The Crossroads of Faith: The 'Historical Recognition of Resurrection' That Emerges from Pursuing Biblicalism
* This article is not intended to assert any specific denomination or ideology, but rather to explore the 'faith in the resurrection of Christ' while respecting the freedom of religion, thought, and conscience.
1. Introduction: The Relationship Between Faith and 'Fact'
When considering Christian faith, one often faces the fundamental question: 'Is faith about believing in historical facts, or is it about receiving symbolic meaning?' This question can be seen as having been a point of contention within Christianity for a long time. Specifically, if one were to dare to polarize the issue, it is a central theme where opinions are sharply divided between a stance of faith that critically views all supernatural elements in the Bible, emphasizes their ethical and spiritual value, and sees the descriptions themselves as myths, and a stance of biblical inerrancy that accepts the Bible as the Word of God, word for word, literally as fact.
I feel that this issue is not merely a matter of personal preference or a choice between one position or the other. Rather, I have the impression that the more one tries to be faithful to the Bible and pursues its teachings thoroughly, the more one is inevitably forced to face this problem of 'factuality' as a structural consequence that cannot be avoided. In other words, the foundation of faith is inextricably linked to historical events.
2. What Does Biblicalism Mean?
Here, we must reconsider what the term 'biblicalism' specifically means in this article.
I believe the term 'biblicalism' is often misunderstood as a position that takes everything in the Bible literally, word for word, while rejecting common-sense knowledge of history and science. However, I believe its core lies in an attitude of sincerely accepting the fundamental understanding of salvation that the entire New Testament seeks to testify to—namely, the event of salvation through Jesus Christ and the restoration of the relationship with God brought about by it—without obscuring it or diluting it to suit modern intellect.
When standing in this biblicalist attitude, documents within the New Testament, especially the Gospel of John and the letters of Paul, are read with a very clear direction. Because these books emphasize the events of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection not as symbolic, but as essential historical facts for the salvation of humanity, I believe this is closely linked to a position that values the factuality of faith.
3. The 'Structure of Salvation' Shown by the Gospel of John and Paul
When reading the Gospel of John and the letters of Paul from the perspective of biblicalism, the structure upon which Christian salvation is based becomes clear. The core understanding of salvation consists of the following four stages.
Christ died for the sins of humanity: The death of Jesus Christ on the cross was an act to pay the price for the sins committed by humanity.
That death is atonement: The death of Christ has the decisive meaning of atonement, which pays for sins and reconciles the relationship between God and man.
And Christ rose again on the third day: The resurrection, in which Christ rose in the flesh, breaking the result of death that accompanies sin, is positioned as the pinnacle and foundation of this process of salvation.
By believing in this resurrection, one is saved: It is by believing in and accepting this event of Christ's resurrection that a person obtains salvation.
What is important here, I believe, is the point that Christ's resurrection is not spoken of merely as an internal experience of the believer or as a symbol conveying some lesson.
Paul, in particular, thoroughly defends this factuality in his letters. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul even says, 'If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.' This statement can be seen as leaving almost no room to 'trivialize' Christ's resurrection into mere 'meaning' or 'metaphor,' or to regard it as not being a historical fact. According to Paul, the actual resurrection of Christ is understood as the foundation of Christian faith and a certain guarantee that humanity will be saved.
4. Can the Resurrection Be Let Go as a 'Product of the Times'?
It can be said that there are always attempts to interpret the event of Christ's resurrection with 'another way of reading.' It can be said that such attempts are based on ideas such as the following.
Resurrection faith is a product of the ancient worldview, which found it easy to believe in miracles and supernatural events.
While this faith was a means of conveying an effective message to the people of that time, it is not suitable for modern society, which stands on scientific intelligence.
Therefore, it is sufficient for modern people to let go of the historical factuality of the resurrection and only accept the ethics and spirituality conveyed by the Bible—that is, teachings such as love and service to one's neighbor.
Such an understanding may seem easy for modern people to accept, appearing intellectual and sophisticated.
However, as long as one stands on the position of biblicalism—that is, attempting to sincerely accept the understanding of salvation conveyed by the New Testament—it seems that a decisive problem arises in that this way of reading, which involves 'letting go of resurrection faith,' cannot be sustained.
This is because the New Testament itself positions the event of Christ's resurrection not as an incidental lesson, but as the very foundation of salvation. And as the aforementioned words of Paul (1 Corinthians 15) indicate, the New Testament portrays the very denial of the fact of the resurrection as a collapse of Christian faith, or as a falsehood. Because biblicalism seeks to be faithful to this understanding found within the Bible itself, letting go of the factuality of the resurrection would be equivalent to abandoning the very foundation of salvation that the Bible conveys.
5. Why the denial of the resurrection leads to 'destruction'
The expression 'the denial of Christ's resurrection is a path leading to destruction' may sound like a very harsh way of putting it. However, this is not emotional; it is understood as the consequence of accepting the logic of salvation presented by the Gospel of John and the letters of Paul as it is.
In the salvation structure of the New Testament, which serves as the basis for biblicalism, the event of Christ's resurrection is considered an essential element within the relationship of salvation by God. Organizing this relationship, it seems to be as follows.
If Christ's resurrection is not a fact: If Christ had not risen from the dead, it is thought that Jesus would remain a martyred prophet or an excellent religious teacher.
The basis for atonement also collapses: If Christ's death is merely the death of one righteous person, it is thought that there would be no basis to understand it as having been accepted by God as an atonement to redeem the sins of others. This is because the resurrection is considered the evidence that his death has meaning and that he is justified.
The promise of salvation is also lost: If the basis for atonement collapses, it is thought that the promise of salvation—that sins are forgiven and eternal life is granted by believing in Christ—would also become a hope without a foundation.
In other words, it is thought that dismissing the resurrection as not being a historical fact is nothing less than fundamentally dismantling the very salvation that the Bible is trying to speak of throughout.
In this sense, from the internal logic of biblicalism, the denial of the resurrection is considered to be a deviation from the core of faith, that is, what is expressed as a 'path leading to destruction.' This is not a threat to force faith, but can be said to be a way of thinking positioned as the conclusion of the logic that the document called the Bible possesses.
6. The difference that atonement is internal, while the resurrection is objective
In considering the understanding of salvation presented by the Bible, it seems that an important organization can be made that the two core events of Christ's 'atonement' and 'resurrection' have different natures for the believer.
I consider that the reception of Christ's atonement—that is, the event of the payment for sins on the cross—is established basically as a matter of the individual's inner self. It is considered that the believer accepts the gospel that 'Jesus Christ died for my sins' in their own heart and expresses their faith.
However, the event of the resurrection differs in nature from this. In the New Testament, Christ's resurrection is portrayed not merely as an object of faith that is completed within someone's heart, but as a historical event that was witnessed by many, spoken of publicly, and should be shared.
Specifically, the resurrection is treated with the following characteristics.
It is not an object of faith that is completed only within an individual's heart: The resurrection is described by concrete testimony that the apostles saw and ate with him.
An event that is spoken of and testified to publicly: It is understood that the news of the resurrection became something that was openly preached by the apostles from Jerusalem to the world as the core of the gospel.
From this difference, it can be thought as follows: while atonement relates to the subjective acceptance of faith that requires an individual's decision, the resurrection occurred in a public place and can be considered to contain an objective recognition that should be accepted as a historical recognition. It can also be thought that this objectivity is the key that guarantees the factuality of faith.
7. The Reason Why Pursuing Biblicalism Necessarily Leads to Mission
Synthesizing the arguments made thus far, it becomes clear that those who pursue Christian faith from a biblicalist standpoint are inevitably led to the conclusion that they must engage in mission (evangelism).
This trajectory does not depend on individual zeal or personality, but is considered an inevitable consequence of the ideology (faith stance) known as biblicalism. It seems that the behavioral principles of a believer standing on this position can be thought of as consisting of the following three premises.
Valuing the Bible: They seek to accept the Bible not merely as an ancient foreign document, but as words originating from God.
Maintaining the New Testament's understanding of salvation: They seek not to alter the structure of salvation through Christ's cross and resurrection to suit the changes of the times.
Regarding the resurrection as an objective fact that anyone can recognize: They seek to regard the resurrection not as a metaphor within an individual's inner life, but as a decisive event in human history.
If one stands on these premises, it is considered that denying the resurrection of Christ becomes impermissible. Furthermore, it seems one cannot simply keep this to oneself as a 'personal opinion.' This is because, from that position, the resurrection is the core of salvation, and they read from within the text that denying the resurrection is the path to the dismantling of salvation, or in other words, 'destruction.'
As a result, it is thought that the action taken is 'not to deny the resurrection, but rather to convey that fact and the message of salvation.' This seems to be an inevitable sense of mission derived from the content of the biblical text, rather than a matter of individual religious zeal. Evangelism is understood as the act of sharing this core of salvation and attempting to communicate that salvation.
8. The Final Remaining Issues
Through the arguments made so far, if one stands on the position of biblicalism—that is, the stance of faithfully accepting the New Testament's understanding of salvation—it is thought that the following propositions can be derived as a consequence.
Christ's resurrection is a historical fact: The resurrection is considered not as a mere symbol, but as an objective event that actually occurred in history.
Believing in it leads to salvation: It is considered that accepting this fact through faith is the condition for liberation from sin and reconciliation with God, which is salvation.
The path of denying it is rejected by the descriptions in the Bible: Denying the factuality of the resurrection causes the structure of salvation presented by the Bible to collapse, and thus it is considered to be rejected by the Bible's own internal logic.
Therefore, for a biblicalist believer, the factuality of the resurrection is a fundamental pillar of faith that can never be compromised, and an evangelistic attitude of seeking to share that fact with others is considered to arise spontaneously.
It is thought that this position may be perceived as an extreme claim in modern society. However, it seems that this is not so much born from the enthusiasm of a specific denomination or individual, but rather is a structure inherent in the text of the New Testament itself. It could be said that the debate surrounding the 'factuality' of faith boils down to the question of how to handle this understanding of salvation held by the New Testament.
9. Conclusion: The Crossroads Reached by Biblicalism
This issue surrounding the factuality of the resurrection, of course, is not considered to deny freedom of religion or the possibility of diverse interpretations in biblical exegesis. It is understood that there are various ways of grasping Christian faith, including ethical and spiritual aspects.
At the same time, however, it could be said that if we are to be faithful to the Bible, we must sincerely face the structural reality of faith, which is that there is an unavoidable crossroads somewhere.
And I believe that this crossroads lies in the part concerning the core of the logic of salvation presented by the Bible. What appears at the end of thoroughly pursuing the teachings of biblicalism—that is, not obscuring the understanding of salvation spoken of in the New Testament—is, in the end, nothing other than the point of 'whether or not to recognize Christ's resurrection as a decisive fact in human history, rather than a mere symbol.'
I consider this 'historical recognition of the resurrection' to be the most important characteristic of biblicalism, which grasps Christian faith not as something that remains within inner spiritual theory, but as an objective matter that has the power to transform history and the world, and it is the foundation of evangelistic activity.