just enough light

Someone (who will remain nameless) pointed out to me that my posts during the 6 weeks of Lent were not particularly religious, with very little mention of God or Jesus, and no reference to the resurrection. Guilty as charged. The reasons are difficult to explain, but important.

I came from a religious tradition that promoted a literal interpretation of the resurrection and every other story in the Bible. A literal interpretation was not specifically espoused, but it was just assumed. Much of that was a developmental thing. Young children learn the stories without much concern about whether the story is literal or symbolic or metaphorical or mythical or completely fictional.

The problems come later when the stories raise more questions than answers, and no one is available to provide alternative, age-appropriate explanations. The churches of my youth did not help those people who raised questions about the teachings that no longer provided a useful framework for their lives. The seminary I attended did no better. Consequently, when I was employed as a church youth leader, I was ill-equipped to help those with serious questions.

What I have come to understand is that what you believe about stories such as the resurrection is far less important than how those stories impact your life. From the creation stories, yes, there’s more than one in Genesis, through the enigmatic book of the Revelation, each story, each verse lends itself to many interpretations. Just look at all the commentaries available.

If there were but one meaning and interpretation of a verse, only one explanation would be necessary. Even the gospel writers could not agree on what happened in the resurrection story. We have four different accounts of what the various characters in the story experienced. And this is the one event that many Christians hang their hats on as the dividing line for who’s in and who’s out.

A little historical study reveals that these gospel accounts were written 3 and 4 decades after the event, and those original writings, none of which still exist, were edited and altered by the church leaders a couple of centuries later when it became necessary to impose some consistency in church doctrine.

To me, the important question is, how were the lives of Jesus’ followers changed by his life, and what did they experience after his death? It is clear that their lives were transformed by Jesus’ teachings and influence, and that transformation did not end after his execution. Whatever that transformation was for them, whatever it is for us, that is the resurrection.