Letters

(3 of 3)

The Death of Jesus

"Why Did Jesus Die?" Was a clear exposition of traditional theological interpretations of his death [April 12]. But it did not include the insights of liberation and feminist theologies. Latin American liberation theology, born in the 1960s amid that region's poverty and oppression, includes a focus on the social dimensions of sin and grace. Thus the death of Jesus and his Resurrection are a liberation from the power of both personal sin and social sin, such as injustice, racism and sexism. Feminist theologians ask, Can a Saviour who is male save women? Some say yes, seeing in the death of Jesus the gift of his whole self for the sake of his mission of liberation. As servant and Saviour, Jesus affirms that all, men and women, are called to the same depth of self-giving.
SUSAN RAKOCZY
Hilton, South Africa

Why couldn't Jesus have died a natural death like Buddha, who was also a great teacher of millions? If Christianity holds that Jesus' death was predetermined, then why blame anybody, whether Jew or Roman, for his death? If Jesus was regarded by Rome as a rebel against Caesar, then his execution was in conformity with Roman law. The Jews of Jerusalem, who lived under a brutal Roman occupation, were virtually powerless. Centuries later, after the Roman Empire adopted Christianity, blame was shifted from the Roman Pontius Pilate onto the Jews. That was a clear case of rewriting history, and we Jews have suffered terribly as a result. Jesus would overturn the tables of the Hollywood money changers in shock and anger if he knew what a travesty had been made of his life in Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ.
DAVID ZOHAR
Jerusalem

You failed to mention Jesus' role as a messianic reformer of the Jewish faith. He addressed his countrymen and their hopes for release from occupation by the hated Romans. That brought him into direct conflict with Rome, and that is why he was killed by the Roman method of crucifixion.
ROGER PAYNE
London