April 1, 2018
WHAT HAS POWER TO DO WITH WISDOM?:
4 competing theories on the theological meaning of Easter (Bonnie Kristian, March 30, 2018, The Week)
This Sunday is Easter, the culmination of the week in which Christians commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus and celebrate what this means for our salvation. However, the connection between Christ's death and our salvation -- and how these events can reconcile God and humanity -- isn't exactly intuitive.The basic story Christianity tells goes like this: God creates humans and wants to have a loving relationship with us. Instead, we sin and make that friendship impossible. So God comes to Earth to live as an ordinary human, die a terrible death, and rise again. That makes it so we can be friends with God.Wait, what?The Easter story seems so elementary, but some super-important details are missing in there. Like, how does Jesus' dying help anything? Why couldn't God just forgive us, like he's always telling us to do for other people? And if God is all-powerful, why did he need to live on Earth at all? Couldn't he just make a big announcement in the clouds or something?
We'll engage in any mental gymnastics to avoid the text, which says that He despaired on the Cross just as any mortal would.
Posted by Orrin Judd at April 1, 2018 4:36 AM