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Following Jesus in nonviolent struggle for justice and peace, we love our neighbors and enemies as God loves us all, becoming a peace church to share in Gods work to save the world.

Christ Died for our Sins

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      Paul writes in I Corinthians 15 that Christ died for our sins. But who explains to us what that actually means?

      Does it mean, according to popular church teaching, that God needed someone to die because of sin, and "generously" sent Jesus to die for our sins, meeting that "need," so that we don't have to die for our own sins?

      What kind of need would God have that requires human death/sacrifice to "pay the price of sin?"   What kind of God would have that kind of need?

      These are questions which are being asked of some of the church's traditional "atonement theology."

       Now what if "Christ died for our sins" means that Jesus died for (because of our human sinning) our sins instead of killing for them? That is, what if Jesus did not think that people or the world are healed or saved by killing some bad people, as our national mythology and popular culture tell us? What if he thought that the world is healed when people are willing to die for the sins of others instead of killing for them? A superior, new way of responding to enemies. That would be good news, wouldn't it?

John K. Stoner jstoner@ecapc.org

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