Problems of Early Christianity

Part Two

"RAISED FROM THE DEAD"

An Approach to the Problem of the Resurrection of Jesus

from the Descriptions of His "Risen" Body

Introduction: The Heart of the Problem

"The unique and sensational event on which the whole of human history turns" - that is how, in an address on April 5, 1972, Pope Paul VI characterised what the doctrine which has been central to Christianity from the very beginning affirms: the Resurrection of Jesus' crucified body. This doctrine is meant to convey the sense of an unparalleled intervention by God in our world's affairs, converting an absolute-seeming defeat - Jesus' death on the cross - into a mighty triumph over mortality, a triumph which declared him God's elect and the supreme hope for mankind's salvation.

Such being the claim, one need hardly wonder at the spate of books carrying discussions of the subject from various sides. The excuse for another study can only be to bring out some important shades felt to have been missed or at least insufficiently stressed. But before we launch on it we must remind ourselves of what we are talking about, so that we may get to the heart of the problem.

We are not referring merely to the miracle of a corpse having been resuscitated, such as we read of in Jesus' dealing with Lazarus (John 11:1-44) or Jairus's daughter (Matthew 9:18-26) or the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-17). We have in sight an alleged event in which, along with resuscita-tion, the once-dead body continued in a form that acquired new qualities describable as superhuman. Nevertheless the crucial question is: "Was there a resuscitation?" For, without it, it would be meaningless to speak of extraordinary qualities manifesting in the original body itself. To come to a proper answer we should seek out evidence as near as possible in time to the death of Jesus.

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