Pity the Fool

It seems that I have failed once again to successfully communicate a point. Perhaps, Paul can help me out a bit. The Christian faith is based upon one historical event above all others: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Can we agree on this point? I would put this on the short list of objects of the Christian faith. The discussion of what that His death and resurrection mean is important, to be sure, but the key is the historical resurrection. If Christ simply died and was not raised from the dead, would anyone revere Him as Lord? Really? Paul puts it this way (1 Corinthians 15.)

14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.  ...19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

It seems that Paul is saying this same thing. He even goes a step farther. If Christ wasn’t raised from the dead, we should be the most pitied of all people. That is indeed a heavy charge. And so I ask again, if the resurrection was not true, if the tomb was not empty, would you still be a Christian?

My answer is a resounding “No.” Without the resurrection, without Christ’s victory over death, there is no object of my faith, and it therefore crumbles. Is that a negative statement? Paul made it, not me. He ran around calling what he preached the Gospel, the Good News. I’ll side with Paul and with scripture.

--Ogre--