I noted to my friends and family recently that, purely in terms of days off, this will be the first Easter to be meaningful. I've enjoyed the benefit of being a student up until now, so whenever Easter weekend came around, I was already in holiday mode, so the bank holiday time off didn't really count. Certainly for many, this Easter weekend will merely serve a purpose of having more time in bed, or rest from work. It would be a great shame to completely miss the Easter message.
One of the biggest (if not the biggest) misconceptions about Christianity is that it requires ‘goodness’, or a set of works to be right with God. The Easter message is simple: the work has already been done, and not through anything we do, but by the immense sacrifice made by Jesus Christ. A friend of mine summed it up on a Facebook post recently:
“It’s not do, it has been done. Forget religion, find Jesus”.
It is an immensely powerful and hopeful message, and it is the challenge of believers around the world to not only grasp it, but to do their best to share it with others. Most people will be familiar, of course, with what happened, but true understanding is another thing. When I was a youngster at Sunday school, I always thought “why didn't he just save himself?” Surely it was in his capabilities to do so? This was also the thoughts of those witnessing the crucifixion: “come down from the cross and save yourself!” (Mark 15:29). This of course misses the point; it had to happen, and salvation wouldn't be possible without it. Jesus took the sins and punishment for everyone with his crucifixion; “it is finished”. Knowing the daily struggle of people, Jesus sympathised with this; the Son of God said “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Matthew 26:38), and prayed for forgiveness for those who killed him; “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).
To many, this message is warm and fuzzy, but it surely could not have happened. This brings me on to my next point. Very broadly (and crudely) speaking, there appear to be two kinds of atheists in the world; those who are relaxed about church attendance and faith (provided that it doesn't interfere in their lives), and those who actively want to undermine faith in all its forms. There are of course countless examples of pretty awful actions and quotations from so-called believers, but this can lead to the dangerous assumption that all atheists are of a calm and rational disposition. I still can’t get my head around this awful quote from Richard Dawkins:
“I was asked what I thought about the widely publicized cases of sexual abuse by Catholic priests in Ireland. I replied that, horrible as sexual abuse no doubt was, the damage was arguably less than the long-term psychological damage inflicted by bringing the child up Catholic in the first place”.
There you have it. Dawkins thinks that one of the most heinous acts possible is subordinate to raising a child with faith. Fellow atheist Steven Weinberg adds a totalitarian flavour to proceedings with the following words:
“The world needs to wake up from the long nightmare of religion...Anything we scientists can do to weaken the hold of religion should be done, and may in fact be our greatest contribution to civilization”.
What are the implications of “anything we scientists can do”? This may seem like I'm going off on a tangent, but I'm trying to emphasise how it saddens me that some people would be so eager and zealous to undermine such a positive and hopeful message, even to the extent of equating child abuse to a ‘lesser evil’ than faith.
What about the evidence? John C. Lennox provides a compelling case in a book which I have referenced here before, “Gunning for God: Why the new atheists are missing the target”, and I urge you to read his account. In short, Lennox lists the sheer number of New Testament manuscripts (over 5,000), making it “by far the best-attested document from the ancient world”, and therefore a provision for historical context and accuracy. Also, how did Jesus’ followers go from being in utter despair at their leader’s death (who they abandoned, by the way!) to bravely proclaim Jesus’ resurrection to the world? If Jesus did not rise from the dead, what motivation would this band of flaky followers have had to preach the resurrection, knowing full well that doing so would result in their incarceration and ultimate death (which it did result in)? I'm not doing the case total justice here, but it’s certainly food for thought.
Yes, I'm a liberal, and no, I don’t believe in a watered down “Jesus was just a good guy” position of faith. I cling to the hope of the cross knowing that it has the power to save people like me who screw up too much. I hope that, in some way, I can spread this message through what I do as a Parliamentary Candidate, and I very much hope that I don’t shy away from it. You will have noticed that I haven’t really linked in a political theme to this blog post, but that’s because this topic is of great importance to me, and it is part of who I am. I have a duty to be honest about this with the electorate.
Matthew 28:20: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age”.
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