Progressive Christianity or Progressing Spirit for December 3, with my comments, leaving the last one for the Gospel:
Many progressive Christians embrace the idea of a spiritual resurrection of Jesus instead of a physical one.
Many progressive Christians are apostates. (Wouldn't that be redundant and "all" be more appropriate? In fact, someone might be traditional at heart, but mistakenly for secondary reasons or for a single item count himself as progressive).
It was a spiritually resurrected Jesus that Saul encountered on his famed road to Damascus, and if it was good enough for Paul, it's good enough for us!
Apart from Roger Wolsey siding with apostasy, which isn't all that much my business, I'm not his bishop, it wasn't good enough for Saint Paul. See Acts 9:
[3] And as he went on his journey, it came to pass that he drew nigh to Damascus; and suddenly a light from heaven shined round about him. [4] And falling on the ground, he heard a voice saying to him: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? [5] Who said: Who art thou, Lord? And he: I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against the goad.
[6] And he trembling and astonished, said: Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? [7] And the Lord said to him: Arise, and go into the city, and there it shall be told thee what thou must do. Now the men who went in company with him, stood amazed, hearing indeed a voice, but seeing no man.
While Christ was not normally physically present there - He made His presence felt there. To one. By parts of the usual physical means of observation, namely a voice, and also, as on an extra-ordinary occasion before that, by light. Matthew 17:
[2] And he was transfigured before them. And his face did shine as the sun: and his garments became white as snow.
As a panentheist who embraces process theology, I would say, no - God isn't able to violate the laws of physics and "do a physical resurrection" - at least not as that's traditionally understood.
Panentheist is ... imprecise. Standard Theism states that God is somehow present in everything there is (if God were entirely absent from it, it wouldn't exist).
Process theology is a foreign word to me, I stand confuted to being ignorant.
But the rest, it is conflating two questions:
- whether God can do miracles (as usually understood by Theism);
- whether God can violate the laws of physics (as usually understood by Newtonianism).
First of all, as God could call the laws of physics into existence, He can also annihilate them and also suspend them.
Second, it is not clear exactly what law of physics the standard set of Christian miracles are supposed in their standard Orthodox understanding to violate. A point made by C. S. Lewis in Miracles.
Christ was dead and is alive. Did it violate Ohm's law? How? Did it violate Kepler's law on planetary motions? How? Did it violate Newton's law on cooling? I'll cite it:
Newton's law of cooling states that the rate of heat loss of a body is directly proportional to the difference in the temperatures between the body and its surroundings. The law is frequently qualified to include the condition that the temperature difference is small and the nature of heat transfer mechanism remains the same.
How did the resurrection violate that law?
My point is, "the laws of physics" is not an ideology of "no miracles ever happen" it is a precise corpus of statements, and I don't see any of the statements I learned in physics or after school on wikipedia or elsewhere:
Young–Laplace equation
In physics, the Young–Laplace equation is a nonlinear partial differential equation that describes the capillary pressure difference sustained across the interface between two static fluids, such as water and air, due to the phenomenon of surface tension or wall tension, although use of the latter is only applicable if assuming that the wall is very thin.
While Pierre Simon Laplace was non-theist, and would not have endorsed miracles occurring, his and Young's statements on capillary pressures seem to also remain in force while the Resurrection happened.
I would say, however, that God and certain humans co-creatively "resurrected" Jesus within the life of those early followers of Jesus who were grieving his death - through remembrances and epiphanies such as the one that happened on the road to Emmaus.
Ouch. He's in effect stating that Sts Paul, St. Cleopas and the other disciple were taking for physical appearances of a person present what was in effect an emanation of their mind. Hallucinations hallowed by God, but hallucinations even so.
No.
Not only was God in control of everything they saw, not one bit being any more dependent on their states of mind than observations ordinarily are, but what they saw and heard emanated physically from a corporeally risen Christ.
They came to realize that the truth of the Way that Jesus had been teaching (the way of compassion, unconditional love, forgiveness, restorative justice, mercy and loving-kindness) really and truly does provide vital and transformative life - abundant and eternal.
He's very, but very, very, very far from the actual statements.
None of them had "doubted" the way of Christ before this. St. Paul had doubted one statement of His, as given before the Sanhedrin, and considered those believing this statement as blasphemers. St. Cleopas and his friend had doubted another strictly christological statement which also was not concerned about miracles, namely the statement of some women that He was risen.
And that it can't be killed.
Any more. Christ could very definitely get killed on Calvary, unless you are precise that as God in the Flesh, it would not have worked unless He had laid down His life. He had to make Himself weaker than He was in the Hypostatic union, for Crucifixion to kill.
Those who came to this realization are those who Jesus continues to "live in" and as such, they, collectively, are the living Body of Christ.
This both confuses the mystical with the physical body and broadens the criteria for belonging to the mystical body too widely. As Roger Wolsey does not believe the Resurrection happened as believed by the Church, he does not belong to the Church, therefore not to the mystical body.
So, in a way, that is a physical resurrection - embodied in the lives of the community of believers.
See my hands and feet, that it is I myself; handle, and see: for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you see me to have. [Luke 24:39]
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