortensen's character of Lucifer said in "The Prophecy": "You know what Hell really is Thomas? It's not lakes of burning oil or chains of ice. It's being removed from God's sight. It's hard to believe... so hard." PErhaps, that might indeed be worse than lakes of fire and brimstone.
Jesus said they attacked Him, "because He testified that their works were evil." People go to hell for one reason (sin). Rather than accept the only answer to their sin problem, they choose to remain in sin and as a result make hell their eternal home. They inherited the sin nature as a result of father Adam's sin. Now, they refuse to accept the antedote (Jesus Christ, the second Adam), who came to redeem them. They now hate anything that exposes their sin!