Christ's death was unjust if physical death wasn't the penalty for sin
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Claim
"[I]f physical human death was not really an important part of the penalty for sin, then the agonizingly cruel physical death of Christ on the cross was not necessary to pay that penalty, and thus would be gross miscarriage of justice on God's part."
Source
- Morris, Henry M., 2000 (June). The vital importance of believing in recent creation. Back to Genesis 138: a-c. [1]
- Gitt, Werner, 1993. Did God Use Evolution?, p. 103
Responses
- This is based exclusively on one theological interpretation of the atonement. The physical death that Christ experienced may have been a sacrifice in exchange for our spiritual well-being, not just our physical lives.
- If Christ paid the penalty of death, and the penalty involved is physical death, are we to take it that nobody in history has ever been a (true) Christian and thus gained physical immortality?
- It is not for Morris or any other mortal to judge the righteousness of God's actions. (Although this may be a contentious claim. Some Christians may believe that we can judge God and determine from what we see that he is perfectly good, while some atheists may believe that we can judge "God" and determine that he must be evil. Despite this, it is at least a tenable position that mortals cannot judge God, so it's included here as a response.)
- This is a theologically dangerous statement, since it pulls God into the realm of science. According to this, by studying the natural world, we can conceivably disprove Christianity.
Fallacies contained in this claim
- Appeal to Consequences ("I don't like the consequences of Adam not having sinned")
- Non Sequitur (...)
Related claims
- Death and suffering before humanity implies an unmerciful God
- God would have pronounced death and suffering very good
