The Offense of the Resurrection
Not only the cross of Christ, but also his empty tomb is disagreeable to many.
During the first week of this month, I ran an unintentional experiment upon humanity. Seeing the fear that had gripped many friends and acquaintances on social media, and knowing the tension I felt within myself, I decided to spend the days surrounding the U.S. general election offering words of comfort and hope. At regular points throughout the day, I posted biblical admonitions, helpful quotes, and assurances drawn from history.
“Lord, show me how to love people, no matter what hat or shirt they wear, no matter what they post, no matter how they vote,” I posted on November 4,[1] the day before the election. On November 5, I told the world, “Nothing that happens today or any other day can change the promises God has made or separate you from his love.”[2] These admonitions were generally well received, and one was among my most popular tweets of all time.
I did not want to stay up all night and watch the numbers slowly reveal themselves, so I scheduled two messages to post at midnight and 3 am. The first was nearly identical to messages I had posted earlier in the year, immediately following the attempted assassinations of Donald Trump and immediately after Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race: “Fear not, beloved. God is in control.”[3] The second was a quote from the medieval mystic Julian of Norwich’s Revelations of Divine Love: “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”[4]
It was after the second message that things seemed to sour. As fate would have it, the post hit the internet just as it was becoming clear that Trump would be re-elected as president of the United States. Sure, there are always angry atheists who will find me in the vast mess of social media and post, “God doesn’t exist. Go f--- yourself.”[5] But I also heard from Christians who had opposed Trump and now feared a world catastrophe on the order of the Second World War.
I had a few people press me hard. After all, hasn’t God allowed terrible things to happen in the past? How can I say that everything is going to be ok in the end?
These were valid concerns, but as I attempted to explain, the ultimate hope of the Christian lies in the resurrection of the dead, the life eternal, and the coming kingdom of Jesus Christ. In conversation after conversation, I kept thinking about resurrection, the subject of an article I had posted here at Sub-Creations on November 4. When the Christian saints of old surrendered themselves to flame or sword for their faith, they did so in hope of resurrection, believing that any suffering in this life receives its due reward in the hereafter.
Yet, even as I pointed to the hope of resurrection, I had people tell me that resurrection cannot be the answer to the problem of evil. I also saw Christians who, in the way they responded to the election, suggested they took no comfort from the hope of resurrection: at least, not like those ancient saints we read about.
I do not blame people for doubting. I understand that the hope of resurrection can only be grasped by faith. But I also wonder if I am somewhat odd in how I think about resurrection. Indeed, the older I become (and I am now quite probably middle aged), the more I see that my own faith is summarized in the phrase, “I believe in the resurrection of the dead.” It is not merely one important part of my Christianity, but the very heart and soul of it. Allow me to explain why.
Resurrection does not simply reverse physical death, reanimating a body that was formerly a corpse. As I understand it, Scripture teaches that resurrection is a complete paradigm shift. When God raises a person, he brings them into a new existence. In the great tradition of Christian theology—whether Orthodox, Roman Catholic, or Protestant—resurrection involves the glorification of the redeemed individual, the final stage in a salvific chronology that begins with predestination and proceeds through justification and sanctification to the ultimate end of glory. And the resurrected individual sees the beatific vision: the face of God himself which, in granting perfect knowledge, makes us perfect as well.
But more than that, the resurrection of the dead involves the restoration and renewal of all creation—the New Heavens and Earth. It is a better state of being than what existed at the dawn of creation, when Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden. It also involves the reconciliation of all things to God in Christ, so that God is all in all. (2 Corinthians 5:18-19, 1 Corinthians 15:20-28)
This brings us to the key thing I have noticed about resurrection. By faith, I understand that resurrection is the answer to the problem of evil, for in a way still somewhat mysterious to us, it will make right all the sufferings we have endured. How can a good God allow such evils upon the earth? How can he remain loving while judging humanity? The answer, I believe, is resurrection. In that final restoration and reconciliation, the paradoxes that perplex us now will find their solution in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
So when I tell people, “Don’t worry. Everything will be ok in the end,” I do not simply mean, “If you die, God will reanimate you.” I mean that every evil we commit and every evil we experience will find its answer and, you might even say, its atonement. Through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, in which he took the sins of humanity upon himself and joined himself to humanity’s suffering and death, he provided the basis for reconciliation, 1) between God and man and 2) between man and man. But his resurrection is equally necessary, for it serves as the living proof of God’s power and intent. As Christ was raised, so we will be raised. As Christ was glorified, so we will be glorified.
That the Son of God should be sent to suffer and die on behalf of sinners is seen by many as a monstrosity, and so it would be were it not for the expectation Christ had that he would be resurrected in power, glorified, and granted an eternal kingdom and spotless bride. (John 10:11-18, Philippians 2:5-11, John 17)The resurrection of Christ justifies the crucifixion of Christ. Even so, our resurrection, glorification, and eternity in Christ’s kingdom will justify everything we have suffered in this life, even if it is on the order of the horrors of World War II.
Returning to my unintentional social media experiment, it will never surprise me that people are offended by the cross of Jesus Christ. After all, Scripture assures us that this will be the case: the very thing that seems beautiful to me will be abhorrent to others. (1 Corinthians 1:18-25) More surprising is how much people are offended by the resurrection, for even those who believe that Christ was truly and physically raised from the dead often take little hope from it, and they believe it somehow unjust that they should be expected to share Christ’s cross in order to share in his resurrection.
I can come to no other conclusion after some of the reactions I have seen. For while I deeply lament every suffering and evil in this world and hope that our world is not heading for a time of darkness on par with the worst excesses of history, I do not believe that, were these things to happen, it would represent any injustice on God’s part or even something over which I have a right to complain. God never promised me total comfort in this life, but he did promise to raise me from the dead. Therefore, I intend to demand with my final breath that he make good on that promise, but I will not hold him to something he never promised.
God has given the answer to the problem of evil, and it is resurrection. I do not understand all the ways in which resurrection will solve the paradoxes that trouble us, but by faith I believe it will. Why? Because I have seen God’s love for sinners demonstrated in the cross of Christ and his power of restoration demonstrated in the empty tomb. Therefore, I conclude that somehow and in some way, everything will be ok in the end.
This is not an easy conclusion to reach. It requires a gift of faith, for there is nothing in human reason or scientific experiment that supports the resurrection of the dead. When Abraham was confronted with theodicy after God demanded he sacrifice the promised child Isaac, Abraham concluded by faith that God could raise the dead, despite having seen no evidence of such and without the support of logic. (Hebrews 11:19) Likewise, when struggling with the problem of evil, Job declared that God was the Redeemer who would raise him at the end of time, and that was answer enough. (Job 19:25-27)
That resurrection should be taken as an acceptable answer to the problem of evil is offensive to many. They return again and again to the scourges of this life. How could God allow so much suffering? How could God condemn unrepentant sinners? I do not mean to belittle or dismiss these questions. They are entirely valid and must be addressed. But ultimately, God has spoken and declared that resurrection is the answer to these things: the happy event of cosmic proportions which justifies the Justifier. (Romans 3:26) Some do not believe that such things could be so. As for me, I believe.
I will continue to return to the subject of resurrection. It fascinates me and never seems to grow old. It is the substance of my hope and the thing that drives me on. I believe it has spared me the despair which afflicts so many this year, including some who are dear to me. Am I a fool for saying with Julian of Norwich, “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well”? Perhaps. But faith requires I take that chance: that I risk all I am for a promise. I surrender my right to logical satisfaction to gain the satisfaction of my soul.
It is my dearest hope that you, my friend, will come to find resurrection as fascinating as I do, and that it will provide essential comfort as you walk the pilgrim road of life toward the beatific vision.
Release day for Broken Bonds: A Novel of the Reformation is almost upon us! Order your copy here.
[1] https://x.com/AmyMantravadi/status/1853460789388030288
[2] https://x.com/AmyMantravadi/status/1853781032710852866
[3] https://x.com/AmyMantravadi/status/1854025923848532051
[4] https://x.com/AmyMantravadi/status/1854071219408236756
[5] https://x.com/doloresquintana/status/1854152589140541779
It wasn't until I was a 20-year-old Christian that someone sat me down and made sure I knew my faith didn't culminate in a ticket to heaven when I die, but nothing less than Christ's restoration of all things. All things! It changed my life, of course. (Thank you, Dr. Jeffrey Gibbs). The paradigm shift was at first a hurdle for me, and as I go forward as a self-proclaimed member of the Eschatology Brigade, I have seen that it's a hurdle for many Christ followers; so many of our hymns and sayings leave out the resurrection. How much moreso those to whom Christ's cross is foolishness. I tried to describe to a friendly apostate, post-election, why I wasn't too flapped about how things turned out, but to no avail. Thank you for this thorough treatment.
Also, this:
“I believe like a child that suffering will be healed and made up for, that all the humiliating absurdity of human contradictions will vanish like a pitiful mirage, like the despicable fabrication of the impotent and infinitely small Euclidean mind of man, that in the world's finale, at the moment of eternal harmony, something so precious will come to pass that it will suffice for all hearts, for the comforting of all resentments, for the atonement of all the crimes of humanity, for all the blood that they've shed; that it will make it not only possible to forgive but to justify all that has happened.”
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamozov
Very nice. The sum and substance of Christianity is, 'If in this life only we have hope, then we are of all men most miserable.' I have seen posts on a lot of what you read, I was curious what you think of George MacDonald's thoughts on resurrection, particularly the 'good death' in something like Lilith or At the Back of the North Wind.
My own thoughts are well summed up in https://comfortwithtruth.substack.com/p/the-children-get-up-and-reign-anotherhtml