The Resurrection Effect: Transforming Christian Life and Thought

220 Pages·2016·3.62 MB·English

by  Anthony J. Kelly, C.Ss.R.

The Resurrection Effect
Transforming Christian Life and Thought
Anthony J. Kelly, CSsR
ORSISG)SOOKS
Maryknoll, New York 10545
Founded in 1970, Orbis Books endeavors to publish works that enlighten the
mind, nourish the spirit, and challenge the conscience. The publishing arm of
the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, Orbis seeks to explore the global dimen ·
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Copyright €l 2008 by Anthony J. Kelly.
Published by Orbis Books, Maryknoll, New York, U.S.A. All rights reserved.
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Manufactured in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Kelly, Anthony, 1938·
The resurrection effect: transforming Christian life and thought I
Anthony J. Kelly.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978· 1·57075· 770·9
I. Jesus Christ- Resurrection. 2. Theology, Doctrinal- History- 20th
century. 3. Theology, Doctrinal- History- 2Ist century. I. Title.
BT482.K452008
232' .5-<1c22
2007038081
Contents
Preface IX
1. "Placing" the Resurrection: A Theological Problem 1
The Awkwardness of the Resurrection for Theology 1
Reason and Resurrection 6
A Resurrectional Attitude 7
A Postmodern Opportunity? 12
The Resurrection and the Disturbance of Categories 15
Conclusion: A Phenomenological Standpoint 23
2. A Phenomenological Approach to the Resurrection 24
The Phenomenological Turn 24
The Resurrection as Saturated Phenomenon 27
Five Aspects of the Resurrection-Phenomenon 29
The Resurrectioll as Revelatioll 30
The Resurrectioll as Evellt 32
The Resurrectioll as Aesthetic Form 33
The Resllrrectioll as "Flesh" 35
The Resurrectioll alld the Face of Christ 39
Conclusion: Saturated Phenomenon or Mystery? 40
3. The Resurrection and the Phenomenon
of the New Testament 44
Receptivity to the Divinely Given 45
Interpretation in the Light of Christ 46
Rhetorics of Receptivity and Excess 48
Light in Darkness 53
Conclusion 60
4. The Resurrection Event 61
The Multi-Dimensional Phenomenon 62
Six Dimensions of The Resurrection Event 64
The Paschal Aspect: The Resurrectioll
of the Crucified 64
The Patema/, Gellerative Source 66
Filial I delltity 67
v
vi CONTENTS
Spirit: The Effl/sive Aspect of the Eve/It 68
Sacrament: The Chl/rch as Body of Christ 71
Eschatological Allticipation 72
The Light of the Resurrection 73
The Light and Its Meaning: Patterns of Rhetoric 75
Arcs of Rhetoric 75
Dimensions of Meaning 77
5. Paul and the Resurrection Effect 79
Paul's Transformative Experience 79
Conversion to the Risen One: Its Narrative Setting 82
From Experience to Meaning 88
1 Corinthians 15:1-28 88
Philippians 2:5-11 95
Conclusion 100
6. Resurrection: The Visual Phenomenon 101
A Continuing Dialectic 102
The Appearances of the Risen Christ 106
The Economy of Seeing: An End and a Beginning 110
The Other Paraclete 112
Conclusion 119
7. Subjectivity, Objectivity and the Resurrection 120
The Polarities of Subject and Object 120
The Complexiry of Experience 121
Five Assumptions Questioned 124
The Saturation of the Phenomenon 128
Conclusion: The Play of Polarities 129
8. The Salvific Realism of the Resurrection 131
Salvific Objectivity 131
Salvific Realism 131
The Divine Initiative 134
Presence and Absence 137
The HIII/IO/lity of the Rise/I jesl/s 138
Forgiveness 139
The Empty Tomb 139
Overtl/re to World History 145
Salvific Subjectiviry 146
A New Begilllling 14 7
The Disciples' New Understanding 148
Called to Witness 149
A Universal Horizon 150
A Reactive World 151
CONTENTS lIii
9. Extensions of the Resurrection Effect 153
The Resurrection and the Trinity 153
The Resurrection and Moral Theology 159
Transcultural Openness 168
10. Resurrection as Horizon 173
Notes 179
Select Bibliography 197
Subject and Name Index 201
Preface
This book deals with the resurrection of the crucified Jesus as the
focal event affecting all Christian faith and theology. With such a con-
centration, however, we intend neither to add another specialisation to
an already over·specialised theological curriculum, nor are we trying to
fit the resurrection more neatly into a theological system as one ques·
tion, doctrine or scriptural theme among many. But we do intend to
explore the focal character of the resurrection event for faith, and, as a
consequence, the need for theology, in all its specialisations- biblical,
fundamental, systematic, liturgical and moral- to be located "in the
resurrection", so to speak, and to proceed in its light. With that end in
mind, this is not "new theology" of the resurrection, building on, or in
contrast to, the outstanding work of writers such as Durrwell,
Pannenberg, O'Collins, von Balthasar, D. B. Hart, N. T. Wright, James
Alison and so many others. Such a vast work of synthesis and system-
atic construction is surely a most desirable project for the future, even if
beyond our present scope. On the other hand, this book can contribute
to such a task, even if in a somewhat preliminary way, as it seeks to
make theology more "resurrectional" in its method, mood and content.
A fresh receptivity to the act of God in raising Jesus from the dead,
along with a grateful appreciation of scholarship, past and present, will
point in this direction. Consequently, we hope to make a contribution
to the resurrection of theology as an assured, distinctive mode of Chris-
tian rationality.
Why such an exploration of the "resurrection effect" is timely will be
explained in different ways as the book unfolds. Suffice it to say at the
moment that the resurrectional focus of Christian life and thought is
always in need of being refreshed and sharpened. Just as Sunday as "the
Lord's Day" commemorating the resurrection can be lost in the modern
secular weekend, or, for that matter, slip out of focus in the succession
of liturgical seasons as, say, the first Sunday of Advent, or third Sunday
of Lent, or the tenth Sunday of "ordinary time", and so forth, some-
thing similar can happen for theology. It came home to me after com-
pleting my recent Eschatology and Hope (Orbis, 2006) that all the vari-
ous themes and questions treated in such a book depended, in the most
elemental way, on the resurrection of Christ. Our present hope in the
face of all the challenges of life, suffering and death, is an effect of the
ix
.< PREFACE
resurrection. Unless that had happened, hope would at best be a repres-
sive optimism, or an accommodation to routine despair. But the effect
of the resurrection is to see the world and to live in it otherwise. That is
hardly an original insight. In fact it is so taken for granted that the
originality of the resurrection's effect on the life of faith can be forgot-
ten. What originally made all the difference gradually becomes a remote
presupposition, only vaguely affecting the way we understand God,
ourselves and the world itself. This book, then, aims to sharpen the
focus and to assist readers to register the resurrection effect in all as-
pects of their lives.
To this end, the chapters converge in one aim- to refresh faith and
theology in receptivity to the focal phenomenon of the resurrection. To
some degree, such receptivity is always being presupposed in the quest
for doctrinal clarity, systematic elaboration and moral theology. But
there is room, we shall argue, for a more disciplined attentiveness to the
ways in which this key Christian phenomenon is given or disclosed to
faith. In short, a phenomenological phase precedes all theoretical or
practical considerations. We must first attend to what is given in its own
right and in its own light.
One way of elaborating a phenomenology of the resurrection is to
appeal to a class of phenomena designated as "saturated phenomenon a "
(Jean-Luc Marion). However odd-sounding in current English, such a
term suggests that the appearance, "given-ness", or self-disclosive im-
pact of some phenomena, is so multi-dimensional, so inexhaustible in
significance, so over-brimming and prodigal in its effect, that its special
status must be recognised. In a word, these phenomena are recognised
as "saturated". For instance, there is a kind of event-birth, death, a
world war, falling in love-that overflows any fixed boundaries, and
provokes endless interpretation. The same goes for a striking work of
art: it eludes anyone point of view. Da Vinci's Malia Lisa creates its
own history of interpretation and imposes itself in an endless play of
perspectives as succeeding generations view it through the centuries.
Take another instance: our bodies or "flesh" arc not something we sim-
ply possess and classify as a biological entity of a particular type. For
the body is a field of incarnate communication with a whole world,
especially in the intimate communications of love or parenthood. An-
other example is the" face" of another. It is no ordinary object, but, in a
sense, a commanding presence. It calls one to a responsibility and an
ethical co-existence with the other of limitless implications. All these
phenomena have one thing in common: they occur as a kind of "revela-
tion", for they are given from beyond the normal horizon of our percep-
tions. They are disclosed in a superabundant or over-brimming fashion.
In the way they are given, they draw us into a field of an unobjectifiable
and inexhaustible "excess". In this way, saturated phenomena affect us,
not merely with the superabundance of their significance, but with the
PREFACE xi
strange power to call us, individually or communally, to see the world
within a different horizon. Each in its own way comes to mean the world
to us-and our place within it. To a super-saturated degree, the resur-
rection of the Crucified is a singular instance of a phenomenon of this
kind, while each of these particular instances, as we shall see, expresses
some aspect of the manner in which the resurrection reveals itself to
reflective faith.
Though phenomenological terminology may appear oddly technical
or even exotic, the experience it appeals to is not unfamiliar. At the risk
of being too literal in reference to "saturation", the following instance
might be useful in emphasising what is at stake.
One may weary of reading about the wonders of the Great Barrier
Reef and viewing documentaries on its marvels-and the present threats
to it. We come to feel the need to go there, to dive into it, to be im-
mersed in it, to be carried by its tides, to snorkel around its coral
splendours and swim with its variegated marine life. Books and articles,
photos and museum specimens are left behind for the sake of immersing
oneself in the living reality, and so to have an immediate exposure to it
at first hand. This does not demand leaving all scientific exploration
behind, or forgetting ecological concerns. But it does mean letting the
Reef reveal itself by drawing us into the immediacy of what is so over-
whelmingly given. Receptivity to the character of the given tends to
inspire energetic testimony to this natural wonder of the world. More-
over, unless people continue to experience and explore the Reef, all the
words, policies, and programs would soon appear second-hand and
paper-thin. Any number of concerns might lead the first-hand explorer
to reflect on what has been so encompassingly experienced, and so in-
spire particular responses of a scientific, ecological, artistic or political
character. But, in a profound sense, once it is immediately experienced,
no one can get over what has been given by way of immersion in that
exuberant world of marine wonders. Once "saturated" by it, immersed
in it, it becomes significant in new ways. Awash with such experience,
we may well see things differently in contrast to pages of scientific re-
ports, the arresting photographs, the tourist brochures and so forth. For
the Reef is not something disclosed by being catalogued as a national
treasure, or treated as a resource for the local tourist industry, or made
into a scientific object of marine biology-photographed, classified, cata-
logued, mapped and modelled with technical expertise. There is an origi-
nal moment, might we say, when we can cease to possess or own it in
such ways, and allow the Reef to possess us. As we float over its corals
and swim amongst its schools of fish, we are no longer the centre. How-
ever fleetingly, its reality literally washes over us with a totality that
makes us part of it. The Reef must be allowed to come to us in its unique-
ness. And so we come to have an intimate familiarity with this particular
natural wonder in a way that precedes, calls forth but ever eludes the
xii PREFACE
business of scientific analysis, ecological management, tourist develop-
ment and so forth. Stealing a march on Marion and others, visitors may
speak of the Reef as an "event" that changed their perceptions of the
natural world forever: for they found themselves "faced" with nature in
its uncanny and enthralling otherness. Yet, at the same time, they feel
themselves newly "embodied" in a world of wonder and variety beyond
any normal range of contacts. They are met with the impact of a "beauty"
that overwhelms them. Something has "revealed" itself that words and
ideas can never capture.
All metaphors limp, and all experience of the totality is very limited;
but the point is there. The phenomenal given-ness of reality in the im-
mediacy of experience precedes the questions, reflections and decisions
that might arise. The phenomenon is more than a reflection of our prior
concerns or previous experience. It exceeds expectations in a striking
way. In this and similar cases, it is as though the silvering which backs
the mirrors of our perception is stripped away and lets the light of a
larger world shine through-so that we see more than our own reflec-
tion. Some might prefer the more homely metaphor of not confusing the
woods with the trees-of a rain forest, for example. You can cut down
a particular tree for fuel or for timber, or even hunt out its flora and
fauna for some particular purpose, guided by any number of maps mark-
ing particular entry points. But, in the totality, you live in another key,
wandering through it, or lost in its wonders, alive to the prodigality of
its reality. No amount of records can ever "capture" what the explorer
has been through: the overall feel of the totality of the sounds, scents,
colours and profusion of forms is more than can be objectified in the
photographic records and mementos compared to what has been "given"
to those who have been there.
The point in making this rather literal reference to a saturated phe-
nomenon in the natural world is to suggest how the resurrection of
Jesus is such a phenomenon, however uniquely, in the world of Chris-
tian experience. For, in ways yet to be discussed, the resurrection en-
compasses the life of faith with an inexhaustible significance. In recent
years, theology has been criticized for not clearly focusing on the specif-
ics of Christian revelation, and thereby being too influenced by domi-
nant ideologies of the day.' All the more reason, then, to emphasise the
need for attentiveness to the concrete particular form of Christian rev-
elation given in the cross and resurrection of Jesus. Moreover, if the
IFor example, Michael J. Buckley, At the Origb,s of Modern Atheism (New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1987};Joseph S. O'Leary, Questioning Back: Tbe Overcoming of Metapbys-
ics in the Cbristiall Trad,tion (New York: Seabury, 1985);John Milbank, Theology and Social
Theory: Beyond Secular Reason (Oxford: Blackwell, 1993); William C. Placher, Tbe Domes-
lico/iot! of Tra"sccndcnce: How Modern Thinking About God Wle1lt \Vrong (Louisville:
Westminster, 1996).