This question is the headline of a thoughtful opinion piece in the December 24 issue of
The Wall Street Journal. Written by Christian editor, John Wilson, the article argues that faulty theological reasoning lies behind suggestions the church overemphasizes the Incarnation of Christ at the expense of the Easter event, the reality at the heart of the faith. I agree. There is no crucifixion without an actual body to kill. And there is no resurrection without a physical body to raise in the first place (1 Cor. 15). Christmas invites us to ask “what kind of a God would come to us like this?” While Christians may certainly
under-emphasize Christmas
or Easter, how can it be possible to emphasize either
too much? As Wilson points out, to relativize the importance of one to the other is like asking which book of the Bible is more important, Genesis or Revelation. This brief article is worthy of the time to read and ponder:
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A religious news article I read recently began by asking a question I have occasionally wondered myself: if Jesus took the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator Test, would the results show him to be an extrovert or an introvert?
Hardly surprisingly, the gospels would seem to present a very balanced psychological portrait of this perfect manifestation of God in human form.
Jesus of Nazareth appears equally as predisposed to wading into large crowds and public speaking as he is to solitary retreats with God and intimate gatherings with his closest disciples.
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I have printed off and shared the article at the attached link with many people in the past month.
As the father of a college freshman, this essay by theologian Stanley Hauerwas encourages today’s Christian college students to protect as well as test their faith in academic settings that can be hostile to traditional faith but need not destroy it. Entitled, “Go With God: An Open Letter to Young Christians on Their Way to College,” and published in the November 2010 issue of
First Things, I cannot recommend this piece highly enough.
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As one whose modest aspirations through this website are to encourage Christians to think more vigorously about philosophical and popular assumptions shaping contemporary culture, I am in danger occasionally of divorcing thinking from the actual patterns and practices of daily life.
It is necessary to remember that thinking about culture can never truly be separated from embodied habits and material forms.
To a very large extent, we do what we think, and we think as we do.
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