Resurrection Rumination April 12, 2009
Posted by Matt in Christian Beliefs.Tags: easter, Jesus, question, resurrection
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Just a late Easter Sunday question I’ve been thinking over and that will probably again have me labeled as a heretic…
Does it matter whether or not Jesus’s physical body actually rose from the grave?
In my view, yes. Without the resurrection, there is no actual power in what happened. It would just mean that Jesus was a great man, a prophet with such profound love that He would die for us, but mortal and ultimately defeated by death. And I guess it would also mean He lied about rising again. Without the resurrection, there is no Christianity. I know many would disagree with me, but in reading through the New Testament this seems central to its message.
I tend to agree with Paul when he says if the resurrection isn’t real, then the followers of Christ should be pitied above all me.
i have to agree….it IS the power of our hope
we have no idea if jesus rose from the dead. no one has a smoking gun to prove or disprove. we can have faith that this event was a literal act. but that’s just an idea in our head.
all we can understand is what the story means.
the story has great power even if it didn’t historically happen. it would not mean that jesus “lied to us about rising”. that is not a logical statement.
the four anonymous gospel writers tell us the resurrection was seen by a very small minority of rural poor people. like most of the hebrew and christian bible, having to believe in personal revelation gets pretty sketchy.
i wish we could focus on the story of a man who railed against injustice and the powerful by preaching a message of love and compassion. if we as christians majored in that…we could literally change the world. as it is, we make a mess of it with our ignorance and exclusivity. trying to convert people to believe a historical event in their head is suspect. by all means believe it. it doesn’t change the need for us to be love and light to this world. i have hope without believing in the literal raising of jesus.
Is this the same Patrick who usually posts on Matt’s blog?
No, Jeff, it’s a different one.
I thought I had wandered into some sort of Bizarro world for a minute there.
Okay, Matt, are you being serious? Is this a different Patrick? (I’m all “waaaa?” like jwisdom.)
I’m serious, it is a different Patrick. He usually posts under a different name…
Well, I am a little disappointed. I almost thought Patrick and I had something in common…although I’m not sure I would’ve known what to do with that.
I think that is PDX. Although, I thought about posting something similar just as a joke. Kind of a late April Fools post.
r-liz, I’m sure we have a lot more in common than we have seen on here. We’ve never met, nor had the opportunity to explore the sameness and difference we have.
Acts 2:32 It was this very Jesus whom God raised, and of that we are all witnesses.
Plain and simple. God gave us the Bible and this is what the Bible says. Why is there any debate? You either believe this and win a crown or deny it and become separated from the God who formed you out of the dust of this sinful planet.
GOD 1
Devil 0
JESUS WINS!