By Dr. Neil Damgaard, Protestant Chaplain Center for Religious and Spiritual Life
As Easter has just passed, Christians again celebrated the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth in about 30 AD.
It is our assertion that Jesus was crucified as an atoning sacrifice for sin.
He was executed by Roman soldiers, in Jerusalem after being tried and condemned. He was scourged and crucified.
But he did not stay dead. He rose on the morning after the Sabbath, motivating early Christians to change their day of gathering from the Sabbath to the “Lord’s Day”.
In that sense every Sunday is resurrection day for Christians. Many doctrines, practices, traditions, organizations and endeavors flow out of that day but it is that day which is the core of Christian identity. Some of the Church’s history got twisted. But the center of the Christian faith stands or falls with the historicity of that day. If it is only a legend, St. Paul wrote that Christians should be pitied.
If it is true it is the greatest joy of the whole earth, because of what Jesus offered.
On our campus, Christians have quietly rejoiced and celebrated their belief in Jesus’ defeat of death and his offer of life to all who embrace him by faith.