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Originally Posted by Sliver
I disagree. Christianity is about the teachings of Jesus Christ. Rising from the dead means nothing without the teachings. I would imagine Christians would claim the teachings are still important if we could somehow prove that people can't be born of virgins, rise from the dead, and be their own father.
The focus on his violent death is morbid and unnecessary. He was a teacher.
IDK, if you love him so much I would think you guys would want to remember him in a more positive way. I have a cool picture of my Grandpa leaning against some 1940's car with cool 1940's stuff in the background hanging on my wall at home, not the photo I have of him days away from death in his hospital bed. I think he'd appreciate that.
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Are his teachings important? Sure they are, but primarily in how they contribute to his death and establish him as the Messiah and as both god and man. Christians teach he was a perfect man (possible only because he was also god) who did not sin and as a result, his death and descending into hell payed for believers sins as opposed to his own.
However, more important than the death itself, is Christ's resurrection from the dead, as without that, he couldn't 'judge the living and the dead.' The theory is that on judgement day, Christ, having paid for believers sins by death and hell, will atone for the sins of his people (believers/the living) saving them from the wrath of god the father allowing them to go to heaven and not for everyone else (non-believers/the dead).
See the Apostles' Creed to get a nearly universal statement of Christian beliefs which should help provide clarity on why Christ's death is so important to Christians.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostles%27_Creed
Also, as the previous poster mentioned, Christian belief can be summarized by John 3:16 (
http://biblehub.com/john/3-16.htm ) which says: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."