Resurrection...

Lately, I've been reading NT Wright's "The Resurrection of the Son of God". It is an attempt to show historically that Christianity cannot make sense without the actual event having occurred. However, despite it's apologetical nature and the specific focus of the narrative, I must say that my perspective of Christianity has been greatly altered and broadened.

The point of this post, I guess, is to organize my thoughts on Christianity. I've realized that MY Christianity has been tainted by the Platonististic dualism that is so prevalent in Western culture. Plato, of course, claimed the duality of physical and spiritual; the spirit being good and the physical being evil and corruptible. However, despite the current trend in the Church to emphasize the "soul", this view is, unfortunately, not biblical. The biblical view does not emphasize this dualism but instead the harmony of flesh and soul. This is, of course, where resurrection comes in.

The resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth was the climax of history, according to Christian eschatology. The resurrection is what makes the entire corpus of the Old Testament lucidly understandable, beginning with, of course, Genesis. I guess this is where the this post will gravitate towards; the connection between resurrection and creation.

It is significant that, when God created the heaven and the earth, he deemed creation good. Creation was and is supposed to be "good". Of course, as every Christian knows, creation was tainted by the sin of Adam and Eve and, thus, destined for death; suddenly, the incorruptible became corruptible. But what does resurrection have to do with Genesis?

It is interesting to note the language used by the authors of the New Testament. For example, in Romans, Paul speaks of the old Adam and the "last Adam". The point of this passage is to show how sin and death entered into the world through one man, God's original creation, Adam, and how life can now be found in the new Adam, Christ. What is the significance of this distinction? Clearly, it refers all the way back to the creation in Genesis; how creation had been tainted by sin and death. So, in this view, what is the resurrection and, specifically, the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth? After reading NT Wright, I have come to understand the gravity of the resurrection. Resurrection isn't merely a return to life, a resuscitation. It is, in fact, a passing through death into a new physical reality; becoming a new creation in the Kingdom of God . New creation, then, is God's way of honoring his covenant with Abraham and his promise to Eve in Genesis. He is restoring creation and this was inaugurated by the resurrection of Jesus.

Well these are my immediate thoughts so far. I need to ponder more and start connecting the dots. Anyways, as Porky Pig likes to say, "That's all folks!....for now"