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The resurrection of Jesus, and our participation in it, is of course foundational for the "comic" vision of Christianity. Barth, however, expresses this in a particularly sharp way, when he describes how the Christian looks back to death and the grave as a past event, and forward to resurrection. The resurrection, in short, shifts the location of death in history, the individual's life story, and literature. For ancients, death always remains ahead, and is always only what remains ahead - the unavoidable horizon of life and history. If there is life, it is behind. By his resurrection, however, Jesus has conquered death (though it still remains to be conquered), and we can in a real sense look back on it as a defeated foe. Only such a faith can produce the "deep comedy" of Western Christian literature.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Friday, December 26, 2003 at 11:22 AM
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1 & 2 Kings
Brazos Theological Commentary
The Promise Of His Appearing: An Exposition Of Second Peter
A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons
Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, And Hope In Western Literature
Miniatures & Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen
The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism
A Son To Me: An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel
From Silence to Song: The Davidic Liturgical Revolution
Ascent to Love: A Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy
Blessed Are the Hungry: Meditations on the Lord's Supper
A House For My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament
Heroes of the City of Man: A Christian Guide to Select Ancient Literature
Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide To Six Shakespeare Plays
Wise Words: Family Stories That Bring the Proverbs to Life
The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church
