Monday 29 January 2024
Substitutionary atonement falsifies unconditional immortality and thus eternal conscious torment
Isaiah ch.53:5NKJV"But He was wounded[k] for our transgressions,
He was [l]bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes[m] we are healed."
John ch.1:29NJV"The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
The animal sacrifices under law which set the principle for the mechanism of Christ own ransom were clearly of a substitutionary sort. That is why we read.
Leviticus ch.17:11NIV"For the life(lit.soul) of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life(lit.soul). c"
The blood of these animals can serve as a token of their conscious existence because their conscious existence (or even subconscious existence is dependent on blood) so God was willing to accept the offering of this innocent creature's lifeblood as a substitute to the truly repentant worshipper's life. The meaning of the whole transaction was an acknowledgement that JEHOVAH Does not owe the gift of life ,let alone life as a Son of God to anyone. But if our personhood is not dependent on blood as would be the case if we are unconditionally immortal or a spirit being then the substitutionary nature of the transaction is falsified.
Christ's blood is called a superior offering to that of animal sacrifices under her law because like the first Adam before the fall he was utterly sinless and hence entitled to perpetual and perfect human life. His blood could only be token this if his life/personhood was dependent on same. If as leviticus ch.17:10,11 says of the typical victims that their souls were in their blood,so to speak, was true of him also.
Matthew Ch.20:28NIV"just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give(not lend)his life(lit.soul) as a ransom for many.”"
Isaiah ch.53:12NIV"Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life(lit.soul)unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."
The fact that an offering of perfect sinless flesh and blood was deemed as a worthy ransom sufficient to restore us to same sinless state possessed by our founders. Indicates that perfect human flesh and blood can sustain a sinless and perfect human life indefinitely. And that a perpetual future existence is not dependent on the possession of any immortal soul distinct from the body.
Jesus surrender of his superfluous physical form for parts of three days would not be a substitution for the eternal suffering of such an immortal spirit soul or the immortal body that would accompany it in its eternal suffering.
So we can have the offering of Jesus' sinless flesh and blood i.e his human perfection as a true substitutionary ransom or we can have unconditional immortality and eternal conscious torment but not both.
Matthew Henry's commentary on Michael the great prince.
"Michael signifies, Who is like God, and his name, with the title of the great Prince, points out the Divine Saviour. Christ stood for the children of our people in their stead as a sacrifice, bore the curse for them, to bear it from them. He stands for them in pleading for them at the throne of grace. And after the destruction of antichrist, the Lord Jesus shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and He shall appear for the complete redemption of all his people."
Matthew Henry
(As tends to be the case) The slippery slope gets the last laugh.
Now Doctors to Help Younger People Commit Suicide by Self-Starvation
The euthanasia movement not only promotes lethal injection and assisted suicide but what is known in the death crowd’s parlance as VSED, which stands for “voluntary stop eating and drinking.” Because starving and dehydrating oneself produces agony, VSED usually requires a doctor’s palliative assistance to ameliorate what would be otherwise unbearable suffering that would lead the despairing person to give up the attempt.
VSED is pushed here for the elderly by groups like Compassion & Choices. Now, in the Netherlands, younger people are to be granted help in starving themselves to death. From the Dutch News story:
Doctors’ federation KNMG has scrapped the age limit for care for people who have chosen to end their lives by refusing to eat and drink.
Some 700 people a year die by this method in the Netherlands. Under the new guideline, meant for doctors and other caregivers, people younger than 60 can now also apply for end of life care, for instance from a hospice.
Hospice, properly understood, provides palliative and other medical and social services to people who are terminally ill. But now, apparently Dutch hospices will do that for people who would not be dying but for starving and dehydrating themselves.
The Theory of Harm Reduction
In the usual Dutch manner, experts opine that rather than seek to prevent awful occurrences, it must be accommodated — the theory of harm reduction:
De Graeff, who works as a doctor at the Demeter hospice, said space must be made for younger people wishing to die by refusing food and drink. “If a patient has made the considered choice to do this, we can all think what we like,” he said. “But if that is what they want then it is better to do it in an environment where they can be supported than on their own.”
NO. Doctors and hospices can — and should — refuse to participate in any patient’s suicide. That doesn’t mean refusing to help the suicidal person. Of course, prevention efforts should be engaged. But it does mean refusing to be complicit.
Of course, we in the U.S. have our own such issues, even beyond pernicious VSED advocacy. After all, Terri Schiavo — who would not otherwise have been dying but for the medically unnecessary removal of her feeding tube — spent her last years in a hospice. And her agony wasn’t even palliated. Due to the demands of her husband, her family wasn’t even allowed to soothe her drying and cracking lips with ice chips. What a vile travesty.
It’s almost like the West has developed a death cult. Or maybe, not “almost.”
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