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Deicide: the murder of God;
About Jesus' execution

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Various groups have been blamed for Jesus' execution:These have included blaming:  |
Two generations of Jews in Judea and Galilee -- those who took part
in the mob action before Pilate and their children. This belief was based on
a literal interpretation of Matthew 27:25. However, responsibility did not
extend to their grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc.
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All Jews including:
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The Jerusalem mob who demanded Jesus' execution |
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All other Jews in Judea, |
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All other Jews in the Roman Empire, |
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Their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc. |
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Even Jews born over a thousand years after Jesus' death who lived
thousands of miles away from Jerusalem. |
Jews as a whole were called "Christ killers." This belief justified
centuries of Jewish persecution and mass murder. |  |
A few Jews: Just those present in the mob before Pilate.
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Every individual who has ever committed a sin, from Adam and Eve to the
present time. That of course, means every human who has ever lived. That is
because most Christians believe that Jesus died for the sins of some or all
humans.
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The Roman Army and their methods of controlling Judea and Galilee. The army
executed anyone committing an act of insurrection or terrorism, such as
aggravated assault and inducing a riot in the Temple at Jerusalem at the
time of Passover.
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Jesus himself. He would have known that the penalty for insurrection was
death, but committed the aggravated assault anyway.
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God, because he required Jesus' death --the only mechanism by which he
would or could forgive individual humans for their sins.
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These various conflicting belief systems will be described in this section --
in essays already online, or in essays planned to be posted in the future. 
Topics covered in this section:

Other essays in this website associated with this topic:
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Theories of the atonement; This is
the Christian belief that Jesus life, and particularly his death, made
it possible to heal the gulf between God and humanity.
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The concept of transferability of sin:
Punishing the innocent for the sins of the guilty. This is considered
immoral by most religious and philosophical systems in the world, but
forms a vital part of Christianity.
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Reference used:
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Eric J. Greenberg, "Jews Horrified By Gibson's Jesus Film: First
mainstream group to see movie says it could foment anti-Semitism," The
Jewish Week, 2003-AUG-15, at:
http://www.thejewishweek.com/
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Copyright 1998 to 2007 by Ontario
Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 1998-JUN-23
Last update: 2007-JUL-28
Author: B.A. Robinson 

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