Beverly Wildung Harrison was a delightful twentieth century theologian that I held in high
esteem. Our paths crossed occasionally, but the first encounter I remember
distinctly was a cocktail party near New York’s Union Theological Seminary
where she taught. I was finishing my service on a Presbyterian Task Force on
Homosexuality that was split on the ordination of “avowed, practicing
homosexuals.”
She
laughingly asked me if it was true that a member of the opposition on the task
force had been paid a million dollars to serve as consultant on a film about
the antichrist, The Omen. It was the
first I had heard of it. She was right about the consulting, I later
discovered, but the compensation was greatly exaggerated.
I
tell the story to set in context a later conversation we had over brunch when I
served a congregation in West Hollywood. A relative of hers, knowing her as a
renowned feminist and body theologian, had been quizzing her about whether she
believed in the physical resurrection of Jesus. Finally, with her usual
“cut-to-the-chase” practical style, she said to him, “Really, does it matter to
you, living in the twentieth century, whether Jesus’ resurrection was a
physical or spiritual encounter?” He allowed as to how it didn’t; that a
spiritual experience of Jesus’ presence was satisfying enough.
One
of my college professors recounted his ordeal seeking ordination before a
church committee determined to discover if he shared their understanding of
resurrection. “Tell me this,” one queried, “if you were present at the tomb on
that first Easter morning with a Polaroid camera, would you have been able to
take a picture of Jesus coming out of the tomb?” The professor thought a
moment, then replied, “Yes, but only if the camera were equipped with the lens
of faith!”
As
Christians, we stumble over the resurrection when we confuse a confession of
faith for a statement of historical fact. It is when we treat matters of faith
as matter-of-fact that we miss the mystery, the meaning, and the
extraordinariness of our faith. Peter pointed out that only people of faith
were given sight of the resurrected Jesus: “God raised him on the third day and
made him manifest; not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as
witnesses” (Acts 10:40-41).
From
the first Easter, Christians have held different views on the nature of the
resurrection. The author of the gospel of John apparently believed that Jesus’
body was transformed spiritually, leaving his shroud in place. Several
resurrection stories in the other gospels confirm this physical transcendence,
reporting Jesus’ request not to be held, his appearance through locked doors,
and his disappearance after breaking bread.
Others
suggest Jesus’ bodily presence as he eats with the disciples or encourages
Thomas to touch the wounds in his hands and his side. The latter story combines
physical presence and mystical vision, for though the disciples are able to
touch Jesus, he appears in their midst through locked doors.
With
all these variant descriptions of the resurrection, it’s safe to say Jesus’
first followers were not nailed down to a bodily interpretation! If the early
Christians were not of one mind as to the nature of Jesus’ resurrection, why
should Christians today expect uniformity of belief?
Watch for next week’s
post, “Resurrection Today - Part Two.” The final five paragraphs of today’s post
are adapted from the chapter, “Manifesting Christ’s Glory,” in my book, Come Home: Reclaiming
Spirituality and Community as Gay Men and Lesbians (Harper & Row 1990, Chi Rho Press 1998).
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