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Thank you for your post #15,586 (is that a ridiculous number or what?). I have never understood the "ransom" thing and was always taught that the crucifixion was a vicarious damnation of J*sus, creating a loophole for everyone else to escape through (since you can't go to hell if you're already there!). In this view the resurrection isn't even really necessary. It's just sort of a "Ta-da!"

But there is still one thing that puzzles me. The Orthodox always speak of death having been "annihilated," "destroyed," etc. And this makes no sense because it simply isn't so. The implication is that people no longer die, and this is absurd on its face. An Orthodox friend once explained to me that in Orthodoxy it isn't sin that causes death but death that causes sin (it's not that everyone dies because everyone sins but everyone sins because everyone's afraid to die), but now that death no longer exists there is no longer any reason to fear it and thus no reason to sin. I'm sorry, but this simply doesn't make any sense.

This whole conversation illustrates one thing very well: there is no such thing as a "chr*stian religion." There are a plethora of religions, theologies, and beliefs that go by the name of "chr*stianity." And that's not taking into account the violent ideological disagreements between "co-religionists" of different ethnicities!

The Paschal Troparion says "trampling down death by death..." That's not the same as "annihilating." The Orthodox would say that Christ destroyed the power of death, because death is no longer a full stop, but only a commas for a Christian; it is no longer an end but a new beginning; it is no longer death but life. The whole meaning of death was changed by Christ's own death. A man no longer has to look forward to an eternity in a pit but for an eternity with God.

Here is an Orthodox icon depicting Christ about to rescue the Old Testament righteous form the depths of hell.

The aged couple in front of Jesus are Adam and Eve, King David is to the right, Moses and John the Forerunner (aka Baptist) can be discerned among others, Abraham, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, etc. Notice that Jesus is standing on the trampled down, helpless devil, and the gaping entrance into hell with its doors knocked down by Christ.

An Orthodox friend once explained to me that in Orthodoxy it isn't sin that causes death but death that causes sin (it's not that everyone dies because everyone sins but everyone sins because everyone's afraid to die), but now that death no longer exists there is no longer any reason to fear it and thus no reason to sin. I'm sorry, but this simply doesn't make any sense.

Their rationale is that once people realize that death has no power over them, i.e. cannot hold them, they have no reason to sin, to yearn for earthly things, but to conform to the image of Christ and years for the life in him.

Of course, as far as I am concerned, it is a very comforting and soothing story which has an obvious appeal to many because it deals offers at least hope.

The term "Christianity" is a conceptual umbrella, for sure, much more than the other religions. It is theologically extremely complex because it is a product of marrying three different and often incompatible beliefs systems: Jewish spirituality, Platonic philosophy, and Zoroastrian dualism. Trying to seamlessly integrate all three is a monumental task that appears to exceed human capacity it.

Judaism is a lot simpler and more straightforward. It also lacks the extreme fluctuations present in Christianity, except for a tiny number of the so-called "Messianic Jews" (who are actually Christians, not Jews). The variations in Judaism are nowhere even close to what Christianity has given birth to.

Threre is also a problem with the so-called "primitive Church," its organization, theology, etc. which exhibited unbelievable heterodoxy and heteropraxis, beginning with the concept of God down to what is scripture, and church organization. And, 2000 years later, we are still where we were 2,000 years go.