‘[The] miracle [of the resurrection] is a concession to the weakness of man, so is the appearance of the Risen Jesus a concession to the weakness of the disciples. Fundamentally they ought not to need it! Fundamentally it ought not be the sight of the Risen Lord that first moves the disciples to believe ‘the word that Jesus spoke’, for this word alone should have the power to convince them.’ — Rudolf Bultmann
Dr Jim West
Bible, Theology, and Current Events
#1, March, April, May & June – 2009
And yet…
The only reason why “the word that Jesus spoke” should be convincing in and of itself is because that word is vindicated by Jesus’ resurrection.
As Paul reminds us in 1 Cor 15 (a chapter that is, perhaps, a more concise version of what N. T. Wright has to say about the resurrection!), “if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead” (just as Jesus, too, apart from the resurrection, would have been a false witness, for he testified that God would raise him from the dead).
Hence, the resurrection is no “concession to the weakness of man [sic]“; rather, it is the vindication of “the word that Jesus spoke”.
I never thought of the resurrection appearances in those terms. What is true of the disciples must also be true of the 500 as well (1 Cor 15:6)
TC, that’s why Bultmann’s so interesting; he thinks of things other folk don’t.
Dan, the very heart of the problem is that, if they had really believed what Jesus said (I will be raised the third day), the resurrection appearances would not have been necessary. One needs authentication only if one doesn’t believe, not if one does.
Well, I hardly want to deny God what I usually credit to men. In this case, a plan that acomplishes more than one goal. For example, Joseph going to Egypt:
1) Fulfilled prophecy that Abraham’s descendants would go to Egypt
2) Saved Jacob and his household from the effects of the famine
3) Saved the nation of Egypt and others around from what appears a widespread famine.
Likewise, the Resurrection served not only to kickstart the disciples–which swift kick admittedly they should not have needed– but set up a whole group of witnesses to the Resurrection in an age when eyewitness testimony was what serious history was about.
It’s easy to say the disciples were all wearing “I’m with stupid” t-shirts, but really, how much better would we have been? Isn’t Peter’s fame at least partly based on how much people have seen themselves in him from two thousand years?
Ah, I see. I misread the quotation and thought that the focus was on the resurrection itself, and not the resurrection appearances in particular (perhaps a forgiveable mistake given that we are dealing with Bultmann??).
Still, it is hard to fault the disciples on this point. Thinking of a crucified and resurrected Messiah would have been such a foreign concept to them that the matter might not be so much a lack of faith, as a lack of comprehension. Of course, God then condescends to correct the understanding of the disciples, just as I reckon God — on that day in which God becomes all in all –will also condescend to enlighten all of us, even the most faithful.
Wow! Christians boasting that they need no evidence to be believers
Jim,
This is an amazing quotation, but, once again, you’re only showing how devoted Bultmann is to Luther. This quotation misses the basic structure of Christianity. We are indeed called to believe “the Word”, but “the Word”, in NT terms, is not Scripture or revelation, but rather the apostolic kerygma (construed not in terms of a preaching event, but rather in terms of its referential content). And the authority of that kerygma comes directly from the apostles’ experiences as eyewitnesses–nothing more, nothing less. The resurrection appearances are not a concession to the apostles weakness, but rather the very thing that makes them apostles!
Hmmm
If God knows everything (including the “future” – as there is no “future” for Him), then He knows that He will raise Christ, for some reason. What is that reason? Looking through Scripture I would have to say it is to glorify Himself and erase any doubts once and for all that HE ALONE IS GOD.
Am I mistaken?
Great blog by the way!
Chris
http://sharpeningiron.wordpress.com/
Jim,
If you have it handy, would you please give the bibliography for the quotation? Thanks.
Gospel of John, p. 696.