This is not one of my usual columns. The newspaper which gets “first publication” rights is not publishing today, Easter Sunday. That leaves me free to muse about Easter, in general. Easter, as seen by the secular world, is about bunnies and eggs. And chocolate. And spring in the northern hemisphere. And did I mention chocolate? But in the Christian church, it’s about The Resurrection (with capital letters). When I was much younger, the Rev. Jim Campbell invited his congregation to submit topics they wanted him to preach about. My note said, “Resurrection -- I’d love to see how you handle it!” I knew that Jim was too honest a minister to simply repeat conventional platitudes. He didn’t disappoint me. He admitted that he couldn’t understand it either, but clearly something had happened, “something” that changed lives, which started a domino effect that changed the world. I can live with that ambiguity, even if part of my mind still wants a rational explanation for what happened. Or, perhaps, for what didn’t happen. But I would guess that 90 percent of the sermons preached this morning will declare, unequivocally, a) that Jesus conquered death b) that death is the direct consequence of sin c) that Jesus had no sin, and that by accepting a death he didn’t deserve, Jesus paid off our sins in advance. If our sins are already forgiven, why do we still pay the price of sin? If Jesus defeated death, why do we still die? In fact, why does everything die? Plants, mammals, fish, insects, bacteria -- everything dies. They have different life spans -- contrast a fruit fly and a sequoia, say -- but they all die. Even our sun will eventually die, and take the inner planets with it. Death is the universal reality, simultaneously the immoveable object and the irresistible force. The concept that death is the consequence of sin -- “the wages of sin,” Paul called it -- takes us into the Bermuda triangle of theology. If sin causes death, and all humans die, therefore all humans must have sinned. If we haven’t sinned ourselves -- for example, a newborn baby -- then we must have inherited sin from our parents. It’s a self-fulfilling equation, a vicious circle. Even if it’s nonsense. Sin may be learned, but it is not inherited. But it’s also nonsense to argue that death didn’t exist until Adam and Eve messed up. Would the plants and animals, the wild ones and the domesticated ones, the fruit trees and the fruitflies, all have lived forever if humans had not tasted that apple? Now throw Jesus into that triangle. Traditionally, theology has insisted that Jesus was without sin. But he died. If sin and death have an unbreakable contract, Jesus broke it. The only way to avoid admitting that the equation was faulty is for Jesus not to stay dead. Besides, if sin leads to death, why didn’t Satan die? Satan is the personification of sin itself. But Satan has apparently achieved immortality. The Bible says that Satan was there in the Garden of Eden. Satan had tea with God in the story of Job. Satan tempted Jesus in the desert. According to Revelation, Satan will still be around until the final conflict. 
Even by Bishop Ussher’s timekeeping, that’s over 6,000 years. By my reading, the Bible contradicts itself. Death happens whether or not someone sins. And sin -- even the sin of rebelling against God -- does not necessarily result in death. I prefer to think of death as a gift from God. It is the matching bookend for the gift of life. Birth and death are our Alpha and Omega. Death was granted to all of creation, across the board. No exceptions, no favourites. So Jesus didn’t have to undo the consequences of Adam’s disobedience. We didn’t have to be “redeemed” from inherited sin. That turns most rationales for The Resurrection into word games. And yet, as Jim Campbell said long ago, something happened. Something that started 20 centuries of dominos toppling. ******************************************************** Copyright © 2016 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups encouraged; links from other blogs welcomed; all other rights reserved. To send comments, to subscribe, or to unsubscribe, write jimt@quixotic.ca ********************************************************
YOUR TURN
On the subject of the world’s oldest trees, Jay Sprout drew my attention to an NPR Radio Lab story about how a scientist unwittingly killed the oldest known living organism on earth, a Bristle Cone pine tree? The NPR site says, “’Prometheus’, as the tree came to be known, was 4,844 years old--the oldest living individual organism on the planet… But in 2013, says Dr. Peter Brown of the Rocky Mountain Tree Ring Research Group, a new, oldest living tree was found! Our new elderly record-breaker is around 5,060 years of age, making it roughly 200 years older than Prometheus when it was cut down. It was found in the same forest in California and is the same species--a bristlecone pine. (The exact location won't be released in order to protect the tree from the public.) 
And as I guess you have all heard by now, Jian Ghomeshi was acquitted on all counts of using sexual force and choking. Tom Watson sent me the verdict: “Just as we predicted, not guilty on all counts.” The verdict, as I read about it, is less about Ghomeshi guilt or innocence, more about the credibility of the witnesses against him. By coincidence, Maclean’s had a good article in its last issue, on page 42, about what consent means. But the title might never encourage you to read: “’No” means… pepperoni?” This subject bears further consideration. 
And that, I think, is all the mail for this week. Everyone must be up to the ears in preparation for Easter.
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TECHNICAL STUFF
This column comes to you using the electronic facilities of Woodlakebooks.com.        If you want to comment on something, send a message directly to me, at jimt@quixotic.ca. Or just hit the “Reply” button.        To subscribe or unsubscribe, send me an e-mail message at the address above. Or subscribe electronically by sending a blank e-mail (no message) to sharpedges-subscribe@quixotic.ca. Similarly, you can un-subscribe at sharpedgesunsubscribe@quixotic.ca.        You can access several years of archived columns at http://edges.Canadahomepage.net.        I write a second column each Wednesday, called Soft Edges, which deals somewhat more gently with issues of life and faith. To sign up for Soft Edges, write to me directly, at the address above, or send a blank e-mail to softedgessubscribe@quixotic.ca
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PROMOTION STUFF…
 Ralph Milton has a new project, called Sing Hallelujah – the world’s first video hymnal. It consists of 100 popular hymns, both new and old, on five DVDs that can be played using a standard DVD player and TV screen, for use in congregations who lack skilled musicians to play piano or organ. More details at www.singhallelujah.com Ralph’s HymnSight webpage is still up,  http://www.hymnsight.ca, with a vast gallery of photos you can use to enhance the appearance of the visual images you project for liturgical use (prayers, responses, hymn verses, etc.)  Wayne Irwin's “Churchweb Canada,” an inexpensive service for any congregation wanting to develop a web presence, with free consultation. <http://www.churchwebcanada.ca>  Alan Reynold’s weekly musings, punningly titled “Reynolds Rap” -- reynoldsrap@shaw.ca  Isabel Gibson’s thoughtful and well-written blog, www.traditionaliconoclast.com  Alva Wood’s satiric stories about incompetent bureaucrats and prejudiced attitudes in a small town – not particularly religious, but fun; alvawood@gmail.com to get onto her mailing list.  Tom Watson writes a weekly blog called “The View from Grandpa Tom’s Balcony” – ruminations on various subjects, and feedback from Tom’s readers. Write him at tomwatso@gmail.com or twatson@sentex.net
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