by Peter Davison
Q: What is the Essence of Christianity?
A: You raise a recurring, but important question. First, we might ask, "What is distinctive about Christian faith?" This avoids the falsehood that all religions are the same or it doesn't matter what you believe. All religions are NOT the same — otherwise, why are we so appalled by Taliban throwing acid at schoolgirls, or by suicide bombers who believe they will be rewarded in heaven for killing innocent civilians? Again, if it doesn't matter what we believe, is there no such thing as truth? Even if we consider ourselves liberal, when the crunch comes, we may find ourselves surprisingly conservative, with basic convictions about right and wrong.
You'll likely be reading this around Holy Week and Easter — so let's cut to the chase and point out that, without Easter, there is no Christianity. As Paul points out, "If Christ has not been raised from the dead, our faith is in vain." Holy Week and Easter tell us Christian faith is indeed a matter of life and death. Christmas for the early church was largely an afterthought. It was the resurrection that took a group of defeated and dispirited disciples, and turned them into a force that changed the world. They had believed Jesus was dead and gone, and death, as usual, had had the last word. So they succumbed to their fear of death and went into hiding — until they encountered their risen Lord, and that changed everything.
The first thing about Jesus' resurrection is that it was totally unexpected. The second is not to confuse resurrection with resuscitation, which is what some critics have done. Jesus' resurrection body is quite different from his mortal one. We might explain away the fact that the first witnesses did not recognise him — after all, we don't expect to encounter someone we've just put in the tomb! But it was obviously more than that. Jesus appears and disappears at whim — appearing behind locked doors, cooking fish at the lakeshore, or walking with grieving disciples on the Emmaus road. Oddly enough, it's the latest science that makes the resurrection easier to believe, because we know all matter consists of energy. Quantum physics admits to all kinds of strange and contradictory things — which is why today's militant atheists seem so strangely out-of-date, with their linear thinking, and their demand that all truth be logical!
Jesus' resurrection is also about a whole new creation that transforms this life. It's not about going to a better place or seeing this life as only a preparation for another. As the Bishop of Durham points out, the early Christians were awaiting Jesus second coming and the general resurrection, which would usher in God's final triumph. That has been a long time coming; but does this mean it's all a mistake? Despite all our scientific advances, we still live in a finite universe (or multiverse), which will come to an end and that will happen only in God's good time. But this life is important, it's not just about us. The reign of God is what we are called to prepare for. Easter tells us this is not some hopeless cause. We have seen enough to know that, despite all the signs to the contrary, God does reign, life is stronger than death, and love is stronger than all the hatred, cynicism and despair we encounter in each day's news. It is Easter that enables us to be Good News to the world, and to challenge the vested interests that are quite prepared to kill for their own short-term gain. It is because death has no more dominion over us that we are free to usher in the new creation built on trust, hope and love. That's a real challenge to us as individuals and as the church — but what a challenge, what a hope!
