"So, what was the whole point of Christ being born anyway?"
From what I can gather, He came along to show us that even though we’re just regular people, we actually have the capacity to live a divine life ourselves.
Hey, Benjamin Taylor6, What I typed up above actually comes from a book by this Greek theologian, Janaras. Just to be clear, this isn't some specific vision from an Orthodox perspective; it’s more about the core Christian teachings that both the Catholic and Orthodox churches eventually drifted away from once they turned into these massive, institutionalized religions. Personally, I don't really have a hard-and-fast opinion on all that church politics. Lately, I've just been trying to wrap my head around some deeper stuff, which is why I'm hanging out here. I shared that text because you were asking about the actual meaning behind Christ's crucifixion, and I figured this interpretation might be worth a look. Honestly? It sits a lot better with me than the whole "angry God" trope where we all get tossed into hell just for having a bit of doubt.
"God’s love had this specific intention: to take the inevitability of death—that heavy consequence forced upon our entire human nature by the Fall—and flip it on its head, turning it into a universal opportunity for immortality and eternal life. That’s why Jesus willingly walks straight into death. He takes the ultimate fallout from humanity’s rebellion and bends it under the authority of love and obedience to the Father’s will, essentially forcing it to conform to a non-material way of existing."
"When you look at it that way, the church starts morphing into this purely moralistic religion (and I have to side with Zachary Gonzalez8 on this one—the idea that Jesus had to undergo a punishing death just to pay off the debt of a sinful humanity... the notion that 'God’s infinite majesty and justice demand an equally infinite compensation' because some limited human being couldn't provide enough mercy, so God Himself stepped in through His son to settle the tab and satisfy His own righteousness), it turns into nothing more than a checklist for individual self-assertion. It misses the point entirely. The Cross of Christ stops being the embodiment and revelation of the core of the Gospel: which is about dying to the self to truly live. It's about embracing death to break that final existential resistance of the ego, ensuring that existence isn't fueled by mere flesh and bone, but by a personal relationship with God the Father, the Giver of life."
Thanks for getting back to me. Tell me though—is all this stuff you're talking about coming from your own lived experience, or are you just reciting things you've read somewhere? Also, maybe this is a bit too heavy or trivial for a Tuesday, but: what happens when we actually kick the bucket? Is it possible to reunite with the people we lost, the ones who meant everything to us? I was actually planning on asking Zachary Cook2 about this, so if you find a spare moment, feel free to jump in on that conversation.
Honestly, I’m really hoping there aren't any kids over the age of 15 hanging out here, because if there are, you guys have some seriously heavy issues to work through.