Over the weekend, a friend asked me a good question about the resurrection: Why does it say "He is risen"? Shouldn't it be "He has risen"? Most modern translations actually use "He has risen" in places like Matt. 28:6. But "He is risen" still holds a central place in our Christian vocabulary. Just to cite two examples: Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Christ the Lord is Risen Today! My guess was that either a) grammar has simply changed since the 17th century, or b) the present tense is expressing a … [Read more...] about Easter Isn’t Over
easter
Correspondence theory & Updike’s “Seven Stanzas of Easter”
When considering the correspondence theory of truth in Christianity and Literature: Philosophical Foundations and Critical Practice (Christian Worldview Integration Series. InterVarsity Press. 2011), David Lyle Jeffrey and Gregory Maillet refer to John Updike's Seven Stanzas at Easter (1960).* Enjoy this excerpt from a "bold, wonderfully learned manifesto ... [which] breathes a prophetic passion -- bracing, salutary and sometimes uncomfortable -- that transcends mere academic discussion and leaves the reader … [Read more...] about Correspondence theory & Updike’s “Seven Stanzas of Easter”
A few minutes with Updike’s “Seven Stanzas at Easter”
Make no mistake: if He rose at all it was as His body; if the cells' dissolution did not reverse, the molecules reknit, the amino acids rekindle, the Church will fall. -- John Updike. Seven Stanzas at Easter. 1960. Accessed at http://www.iserv.net/~stpats/Updike.htm (4/21/2011). While reading Kent Annan's After Shock: Searching for Honest Faith When Your World Is Shaken (InterVarsity Press. 2011), I came across selections from John Updike's Seven Stanzas at Easter. On Easter, as he wrestles with faith in the … [Read more...] about A few minutes with Updike’s “Seven Stanzas at Easter”
Tom Sine asks about Easter
HT to Christine Sine who posted Tom Sine is Blogging (April 13, 2010). Looking forward to Tom's entering of the blogosphere ;-) His first question is with regard to what difference Easter/the resurrection is making in our troubled world, not just our personal lives. To show that ESN's thinking about this question, I shared some material from Amish Grace and Recognizing the Messiah. What comments/thoughts do you have to share? PS. Wish I could point to a post on Desiring the Kingdom of God (James K. A. … [Read more...] about Tom Sine asks about Easter
How Did You Celebrate Easter?
Do you think of worship, hospitality, or celebration as spiritual disciplines? If you're like me, you associate the idea of "discipline" with things that are hard, like fasting, daily prayer, intense Bible study, and so on. But if a discipline is something that trains us to live and think rightly, then what better response to the resurrection can there be than over-the-top celebration? In fact, celebration holds a place of honor in both of my top two books on spiritual disciplines. Richard Foster, in Celebration of … [Read more...] about How Did You Celebrate Easter?