Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

CHAPTER 18
Et Resurrexit
18.1. Why Not Stop Here?
In Bach's B Minor Mass the solemn, slow-moving chorus 'Crucifixus' is followed
at once by the joyous allegro, 'Et Resurrexit'. Which is what one might
expect in Christian worship. But in a historical study of Jesus should we follow
suit? After all, on pretty well any definition, 'resurrection' moves beyond history,
at least in the sense of 'that which can be observed by historical method'. 1 Death
is, almost by definition, departure from the time-space continuum, the only arena
in which any historical method can operate. No one regards post-mortem existence
as a viable subject of historical study. So why not end the quest of the historical
Jesus at his death? If 'the flight from history' (chapter 5) can be justified
anywhere, it can surely be justified here. 2 Many questers accept the logic and
write accordingly, even if they add some reference to Christian belief in Jesus'
resurrection as an epilogue. 3
In this case, however, I will not follow that logic but will bring this volume
to a close with a chapter on Jesus' resurrection. I do so for several reasons. First,
in what is projected as a three-volume study of Christianity in the Making, it
1. The limitations of the historical method and the problems of speaking about the resurrection
as a 'historical event' are familiar to students of the subject. The recent study by
A. J. M. Wedderburn, Beyond Resurrection (London: SCM, 1999) is a model of scrupulous
care in this respect (see here 9-19).
2. For a review and critique of Barth and Bultmann on the subject see Carnley, Structure
ch. 3, especially 127-30.
3. E.g., Sanders limits himself to a tantalising half-page in Jesus 320, but includes a fivepage
Epilogue in Historical Figure 276-80; Gnilka — 'Easter Epilogue' {Jesus 319-20); Becker
adds only a brief consideration of how the Easter faith influenced the reception of the Jesus material
(Jesus 361-64).
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