Happy Easter: What was the purpose of the resurrection?

Easter is almost here. Personally I find this the most awkward time of the year in quest to understand God in the ways of Jesus… put simply the resurrection just isn't that important to my faith.

In Christian theology the atonement refers to the forgiving or pardoning of sin through the death of Jesus Christ by crucifixion, which made possible the reconciliation between God and creation. Over time multiple theories of atonement of come and gone…

1) The Ransom Theory / "Christus Victor" view of the atonement. Let me see if I can get this theory correct… Adam & Eve screwed up creating original sin. As a result mankind became subservient to the devil… in order to redeem humanity God sent Jesus as a "ransom" so that the devil would kill him, and thus lose all right to humanity following the resurrection.

In this version of atonement God appears powerless to God’s holiness and is somehow negotiating with the devil….

 

2) Satisfaction Theory view of atonement. In this one it appears that Christ suffered as a substitute on behalf of humankind satisfying the demands of God's honor. Christ is punished instead of humanity, thus satisfying the demands of justice so that God can justly forgive.

In this version of atonement God appears to not find justice (When would it be just for a judge to take the sentence of a criminal… that is selflessness, but not justice).

 

3) The Last Scapegoat. This theory seems to be based on the idea that all of our desires are borrowed from other people (memic desire) and the only way to release the resulting conflict between two people who desire the same thing (memic rivalry) is a scapegoat mechanism. For the scapegoat mechanism to work something must be sacrificed to release the mimetic rivalry. In this theory of atonement Jesus is presented as the last scapegoat to demonstrate the power of selfless love over the memic desire/rivalry model.

In this version it is not us trying to appease God, but rather God crossing the chasm to us. I like that.

 

4) Moral Influence view (not active atonement, but passive influence). In this view Christ's passion was an act of exemplary obedience to a broken sacrificial model and was given as an example to affects the intentions of those who come to know about it. To fully grasp this version one first has to redefine ‘sin’. What if ‘sin’ is not a list of bad things to avoid? What if ‘sin’is the failure to do the positive things that bring a reconciliation of all things? In the same way dark is not the opposite of light but the absence of light, sin is not the opposite of love but the absence of selfless love. What if Jesus life was not about atoning for our sins so we can get to heaven (God’s Kingdom) in some other place or time, but rather Jesus’ purpose was to teach us is to ‘love God/others over self’ as a way to bring reconciliation and wholeness to all things. What if Jesus death didn’t atone for my list of mis-behaviors but instead showed me a perfect example of loving others over self?

In this fourth model of atonement… I understand the relevance of the crucifixion… but I don’t understand the purpose of the resurrection.

Model	God	Devil	Human view of Easter
Ransom Theory	Subservient to God’s own Holiness.	Very Powerful. Negotiating with God.	Must “believe” and acknowledge ransom to be atoned for.
Satisfaction Theory	Selflessness, but not justice. Bound by need for ritualistic sacrifice.	Antagonist.	Must “believe” and acknowledge sacrifice to be atoned for
Last Scapegoat	God takes the action. God is still bound by need for atonement.	Antagonist.	Focus is still on acknowledging atonement.
Moral Influence	God’s actions are driven by establishing moral example, not rule set of atonement. Purpose of the resurrection is unclear.	Not relevant.	Action to bring forward “Christ’s Kingdom” is on shoulders of humanity. Christ’s sacrifice is an example, not a solution.

 

The fourth model seems to fit my views the best. The purpose of the crucifixion is to demonstrate the ultimate act of selflessness .. However I still don’t understand the purpose of the resurrection… Maybe it just makes a better plot line.