I know many intelligent Christians who debate theology and apologetics from first principals. Some of my favorites are some of the Lutheran guys involved in the 1517 project.
Being a Christian isn't about talking to Jesus and hearing voices in your head. It's about is the Bible true yes or no? Did this really happen? Did Christ really die and live again just to pay for my sin..... The Bible is a wonder, it's mere existence is a signal by itself.....
One does not have to believe in the infallibility of the Bible or that Jesus died just to pay for our sins to be a Christian.
Well then you probably define Christianity differently than most would. What do you believe?
I believe that the Bible isn't infallible. All authorityi has been given to Jesus. Salvation is more about being saved from an old way of life into a new way of life than it is about the afterlife. Jesus didn't pay for our sins, he forgave our sins.
I agree that Jesus is the ultimate authority, but the Bible is how God reveals him will to us. The Gospel is the only way to discover who Jesus is and what he did. Are you worried that the Bible has been tampered with by humans to say something false? If so, there are intellectuals who study authenticity of the historical documents.
Yes our sins are forgiven by Jesus, but because Jesus died in our place and rose again.
My concern is not that the Bible has been tampered with, but rather the human limitations and interpretations that could affect its accuracy. The authors would have tried to understand God but they aren't perfect. The intellectuals who study the authenticity of the historical documents are fallible.
If you owe someone a debt, and that debt is paid by a third party, then that debt is never forgiven at all. God doesn't need someone to pay off debt to forgive. He can simply forgive. That's what true forgiveness is. There is no payment in forgiveness.
If Jesus died in our place, then he would have suffered the punishment that comes as a result of sin, which is death (Romans 6:23). So he either died physically or spiritually. If he died physically so that we would not die physically, then why do people still suffer physically death?
The other option is spiritual death which is likely the type of death Paul was talking about. Obviously Jesus didn't die spiritually. Therefore, he did not die in our place.
