The Cross and a Book Recommendation

a)
So, I’ve taken some religions courses at University. They’re EASY! And they’ve never given me a reason to not trust Jesus or the Bible.

One thing that "academic types", and anti-Christian atheists, love to say is how the Christian "myth" developed from other mythologies, like the Persians. They love to mention Mithraism, cause there’s a bunch of commonalities in our practices and our imagery. Let’s check it out:

Mithra - An old-Iranian god of light, contracts and friendship. He also maintains the cosmic order. Sometimes mentioned as the son of Ahura Mazda, he assists him in his struggle against the forces of evil, represented by Angra Mainyu. Mithra was born from a rock (or a cave). He fought with the sun and managed to capture the divine bull and slayed it before he ascended to heaven. From the blood of the bull came forth all the plants and animals beneficial to humanity. (http://www.pantheon.org/articles/m/mithra.html)

There’s a lot that could be said, but I brought it up for one reason: to point out the manmade mithras of the world don’t stand a chance against our Jesus. The more you know about the Cross, the more you realize that it is emphatically unlike the simple tales of human civilizations. I’m graduating from English. No writer has the kind of attention to detail that God has in the story of Christ. No group of writers could have pulled of the brilliance of the redemption narrative, especially having written the way the New Testament writers did. Saying that Christianity developed from other religions is like saying that Shakespeare stole from Dr. Suess or that Beethoven’s works are just mother goose knock-offs.

YOU could write mithra, but you could not have developed a story in which the requirements of the Old Testament, the prophecies of the Old Testament, the imagery of the Old Testament, the penalty of the Old Testament, the covenants of the Old Testament, and God’s desires in the Old Testament ALL come to fulfillment in ONE single act by a historical figure whose name would continue to be praised and spit on 2000 years later. And that is just a taste of the Cross’s brilliance.

Don’t be fooled! Superman died and came back to life. But no man-made story will ever compare to the sheer brilliance of the Cross!

b)
Hmm, don’t quite see it the way I’ve described it? I didn’t either, until I read books where the Cross was considered CAREFULLY.

If you have read my blog for a while, you will have noticed that I have never recommended a book by John Piper (a pastor I look up to and who has been a great help in my life). That is because I know not everyone will be able to enjoy his books. But The Passion of Jesus Christ (now called Fifty Reasons why Jesus had to Die) can act as an introduction, and as a necessary weapon against the simplistic understanding of the Cross that a lot of evangelicals have today.

This is maybe my favourite Piper book so far (I’ve read five). The Cross is the focal point of the Bible and the Christian faith. The Cross displays the beauty of God most vividly. Therefore, this book explores the highest heights of beauty. Therefore, this book perhaps has more beauty than any other book I’ve read. This is a short read, but it goes deep. If you say Jesus died to forgive us, or say that Jesus died to show us love, or EVEN that Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins, you have JUST BARELY scratched the surface of the Cross. This book can act as a starting point to a deeper understanding of the Cross.

However, here are some criticisms of the book:
Piper tried to make this a seeker book that would capitalize on the Passion movie. It is not a seeker book. It goes miles beyond what most believers have contemplated. I can’t imagine too many seekers finding this an easy, compelling, or interesting read. Also, although people accuse Piper of being repetitive, this book is not. This means that the text it dense. I think more illustrations would have been helpful.

But in conclusion, read this book or READ SOMETHING ABOUT THE CROSS! Paul decided to know nothing but Christ and Him Crucified (1 Cor. 2:2), and yet in Thessalonica, he reasoned with the people for three days! What would you say if someone wanted to take a three days and discuss the Cross? Would you have more to say than four points? We must be committed to knowing the Cross!