8 Responses to 8 Attacks on the Gospel
A Response to Lilith Helstrom
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is beautiful. It shines with unimaginable luster and is the very power of God.
This truth endures, even in the face of those who seek to malign and repudiate it.
Recently, on the platform Medium, Lilith Helstrom wrote a post entitled 8 Ways the Gospel Message Contradicts Itself. In it, she makes eight assertions that seek to expose the unintelligent, malevolent God of this so-called “gospel” that she rejected some years ago.
Background
Lilith is an incredibly skilled writer and professing atheist. Having read quite a bit of her writing, I find her story heartbreaking. It causes me to think of how many more people share the same story of pain, abuse (physical and mental), and manipulation by those who call themselves “Christians.”
Though she grew up in a “Christian” home, she now vehemently opposes Christianity and writes for an online publication called Deconstructing Christianity, which has over one thousand followers. Unfortunately, some of those who have suffered greatly in these ways were at the same time handed a faulty gospel and a different Jesus who actually cannot save, even if they were using the same Bible. This is often the case for the #exvangelical movement and others who “deconstruct” Christianity.
Even when exposed to the true gospel, their suffering led to its rejection. But something can still be true even if it is accompanied by those who don’t embody its beautiful message.
Her eight misguided claims about why the gospel contradicts itself are, at best, half-baked and, at worst, completely false. Each one presents a misrepresentation of the Christian message. Here they are:
#1 “God is so deeply forgiving that he couldn’t forgive anyone without an extremely violent sacrifice.”
#2 “Jesus died on the cross for your sins and that’s why he’s still alive millennia later, longer than humanly possible.”
#3 “Jesus died for three days. Starting on Friday evening and ending early Sunday morning. You know how less than forty-eight hours equals three days.”
#4 “The payment for sin is eternal torment, that’s why Jesus had to pay it only temporarily.”
#5 “Committing suicide is a sin, but when Jesus kills himself, it’s because he’s sinless.”
#6 “When Judas kills himself, it’s because he’s one of the worst human beings to have ever lived, but when Jesus kills himself, it’s because he’s perfect.”
#7 “God is his own son and his own father and he does this without having sex.”
#8 “God and Jesus are the same being, but in a separate being sort of way.”1
We’ll analyze each part of this straw man in turn, starting with the first claim.
Claim #1
“God is so deeply forgiving that he couldn’t forgive anyone without an extremely violent sacrifice.”
Response:
Understanding God’s Justice
God is so deeply forgiving. Yet, He also reveals to us that He will “by no means clear the guilty” (Exodus 34:6-7). God is all of His attributes simultaneously—He doesn’t have a whole lot of love here and a little bit of justice there. Love and justice are who He is. Thus, though we distinguish attributes, we can properly say that He is wrathful because He is love, avoiding the error of ranking one attribute as higher than the other. Therefore, in instances where there has been an egregious offense, how can there be true love where there is no justice?
I’m sure that Lilith, the author of this claim, is a big fan of justice. Who doesn’t, deep down, see the need for victims to be vindicated through the justice brought upon their abusers or perpetrators? Lilith’s claim above can make it sound as though God couldn’t do something, indicating that he was deficient or lacked power. While it remains within God’s power to just forgive without sacrifice, it would be arbitrary and at the expense of true justice.
The Nature of Forgiveness
Furthermore, true forgiveness cannot be given without some kind of sacrifice and some kind of justice.
Even on a human level, think about what happens when we forgive someone. We willingly seek to overlook someone’s wrongdoing toward us and not hold it against them. That person deserves to get back what they dished out. That person deserves to pay back what they took from us. But by forgiving someone, we’re effectively taking the hit or taking the loss. We’re making a sacrifice.
When Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matthew 5:38–39), what is He implying?
Though you are forgiving the person who slapped you, you’re turning your other cheek to him to effectively showcase the sacrifice you’re making—you are taking the blow that was meant for the one who slapped you.
This is forgiveness in the human experience. We may begin to see the connection between this forgiveness on a grand scale between God and the sinner.
The Role of Sacrifice
To misunderstand God’s justice and the necessity of sacrifice is to misunderstand His holiness. Sin is not merely breaking a rule—it is an offense against the infinite worth of God. When we rebel against Him, we commit cosmic treason. Therefore, justice must be served, and this treason must be punished. The Bible makes clear that sin pays only one wage: death (Romans 3:23).
Lilith seeks to malign God’s character by making Him sound like a blood-thirsty deity that cannot be appeased unless there is blood spilled. But the sacrifice God required was not to demonstrate His need for appeasement, but was to demonstrate His righteousness. Paul explains: God “put [Jesus] forward as a propitiation by His blood…to show His righteousness…so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:25-26).
Demonstration of True Love
Additionally, what separates our God from some pagan deity that requires some kind of blood to appease Him is that He—God Himself— “turned the other cheek” so to speak. Rather than just overlook sin, wave His hand, and magically “forgive,” He took on flesh, gave up His life, and bore the wrath reserved for you and me. He took the blow and paid what we owed. So the great news is that since God vindicated Christ by raising Him from the dead on the third day, He can remain just and, at the same time, pour out His love as He justifies the ungodly.
While it is true that Christ was violently sacrificed, He did so as the greatest hero known to mankind, the only Hero who laid down His life not to save His friends but His enemies. For those who believe, Christ got the punishment, and they get the forgiveness. He took their dirty clothes and wore them; they wear His pure, clean robes. The Father, in perfect agreement with His Son, received this perfect sacrifice and now looks upon the guilty as perfectly righteous.
Conclusion
God is deeply forgiving, and He is also just. A sacrifice had to be made for true justice to be maintained. But thankfully, the same God who requires a penalty for sin became the payment we needed.
In a future post for paid subscribers, I’ll seek to answer the next assertion:
#2 “Jesus died on the cross for your sins and that’s why he’s still alive millennia later, longer than humanly possible.”
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Helstrom, Lilith, 8 Ways the Gospel Message Contradicts itself https://medium.com/deconstructing-christianity/8-ways-the-gospel-message-contradicts-itself-85c4f636c0f9
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