"Things fall apart and suffering and death dog our steps, but the reversal of cosmic entropy has begun in the resurrection of Jesus. Faith in the name of Jesus germinating from the Spirit’s witness is the seed from which will grow the restoration of all things."
– Dennis Johnson, The Message of Acts in the History of Redemption
This was a quote referenced by Brian Borgman in his excellent series on The Acts. He was making a profound point: when you read the sermons of the Apostles in The Acts, it was the resurrection - not the crucifixion - that was at the center of their understanding of the gospel. Reformed evangelicals often gripe about Roman Catholic crucifixes, but our understanding of the gospel may not be much more than an theological crucifix - Christ stuck on the cross - by comparison to the version we see preached and incarnated by the Apostles. It's a subtle difference, but I can't help wondering how my views of eschatology, evangelism, suffering, and so forth, might be altered after meditating on the centrality of the resurrection. It's worth pondering.
– Dennis Johnson, The Message of Acts in the History of Redemption
This was a quote referenced by Brian Borgman in his excellent series on The Acts. He was making a profound point: when you read the sermons of the Apostles in The Acts, it was the resurrection - not the crucifixion - that was at the center of their understanding of the gospel. Reformed evangelicals often gripe about Roman Catholic crucifixes, but our understanding of the gospel may not be much more than an theological crucifix - Christ stuck on the cross - by comparison to the version we see preached and incarnated by the Apostles. It's a subtle difference, but I can't help wondering how my views of eschatology, evangelism, suffering, and so forth, might be altered after meditating on the centrality of the resurrection. It's worth pondering.
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