PASTOR DAVE’S MUSINGS FROM THE HEARTLAND

April 13, 2022

THE FIRST EASTER

One of the highlights of any Christian pilgrimage to the Holy Lands has to be a visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  Generally, a visit to one of the holy places in Christendom has been preceded by a visit to the first nine stations of the Via Dolorosa.  The remaining stations are to be found within the Holy Sepulcher.  On one of my visits our tour group was able to visit some of the parts of the Church which are not normally open to the public.  One of these was an area deep below the main level where early Christians may have buried their dead.

Just like walking the grounds of Mount Vernon makes real the historical reality of George Washington, visiting sites like the Church of the Holy Sepulcher helps to bring home the historical reality of Jesus.  Outside of the four gospels and a few references in Paul’s letter there is not much certification that Jesus ever lived.  Unfortunately, this is also true for a great many of the famous historical persons from the past.  In large part what we have is secondary evidence.

Philip Schaff was a 19^th Century Protestant Theologian and Ecclesiastical Historian.  In 1843 he became the Professor of Church History and Biblical Literature at the German Reformed Theological Seminary of Mercersburg, Pennsylvania.  He wrote in Through Bible Lands: Notes of Travel in Egypt, the Desert and Palestine (1878) “The Bible is the best handbook for the Holy Land and the Holy Land is the best commentary on the Bible.” (Through Bible Lands, p. 384)  Thus, the Holy Lands themselves are a Fifth Gospel that help one understand the ministry of Jesus.  By visiting the Holy Land and seeing where the event of Holy Week took place, their reality increases.

The seminary I attended required all ministerial students to take a two semester course in systematic theology.  A successful completion of the classes was required for graduation.  The course was taught by two professors.  One, John Deschner, was a Barthian and one, Shubert Ogden, was a process theologian and liked Bultmann.          One would lecture on Monday and the other on Wednesday.  On Fridays we would have a class discussion of an assigned book.

The final assignment for the two semester course was for each student to write their own personal systematic theology. At the heart of the statement of belief were the basic tenets that was assumed on the basis of informed faith and upon which the whole document was based.  One of my basic assumptions was that Jesus is an historical person who died on a cross on a Friday and rose from the dead on a Sunday.  In his writings this would also seem to be one of Paul’s basic assumptions.  He has little interest in the rest of Jesus’ life.

In one of his letters to the Corinthians Paul writes: “Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead?  If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised: and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain.” (I Cor. 15:12-14)  For Paul the historical fact of the resurrection is at the very heart of what it means to be a Christian and upon which a Christian’s hope for the future is based.

Easter is an annual reminder of one of the pillars upon which my Christian faith is built.  If it is not true then the fabric of my belief system begins to crumble.  But thanks be to God Christ is risen, He is risen indeed.  And because Christ lives I have the hope and strength to face tomorrow.

A scriptural index for previous articles can be found at musingsfromtheheartland.com.