They all rose bodily -- except Jesus?
In the April 14 issue of The Tidings, Father Richard McBrien commendably quoted Scripture about the Resurrection. But then he began picking away. He even wrote, "The literalist, or fundamentalist, interpretation of the Resurrection ignores the metaphorical character of the biblical language and the symbolic imagery used by [Saint] Paul..."
Fortunately, at least Father McBrien did end up by saying, "the Church's traditional affirmation of faith...is that [the Resurrection] is the foundation of our hope in our own bodily resurrection into eternal life."
We should ask Father McBrien what he thinks about the other "resurrections" that the Evangelists reported: Christ's raising bodily from the dead the daughter of Jairus ((Matthew 9:18-26), the son of the widow of Naim (Luke 7:11-17) and Lazarus (John 11:1-44). Were they fact or metaphor, real or symbol?
We also should ask Cardinal Mahony and the editorial board of The Tidings to replace Father McBrien with a far more solid columnist; not that we haven't asked them that repeatedly.
Resuscito, resuscito, resuscito, alelulla!
Fortunately, at least Father McBrien did end up by saying, "the Church's traditional affirmation of faith...is that [the Resurrection] is the foundation of our hope in our own bodily resurrection into eternal life."
We should ask Father McBrien what he thinks about the other "resurrections" that the Evangelists reported: Christ's raising bodily from the dead the daughter of Jairus ((Matthew 9:18-26), the son of the widow of Naim (Luke 7:11-17) and Lazarus (John 11:1-44). Were they fact or metaphor, real or symbol?
We also should ask Cardinal Mahony and the editorial board of The Tidings to replace Father McBrien with a far more solid columnist; not that we haven't asked them that repeatedly.
Resuscito, resuscito, resuscito, alelulla!
posted by Quintero at 10:24 PM
9 Comments:
Why bother? They'd probably just replace him with Roger Haight.
This past week in the Tidings, McBrien wrote a favorable column about Pope Benedict's first year. But, of course, he had to make a veiled stab at John Paul II toward the end of his article:
The new pope has just turned 79. While one wishes him a long and healthy life, one also has to be realistic. John Paul II was elected at age 58 and became, after 26-and-a-half years in office, the second-longest reigning pope in history (not counting St. Peter himself).
Benedict XVI's pontificate is not likely to reach even John Paul II's halfway mark, and he may also be the kind of pope who would resign his office in the face of seriously deteriorating health --- for the good of the Church and the papacy itself.
McBrien is a true progressive... never happy in the moment, always pressing forward around the next corner... trying to escape the boredom of a perpetual 1960's mentality...
I had to stop reading Father McBrien because it was just a person I would read to get upset over.
The resurrection appear to be very different then the mere resuscitations that took place elsewhere in scripture. Those whom Jesus resuscitated seemed to be returned to full bodily health and were functional as they were previously. Jesus' post-mortem raising, the resurrection, appears to be very different from the bodily resuscitations. The others were revived, Jesus was raised.
Dear Anonymous 11:40 a.m.,
Yes, they were different, and that is why I used quotation marks around the word "resurrection" in referring to them.
My point was that Jesus raised people bodily from the dead, so why should anyone doubt that He could rise bodily? And He had said He would lay down His life and take it up again.
Another point for our meditation is that Jesus showed the Apostles His wounds, and St. Thomas put his fingers inside them and then said, "My Lord and My God."
Quintero,
No he didn't. Read it again.
Dear Anonymous 12:38 a.m.,
In John 10:17-18, Jesus says, "...I lay down my life to take it up again."
The St. Thomas incident is in John 20:26-28. That he put his fingers inside the wounds, at Jesus' invitation, is well established, both from the context and from Catholic tradition. Same with the Apostles being there.
Dear layton,
Yes, thanks for supplying that quote. Father McBrien would like to claim this Pope for himself, but ultimately he will not be able to.
Father McBrien is conveniently ignoring the many solid statements the Pope makes virtually every day -- for instance, on the right to life being the most important concern in today's world.
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