Jesucristo/La Expiación/El jardín y la cruz

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¿No Santos de los Últimos Días tienen una "aversión" a la cruz?

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Santos de los Últimos Días enseña que la expiación de Cristo se llevó a cabo en Getsemaní, en lugar de en la cruz.

• ¿Están los Santos de los Últimos Días no son verdaderos cristianos, porque ellos no usan la cruz?
• ¿Es miembro de la Iglesia tiene una "aversión" a la cruz?

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Estas declaraciones de una variedad de fuentes LDS son suficientes para demostrar que los SUD incluyen el sufrimiento y muerte de Cristo en la cruz como parte de su expiación por toda la humanidad. Su sufrimiento en la cruz fue precedido por el sufrimiento en Getsemaní.

Incluso la vida de Jesús tuvo un papel en su expiación, ya que sólo Dios, un ser perfecto, podría llevar a cabo este servicio. Su misión por tanto, también incluye ser "tentado en todo según nuestra semejanza, pero sin pecado" (Hebreos 4:15). Por tanto, es arbitraria y engañosa para sacar algún tipo de "línea" durante la vida o la muerte física de Jesús cuando no estaba trabajando para nuestra salvación. Esto incluye Getsemaní y la cruz.

Un manifestante anti-mormona afirma-falsamente-que los Santos de los Últimos Días no valoran el sacrificio expiatorio de Cristo en la cruz por toda la humanidad.

Hay un espectro de la creencia en la Iglesia, tanto entre los dirigentes y la gente en el banco, al igual que en todas las religiones. El problema en casos como el presente viene cuando los forasteros leen inconscientemente SUD declaraciones a través de su propio paradigma, y quedarse con la mejor a través de LDS sermones y escrituras sin reconocer que el espectro de las creencias.

Es cierto que los miembros de la Iglesia históricamente han incluido el jardín de Getsemaní como jugando un papel en Jesús 'salvar acto. Algunos han hecho hincapié en que, tal vez como reacción al énfasis en la cruz solo en otras denominaciones cristianas.

El jardín y la cruz

Sin embargo, incluso ese énfasis, si fuera el único mensaje de la Iglesia (y no es) no excluye' la cruz. Tenga en cuenta, por ejemplo, este fragmento del mensaje de Navidad de Gordon B. Hinckley, ex Presidente de la Iglesia:

Honramos Su nacimiento. Pero sin su muerte que el nacimiento hubiera sido sino una más nacer. Fue la redención que Él trabajó en el Jardín de Getsemaní y en la cruz del Calvario que hizo su regalo inmortal, universal y eterna. La suya fue una gran expiación por los pecados de toda la humanidad. Él era la resurrección y la vida, "las primicias de los que durmieron" (1 Corintios 15:20). Gracias a Él, todos los hombres serán levantados de la tumba.^[1]

Otras declaraciones de Elder Bruce McConkie, que a veces se utiliza como prueba de esta crítica, espectáculo que no fue tan unilateral como críticos implican:

Y ahora, como pertenecientes a esta expiación perfecta, realizada mediante el derramamiento de la sangre de Dios, testifico que tuvo lugar en Getsemaní y en el Gólgota, Y con respecto a Jesucristo, testifico que Él es el Hijo del Dios viviente y fue crucificado por los pecados del mundo. Él es nuestro Señor, nuestro Dios, y nuestro Rey ".^[2]

El folleto de entrenamiento oficial enviado con misioneros incluye esta declaración:

La Expiación incluyó Su sufrimiento en el Jardín de Getsemaní, así como su sufrimiento y muerte en la cruz.^[3]

Como cuarto ejemplo, considere algo que recientemente vino de la prensa Iglesia:

Sacrificio expiatorio de Jesús tuvo lugar en el Jardín de Getsemaní y en la cruz del Calvario. En Getsemaní, Jesús comenzó a tomar sobre sí los pecados del mundo .... El Salvador continuó sufriendo por nuestros pecados cuando Él permitió que lo crucificaran.^[4]

La importancia de Getsemaní en las escrituras

Getsemaní presenta algunos problemas interesantes . Los críticos rechazan , en parte, debido a que sólo se menciona dos veces en el Nuevo Testamento (Mateo 26:36 y Marcos 14:32) . Mientras que esto puede ser así , se mencionan también los hechos ocurridos allí en los otros dos evangelios . En otras palabras , los cuatro escritores de los evangelios sintieron lo suficientemente importante como para incluirlo en sus " Memorias ". En Juan 18:1 se informa de que Cristo y sus discípulos. " A menudo se habían reunido " Lucas 22:39 nos dice que él fue allí , " como solía " (comparar Lucas 19:29 y Lucas 21:37 , el último de los cuales dice que pasó los ' noches ' ​​en Mount Olive ) . Esto fue al parecer un lugar especial para ellos buscan la soledad , un lugar privado para buscar su Padre en la oración. Es evidente por los comentarios escritos en los diversos evangelios que el propósito exacto de la experiencia no se entiende bien. No necesitamos entrar en el eventos versículo por versículo , pero hay algunas cosas que hay que señalar . A pesar de la importancia que el Señor pone en oración en general , sólo hay unos pocos lugares donde Él está en el pueblo como hacerlo, lo que la oración en Getsemaní es uno de them147 . Además , hay pocos lugares en el Nuevo Testamento donde se le representa como siendo " reforzado " por un ángel (Mateo 4:11) . La experiencia en el Jardín es uno de ellos (Lucas 22:43 , un ángel para fortalecerlo durante su oración ) . Hay otros que también han hecho comentarios sobre la singularidad de esta experiencia, y lo atribuyó , al menos en parte , a la expiación .

Getsemaní, visto por los cristianos no mormones

Teólogo cristiano Leon Morris es citado con frecuencia por los autores críticos de mormonismo 101. No deja de tener importancia, por tanto, que cita a Morris Lesslie Newbigin de la siguiente manera:

El Hijo de Dios, el Verbo de Dios hecho carne, se arrodilla en el huerto de Getsemaní. Él lucha en oración. Su sudor cae como grandes gotas de sangre. Él grita en agonía: "No se haga mi voluntad, sino la tuya." Eso es lo que cuesta Dios para tratar con el pecado del hombre. Para crear los cielos y la tierra le cuesta ningún trabajo, ninguna angustia, para quitar el pecado del mundo le cuesta su propia sangre vital. ^[5]

En otra parte, el propio Leon Morris admite que, al menos por Mateo, "lo que tuvo lugar en el Jardín fue muy importante." ^[6]

En un comentario reciente, Donald A. Hagner del Seminario Teológico Fuller escribe:

La idea de lo que tendrá que someterse en un futuro próximo se llena Jesús con temor y angustia. Una verdadera lucha dentro del alma de Jesús tiene lugar en Getsemaní, y él anhela el apoyo de los que han estado más cerca de él durante su ministerio. El misterio de la agonía del Hijo único de Dios no puede ser penetrado por completo. Que tiene que ver con la que lleva la pena del pecado por el mundo para hacer posible la salvación parece clara. ^[7]

En un comentario sobre Mateo 26, publicado por primera vez en 1864, el erudito alemán John Peter Lange se refiere a varias interpretaciones ofrecidas por los comentaristas anteriores. Cita a un erudito llamado Ebrard: "Su temblor en Getsemaní no se pavor de sus padecimientos, pero era parte de Su pasión misma, no era una suposición trascendental y externa de una culpa externa, sino una experiencia concreta de la potencia total y concentrado del pecado del mundo ". ^[8] En el mismo lugar Lange se refiere al reformador Melanchthon como enseñando que en el Jardín Cristo "sufrió la ira de Dios en nuestro lugar y nuestro nombre."

Otro comentario reciente cita favorablemente una declaración en el sentido de que Mateo 26:37 ("Y tomando consigo a Pedro ya los dos hijos de Zebedeo, comenzó a entristecerse ya angustiarse en gran manera") indica que "en este momento de la Pasión, en su sentido pleno, comenzó ". ^[9]

J.M. Ford writes, "the theological importance, however, is that for Luke the blood that redeems humankind begins to flow in the garden." ^[10] Popular evangelical scholar Thomas C. Oden paraphrases Catherine of Siena this way:

[Christ] was not externally compelled to be baptized with the baptism of sinners, to set his face steadfastly toward Jerusalem or go to Gethsemane, or drink the cup of suffering. Rather he received and drank that cup not because he liked to suffer—the very thought cause him to sweat profusely—but rather because it was an intrinsic part of the purpose of his mission to humanity. ^[11]

B.H. Roberts quotes the following from the International Commentary on Matthew:

This conflict presents our Lord in the reality of His manhood, in weakness and humiliation, but it is impossible to account for it unless we admit His Divine nature. Had He been a mere man, His knowledge of the sufferings before Him could not have been sufficient to cause such sorrow. The human fear of death will not explain it. As a real man, He was capable of such a conflict. But it took place after the serenity of the Last Supper and sacerdotal prayers, and before the sublime submission in the palace and judgment hall. The conflict, therefore, was a specific agony of itself. He felt the whole burden and mystery of the world's sin, and encountered the fiercest assaults of Satan. Otherwise, in this hour this Person, so powerful, so holy, seems to fall below the heroism of martyrs in His own cause. His sorrow did not spring from His own life, His memory of His fears, but from the vicarious nature of the conflict. The agony was a bearing of the weight and sorrow of our sins, in loneliness, in anguish of soul threatening to crush His body, yet borne triumphantly, because in submission to His Father's will. Three times our Lord appeals to that will, as purposing His anguish; that purpose of God in regard to the loveliest, best of men, can be reconciled with justice and goodness in God in but one way; that it was necessary for our redemption. Mercy forced its way through justice to the sinner. Our Lord suffered anguish of soul for sin, that it might never rest on us. To deny this is in effect not only to charge our Lord with undue weakness, but to charge God with needless cruelty. "Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows…. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed" [Isaiah 53.4-5]" ^[12]

David B. Haight, of the Quorum of the Twelve, quotes the following from the Reverend Frederic Farrar:

They then rose from the table, united their voices in a hymn, and left the room together to walk to the Garden of Gethsemane and all that awaited them there "The awful hour of His deepest [suffering] had arrived…. Nothing remained…but the torture of physical pain and the poignancy of mental anguish…. He…[calmed] His spirit by prayer and solitude to meet that hour in which all that is evil in the Power of [Satan] should wreak its worst upon the Innocent and Holy [One]. And He must face that hour alone…. 'My soul,' He said, 'is full of anguish, even unto death.'" It was not the anguish and fear of pain and death but 'the burden…of the world's sin which lay heavy on His heart. ^[13]

Evangelical scholar Klaas Runia has recently drawn our attention to a prayer which was formerly read at the beginning of the Lord's Supper service in the Reformed Churches in Holland. The prayer said in part: "We remember that all the time he lived on earth he was burdened by our sin and God's judgment upon it; that in his agony in the garden he sweated drops of blood under the weight of our sins." ^[14]

Alfred Edersheim referred to the Garden as "the other Eden, in which the Second Adam, the Lord from heaven, bore the penalty of the first, and in obeying gained life.'" ^[15] Adam Clarke is quoted as having once said that "Jesus paid more in the Garden than on the Cross." ^[16] S. Lewis Johnson, from whose article these previous two quotations derive, concluded, "Gethsemane sets forth for us the passion of our Lord for the souls of men. The voice of Gethsemane sounds forth, 'I am willing,' while the voice from Calvary cries, 'It is finished.' Both illustrate how much He cared." ^[17]

This is the one thing which seemingly all commentators, LDS or otherwise, agree: He loved us and He manifested that love by His life and by His death. As the above quotations indicate, there is a fair amount of non-LDS support for the idea that the experience of our Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane is also related to the atoning sacrifice which He made for us. There is also enough material by non-LDS scholars to indicate that the exact mechanics of the Atonement are not known; and therefore to state that "this position" (i.e., my position) is the only correct interpretation, and that "that position" (i.e., your position) is false, is rushing to judgment.

Scriptural evidence

Further, uniquely LDS scripture contains some clear references:

1 Nephi 11:33

Jesus was "was lifted up upon the cross and slain for the sins of the world."

3 Nephi 27:14

"My Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross"

Latter-day Saint Sacrament hymns

An anti-Mormon protester at October 2004 LDS General Conference claims that members of the Church are "enemies" of the cross. He apparently knows little of LDS scripture, doctrine, hymns, or belief.

It is worthwhile to note that Latter-day Saints make frequent reference to Christ's sacrifice on the cross in their Sacrament hymns:

• Hymn 171, With Humble Heart: "Help me remember, I implore, Thou gavst thy life on Calvary."
• Hymn 172, In Humility Our Savior: "Let me not forget, O Savior, Thou didst bleed and die for me when Thy heart was stilled and broken on the cross at Calvary."
• Hymn 174, While of these Emblems We Partake: "For us the blood of Christ was shed; For us on Calvary's cross He bled..."
• Hymn 177, Tis Sweet To Sing the Matchless Love: "For Jesus died on Calvary, that all through him might ransomed be."
• Hymn 178, O Lord of Hosts: "salvation purchased on that tree for all who seek thy face."
• Hymn 181, Jesus of Nazareth, Savior and King: "Jesus of Nazareth, Savior and King, Our thoughts to thee are led, in reverence sweet. Bruised, broken, torn for us, on Calvary's hill."
• Hymn 182, We'll Sing All Hail to Jesus' Name: "We'll sing all hail to Jesus name...to him that bled on Calvary's hill, And died that we might live."
• Hymn 184, Upon the Cross at Calvary: "Upon the cross at Calvary, they crucified our Lord, and sealed with blood the sacrifice that sanctified his word. Upon the cross he meekly died, for all mankind to see that death unlocks the passageway into eternity. Upon the cross our Savior died, but, dying brought new birth through resurrection's miracle to all the sons of earth."
• Hymn 185, Reverently and Meekly Now: "With my blood that dripped like rain, sweat in agony of pain, with my body on the tree, I have ransomed even thee...Oh remember what was done, that the sinner might be won. On the cross of Calvary, I have suffered death for thee."
• Hymn 190, In Memory of the Crucified: "Our Savior in Gethsemane shrank not to drink the bitter cup. And then, for us, on Calvary, upon the cross was lifted up."
• Hymn 191, Behold the Great Redeemer Die: "Behold the great Redeemer die... They pierce his hands and feet and side; And with insulting scoffs and scorns, they crown his head with plaited thorns. Although in agony he hung... his high commission to fulfill, He magnified his Father's will."
• Hymn 193, I Stand All Amazed: "I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me, confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me. I tremble to know that for me he was crucified, that for me, a sinner, he suffered he bled and died...I think of his hands pierced and bleeding to pay the debt! Such mercy, such love, and devotion can I forget? No, no, I will praise and adore at the mercy seat, until at the glorified throne I kneel at his feet...Oh it is wonderful that he should care for me, enough to die for me. Oh it is wonderful... wonderful to me."
• Hymn 196, Jesus, Once of Humble Birth: "Jesus once of humble birth, now in glory comes to earth...Once upon the cross he bowed, Now his chariot is the cloud. Once he groaned in blood and tears, now in glory he appears."
• Hymn 197, O Savior, Thou Wearest a Crown.: "O Savior, thou who wearest a crown of piercing thorn, the pain thou meekly bearest, weighed down by grief and scorn. The soldiers mock and flail thee; for drink they give thee gall; Upon the cross they nail thee to die, O king of all."

These hymns are sung every Sunday as the Sacrament is being prepared. It should be obvious that Jesus' sacrifice on the cross is a central focus.

Statements regarding the atonement

These statements are not cited in order to devalue in any way the importance of the cross, either for critics or for the Latter-day Saints. It is important to realize however that the cross is not necessarily as significant a concept in the scriptures as they would like it to appear. Leon Morris agrees with Murphy-O'Connor that aside from the writings of Paul, there are not many references in the New Testament to the 'death' of Jesus; indeed: "We would imagine that there are many New Testament references to the death of Christ. But, outside of Paul, there are not." ^[18] And in this context it is important to remember that Paul's writings comprise less than one-fourth of the New Testament writings. Father Murphy-O'Connor also writes "during the first Christian centuries, the cross was a thing accursed. No one professed allegiance to Christ by wearing a cross." He indicates that it was only after Constantine lifted the ban against Christianity in general, and forbade crucifixion in particular, that a "new, more pleasant meaning for the cross was facilitated." But, he concludes, "even after the cross had been widely accepted as a symbol, there was a consistent refusal to accept its reality. Only two crucifixion scenes survive from the fifth century… The situation remains unchanged until the twelfth century." ^[19] These comments are not intended to devalue the cross or the blood shed there, only to place these events in their proper context within sacred scripture. Despite the fact that Gethsemane is mentioned only twice in the scriptures, it has nevertheless engendered an enormous amount of secondary literature. A study on the study of the passion narratives published in 1989 identified seven books dealing specifically with Gethsemane during the previous 100 years and more than 100 articles. That represents a significant amount of discussion on something seemingly of no account! ^[20]

Para una respuesta más detallada, consulte: Quotes related to the LDS view of the atonement

Plantilla:Endnotes label

1. [back]  Gordon B. Hinckley, "A Season for Gratitude," Ensign (December 1997), 2. (cursivas añadidas)
2. [back]  Bruce R. McConkie, "The Purifying Power of Gethsemane," Ensign (May 1995), 9. (cursivas añadidas)
3. [back]  Plantilla:PreachMyGospel1 (cursivas añadidas) PDF link
4. [back]  Plantilla:TTTF1 direct off-site (cursivas añadidas)
5. [back] Morris, The Cross in the New Testament, 28, note 30, quoting Newbigin, Sin and Salvation (London: SCM, 1946), 32. As mentioned earlier, Morris is designated by McKeever and Johnson as a Christian theologian from whom they elicit support.
6. [back] Leon Morris, New Testament Theology (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing, 1985), 134.
7. [back] Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 14–28: Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 33b (Dallas, Texas: Word Books, 1995), 785. Notice that Professor Hagner mentions the 'dread and anguish' which Jesus felt as He looked ahead to His death on the Cross; this is precisely what several of the LDS Church leaders have said.
8. [back] Ebrard, quoted in John Peter Lange, A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical, Vol. 1, Matthew, translated by Philip Schaff (New York: Scribner, 1899), 481. No further details are given about this 'Ebrard.' However, it is probable that it could be Johannes Heinrich August Ebrard (1818–1888), who, about 1860, wrote a work translated in English as Apologetics; or the Scientific Vindication of Christianity. He was also the author of a Biblical Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews (1853); and another on the Epistles of St. John (1860). In 1858 was published the American version of his Biblical Commentary on the New Testament.
9. [back] W. D. Davies, Dale C. Allison, Jr., The International Critical Commentary. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to Saint Matthew. Volume III: Matthew 19–28 (Edinburgh, T and T Clark Publisher 1997): 494, note 27, quoting A.H. McNeile, The Gospel according to St. Matthew. The Greek Text with Introduction and Notes (Grand Rapids 1980): 389. "Magisterial" is a word way overused with reference to others' studies, but it is used with reference to Davies and Allison's commentary by John Jefferson Davis, "'Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.' The History of the Interpretation of the 'Great Commission' and Implications for Marketplace Ministries," Evangelical Review of Theology 25.1 (2001): 77.
10. [back] J. Massyngberde /Allen, this name is spelled 'Massyngbearde'; I checked it in the library; I have found her name spelt with and without the last 'a' in online discussions; she apparently has the 'a' in; her name is J. Massyngbearde Ford/Ford, My Enemy is my Guest. Jesus and Violence in Luke (Maryknoll, New York Orbis Books 1984): 118. Dr. Ford is a professor at the University of Notre Dame. She cites A. Feuillet, L'Agonie de Gethsemani (Paris 1977): 147–50.
11. [back] Oden, The Word of Life, Vol. 2, 323, citing The Prayers of Catherine of Siena (New York: Paulist Press, 1984), 17–18, 174.
12. [back] B.H. Roberts, The Seventy's Course in Theology, 2:127–128, quoting International Commentary, Matthew, page 359.
13. [back] David B. Haight, A Light Unto the World (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1997), 16, quoting Frederick W. Farrar, Life of Christ (Hartford, Connecticut: S. S. Scranton Company, 1918), 575–576, 579.
14. [back] Klaas Runia, "The Preaching of the Cross Today," Evangelical Review of Theology 25:1 (2001), 57.
15. [back] Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1953), 534, partially quoted in Lewis Johnson, Jr., "The Agony of Christ," Bibliotheca Sacra 124 (October 1967), 306.
16. [back] Quoted in Johnson, "The Agony of Christ," 307. Clarke was a Methodist theologian and died in 1832.
17. [back] Johnson, Ibid., 313.
18. [back] Morris, The Cross in the New Testament, 217.
19. [back] Murphy-O'Connor, "Even Death On a Cross," 21-22. H.E.W. Turner wrote 50 years ago that "it still remains true that the monumental genius of St. Paul had little permanent influence on the theology of the early Church." [H.E.W. Turner, The Patristic Doctrine of Redemption. A Study of the Development of Doctrine during the Fist Five Centuries (London: A.R. Mobray, 1952), 24.] After his exhaustive study of 'grace' in the New Testament and the Apostolic Fathers, Thomas Torrance had to conclude that Paul had had almost no influence on them: "The most astonishing feature was the failure to grasp the significance of the death of Christ." He further concludes that "failure to apprehend the meaning of the Cross and to make it a saving article of faith is surely the clearest indication that a genuine doctrine of grace is absent" in the Apostolic Fathers. [Thomas Torrance, The Doctrine of Grace in the Apostolic Fathers (London: Oliver and Boyd, 1948), 137–138.]
20. [back] David D. Garland, One Hundred Years of Study on the Passion Narratives, National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion Bibliographic Series, Vol. 3 (Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 1989), 73–79. More recent commentaries on the relevant verses add significantly to that total.