Predictions of Jesus’ Death
While going up to Jerusalem, Jesus took the 12 disciples aside privately and said to them on the way:
“Listen! We are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death. Then they will hand Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked, flogged, and crucified, and He will be resurrected on the third day.” (Matthew 20:17-19)
As they were meeting in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.” (Matthew 17:22-23)
I recently had an interesting conversation with a man from the Unitarian Church while on my trip to Ireland. That may seem a little strange in the land of the Irish, given they are predominantly all things Catholic. But I was curious.
The man stood outside the church providing information to those passing by. I found out that the Unitarians originated from Transylvania and they built this church in 1863 after escaping persecution in other countries. The church looked very similar to a Catholic church with its stained glass windows and steeple. But the façade stopped there.
The man was quick to tell me what they believed – or more accurately what they did not believe. “If there is a God,” he began, “we believe in only one God, unlike the Trinitarians. We believe Jesus was divinely inspired but not divine. We believe what Jesus said (his teachings) but not what others said about him.”
So… if you are not even sure there is a God, how do you know Jesus was divinely inspired? And how do you differentiate between what Jesus said and what others said Jesus said? All of the written documents about Jesus were written by others and not Jesus directly. Would you believe your professor’s teachings but not what his closest friends and relatives said about him?
I thought Unitarians (or called Universalists in the U.S.) were supposed to be accepting of whatever version of God you wanted to worship, and they include atheists and agnostics too. Their motto is Freedom, Reason, and Tolerance. Reason seems to be lacking with their conflicting statements about Jesus, and there definitely is not a tolerance for the Trinity belief. Even their informational pamphlets were all about how Jesus was not the Son of God.
Why would a religion be so adamant about criticizing one religion and not any of the others? I guess there is only freedom within their definition of reason and tolerance. But where do they get their definition of reason from?
The man ended our conversation with this statement. “After all, we’re all just trying to be good.” Or as I like to say, “They stand for nothing.”
Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation. Psalm 25:5
