Have you ever wondered, why is John 3:16 the most famous verse? I did...

[patrolwagon]

John 3:16 wasn't always the most popular Bible passage. But from 1800's revival sermons to the famous "Rainbow Man" in the 70's - this is the story of why John 3:16 is the most popular Bible verse.



Let me know what you think.

[PaulS]

7 hours ago, patrolwagon said:

Let me know what you think.

I thought it was really interesting.  Thanks for sharing.

[patrolwagon]

On 5/28/2021 at 3:53 PM, PaulS said:

I thought it was really interesting.  Thanks for sharing.

Glad you liked it!

[romansh]

Not being a Christian J3:16 leaves me cold. What a horrible concept, and based on a faulty premise too.

[PaulS]

11 hours ago, romansh said:

Not being a Christian J3:16 leaves me cold. What a horrible concept, and based on a faulty premise too.

It is a gruesome verse when a non-Christian thinks about it.  To think that a Father would require his own son to suffer and die a cruel death, just so that the Father himself is appeased by the act, is ludicrous! Yet, when you're on the inside, it seems as normal and acceptable as the air we breathe.  That is for most - a few of us get away!

[JimmyB]

I don't see anything gruesome about John 3:16.  It says that He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him.

 

There is nothing gruesome about having eternal life and not perishing.  It is glorious!  God wants the entire world to be saved by Jesus' sacrifice for their sins.

Edited June 9, 2021 by JimmyB

[romansh]

8 hours ago, JimmyB said:

I don't see anything gruesome about John 3:16.

You are right Jimmy ... the story is all rainbows, fluffy unicorns and teddy bears.

What the world needs is more:

Edited June 9, 2021 by romansh

[PaulS]

11 hours ago, JimmyB said:

I don't see anything gruesome about John 3:16.  It says that He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him.

 

There is nothing gruesome about having eternal life and not perishing.  It is glorious!  God wants the entire world to be saved by Jesus' sacrifice for their sins.

To me its just gruesome thinking that the only way such a God can be satisfied is firstly, to have humans murder his son, and then secondly, that humans thousands of years later have to believe the stories or else they will suffer eternal punishment.  An all-powerful God who's only way to prevent people suffering an eternal torture is to ensure his son is killed and then stories about him are believed, seems terribly gruesome to me and if any human alive today tried that on with their own child, we'd all call that person a lunatic.

[John Hunt]

On 6/10/2021 at 4:25 AM, PaulS said:

God wants the entire world to be saved by Jesus' sacrifice for their sins

i guess we've been sacrificing to placate fearsome gods since we came down from the trees - this just happens to be the biggest sacrifice we've been able to think of. Unless we committed mass suicide.

[John Hunt]

 

On 6/10/2021 at 4:25 AM, PaulS said:

I don't see anything gruesome about John 3:16.  It says that He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him.

Ps:  I understand that the scholarly consensus is that John's gospel is the least likely  to contain words that Jesus actually spoke. And the bulk of Christian scholarship, in trying to work out the exact meaning of the Greek text in the Gospels (both Paul and the gospel writers, generations later, wrote in Greek), is chasing the wrong camel, as he spoke in Aramaic. It’s a language that depends on inflection rather than a root grammatical system like Greek. “Body” and “spirit” can be the same thing, depending on emphasis. “Father” is not about gender, need not even be parenthood, but could imply universal creation. Even the Greek is often uncertain – “eternal” for instance doesn’t necessarily refer to time, it could just indicate a supreme quality. “Eternal Life” could mean “Abundant Life.”