AFFIRMING FAITH

In his letter to the Hebrews (11:1) Paul tells us that faith is “confidence in what we hope for, and assurance about what we do not see.” Our faith as Christians is our anchor, and all Christian faith revolves around one core event: the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If there is no resurrection, then our faith is for naught, and all else that scripture tells us as reported by the apostles, and through Christian historians and writers down through the ages. That pure faith was clearly easier for those early Christians in the decades and centuries following the crucifixion and resurrection, they heard first-hand accounts from those who were there. Plus, we can also take great comfort and assurance in knowing that absent the resurrection, what person would willingly submit to the very worst imaginable tortures and death, if this amazing event were merely a story! Crucifixions, being burned as torches along the streets of Rome, thrown into the Colosseum to be killed by wild animals; no one submits to such atrocities without a firm foundation of belief in a very real ever-after. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:3). But must we only rely on these foundation stones of our faith? Augustine of Hippo in his Work on the Trinity cited a favorite verse from Isaiah 7:9 “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” In his work, Augustine’s Thinking Faith, author Anthony Meredith SJ describes St. Augustine’s faith as “essentially a think-faith endeavoring to bring together the belief of his heart and the abilities of his mind.” Perhaps we should apply a similar approach as we, now two thousand years later, live in a world awash in growing secularism, and a church that is fracturing at an accelerating rate. God gives us intellect, intelligence and curiosity, all gifts which I belief require us to search for greater clarity and understanding of God’s plan; even in tackling the most vexing of question with which we all struggle. Perhaps if we apply our faculties using logic and deductive reasoning, might we not find answers that strengthen our faith, beyond scripture? We have the references of non-Christian writers and historians such as Josephus, Tacitus, Pliny the Younger, Suetonius and others, all who were born and wrote accounts during the first and second century, mere decades after the crucifixion of Christ. But let us go beyond these accounts and carefully consider the culture and times during Christ’s life and death. We know of the tension between the Roman occupiers and the Jews, and between the Jews and the new “cult” referred to as The Way (they would not become known as Christians until Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch). The Roman’s under Pontius Pilate were tired of these troublesome Jews in this backwater area of the country they were stuck trying to administrate. The Pharisees in the Sanhedrin had become increasingly concerned about the growing number of followers this Jesus was attracting, and the inflammatory nature of his preaching both in the temple as well as out in the countryside. When events finally boiled over and they conspired (with the help of Judas Iscariot) to bring charges against Jesus resulting in his being brought before Pilate, they further orchestrated a mob to call for his death rather Barabbas, one of whom would be set free. We know the rest of the story; the crucifixion, Joseph of Arimathea provides his new tomb for Christ’s burial, Jesus’ body is prepared and wrapped in new burial cloths, and a heavy stone is rolled across the entrance. Luke 24:1; 9 NIV “On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb…. When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. That is easy to understand; the disciples were still first century Jews and in that day women had no status, or we might conclude, credibility, so why would they believe them. They had to see with their own eyes much like Thomas had to see and touch Jesus before he could accept a risen Christ. Then we have the even bigger question of just who would steal the body? Certainly not the Pharisees; the very last thing they would want would be the affirmation of Jesus as the biblical Christ! Pilate did not want a continuation of the trouble with which he had been dealing. Ah, the disciples! After all, this would affirm, together with the dozens of Old Testament prophesies he had fulfilled, that he was indeed the Savior, the Messiah! But they had just witnessed the most brutal treatment and death that the Romans could inflict, and consequently were cowering in an upstairs room, hiding for fear that they would be rounded up and delivered like treatment. No, absent a resurrected Christ they were not yet ready to face death. The same could said of the others who were not a part of the inner circle like the eleven. Then, of course, we have the issue of the guards that the Sanhedrin had requested that Pilate post at the tomb, just for the very reason that they did not want to expand and validate the story of this itinerant rabbi who performed magical tricks. Matthew 27:62-66 (NIV) The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So, give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.” “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” So, they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard. Skeptics have any number of reasons as to why this does not hold water; chief among them is the fact that this does not take place until the day after the crucifixion and burial. That misses the fact that this is Passover and no Jew is going to defile himself by touching a dead body during Passover, so I think we can safely dismiss this one. The guards took a bribe or, the guards fell asleep! What kind of punishment can we imagine they would have been subjected to if either were the case? Not to mention that heavy stone rolled across the entrance would have required several men to roll it back, and it would not have been accomplished without considerable noise. They also cite that of the four gospels only Matthew mentions the Guard at the tomb. Scholars do not seem to have a problem with this as it apparently is not uncommon for different writers to use different elements of an historical series of events. Indeed, the gospels frequently differ in content and emphasis. I think it reasonable that any one of these facts can be challenged, but not all of them taken together. Finally, we should look back to the biblical story and just how many people encountered the risen Lord? Not just the disciples, but hundreds! Are we to assume that there was mass hypnosis at play? More importantly, and going back to the state of affairs in Roman occupied Jerusalem, who would put their life on the line for a story made up to affirm an ancient prophesy, especially the eleven who would know best and who would die for their faith in the risen Christ? I think we can safely say, no one! Our faith story does not end there, however, because we cannot dismiss the unprecedented growth of what will become Christianity. A pharisee who was committed to the destruction of this rabble cult. Paul would never have abandoned his upbringing as a learned Jew and schooling in the Talmud by a noted rabbi if he had not met Jesus on the road to Damascus. A Roman emperor, Constantine, has a vision to put the Christian cross on the shield of his army before a battle, and wins. He becomes the greatest advocate for the Christian faith and grants it legal status across the empire thereby causing it to grow from a single digit percentage of adherents to some fifty percent of the population in a few short years. Then we must consider the martyrs for the faith over the centuries that would follow up to and including the martyrs we see on television today being burned alive or beheaded for refusing to bow to Islam. So, our faith in Jesus Christ is on firm ground and we can rely on His promise, not only that He has gone to prepare a place for us, but that if we profess His name before men, He will affirm us before His father.