From The Reason for God:
It is crucial at this point to remember that the Christian faith has always understood that Jesus Christ is God. God did not, then, inflict pain on someone else, but rather on the Cross absorbed the pain, violence, and evil of the world into himself. Therefore the God of the bible is not like the primitive deities who demanded our blood for their wrath to be appeased. Rather, in order to honor moral justice and merciful love so that someday he can destroy all evil without destroying us.
Therefore the Cross is not simply a lovely example of sacrificial love. Throwing your life away needlessly is not admirable-it is wrong. Jesus' death was only a good example if it was more than an example, if it was something absolutely necessary to rescue us. And it was. Why did Jesus have to die in order to forgive us? there was a debt to be paid-God himself paid it. There was a penalty to be born-God himself bore it. Forgiveness is always a form of costly suffering. (200)
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