What Happened at Easter with Frank Logue

What this episode covers

In the Nicene Creed, we state that we believe Jesus was God who became human, died, and rose again on the third day (counting the day he died). The creed does not elaborate on why he did any of that -- particularly the last bit -- except that it was "for our sake." The question bears repeat examination: If God became human and had power over life and death, why did he need to die? And since he did die, why did he come back to life? Christians have put forth many theories over the years about why this happened and what it means for humanity. Revisiting this question periodically takes us deeper into the mysteries of our faith and brings us closer to God. People have thrown out all kinds of theories about Christ's resurrection. Skeptics suggest it was made up by the disciples to perpetuate Christ's ministry or possibly based in some sort of misunderstanding. Believers have taken Paul's original statement that "Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures" and interpreted it in many different ways, one of the most popular being that Christ needed to balance the scales for our wrongdoing and stepped in as a human sacrifice. Even that understanding has been interpreted in different ways by different cultures. In this course, Frank Logue, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia, addresses both the skeptics' theories and several theories put forth by people of faith about what happened at Easter. He talks about what it means for us that God became human and died and came back. Finally, he addresses the crucifixion and resurrection on a different level, discussing the recurring scriptural depiction of God as a gardener and how that image resonates with Jesus' resurrection.

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