Overview

In this four-color illustrated journey that is part travelogue and part theological investigation, bestselling author and acclaimed Bible scholar John Dominic Crossan and his wife Sarah painstakingly travel throughout the ancient Eastern church, documenting through text and image a completely different model for understanding Easter’s resurrection story, one that provides promise and hope for us today. Traveling the world, the Crossans noticed a surprising difference in how the Eastern Church considers Jesus’ resurrection—an event not described in the Bible. At Saint Barbara’s Church in Cairo, they found a painting in which the risen Jesus grasps the hands of other figures around him. Unlike the Western image of a solitary Jesus rising from an empty tomb that he viewed across Eastern Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, the Crossans saw images of the resurrection depicting a Jesus grasping the hands of figures around him, or lifting Adam and Eve to heaven from Hades or hell, or carrying the old and sick to the afterlife. They discovered that the standard image for the Resurrection in Eastern Christianity is communal and collective, something unique from the solitary depiction of the resurrection in Western Christianity. Fifteen years in the making, Resurrecting Easter reflects on this divide in how the Western and Eastern churches depict the resurrection and its implications. The Crossans argue that the West has gutted the heart of Christianity’s understanding of the resurrection by rejecting that once-common communal iconography in favor of an individualistic vision. As they examine the ubiquitous Eastern imagery of Jesus freeing Eve from Hades while ascending to heaven, the Crossans suggest that this iconography raises profound questions about Christian morality and forgiveness. A fundamentally different way of understand the story of Jesus’ rebirth illustrated with 130 images, Resurrecting Easter introduces an inclusive, traditional community-based ideal that offers renewed hope and possibilities for our fractured modern society.

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9780062434180

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Reviews

Stunning...Professor Dominic Crossan is creating a new subject, Art Theology. --Forbes Very rich. It will bring new meaning to Easter. --National Catholic Reporter This profound, radical work [and] important book . . . sharply photographed by Sarah and keenly described by John . . . considers the ways Christian iconography surrounding the Resurrection has evolved over centuries and continents in response to cultural changes. --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

A fascinating argument [about] the divergences between the Eastern and the Western artistic traditions...I'll just recommend that you go ahead out and get Resurrecting Easter because a lot of these images are going to tell the story in ways that just hearing about it won't. --Nathan P. Gilmour, The Christian Humanist Very rich. It will bring new meaning to Easter. --National Catholic Reporter This profound, radical work [and] important book . . . sharply photographed by Sarah and keenly described by John . . . considers the ways Christian iconography surrounding the Resurrection has evolved over centuries and continents in response to cultural changes. --Publishers Weekly (starred review) Examine how Eastern Christianity differs from Western tradition . . . the West looks at Christ's resurrection as an individual act, while Eastern Christianity views it as universal, encompassing the whole world. Readers interested in early Christian history or theology will want to give this a try. --Booklist

Examine how Eastern Christianity differs from Western tradition . . . the West looks at Christ's resurrection as an individual act, while Eastern Christianity views it as universal, encompassing the whole world. Readers interested in early Christian history or theology will want to give this a try. ----Booklist

Author Information

John Dominic Crossan is professor of biblical studies at DePaul University in Chicago. He is the bestselling author of many books, including The Historical Jesus, The Birth of Christianity, Excavating Jesus, and In Search of Paul.

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