Stories of the Resurrection

Wishing the Christians amongst ye well on this holiest of Christian holidays.

When I was a small child, the folk traditions of Easter thoroughly stumped me. Even at age five I was aware that bunnies don't lay eggs, and the idea of decorating food only to destroy the artwork a day later seemed wrong somehow; and the hunt for hidden eggs didn't seem to have a payoff, to a kid with a sweet tooth, because once you've eaten a hard-boiled egg or two, that's enough of that. None of it made sense to me. I liked Halloween and loved Christmas, but Easter was puzzling.

From there it was almost a relief to discover, later on, the Biblical and religious significance of today. 

If you're a reader of the Bible, the stories of the resurrection can be found at Matthew 28:1–20; Mark 16:1–20; Luke 24:1–49; and John 20:1–21:25. (All available online. Here's an article I thought was interesting about a new translation. A postmodern Bible?)

Happy Easter, if you celebrate it! And if you don't, have a nice day anyway.

Mike

Comments

[David Dyer-Bennet]

Easter has been important in my life as the weekend my favorite science fiction convention, Minicon, is held on. I haven't missed one since the first I attended, in 1973. (Below-average numbers of SF fans are Christian, above-average numbers of SF fans have issues with family of origin, and we can get great hotel rates on Easter weekend. Back in the day there was also an Easter convention on the East coast, and one on the West coast.)

But, there is no Minicon this year (and was none last year), due to our global pandemic, and our incompetent handling of it (it need not have disrupted life for nearly this long, if only we'd taken it seriously early). As my bubble sometimes says, "I has a sad."

[Richard Parkin]

That’s a bit harsh, only wishing Christians well on this pagan festival of Ēostre ;(. Ah well, only to be expected from a Christian, nevertheless I’ll turn the other cheek and wish you well! (Written mainly in jest.)

[John]

Speaking of resurrection, waiting for your thoughts on the new Pentax...

[Dan Khong]

Thanks for bringing attention to the significance of Holy Week.

We all like cute little babies but a death certificate is more powerful than a birth certificate. You need a death certificate to exercise your Will, claim Life Insurance and to inter the body.

And as for the resurrection...wow, that truly gives hope.

[Geoff Wittig]

There are lots of new revisionist Bible translations out there these days. I really like Jonathan Alter's Old Testament translations because he takes pains to render the puns, the alliterations and the constant reference to real world physical experience in the original.
What makes it odd is that I'm an atheist. To me it's self-evident that religion is a cultural construct. Daniel Dennett argues that religion evolved because it was advantageous social glue in an earlier age of genocidal tribal warfare. I just appreciate the newer translations for providing a better window into the (very human) original authors' minds.

[Herman Krieger]

Palm Sunday-

[Peter Wright]

Thanks for that. I do read the bible and found this article interesting, so I ordered a copy from amazon.ca. (I don't know if you get any benefit from Amazon Canada purchases, but I hope so.)

[Olybacker]

Mike, a happy Easter to you too. Sorry, am picking up on this a day late. That link to David Bentley-Hart's Bible translation/paraphrase is interesting.

There are some new 'translations' or 'inspired versions' of the Bible, some by scholars such as 'The Message' by Eugene Peterson and so on. I think they need to be treated with a measure of caution but can aid understanding when used alongside the King James Version or the original 1980s New International Version. Over here in the UK, some evangelical scholars think highly of the New American Standard Bible.

May God bless and keep you this Easter.

[David Lee]

Easter is the perfect time of the year to watch “Life of Brian” one more time...

[Herman Krieger]

Splitting Hairs-

[Richard Parkin]

Easter and Christmas were always major events in my childhood. At Christmas we had oranges of various kinds and Good Friday morning we queued up at the baker’s shop for hot cross buns which were only sold that day. Nowadays I think they start selling hot cross buns at Christmas and of course oranges are available all the year round.