# The execution of Jesus-what could have been. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 7, 2016, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-execution-of-jesus-what-could-have-been/770955 "2016-11-07T15:20:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-execution-of-jesus-what-could-have-been/770955/41 "2016-11-08T14:30:44Z")
If Jesus had been burned at the stake, would Christians all be wearing burned sticks around their necks. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-execution-of-jesus-what-could-have-been/770955/42 "2016-11-08T14:50:59Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > No, you were being dickish. You also seem to have a familiarity with the board and board policy that transcends your three weeks and handful of posts here. I’d call you more of a codpiece than a sock as it’s more fitting. (no pun intended) The result is the same though,\. Reported, and asked that the thread be closed. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-execution-of-jesus-what-could-have-been/770955/43 "2016-11-08T14:52:58Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I’m sorry, but…where are you getting this “tree-curse” stuff from?? Galatians 3:13 > [@](#): > > Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” From the NIV From NASB: > [@](#): > > 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a [d]tree”— ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-execution-of-jesus-what-could-have-been/770955/44 "2016-11-08T15:33:06Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Galatians 3:13 From the NIV > > From NASB: That seems to be one of those “written after the fact” fulfillments to me. Is there any mention of this “curse” in the Old Testament or in any pre-New Testament writings at all? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-execution-of-jesus-what-could-have-been/770955/45 "2016-11-08T16:13:03Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > That seems to be one of those “written after the fact” fulfillments to me. Is there any mention of this “curse” in the Old Testament or in any pre-New Testament writings at all? Read post #30, genius. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-execution-of-jesus-what-could-have-been/770955/46 "2016-11-08T16:41:10Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Read post #30, genius. You mean the post that had this uncited glurge: > [@](#): > > Some Jews at the time of Jesus’ death said that his crucifixion was the equivalent of being hanged from a tree and therefore it proved Jesus was cursed by God and couldn’t have been a manifestation of God. > > Jesus’ followers turned it around. They said that it showed how seriously God took Jesus’ execution because it was done in a way that was both physically painful and spiritually debasing. Jesus’ death, in this view, had to be accomplished by the worst possible means. > > God, however, is more powerful than anything, including his own laws. So Jesus could be hanged from tree and not be cursed because God chose this. This, according to Christians, is proof that Jesus’ new message overruled the Old Testament when the two appeared to conflict. Sounds pretty…but where did this come from? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-execution-of-jesus-what-could-have-been/770955/47 "2016-11-08T17:12:13Z")
Little Nemo posted the chapter and verse, and I quoted it. It’s in Deuteronomy, among all the chapters about the correct way to rape captive women and when it’s OK to stone your children to death. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-execution-of-jesus-what-could-have-been/770955/48 "2016-11-08T17:42:52Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > You mean the post that had this uncited glurge: Sounds pretty…but where did this come from? nm. **Shodan** ’s Rule - if they didn’t read it the first time, they won’t read it the second either. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-execution-of-jesus-what-could-have-been/770955/49 "2016-11-08T19:30:44Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Reported, and asked that the thread be closed. I’ve been here a lot more than 3 weeks, and you didn’t do anything wrong. Lots of new posters post in the wrong forum, that’s why it got changed. And when we insult religion, it knows it got insulted. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-execution-of-jesus-what-could-have-been/770955/50 "2016-11-08T19:51:27Z")
Not trying to start a flame war, bud. Pointing out that you posted a dickish OP is more an observation than an insult, one which you ought to see if you didn’t realize people would take it that way. The premise seems to be that the religious are all idiots, so here’s an idiotic premise on par with the rest of their idiotic ideas, so let’s have fun inventing the kinds of idiotic things we’d see out of them in this idiotic alternative universe. It is not that you have offended my sensibilities so much as that I prefer to wait until religious people cross certain lines before I attack them and their ideas. I am perfectly content to leave them be under many circumstances. But my rules of engagement for these things are probably pretty baroque by now, and obviously not binding on anyone. Just thought I’d share. Carry on with your pointless insulting speculation if you must. ---
**Author:** ![Memnon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Memnon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Memnon)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-execution-of-jesus-what-could-have-been/770955/51 "2016-11-08T21:24:31Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Etc. I thought that some people would like to play around with the world building. Ah, I see. So, like, if Jesus had been bummed to death by a horse à la Catherine the Great, would Catholics do the sign of the Gangnam Style? That kind of thing. Yeah, that’s not dickish at all… ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-execution-of-jesus-what-could-have-been/770955/52 "2016-11-08T21:39:25Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Jesus’ followers turned it around. They said that it showed how seriously God took Jesus’ execution because it was done in a way that was both physically painful and spiritually debasing. Jesus’ death, in this view, had to be accomplished by the worst possible means. Jesus must have some serious father issues. What kind of parent would do that to his own child? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-execution-of-jesus-what-could-have-been/770955/53 "2016-11-08T21:42:47Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Jesus must have some serious father issues. What kind of parent would do that to his own child? Especially since the only apparent purpose of the death was that God had decided that there was a requirement to kill his son make a sacrifice _to himself_. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-execution-of-jesus-what-could-have-been/770955/54 "2016-11-08T22:32:31Z")
What’s the point a thread like this? To get real answers from the intended people, e.g. me? To get the circle-jerk and congratulating each other as to how stupid the “other guys” are and make silly jokes? Nice way to encourage participation or fight ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-execution-of-jesus-what-could-have-been/770955/55 "2016-11-08T22:51:11Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Jesus must have some serious father issues. What kind of parent would do that to his own child? > [@Riemann](#): > > Especially since the only apparent purpose of the death was that God had decided that there was a requirement to kill his son make a sacrifice _to himself_. The rabbit hole runs deeper than that. According to most Christian belief, Jesus is God and God is Jesus. So God was sacrificing himself to himself. I once read the argument that Christian theology was intentionally designed to have no logical consistency because this required Christians to accept things they couldn’t understand on nothing but faith. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-execution-of-jesus-what-could-have-been/770955/56 "2016-11-08T22:51:29Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > What’s the point a thread like this? > > To get real answers from the intended people, e.g. me? I don’t see anything in the OP addressing a particular group of people. > [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > To get the circle-jerk and congratulating each other as to how stupid the “other guys” are and make silly jokes? > > Nice way to encourage participation or fight ignorance. It clearly wasn’t a serious question about Christian doctrine addressed to Christians. If it had been, I agree that mockery would have been inappropriate, and personally I would have chosen to stay out of the thread, just as I don’t visit churches to mock Christians. That would just be rude. But more generally, I’m afraid that if you take offense at having stupid ideas that you believe in mocked, you will have to find better ideas. Mockery of bad ideas is a fundamental and important part of dialog and debate in a free society, and I think it is part of fighting ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-execution-of-jesus-what-could-have-been/770955/57 "2016-11-08T22:56:08Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > That seems to be one of those “written after the fact” fulfillments to me. Is there any mention of this “curse” in the Old Testament or in any pre-New Testament writings at all? As pointed out the Old Testament cite had already been presented to you **Czarcasm**. And it sounds quite the opposite as ‘written after the fact’ - but more like ‘written before the fact’, what a bizarre thing for the old testiment to say, only makes sense to say it in the context of Jesus. It’s bizarreness only understandable as prophetic. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-execution-of-jesus-what-could-have-been/770955/58 "2016-11-08T23:00:30Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I once read the argument that Christian theology was intentionally designed to have no logical consistency because this required Christians to accept things they couldn’t understand on nothing but faith. On the “religion as mental virus” model, this notion has some merit. Ultimately, it isn’t going to make any sense if you pull it apart logically, so it’s almost dangerous to give it a veneer of coherence, since that implies that perhaps you are asking people to think it through carefully and become believers because it makes so much sense. Better to put the “mysteriousness” front and center, and spin it as a virtue. Like a virus, it does not spread because it codes for a better phenotype in the host, i.e. not because it’s a good idea, so coherence is irrelevant. It spreads because it subverts the copying process. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-execution-of-jesus-what-could-have-been/770955/59 "2016-11-08T23:07:25Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > What’s the point a thread like this? > > To get real answers from the intended people, e.g. me? > > To get the circle-jerk and congratulating each other as to how stupid the “other guys” are and make silly jokes? > > Nice way to encourage participation or fight ignorance. We are used to the cross in the west due to long familiarity. Even people like me who have never been Christians are used to it. But in one sense it is quite an absurd symbol. Wondering what symbols would have been used for other means of death is pretty interesting. And this is hardly the only thread which turned into jokes. Or do you think threads involving religion should be immune from being jokified? ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2016, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-execution-of-jesus-what-could-have-been/770955/60 "2016-11-09T21:00:29Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > We are used to the cross in the west … in one sense it is quite an absurd symbol. Wondering what symbols would have been used for other means of death is pretty interesting. > And this is hardly the only thread which turned into jokes. Or do you think threads involving religion should be immune from being jokified? I still kind of like the image of an entire congregation doing the “gun to the head” thing. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-execution-of-jesus-what-could-have-been/770955.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-execution-of-jesus-what-could-have-been/770955.md?page=4)