IN THEORY:Belief and the defeat of death

Two thousand years after Christ’s death, people still debate the Resurrection. Many remain steadfast in their belief that it was a historical event, but others, even Christians, believe that such a Biblical story can’t be taken as historical fact, but rather as a metaphor. What do you think?

To engage in argument about whether the resurrection was an historical fact or metaphorical diminishes its true message for all religions. Immortality is celebrated by almost all faith traditions currently practiced on Earth today. The hope of eternal life, of living again, is the basic tenet creating the roots of spirituality today.

Every Scientologist believes there is a spiritual side to existence. We believe that the path to increased spiritual awareness and freedom is by seeking truth, taking on responsibilities and practicing kindness and tolerance in helping our fellows.

Our founder, L. Ron Hubbard wrote, “We honor the great spiritual leaders of the past, since these people handed along enough tradition to make us aware of the fact that there was a spiritual side to man. These great spiritual leaders have been hanged, reviled, misinterpreted, badly quoted, have not been at all comprehended; but nevertheless, they are the hands through which a torch has been handed through the centuries so that we could culminate with a greater ability for man and some hope for his future. There is hope. You do go on living. This life is not all there is. There is some future life in which you can do better, succeed more worthily than you have. That is all these men said.”

Let’s not forget this incredible message of hope even in a materialistic world, a sometimes-cynical society ready to poke holes in every treasured belief.

Celebrate the message of hope.

CATHERINE EMRANI

Volunteer Minister

Glendale Church of

Scientology

Since we are all so scientific, because we live in the 21st century, where science is supreme, the Resurrection presents some problems.

Each of us just knows absolutely that dead bodies don’t rise up once they are dead. In fact, we are all familiar with the saying, “Nothing is certain except death and taxes.” The scientific part of me wants to look for all kinds of metaphorical explanations of the Resurrection, and some of those metaphorical explanations aren’t bad.

However, as liberal theologically as I am, something inexplicably happened on that first Easter morning. While I am as sure as the next person that dead bodies don’t rise up, the disciples and others saw something that convinced them that Jesus of Nazareth had come back from the dead. There is no question that they believed some kind of defeat of death occurred, because each one of those disciples died a horrible, painful death (maybe not John, the beloved disciple) and died for the cause.

They went from being a scaredy-cat group of cowards when Jesus was arrested to affirming that he was alive — and they paid for their testimonies with their lives. All kinds of explanations have been offered for the disciples’ change of mind; mass hysteria has been suggested. For me, maybe one guy, or two or three, might decide that Jesus’ message was worth dying for, even if he stayed dead in the tomb. But all 12? I don’t think so. I am not a Biblical literalist, nor am I a fundamentalist by any stretch of the imagination; in fact, fundies make my blood boil. But something happened to convince the disciples that Jesus was alive; their subsequent behavior proves they believed he came back from the dead. And liberal as I am proud to be, I’ll join the disciples on this one and proclaim, “Alleluia! Christ is Risen!” And I’ll also tack on a little prayer: “O Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief.” Amen. Happy Easter.

THE REV. C. L.

“SKIP” LINDEMAN

Congregational Church

of the Lighted Window

United Church of Christ

La Cañada Flintridge

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

These words have been responsively uttered in church services from the beginning. There is no Christianity without a resurrected Christ, and if it didn’t occur literally, it didn’t occur. To be resurrected is to genuinely rise from the dead. It’s heretical and altogether un-Christian to suggest that Christ’s resurrection was but a metaphorical rising in our hearts, or figurative raising of consciousness. If anything, these notions should raise very indignant eyebrows among all Christians, let alone Christ Himself.

Yet, every year, the media dumps speculative trash upon us, denouncing the claims of Christ, disparaging the Christian message and denigrating the beliefs of faithful Christians. Without fail, those who get to publicly blather on with these negative personal opinions are usually people who have long since left the historic faith for contemporary philosophical meanderings. In high school we called them stoners; but give them tenure, and we call them liberal scholars. You’ll find that opposition to the sacred accounts come from these who do not believe Christ is God incarnate, who deny His virgin birth, who deny the Trinity, and who relegate the Biblical Scripture to the dust bin of ancient mythology or to the genre of restaurant cookie wisdom.

The Apostles taught that without Christ’s true resurrection, we have a false religion. (1 Corinthians 15:14) It’s integral to the Gospel message. Jesus foretold of his physical resurrection in John 20. He then arose and confirmed its truth, saying, “Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” (Luke 24:39)

Then, as now, there were two religious groups: conservatives, who believed in resurrection, and the liberal Sadducees, who didn’t. They were sad-U-see, like the naysayers of today, but Christ is risen. He is risen indeed!

Happy Easter.

THE REV. BRYAN GRIEM

Senior Pastor

MontroseCommunity

Church.org

In the Roman Catholic worldview, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the defining moment of human history. Without the resurrection, there is no Christianity. The early Christians greeted each other with the words, “He is Risen,” proclaiming what must have seemed unimaginable to many: that Jesus indeed came into the world as the Eternal Word of God made flesh, that he suffered and died for us, and that through this own resurrection, brought us the promise of new and everlasting life.

Skeptics, of course, will argue that news of the resurrection was the greatest hoax ever pulled off in human history. Recent projects like “The Da Vinci Code,” and the “discovery of the Jesus family tomb,” continue the attempt to discredit the fundamental belief of Christians throughout the world. Saint Paul’s words ring true to the believer: “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” For 2,000 years, preachers, prophets and simple folk alike have staked their life’s blood on this profound tenet of faith. And with Christians throughout the ages we still proclaim: “Alleluia, he is risen.”

FATHER PAUL J. HRUBY

Pastor

Church of the Incarnation

Glendale

I tried for many years to accept the resurrection of Jesus Christ, as told to us in the New Testament, as literal truth. I finally gave up and admitted to myself that it is not my truth. Well-meaning early followers of Jesus Christ almost certainly invented the story for reasons best known only to them.

Many millions of Christians accept resurrection only in a metaphorical or metaphysical sense. This detracts nothing from our love of the basic teachings of Jesus Christ.

If more Christians had paid more attention these past 2,000 years to Jesus Christ’s teachings than to such ludicrous stories as the virgin birth and the resurrection, Christianity and Christians would be the better for it today.

Jesus Christ gave us a window to look through; most Christians just sit and stare dumbly at the window rather than through the window he provided. By looking through the window, Christians could focus their attention on the one and only and absolutely good God.

I think Jesus Christ, were he alive today, would be appalled at what much of Christianity has become. On the other hand, I think he would say, “Bless you,” to the relatively few Christians who think his teachings are more important than the silly trappings that early Christians invented — such as the Trinity, the virgin birth, the resurrection and the ascension.

Jesus Christ was the Way Shower, not the Way. God is the Way.

THE REV. THOMAS

E. WITHERSPOON

Unity Church of the Valley

La Crescenta

On the very day it happened, the chief priests and scribes denied Jesus’ resurrection because of their hard-hearted envy. The soldiers who guarded Jesus’ tomb denied it for the financial gain of a bribe. Years later, the Gnostics denied it because they rejected the Scriptures that God Himself inspired through His Holy Spirit.

Today, people deny Jesus’ resurrection in an attempt to gain public acclaim, or even notoriety. They deny the resurrection to sell their books and movies. Sadly, even in religious circles, people deny the resurrection because they despise the Scriptures that affirm it.

By definition, a Christian cannot deny the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Christian gospel (literally “good news”) by which anyone is saved is that Jesus died for our sins, He was buried and He rose again on the third day.

In scripture God tells us that only when we confess with our mouths Jesus Christ as Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead shall we be saved from His holy wrath against all the sins we have committed.

Ultimately, everyone who denies the literal birth, the substitutionary death and the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ denies himself eternal salvation and the joy of truly knowing God.

PASTOR JON BARTA

Valley Baptist Church

Burbank

No question about it. Unequivocally, yes. The resurrection is a historical fact. I know that it’s a bizarre concept, especially for us in Glendale; we’re surrounded by two Forest Lawns on both sides of the city. Not one body going in has ever come back out of those green hills.

And as much as Grand View Memorial Park has dominated headlines, it hasn’t been because of rejuvenated corpses. So what does this say about Jesus’ resurrection? Absolutely nothing.

You either accept it, or you don’t. One of the strongest arguments for the resurrection comes from my tradition. The Apostle Thaddeus came to Armenia proclaiming Jesus’ resurrection. He was executed for his belief. The Apostle Bartholomew came five years later in 46 A.D. They killed him as well, and for the same reason: claiming that Jesus had resurrected. People don’t give up their lives for hoaxes. They don’t submit themselves to flaying, flogging and other tortures just to maintain a lie, especially when they’re alone and could easily change their story. In fact, all of the Apostles were martyred for their belief in the resurrection, except for John, who ended up in prison.

But for all the proofs and arguments there are (and there are many), I find they are not necessary.

You either accept it, or you don’t. Jesus rose because good always wins out over evil. The resurrection happened because love is more powerful than hate; life is more enduring than death. This is the basis of our faith as Christians. It is built upon the victory found in the Resurrection. Happy Easter.

FATHER VAZKEN MOVSESIAN

Armenian Church

In His Shoes Ministries

Although the story of Christ’s physical resurrection is literally stated in the Gospels, Bahá’í teachings tell us that it was an event told in metaphor, as it related to the spiritual resurrection of the Church. In the immediate days after Jesus’ Crucifixion, His grieving disciples were thrown into a state of agitation and felt bereft of hope. They had depended upon His physical presence, His ever-readiness to guide and teach them first-hand.

They had to come to the realization that in a spiritual sense, He lived on, and that His teachings formed the Church’s life. Until then, the cause of Christ was like a lifeless body.

When His followers were enlightened to His eternal life, and to the need to arise and serve Him by spreading his teachings, His reality and the significance of His message became a living entity — Christ’s revelation for mankind. There are many passages of the Bible and other holy scriptures that are meant to serve as metaphors. In fact, their symbolic meanings have more depth and significance for humanity than do literal readings, which sometimes defy reason.

It can be difficult for people accustomed to building their faith around literal interpretation to accept the possibility of another viewpoint. The resurrection of Christ is an example of a story with immense meaning for humanity when it is understood in a spiritual sense.

BARBARA CRAMER

Secretary

Local Spiritual Assembly

of the Bahá’ís

Glendale