Great and Holy Pascha

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, reflects on Great and Holy Pascha in Eastern Orthodox Holy Week. On Pascha (Easter), the culmination of Holy Week, along with the body of Christ worldwide, we celebrate the ultimate game changer. If I face hardships in life “for merely human reasons,” wrote Paul in his first letter to the Corinthian Christians, “what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’” Paul states directly, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” Without resurrection, Christianity crumbles. Thus, in 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul provides a four-part argument underscoring the irrevocable reality of Christ’s resurrection. For further study, see Hank Hanegraaff’s article, “The FEAT of Resurrection,” and his book Resurrection.