Thinking Out Loud with Alan Shlemon - Christ’s Crucifixion Isn’t Child Sacrifice

Episode Date: January 9, 2023

Some object to the idea that Jesus paid the penalty for our sins through his death on the cross, calling it "child sacrifice." Alan, however, offers three reasons why characterizing it that way is inappropriate.

Some former evangelical Christians who have deconstructed their faith are claiming that Christ's crucifixion was child sacrifice. Is that true? Well, that's what I want to explore on this episode of my podcast, Thinking Out Loud with Alan Schliemann. In an age of political correctness, Christianity is a prime offender. And it's not only scriptures like sexual ethics that are getting canceled. Even bedrock creeds like Christ's crucifixion are on the chopping block. Even bedrock creeds like Christ's crucifixion are on the chopping block.

Now, many professing Christians are uncomfortable with God killing his son as the penalty for our crimes. They see this as child sacrifice. And from their perspective, it's impossible for such a doctrine to be consistent with God's character when it's so clear that God abhors the killing of innocent children. Now, part of the temptation to shy away from historic Christian teaching stems from a disturbing new trend of, quote, deconstructing, end quote, your faith. Now, what practitioners claim that they are doing when they deconstruct their faith is jettisoning Christian doctrines that have been tainted

by time and tradition and therefore shouldn't be believed today. In other words, they believe they are merely reforming their faith, a process they would say Martin Luther practiced with the Reformation or Jesus practiced with the Pharisees. Now, in reality, I would say deconstruction is a broad term that's very difficult to nail down in fact you'll get different definitions depending on who you talk to in my observation though it's the process of pulling apart aspects of the christian faith that are undesirable but not requiring scripture to be a standard as you develop new beliefs. So consequently, as you can imagine, deconstructionist views are often influenced by culture or one's

own personal preferences. Now, by contrast, the biblical, and I would say the more healthier, approach is to correct mistaken theology by conforming it to what scripture teaches. Notice the key difference here between these two approaches is the standard that is used to determine your new theology. It's either scripture or it's something else like society or your own views. Now, given that the historic Christian understanding of the atonement has sort of fallen out of favor with some deconstructionists, let's consider three reasons why characterizing the atonement as child sacrifice is wildly inappropriate. Okay, so here's the first reason.

Christ was not a child. So in ancient Israel, children were sacrificed to call deities like Molech. And those sacrificed were babies or infants. Now, although Jesus is given the title of Son of God, he was not some sort of small child. Scripture tells us that he was an adult who was crucified while in his early 30s. Child sacrifice is an incorrect description because of the mere fact that Christ was not a child. Furthermore, referring to Jesus as a child connotes the idea that he was a helpless baby, tossed by the diabolical whims of his parents, which hints, of course, at another problem with referring to the crucifixion as child sacrifice. Second, Christ's sacrifice was not

involuntary. Children did not consent to being sacrificed to Molech. Their death was forced upon them, and in fact, had they been knowledgeable of their potential fate, they would have almost certainly refused to die, right? But by contrast, Jesus was not some sort of helpless victim that was thrown into the fiery hands of Moloch against his will. He willingly went to the cross because he had full knowledge of his identity, his mission, and the importance of his work. knowledge of his identity, his mission, and the importance of his work. In fact, Jesus said in John 10, verse 11, he said, I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. Or again, in John 10, verse 17, he says, I lay down my life so that I may take it up again.

I lay down my life so that I may take it up again. Indeed, in fact, Jesus clarifies who is in charge of his destiny. This is John 10, verse 18. He says, no one has taken my life away from me, but I lay it down on my own initiative. Notice that Jesus makes it clear that he is the one who's in control. notice that Jesus makes it clear that he is the one who's in control. In fact, he admonishes Peter for trying to stop his arrest and subsequent crucifixion, which was the mission that he was intending to fulfill. Listen to what he says here in Matthew 26, 53.

He says, I cannot appeal to my father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than 12 legions of angels. So notice here, Jesus is reminding Peter that he is still in full control and has the disposal of the heavenly armies at his will. And despite his access to divine and heavenly powers, to divine and heavenly powers, Jesus willingly pursued his mission to get arrested, to get crucified, and then eventually rise again because he knew this was the preconceived plan of the Godhead. And so, a third reason is that God condemns child sacrifice. Okay. When God gave the law to Israel, he specifically forbade child sacrifice. Listen to this from Leviticus 20 verse 2. Any man from the sons of Israel or from the aliens sojourning in Israel who gives any of his offspring to Molech shall surely be put to death.

Now, I want you to notice three things about this short passage. One of them is this, not only were the Israelites prohibited from sacrificing their children to Molech, but even aliens sojourning in Israel were banned from this practice. Two, the sin of child sacrifice was a capital crime, demanding death as the penalty. And three, the next few verses, this is Leviticus chapter 20, verses 4 through 5. These next verses explain how a failure to execute a person who sacrifices their child would cause God to personally take action and punish everyone involved. take action and punish everyone involved. So then notice it is clear that God takes the sin of child sacrifice very, very seriously. And that's why it doesn't make any sense to believe

that God's pivotal act to save humanity was accomplished through the very practice that he condemned. Now, to be sure, yes, Christ's atoning work on the cross was an act of sacrifice, but it's disingenuous to characterize it as child sacrifice, right? Because Christ willingly went to the cross out of his own love for us to become a ransom for the lost. Well, that's all I have for you today. If you enjoy these short podcasts on topics about apologetics and theology, be sure to rate or review my podcast on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts on. And thank you again for listening. I look forward to thinking out loud with you the next time. Bye now. Thank you.