The Problem with the New Testament
But like the last article I wrote in this series about the violence and evil not only sanctioned by Yahweh but ordered by him in the Old Testament, the New Testament is fraught with problems which, in my mind, far exceed those of the Old Testament.
Firstly, Jesus claimed to be able to forgive sin. Let’s take a closer look at this. It is one thing to forgive another person if they have offended you in some way. If someone steals your new Mustang convertible and is caught by police, depending on circumstance and the thief’s sincerity, you might want to forgive that individual if he agrees to some kind of restitution, however small, and he shows signs of repentance.
Now, if this car thief has damaged your Mustang and ridicules you in court because he has no job or insurance, you would probably feel very different, particularly if the damage is not covered because of your deductible. If the hearing judge tells the thief, “Since you are young and with no means of reimbursement, all is forgiven, go in peace,” now, you might justifiably be angry at both the thief and the judge. A ruling like this by Judge Judy would probably warrant the end of her long-running TV program.
Yet, this is what Jesus would do. He told people their sins were forgiven without ever okaying this with the people affronted by someone else’s sin. Christian writer and staunch apologist, C.S. Lewis mentions this in his book, Mere Christianity (pages 51-52).
“This makes sense only if he (Jesus) really was the God whose laws are broken and whose love is wounded in every sin … Either this man was, and is the Son of God: or else a madman and something worse.”
Secondly, it seems that reverse engineering has been written into Christianity but probably not intentionally. Only after John and early church doctors had established the philosophy that the being, Jesus, was the Word, the Logos, the anointed Son of God, it appears that in the 9th century, an English monk and historian, Eadmer (died 1124?) prepared a tract mentioning a stainless conception of Mary into her mother Anne's womb (De Conceptione Sanctae Mariae).
This Immaculate Conception of Mary then became a celebrated liturgical feast in England. This unusual conception was necessary because the mother of God would need to be sinless—without blemish, or she would genetically pass on to Jesus the original sin all babies have suffered since Eve and Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden. As a sinless person, Mary was capable of conceiving Jesus in her own womb via the Holy Spirit, rather than by sexual impregnation by her husband, Joseph. Now, Jesus had an earthly Mother Mary and a heavenly Father, Almighty God.
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