by Ginger Betzer

Created on: March 01, 2009

In the 60's a bible translation titled "Good New for Modern Man" was published. The premise of the title implied that what the reader was going to read about was going to be "good news". Maybe to some it did seem like good news. In it we hear that G-d has sent His only Son to die on the cross for our sins and all we have to do is to believe. This belief pays our way out of hell and gives us eternal bliss in a heavenly place with G-d. It seems good enough. But when we examine the message of Christianity closer we find a gospel, a theology, that has brought only a little good to relatively few. We find a theology that takes the very foundation of it's belief system and negates the most valued aspects of that faith. The good news is not "good" because it is a compromised marginalized attempt at reworking something profoundly good and making it a misconstrued paganized imitation of the real thing.

I do agree that without the message of Jesus the concept of One G-d would not be as widely embraced as it is today. Even though the Trinity leaves much lacking in it's definition of One G-d. Pauline Christians were X-pagan gentiles who knew nothing of the G-d of Torah. Because of the gospels we now have the Tenakh available to all people groups, even if "just" an add on to the new testament. Christianity was also instrumental in bring the concept of G-ds rule on earth through Moschiach an expectation of both Jews and Christians. Add to these ideas a sense of moral obligation to do good, and all in all, Christianity has been positive in many ways. So, why do I say that the Christian Gospels are NOT good news. Because it is not truthful in its remedy for sin and separation from G-d and because it promote a individualized, self-authenticating form of worship that excludes external authority and makes each person their own "god" so to speak, in "working out their own salvation."

What are the negative aspects of this gospel. First and foremost it abdicates personal responsibility for sin. The sacrificial system was not one that magically erased willful transgression. The fact is that in Judaism, a willful transgression could NOT be remedied by a sacrifice...especially a human sacrifice...which was considered an abomination according to the Torah. In fact, Torah specifically states that one man will NOT die for the sin of another. (Ezekiel 18). The eternal truth of "reaping and sowing" seems to be negated by Christian mythology, as does the necessity for following G-d's laws.

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