One of the central claims of Christianity is that God wants to “save” us. But if you pause and think about it, a serious question arises: what exactly is He saving us from?
The traditional answer is simple: from sin, from death, from hell, and from God’s own wrath. But here’s the problem – God is the one who created every single one of those conditions in the first place.
God as the Source of the Problem
If God is all-powerful and all-knowing, then:
- He created humans with the ability to sin.
- He decided what counts as sin.
- He declared the penalty for sin.
- He created hell as the place of punishment.
In other words, the entire framework of judgment and salvation is God’s invention. So when Christianity says “God saves,” the truth is that He’s simply saving humanity from the trap He designed.
Free Will – or Forced Ultimatum?
Christians often defend this setup by pointing to free will: God gave us the choice to accept or reject Him. But how free is that choice, really? Imagine being told: “Love me – or burn forever.” That isn’t freedom. That’s coercion.
A choice under the threat of eternal punishment is not a real choice. It’s a forced ultimatum dressed up as love.
The Real Conditions of Humanity
Life on earth already comes with its own set of conditions: pain, loss, ignorance, limitation, and death. But these are not divine punishments. They are simply the realities of existence. And far from destroying us, they have forced humanity to adapt, to grow stronger, and to thrive as a species.
We didn’t need salvation from those conditions – we needed resilience, ingenuity, and community. And history shows we already had them.
A System Built on Fear
When you step back, salvation begins to look like a closed loop:
- God defines the problem.
- God enforces the penalty.
- God offers the only solution.
It’s like setting a house on fire and then demanding gratitude for showing up with a bucket of water. The entire system exists to make us dependent on the one who created the problem in the first place.