What I’m going to write here may sound controversial to some. But it is necessary that I do this. Before I plunge ahead, I think it is important to state that a Christian theology cannot talk about God’s absence in Christ without bookending the Christ-event with incarnation and resurrection. If one wants to be a Christian theologian one simply has to do so, standing on the promise of God’s presence (Immanuel) and living in the hope of the last things of which the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a harbinger. Yet, a genuine Christian theology that does justice to the existential realities of humanity, must also acknowledge the ambiguity of both promise of presence and hope of renewal. I believe, good theology will pause where others have often refused to tarry; it will linger where others have refrained to do so out of fear of the unknown.
If we take the resurrection for instance, we can acknowledge and accept the biblical account of Jesus’ rising from the dead. We can agree with St. Paul that without the resurrection the Christian faith is void, meaningless, and without genuine hope. And yet, we ask, where is the resurrection then? Christians have been waiting for 2000 years and we’re living in a world that hasn’t changed a bit. We may talk about resurrection all we want, but tomorrow we die. We die young or old, from injuries, diseases, or old age, satisfied or sad that our life never saw any…
