According to scripture, God gave his only son as a sacrifice to save mankind.
How does this differ from the the sacrifice made by the mother of a soldier who dies fighting for the good of mankind, except that the mother might not be able to make another child, but God, being omnipotent, certainly could if He chose?
I just think the whole “Father in Heaven who had a son and sacrificed him” scenario is contrived, condescending and insulting to rational beings.
And if that isn’t enough, consider this:
Proverbs 3:5-8…
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight. [a]
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD and shun evil.
8 This will bring health to your body
and nourishment to your bones.
Don’t think for yourselves or use reason. If God was a real, menstruate, discoverable thing, why would He need to hide behind this kind of rhetoric?
Well, if you read about some of the crazy stunts the Israelites pulled in the Old Testament, you can see why God would say: “Lean not on your own understanding.”
I think this also applies to most people I meet in 2010. And by that, I mean people who paid $400 for an iPhone but have trouble paying their rent.
:-)