SCRIPTURE: “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” –John 3:13-16. [source]
COMMENTARY: I’m not really sure what the word “gave” means in the context of that scripture. If it means “allowed him to be killed,” well, doesn’t God allow everyone to die, and many to be killed? And when people die, don’t we say things like “God took them back to Himself?” If that’s what the scripture means, then “giving” and “taking” are synonyms in this context, so why not just use the word that most closely matches common use? And if instead the scripture means “gave” like a gift, then what kind of gift is it if you end up taking it back (or it ends up running back to the giver on its own) a couple months or years later? The world had Jesus for a while, then Jesus went back to God. That’s more clearly called loaning us his only begotten Son. I vote we update the scripture so it more closely represents the truth. But what do I know? I’m just another apostate.
