Resources on Easter
- The People's New Testament Commentary by M. Eugene Boring and Fred B. Craddock is a wonderful single volume commentary that Carolyn used in teaching a course for commissioned lay pastors and is one she recommends to all pastors and lay people. This book has a very helpful excursus, "Interpreting the Resurrection" (p. 101).
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Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection,
and the Mission of the Church
by N. T. Wright:
"After explaining why we ought to believe objectively in Jesus' literal resurrection, Wright argues that in his ministry resurrection is called the first fruits of the new creation because it demonstrated that the conditions of the new creation could be realized, however imperfectly, in the old, and by human agency. In the long run, Christian hope empowers and enjoins Christians to heal humanity and nature now, not to participate in general degradation through war, greed, and pollution."
— Ray Olson - The Resurrection of the Son of God (Christian Origins and the Question of God, Vol. 3) by N. T. Wright is the 700+ page, comprehensive study of the resurrection — what precisely happened at Easter? What did the early Christians mean when they said that Jesus of Nazareth had been raised from the dead? What can be said today about this belief?
- The Challenge of Easter by N. T. Wright (64 pages). Wright takes a step back from the hoopla surrounding Easter to look at it in its earliest context, where we see a band of followers discovering the fulfillment of all the promises God had made to their people over the centuries, and pronouncing a new era that unsettled their friends and scandalized their oppressors. That era extends to our day, where to celebrate Easter is to receive an invitation to live as though God is among us, making everything new.
- Christian Doctrine by Shirley Guthrie. This book, originally written for an adult Sunday School class, became a bestselling overview of the Christian beliefs. Carolyn had it as a college textbook; it was later revised and it has been used for adult classes in two churches where she has been a pastor. This book has an excellent chapter on resurrection; see pages 270-290.