Theological Journal - April 15: Bonhoeffer on Easter and Resurrection

From Letters and Papers from Prison (Kindle edition)

“Being able to face dying doesn’t yet mean we can face death. It’s possible for a human being to manage dying, but overcoming death means resurrection. It is not through the ars moriendi but through Christ’s resurrection that a new and cleansing wind can blow through our present world . . . If a few people really believed this and were guided by it in their earthly actions, a great deal would change. To live in the light of the resurrection—that is what Easter means.” (Kindle loc.4352)

The rest of the week will be devoted to explore some of Bonhoeffer’s observations about Easter and resurrection in his Letters and Papers from Prison.

Coming to terms with dying is a noble human venture, no doubt. It certainly beats the denial of death so rampant in our culture. Yet that is merely a capitulation to the powers of the old age that hold the world in their deathly grip. As Bonhoeffer notes it is “overcoming death” that brings “a new and cleansing wind” into the world under the thrall of that old age and frees it for the new age of freedom, creativity, and life. And that “new and cleansing wind” blows as we, even just a few of us, bring our lives under its sway. Our “earthly actions” change to reflect the new age, the “light of the resurrection,” where death no longer rules. We no longer have to come to terms of dying but instead celebrate its overcoming, even now before we die. Living the defeat of defeat even before we experience it means no longer allowing our eventual earthly demise determine our living today and tomorrow and every tomorrow God gives us here until the Great Tomorrow of Christ’s kingdom. To live beyond the power of death today, “that is what Easter means.”

Is this what Easter means for you?