Easter largely consists of saying "Christ is Risen!" to people who never knew that Christ had died

In speaking to Cornelius of the risen Christ, St. Peter says:

He commissioned us to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead.

For this apostolic teaching to flower, the hearers must believe in

• the existence of God
• God's personal interest in human beings
• an afterlife
• the possibility of being among the living in the afterlife
• the possibility of being among the dead in the afterlife
• God's plan to appoint a judge of the living and the dead
• God's intention to appoint a judge of the living and the dead

Only with faith in these tenets does it make sense to believe that

• Jesus is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead

In practice, many Christians -- going back to the Syro-Phoenician woman and the man born blind, among others -- first profess faith in Jesus and only later understand and accept all that God has revealed of His plan for our salvation. But as a logical matter, if you don't accept the first seven points above, accepting the last point would be meaningless.

Which raises some questions. How many of those to whom Christians are commissioned to preach the Gospel accept all, or even any, of the first seven points? For that matter, how many Christians accept them all?

You won't get far preaching a Savior to people who don't know they need one.

Link | 20 comments | Tweet

---