Resurrecting Easter

This is a fantastic book.

The premise of the book is that within the tradition of art surrounding the resurrection of Christ there are two distinct types of resurrection images. One he calls the individual resurrection tradition, the other the universal resurrection tradition. The individual resurrection tradition most characterizes the Western Church and the universal resurrection tradition is represented in the East.

Early in the history of the church (the first millennium) we have both of these traditions are represented, but as we move into the second millennium, the West adopts the individual tradition and the East the universal. The Crossans examine this history and trace the development in a marvelous visual way. They take us to little known locations and display wonderful pictures to help us see this development. Occasionally, the photos are too small to show the detail needed, but often I could find the work online and enlarge and follow. Occasionally not.

But Resurrecting Easter is more than a visual history. Crossan makes a case for the tradition he feels best represents the Easter tradition expressed in the Gospels. His conclusion is that the true Easter vision is represented by the universal resurrection tradition that is dominant in the East.

I won't try to reproduce his argument in this review but I will leave you with some of his observations...

Read the whole review: https://thetempleblog.com/book-review-resurrecting-easter/