The American Spectator : What Is So Good About This Friday?

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What Is So Good About This Friday?

By Quin Hillyer on 4.2.10 @ 6:09AM

Suffering, death -- and the aftermath.

We interrupt all otherwise necessary talk of political revenge for and repeal of Obamasnare medicine because of an even more traumatic event that happened 1,980 years ago, give or take a year or three. A man back then who was suffering and suffocating recalled a single line from a sacred poem of his religious tradition, known as Psalm 31, verse 5. "Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, o Lord God of truth."

Before he breathed his last, he echoed that line. "Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit."

Two millennia later, we are still taught to call that Friday "Good."

The moniker "Good Friday" is, of course, deliberately counterintuitive. Into an occasion of suffering and death, the moniker inserts the insistence that the suffering had significance -- a deep significance that became apparent only two days later, a significance that imbued the suffering itself with the meaning and blessing of what came afterwards. Nobody, and certainly no church, would celebrate the death without the unshakeable belief in the unspoken rest of the sentence left unuttered on the cross. The commitment of spirit was admirable, certainly, but what believers intuitively grasp is that it is the hope of what the Psalm says comes next -- "thou hast redeemed me" -- which is the lifeblood of their faith.

All of which is fine in retrospect, because we are soon told what happened next. We know, or at least know by faith, that the body taken down from the cross and laid in the tomb was gone from the tomb after the Sabbath had been observed. We know by faith that those who searched for but could not find the body were told to be not afraid. We know by faith that what had been lost was now found, what had been dead was now alive, what had been in agony was now redeemed and was now offering that redemption, or hope thereof, to others. Resurrection, renaissance, renewal, redemption. Very "good" indeed.

But we must remember that on that Friday afternoon at 3 p.m., none of that was known. What was known was that the man some called "Teacher" was dead. The soldier who pierced his side knew he was dead. Pontius Pilate knew he was dead. Joseph of Arimathea knew he was dead, and so did Nicodemus, and so did Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, the mother of James and Joses. The man had been betrayed, abandoned, mocked, flogged, spat upon, nailed to heavy wood, and hoisted up high enough that the weight of his own body would suffocate him to death. And he was dead. And some had even heard him say his God had forsaken him. In that moment, and for the next 40 hours, there was neither resurrection nor redemption, but only pain and loss.

And really, why should it have been any different? His suffering had been horrendous, but it was not unprecedented. Two common criminals suffered and died on crosses beside him. The Romans crucified lots of other people. From time immemorial, men have suffered at the hands of other men, or at the hands of unforgiving Nature. Thousands upon millions upon tens and hundreds of millions of people through the millennia have suffered far longer than Jesus of Nazareth suffered physically from late that Thursday night until the middle of Friday afternoon. People with cancer suffer excruciating pain for months on end. People with chronic diseases suffer for years. Despots and criminal mobs and drug cartels and individual murderous sadists torture people to death all the time in ways probably more excruciating, and longer-lasting, than anything Jesus endured from a purely physical standpoint.

For we who see such suffering, whose loved ones suffer, where or how are we supposed to find solace? We are in the position that Mary Magadelene was on that Friday afternoon, the position of grief and loss, of helplessness and despair. The dream is ended; long dies the dream.

There is nothing good about that.

Meanwhile, what we are offered as solace is a mere promise. This thing called heaven, this placed called paradise, this pledge of redemption, this assurance of grace and promise of joy, is to the objective and unfaithful eye and ear a mere weak fairy tale, a flat and tasteless repast, a mess of pottage. We do not hear directly from those who have gone before; we may believe but do not know that they experience eternal joy, for we have no empirical evidence to rely on. Empirically, as we see death and suffering that makes us at least temporarily insensate to all this Earth's beauty, all that we have is "the stink of the didee to the stench of the shroud." Except that our shrouds will not have the power of Almighty God to impress our images upon it for later generations to marvel at.

It isn't very reassuring.

And there surely wasn't much on Good Friday afternoon to reassure Joseph of Arimathea, either.

And yet.... and yet. Yet, unlike that Joseph or either Mary, unlike the centurion and unlike Peter, we have one thing onto which we can hold, one thing that is no fairy tale but is indisputable, historical fact. What we have is the evidence of 1,980 years. We have the fact that something happened of such weight and power, something so convincing and life-altering, that 11 male disciples and several women were able, by their witness alone, to convince first dozens and then hundreds and then the vast majority of Western civilization (and eventually large swaths of Oriental and African civilization as well) that what they had seen and experienced was very real, very potent, and profoundly redemptive. Jesus of Nazareth commanded no armies and conquered no territory. Jesus' followers had no political power, no physical might, no means of mass communication, and no particularly obvious claim to credibility. Yet they, those rejoicing but burdened few, who saw the empty tomb and the risen Christ, somehow became imbued with such charisma and spirit, such aura and such powers of persuasion, that they convinced those who heard them that their odd tale of a risen Christ was believable. Their handiwork, the handiwork of poor fishermen and laborers who became preachers and healers, is an incontrovertible fact of history. Their ministry happened. With the help of one Saul of Tarsus, who originally tried to wipe them out, their ministry grew. It grew, and it raised an entire civilization from the ashes.

The unspoken, devoutly believed and anticipated, second part of Christ's commitment of spirit from the cross is that we can be redeemed by our Lord, God of truth, and that our weak and suffering beings can be raised from our own ashes. It is through that faith that our suffering may have significance. And sometimes a fairy tale of sorts can express the meaning of that significance better than we otherwise could. At the end of The Last Battle of C.S. Lewis' Narnia, the faithful band is told that "all of you are -- as you used to call it in the Shadow-Lands -- dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning."

It is a morning, this special Friday, which glimmers with Good.

About the Author

Quin Hillyer is a senior editor of The American Spectator and a senior fellow at the Center for Individual Freedom.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (83) | Leave a comment

Stephanie| 4.2.10 @ 6:38AM

Thank you Mr. Hillyer.

Alan Brooks| 4.2.10 @ 9:13PM

If someone asks you "why Jesus?"
reply: "who else is there?"
In fact, there is no one else; no one who isn't mortal-- and thus unreliable.

GreyLion| 4.3.10 @ 8:30PM

Alan,
I am thinking about taking you on as a project son. All you have to do is say "Jesus is MY Lord" and believe that God rasied him from the dead. It really is that simple. "why Jesus?" no, just Jesus.

Alan Brooks| 4.4.10 @ 12:04AM

Greypussycat,
Save your condescension for your own family. I don't want your patronization. Nor your smarminess.
It is NOT that simple; you have to struggle with temptation. What do you mean, "no just Jesus"?
AS isn't selling bookS such as 'Jesus For Dummies' or 'Jesus For Complete Idiots'
But of course you will disagree, we are talking past each other on politics, on faith, on ... you name it.

Alan Brooks| 4.4.10 @ 12:07AM

Grey "Lion"?:
Well, you got the grey right.

GregA| 4.2.10 @ 7:28AM

And by His grace we are saved.

He is Risen!

Jon| 4.2.10 @ 8:30AM

He is Risen Indeed!

Miss Alabama| 4.4.10 @ 11:31AM

You readers of Am Spec believe in Jesus for selfish reasons. You think just by believing in Him you will receive your REWARD of "everlasting life" in heaven. What selfish motivation! Disgusting!

Instead of seeking a reward, why don't you try to be more gentle, more compasionate, more charitable. I suggest that all of you sit down and read Christ's sermon on the mount. Perhaps it will warm your cold hearts a little . . . just a little.

Margie| 4.4.10 @ 12:14PM

You can be selfish in a good way, and that is being selfish enough to want to go to Heaven and not Hell. Nothing wrong with that!

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." Jn. 3:16.

Brandon King| 4.4.10 @ 5:40PM

A Fox News commentator recently urged his viewers to stay away from churches that preach social justice. He said it was a code word for communism.

The Gospel according to Matthew says: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”

This verse reflects Christ's true character. As a Christian, I promote social justice, not everlasting life.

Margie| 4.4.10 @ 7:55PM

The gospel IS the hope of eternal life through Christ.

Ryan| 4.5.10 @ 8:48AM

As a Christian, our job is to promote the Gospel. Social justice is an end, not a means. The Gospel changes hearts and minds - not the desire for justice.

Carpenter| 4.4.10 @ 4:03PM

Miss Alabama, how do you think you know this? Man's natural state, as created by God, was to live in a close relationship to God for eternity. Our choice of sin and death is what God returned to redeem us from. Many new Christians take on faitf in order to subtly manipulate God into giving us what we want: blessings in this world, eternal life in the next. But having committed ourselves, we move past that early state into a joy that no non-believer could understand. Forgive our supposed selfishness, as we and He, have forgiven you.

C.K. Amos| 4.4.10 @ 5:10PM

Respectfully, Miss Alabama, before you shoot everyone with your generalized angry and ill-informed darts, you should take a breath and consider what motivates your across-the-board censure for those who read American Spectator and/or comment here but also believe in Jesus the Christ.

How could you know what motivates their belief?

How could you have information on what kinds of service to anyone any such readers may perform in the name of the Christ?

Yes, the fruit of the Holy Spirit show the extent to which someone is alive in Christ. So does service that reflects the love and compassion of the Christ.

Even so, if someone only believes in Jesus because they seek eternal life or eternal fire insurance, if you will, so be it. That's an infinitely wiser and saner decision than to believe in the world and its prince, Satan, and end up in high-temperature no-rest eternal real estate for which you were never intended.

And, whether you've experienced it or not, if you're a Christian, there comes a time in a believer's life, if he or she is seeking God with all his/her heart, mind and soul, that the believer understands and then acts on what Jesus meant when He said, "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Or: "Love others as you love yourself."

It means find time and get off your blessed assurance and serve the King and His Kingdom--and that means serving others, be they Christian or not.

Miss Alabama| 4.4.10 @ 5:46PM

I am indeed a Christian, and I try to serve others. And I do good just for the sake of doing good. I most certainly do not seek a reward.

See Brandon King's remarks above. I think we have similar understandings of Christ's message for us here on earth.

Margie| 4.4.10 @ 7:35PM

"Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you are serving the Lord Christ." Col. 3:23&24;.

Brandon King| 4.4.10 @ 7:57PM

Margie, you and all the other Christian fundies can go ahead and subsribe to the "I accept Jesus as my Lord and savior so I will be rewarded with everlasting life" if you like. But this view, in my opinion, is shallow and selfish.

I thank God for those Christians who live good lives and do good deeds here on this earth with no thought of a reward.

Doing good to receive a reward is at the very bottom of the moral reasoning scale. It's childish.

Margie| 4.4.10 @ 8:26PM

"Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven." Mt. 18:3.

Looks like you've got a bit of humbling of thyself to do.

Ryan| 4.5.10 @ 8:50AM

In a sense, you're both right. Almost.

John Piper has a good book - Desiring God: Confessions of a Christian Hedonist.

It's about the human desire to be happy, and that our greatest happiness is found in the greatest thing ever - God.

Mark| 4.5.10 @ 2:23PM

Tell me again, Miss Alabama, how you are "more charitable"? You just called people here selfish and disgusting. Sounds pretty charitable to me.

KyMouse| 4.6.10 @ 4:18PM

Miss Alabama, C.S. Lewis made the point in "Mere Christianity" that marriage is the correct reward for romantic love; it isn't selfish to want to marry the person one loves. It's good and natural. In the same sense, wanting to live forever in Heaven with God isn't selfish, it is wanting what He made us for.

JP| 4.2.10 @ 7:44AM

Another thing to remember is that Chirst freely chose this death. His Divine Nature knew it had to come to pass even though his Human Nature feared what lay ahead. In this he was completely alone; with the exception of His Mother, St John and Mary Magdeline he was abandoned. Tradition has it that during his Passion, he witnessed he sin past, present, and future. Besides the unspeakable human pain, he witnessed every sin -both petty and large. And for the first time, he lost contact with God. The spiritual loss of His Father, the physical torture were beyond words. But even in the end, his mercy was present.

Christ faced death, and three days later conquered it. But we must also die, and we hold close to the hope of his Promise. But, until then we look to the Cross.

Jeannine| 4.2.10 @ 9:37AM

JP,

" And for the first time, he lost contact with God. The spiritual loss of His Father,..."

Not too sure what Christian beliefs you follow but according to the Bible esp in John's gospel, God the Father never left Christ nor did the Holy Spirit----definition of the Holy Trinity.

Ryan| 4.2.10 @ 10:08AM

A bit of theory, here. There was SOME sort of separation - because "Christ became sin on our behalf" - that HAD to happen because God cannot allow sin as part of Himself.

Christ's cry, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me," though not quite what it looks like at face value (it's a reference to Ps 22 and is actually a cry for help, in a sense), DOES imply that God, essentially, turns His sight away from Christ.

THAT'S part of why it was so terrible - Christ "did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped..."

JP| 4.2.10 @ 10:49AM

Christ took on the Sins and the punishment for all humans. Christ was and is Human. You seem to have forgotten that. Many people seem to be forget this -Christ is equally human, divine, and spirit. His perfect Humanity felt the loss with the Father when he took on the world's sins. For the Father cannot tolerate sin. This punishment is meant for us -and as many mystics say, the loss of the Father is the greatest punishment of all for those who suffer Hell.

Ryan| 4.2.10 @ 11:09AM

Not at all. I completely agree here.

Christ is the perfect sacrifice (the entire point of the book of Hebrews) - "He who knew no sin became sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God."

I think we just disagree some on whether or not there was a definite break in the Godhead.

Jeannine| 4.2.10 @ 12:10PM

If you believe in the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, then you have to believe that the Father dwells in His Son & the Holy Spirit. -------Each of them dwells in 1 another for always. With that line of thinking, God the Father could never leave Jesus under any circumstances. Jesus, is completely divine & completely human as I think we both agree on . He felt anguish & a sense of abandonment (human feelings) not because the Father was not w/Him but because he knew what he had to endure in the next 24+ hours to save us.

Ryan| 4.2.10 @ 12:37PM

Speculative, at best. Christ DID know, of course, but I don't know that there's anything conclusive in scripture either way.

Jeannine| 4.2.10 @ 1:17PM

Your theory only works if you believe that God is not infinite in power, knowledge, & love & you do not believe in 3 beings in 1 God. To understand where I'm coming from, you have to use a little of inductive reasoning. Also, read the early Church fathers' commentaries. Since they lived during & soon after Christ's time, it stands to reason that they have a better understanding on what Jesus was all about.

Ryan| 4.2.10 @ 2:09PM

Not necessarily.

Saying that the Trinity couldn't be "broken" doesn't necessarily violate God's attributes. The Son took on the sin of the world, and God cannot bear sin as a part of Himself. It's not that Christ ceased to be God at any point, it's that SOMETHING happened.

Remember, it's a Mystery - as well as something deduced from scripture and not completely spelled out (because it's beyond human understanding).

And if something is beyond human understanding, saying that it definitively isn't capable of something sells it short.

Also, proximity in time to Jesus' life doesn't make one right - the New Testament letters are almost all about correcting errors that were within the early church, and every Church Father typically had some belief that ranges from suspect to blatantly non-scriptural.

JP| 4.3.10 @ 9:00AM

Jeannie,
Christ had to pay the prices of our sins down to the last full meausre - that includes death and seperation from the Father (for those are the wages of our sins). I don't know if you are Catholic, so I will not go any farther. What I write is Catholic teaching not mine. And the Church Fathers were Catholic. Jesus the Perfect Human, and blameless suffered the wages of our sin -which is death and seperation from the Father. It's a Holy mystery, just like the Doctrine of the Trinity is a mystery.

Christ chose to do this just as he chose the reincarination, Baptism, and a whole host of humiliations.

C.K. Amos| 4.4.10 @ 5:24PM

His promise means nothing without the empty tomb out of which He came. The Apostle Paul said as much in his first letter to the church at Corinth: "And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith."

Indeed, the empty Cross always. But always, too, the Resurrected Lord who came out of the tomb, as He indeed promise that He would.

Ryan| 4.2.10 @ 8:15AM

By His Wounds, we are healed.

Amen and Amen, Mr. Hillyer.

TennesseeVolunteer| 4.2.10 @ 8:19AM

Quin, well done,my friend.
Because of all that is wrong with our country, this Easter season has had particular meaning to me. We are truly blessed.....and we are the Natural Patriots who will save our country for untold generations after us. Preserving our faith as Christians is a very big part of the future of this planet.

Becky| 4.2.10 @ 8:21AM

I was listening to the Lutheran station the other day, and the discussion was on Holy Week services. I have been a Lutheran for all my life and it was the first time I heard the Good Friday Service explained. I have always found it the most impactful of all the services of the year for it is so solemn.

The service gets darker and darker, items are removed from the alter one by one, the Lord's Prayer is whispered, and everyone leaves without the benediction and in quiet. There isn't a benediction because the service is not finished until Easter Sunday morning, which traditionally started with a bonfire outside the church. You may fast from Good Friday night to Easter Sunday morning if you are able.

Good Friday is a service of darkness, Easter of light. Jesus' came to fullfill God's promise, it was his mission.

Fred Brighton| 4.2.10 @ 8:26AM

Another aspect of this myth is how exactly it copies a much earlier story of Isis and Osiris. It also matches an even earlier story of Inanna-Ishtar. The Jews took most of their mythology from the Sumerians. It probably gave them street cred. By taking over the Holy Days of the Goddess religion they made it easier to mix into the other cultures, thus they celebrate Eoaster's Holy Day, the goddess of spring, with her wild hares, colored eggs and stories of rebirth. They didn't even change the name, because She was so important to the ancient world which was primarily agricultural.

canuckistani| 4.2.10 @ 8:43AM

Fred, interesting stuff.
Happy Spring to you!
(and happy resurrection to the rest of us....)

Ryan| 4.2.10 @ 8:46AM

Except you'd have a rough time showing that Christ's existence and death didn't happen...and there's plenty to ponder that His resurrection did. Yes, plenty of ancient cultures have death and resurrection scenes - but do ANY of them have the highest Deity paying for the sins of the world?

Yes, the Catholics did an interesting job of co-opting lots of pagan holidays (which, btw, coincided generally with several Jewish ones) - but similarities and what-may-have-come-first do not your case make.

Paul D| 4.2.10 @ 9:08AM

Interesting. There may be more to this coincidence of dates than we know.

Since Ishtar, AKA "The queen of Heaven," was a pagan diety that enticed away Israel (the Northern Kingdom), it is probable that the Northern Kingdom's Ishtar worshippers aligned their holiday with the original Passover holiday that was of course, established much earlier.

Easter, as you properly point out, is aligned with Passover because Christ had to be sacrificed as the Passover lamb. To say the Catholic church aligned Easter with the Pagan holiday would therefore be incorrect. But I do think we derive the word "Easter" from "Ishtar."

Wes | 4.2.10 @ 8:48AM

Fred, your comments are not correct. Deeper looks at the claims that you mention reveal deeply held biases and assumptive inferences that often pass as scholarship. The general outlook of mesopotamian religion was agricultural, not redemptive. Spring holidays were celebrated as means of honoring life and rebirth, and the Easter story by no means mirrors that, certainly not at it's depths. The mesopotamian myths no more look like the biblical story of Jesus's resurrection than Osiris's coffin sinking in the Nile mirrors biblical baptism. Your comments reflect the surface level scholarship of biased critics, and those claims are not accepted once deep study is embarked upon. Jesus will never, ever be remotely close to the darkened myths of the Sumerians.

Nate W.| 4.4.10 @ 2:55PM

It is fairly easy to refute our friend Fred's "objections". However, it would simply be a waste of time; his mind is already made up. (Maybe pray for him instead?)

Fred, I dub thee this year's Easter Troll.
May God open your eyes someday...

Wes| 4.2.10 @ 8:53AM

Again, Fred, "post hoc, ergo, propter hoc" (after this, therefore, because of this)arguments are not necessarily scholarly.

KyMouse| 4.6.10 @ 5:00PM

Fred, vegetation myths are fun to study. However, Christianity's claim to truth rests on whether or not Jesus actually, physically, rose from the grave, on a specific day in history.

To disprove His resurrection, His enemies would only have needed to display His body -- but they couldn't. The Roman soldiers who guarded it would have been executed for falling asleep on duty and permitting it to be stolen, or for joining some conspiracy to allow Jesus' disciples to steal it.

And even a cursory reading of the New Testament reveals that * something * happened to His disciples to turn them from dispirited, downcast men and women who watched Him die into joy-filled people who spread His Good News even though they knew they would face death themselves. What changed them?

Tim| 4.2.10 @ 8:47AM

An excellent piece. I predict it will be viciously trolled...

Tim| 4.2.10 @ 9:21AM

To clarify, I was referring to Quin's essay, not Fred's Easter Bunny ruminations.

Darragh| 4.2.10 @ 8:47AM

Does the disparaging of the Christian story ever end? It is because of its great and luminous power Lord, be with us in our troubled and beautiful world. How we need You today.

WRJonas| 4.2.10 @ 9:07AM

How clever of the Jews to invent a whole new religion from the earlier chronicles of their forefathers. Were they not satisfied with the religion they had practiced for thousands of years? No, they decided to throw out the whole fabric of their cultural identity and replace it with a mythical story of some poor carpenters son who later claims to defeat death. Plus ,he states that his death is the ultimate price for every rotten thing men have done since their creation.
Sure Fred, you've got us Christians and Jews nailed with your incisive expose during this Easter season . How could we have been so short sighted to miss such an obvious fabrication ? Darn !

Ken (Old Texican)| 4.2.10 @ 9:16AM

Quin,
Wonderfully done. Thank you.

Tim, I truly do hope the trolls come. It gives us one more chance to minister to them and bear witness to the joy we ALREADY know, day by day, in relationship with God.
On youtube there is a song sung by the Booth Brothers "Through it All" I commend it to you all today. Through all the tears and regrets, we hear that tiny whisper in our minds..."Love one another..."
(Once again, today I pray for the folks who are still in the darkness of the "womb" and who have not been born...again, Lord. Amen)

Now, here is my Good Friday treat:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb-x-EfmF2c

crookedwren| 4.2.10 @ 9:24AM

What is so amazing is that in the darkest of times, when one might very well doubt the Truth, the resurrected Christ blesses with His Presence the very darkness surrounding us, claiming those of us who grieve for Him, for our world, for ourselves.

I thank God for Him, for the blessing of growing up in these, our United States, under the wise tutelage of our Judeo-Christian heritage.

Easter is as near as the next prayer of our heart.

Blessings, All.

Tim| 4.2.10 @ 9:29AM

"Among these Jews there suddenly turns up a man who goes about talking as if He was God. He claims to forgive sins. He says He has always existed. He says He is coming to judge the world at the end of time. Now let us get this clear. Among Pantheists, like the Indians, anyone might say that he was a part of God, or one with God: there would be nothing very odd about it. But this man, since He was a Jew, could not mean that kind of God. God, in their language, meant the Being outside of the world, who had made it and was infinitely different from anything else. And when you have grasped that, you will see that what this man said was, quite simply, the most shocking thing that has ever been uttered by human lips."

C.S. Lewis

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/CS_Lewis

Jim| 4.2.10 @ 10:45AM

Better to remember: "As in Adam all men die; As in Christ all are made alive." Jesus gave His lefe so that all might be given the chance to return. I celebrate not the death, but the life everlasting of Jesus.

Michele San Pietro| 4.2.10 @ 11:11AM

In my opinion, religion is a value we simply cannot do without. I'm appalled at the fierce anticlericalism of these days.

Ryan| 4.2.10 @ 12:36PM

I think that the disillusionment is warranted, to a point. TV preachers living high off the hog and their poor get-rich theology, and the RC church sheltering its priests from outside criticism until lately...

Tim*| 4.2.10 @ 11:47AM

The Difference Between Obama and Jesus.

Obama Thinks He's Jesus , Jesus Doesn't Think He's Obama.

mark| 4.2.10 @ 11:56AM

Not that believing is a picnic, but how lonely, empty and disappointing live must be for those lacking faith.

Dave Williams| 4.2.10 @ 1:01PM

Sorry to disappoint you, Mark, but I am a rock-ribbed atheist, and my life is overflowing with material blessings, the chance to practice my art and get paid for it, intellectual growth, lots of love of all types that I generously give and gratefully receive, humor, beauty, and warmth. Maybe my life is so good because I've worked at it, because I know for an absolute fact that only oblivion awaits...? Just a thought. But I will be glad to join with you in celebrating the return of greenery and mild temperatures, a delightful phenomenon that needs no supernatural explanation whatever.

Ken (Old Texican)| 4.2.10 @ 2:27PM

Dave Williams,
Congratulations on a good hardworking life. In all kindness, may I suggest that a LOT of your good life is a free ride on the backs of all the Christians and Jews who have built a culture of justice and forgiveness, and liberty here in America, long before you and I ever came along.

You are welcome.

Alaskan For Global Warming| 4.2.10 @ 4:50PM

Satan does not disturb those that are "happy in his camp." My mother (God rest her soul) always told me, "if you don't meet the devil head-on - it's probably because you're traveling in the same direction". Just a thought.

Spinny| 4.4.10 @ 9:09AM

Dave,

You cannot know for an absolute fact that oblivion awaits. There is no empirical or verifiable method to reach such a conclusion. Perhaps your conviction has come to you through revelation?

Along with Old Tex, I am pleased for your success and applaud your hard work but, with all due respect, I think you misunderstand Mark's comment. His comment has nothing to do with material gifts - big homes, exotic cars, beautiful women or even heathy children or a happy family. And notice how your response is very centered around YOU...your intellectual growth, your remuneration ('I' and 'me' appear very often). The loneliness in his reference is spiritual or existential. True, its nice to be surrounded by nice things and a loving family but don't forget, when you die (and we all will), you die ALONE before God. I know this through FAITH. Perhaps you might want to give a little thought to your conscience, your sense of the moral (you refer to your own generosity) and ask: "Where does that impulse in me come from?"

HAPPY EASTER DAVE AND THE BET TO YOUR FAMILY!

C.K. Amos| 4.4.10 @ 5:37PM

"I know for an absolute fact that only oblivion awaits..."?

Oh, really?

Me, I don't have the faith to be an atheist, even one who makes such a declaration as have you.

Or who's said this: ". . . the return of greenery and mild temperatures, a delightful phenomenon that needs no supernatural explanation whatever."

Margie| 4.2.10 @ 1:43PM

I give this gift to Toddard, Red Phillips, And Liberal Reader.
"By His stripes we are healed." Is. 53:5.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....re=related

John II| 4.2.10 @ 3:42PM

Don't forget Roberto, Marge.

And by the way, the smug comparative religion hooey that inevitably intruded on these Christian ruminations seems never to consider another possible optic. Atheists, as Lewis observes, have to believe in a colossal improbability: that the great majority of the human race in all cultures throughout history and before (to judge from the archaeological evidence) have been continuously mistaken and merely stubborn in their sense of a transcendent order to the cosmos.

I reckon I just don't have enough faith to believe in THAT improbability. I reckon.

Margie| 4.2.10 @ 4:02PM

Hi John II,
I knew I left somebody out! Yes, to Bob too. I haven't seen him around as much lately, maybe that's why I forgot.

Yes, it's easier to just let yourself believe in God than it is to fight against Him. It reminds me of what they say about smiling, how it's easier and takes a lot less facial muscles to smile than it does to frown.

Nick| 4.2.10 @ 8:51PM

Hi Margie,

Yeah, 3/5 Bob hasn't been around since he messed up and gave us his real name, huh? Did you e-mail him?

You and Victor have a good Good Friday and Easter. God Bless!

And, you have a nice Passover, 3/5 Bob!
I know you're watching.

Margie| 4.4.10 @ 8:45PM

Hi Nick,
I found the perfect website for Bob. It's called Chartoftheday.com.
I hope he got to view the video I posted.
God bless you & yours too.

Northern Rebel| 4.2.10 @ 4:10PM

May God bless everyone who reads, and posts on this blog, even athiests, and trolls.

Jesus died on the cross, in order that all had the chance to know him. Those who choose not to know Jesus have enough of a cross to bear, without me piling on.

The evisceration of socialist/liberal/progressive evil doers, will continue at a more appropriate time.

THANK YOU LORD!

Margie| 4.2.10 @ 4:22PM

"And He died for all, that those who live might live no longer for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised." 2 Cor. 5:15.

Tim*| 4.2.10 @ 4:36PM

Then Jesus said," begone Satan " , and Obama left in a huff mutterin' , " When did Jesus join The Tea Party " ?

j.h.| 4.2.10 @ 4:45PM

No one ever died for me but Jesus. No one else. I owe Him my life, my everything. He is risen indeed!

Rob| 4.2.10 @ 5:15PM

Thank you, Quin!

Mimi| 4.2.10 @ 10:15PM

TO QUIN , A simple way to look at this day is, to compare ants to humankind as man to GOD. Consider we are the imperfect ants on the earth and always fighting over crumbs. A human DIVINE owner does not feel this is fair/just. How can my ants that I created and gave them everything pay me back? No sacrifice on their part could pay me in equal measure. They are ants, I am human. So I will help my beloved ants to make the pay just. I'll send My most loved son to become an ant and he will pay the ransom and also teach them a better way. The DIVINE SON entered into manhood and yes taught and rescued us all. Many of us accept this help and are saved! WE enter the calm, the peace, the gift from the almighty one We memoralize this event, and that is what is GOOD on this FRIDAY.

Drusilla| 4.2.10 @ 10:51PM

Thank you.

And thank You, my Lord and Saviour. Let me be with You always. And may every soul desire the same.

Have a blessed, blessed Easter.

John Lockwood| 4.4.10 @ 7:54AM

I have often wondered about what the article mentions----that Jesus' suffering, horrible as it was, lasted a few hours, where cancer patients and others can suffer for months or years. Even decades----what about the still-living polio victims in iron lungs?
Perhaps we could assume that in some fashion not visible to mortal vision, Jesus suffered all the suffering ills of a broekn universe?
Does anybody have any thoughts on this?

Margie| 4.4.10 @ 7:45PM

Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with His stripes we are healed." Is. 53:4&5.

JP| 4.4.10 @ 10:13AM

John,
There's been much thought about the Passion from as far back as the early Church Fathers. Christ, being fully human and fully Divine suffered for all sins From Adam's sin to the final sin at the end of all things. Christ also never spared himself from the sufferings that humans endured. Part of the reason he went to the desert and fasted 40 days was to subject himself to the sufferings of the poor and destitute. This kind of solidarity with human suffering is is mentioned in the the Gospels frequently. Remember, it was Christ who chose to humble himself to be a mere human; he chose to come into the world via a woman and into a poor, obscure family in the middle of the no-where.

Accounts of the Roman crucifiction are numerous in achreological as well historical account. As far as suffering is concerned, which worst suffering 2 years from painful cancer or being scourged (litteraly flayed) for a period of 1-2 hours; being tortured for 6 months or having pole barn spikes drived through your body? Christ's suffering began the minute he was conceived. For he was God and humbled himself to our level of existence (not that Life is bad -for God created Time and Space and pronounced it Good); Sin entered the world eons before hand, and for God to send His Son into the World was something not any other religion even contemplated. For the Jews, God would never reincarnate himself into the physical; for the Greeks, Zeus and the Gods remained remote with the exception of the times when they wanted to entertain themselves; for Muslims, Allah is the Master and humans are his slaves.

And you are correct in placing Christ's suffering on a mystical level. Some Christians are said Christ's Life, Death, and Ressurection redeemed Time itself.

Happy Easter

Coyote197| 4.4.10 @ 7:09PM

Brandon King. There is a difference as vast as the Pacific between Christ's declaration, which you quoted, about serving others; and having a government determine which "classes" of citizens are to be forced by a function of punishable laws to be "chatitible". Christ taught that God looks at the hearts of men in evaluating their actions. I fail to see where "social justice" as practiced in many parts of the world and which "progressives" would like to expand in this country, has ANYTHING to do with the spread of Christ-like behavior. I seriously doubt that if you evaluate the motives of Christian charity and the motives of social justice, that you see any real simiiarity either. But today is Easter, and He is risen!

Hunter Baker| 4.5.10 @ 12:43AM

Beautifully done, Quin.

paivaberg| 4.5.10 @ 6:52AM

It is good because that is the day Jesus was crucified, that lead all of our lives to be saved.
http://www.buzzle.com/articles.....-work.html

David | 4.5.10 @ 10:58AM

To Brandon King: Jesus was preaching at that point as to how we should act toward and treat one another - even our enemies. Preaching "social justice" in the churches is all about GOVERNMENT control. Yes, the Black Liberation Theology of Jeremiah Wright and the prez and his family is rooted in communism, not socialism.

It is sad that people like you constantly take what Jesus said to us as believers and pervert it to mean government should actually be the one to do those things by taking money from the 60% who actually pay anything in fed income taxes and giving it to those who pay ZERO. Again Brandon, learn to make distinctions as to whom Jesus is addressing when he speaks.

Marcos| 4.6.10 @ 3:15AM

I mourn the loss of 2000 years of Christian theology and 5700 years of Jewish theology and all of us as sainted souls and believers in a loving, nurturing and forgiving and God and Father once the cultural seat of our traditions, mutual heritage and history, the Europe we have come from, vanishes under the destructive imperative of Muslim control. It is going to fall upon our children and grandchildren in a few short decades. Then the gospel will be lost and the teachings of the prophets will be spurned by the same hateful and vengeful maniacs that today urge the destruction of all that is not of theirs.