The Link is published monthly at 40p (Senior Citizens 35p), and we deliver free within the parish and post copies (at the reader's expense) to those who request it. Please contact us if you would like a free copy for a trial period.
March 2002, Page 8.
Index of articles.
Questions:
index,
Special needs,
Choruses,
Common cup,
Evangelical,
Resurrection,
Lord's Prayer.
In this issue:
(March 2002)
Vicar's Letter,
Thomas,
Cross,
Resurrection.
In our "Questions to the clergy" slot, John will try to answer any query you throw at him, without hesitation, deviation or repetition...
What is the "Resurrection"?
Q. The former Bishop of Durham used to teach that the resurrection of Jesus was a “spiritual” event rather than a physical one. Please can you explain why he thought this, and why he was wrong?
A. I’ll try. But please bear in mind that I might misrepresent David Jenkins. You really ought to ask him why he thought what he thought (or maybe read one of his books?).
Why he thought it? The earliest piece of Christian writing on the resurrection of Jesus is in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8. You really need to look it up and read it for yourself.
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. (1 Cor 15:3-8, NIV)
You’ll see Paul says you can be sure Jesus was raised from the dead because of all the people he appeared to. Most of them were still alive when Paul wrote, and he’s really saying “if you don’t believe me, go and ask them yourself!” It’s an impressive list: over 500 people on six different occasions.
But, says Jenkins, Paul includes himself at the end of the list. He is referring to his experience on the road to Damascus, which he mentions in other letters (e.g. Gal 1:12) and which Luke records (Acts 22 & 26) (Luke used to travel with Paul, so we are hearing Paul first-hand here). But Paul’s conversion was long after Jesus’ ascension. Paul must have seen the risen Jesus in a vision and not in the flesh. It therefore follows, says David Jenkins, that seeing as Paul puts himself in the same list as the other witnesses, Paul must have believed his own seeing of Jesus was on a level with all the appearances he records. In other words, they were all just “visions” - they were all “spiritual” and not physical.
Why he was wrong! Well, for a start, Luke 24:39 and John 20:27 were clearly written to show that the risen Jesus wasn’t just a “vision”. The empty tomb would be irrelevant if the true faith was about a merely “spiritual” (i.e. non-physical) resurrection.
But the real problem with David Jenkins’ view is that the text of 1 Cor 15 doesn’t put Paul on a level with the other witnesses. Instead Paul adds the phrase “as to one abnormally born” to himself. The Greek word ektroma literally means an abortion - Paul knew his own experience of Jesus was highly abnormal, and not like the others. Paul knows his own experience doesn’t prove that Jesus was raised physically - but the others do, and that’s what he tells the Corinthians.
John Hartley