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Lifted

Reviewed by Philip Joy.

For many it is a biblical truism that ‘if Christ has not been raised our faith is futile.’ Yet, contends Allberry, associate minister of St Mary’s, Maidenhead, the resurrection has become the ‘cinderella’ of Christian doctrine, and our generation has all but lost one of the most powerful components of the Christian Life. To redress the balance he begins with a chapter on Assurance, moves on to Transformation and Hope and concludes with a chapter on Mission, showing throughout that the resurrection is not just a ‘happy ending’ to the passion, but has overwhelming ramifications for our daily lives.

Much of this is standard teaching, yet it perhaps bears repeating at this point in time as congregations move further away from the high evangelicalism of the 1970s and 80s which fathered faith by beginning with the resurrection claims of the Gospels.

I like the chapter on assurance because in my experience it is what a lot of ordinary church members lack. Having re-examined death and its relationship to sin, Allberry explains the significance of Christ’s being raised from death. Those who dwell on the cross alone cannot have assurance of sins forgiven; only the resurrection makes the cross the definitive ‘once for all’ triumph we need to give us assurance of salvation.

I also like the way the resurrection is linked to transformed lives now.  There are some who say the resurrection cannot be applied, it must just be preached. Certainly the resurrection is not to be reduced to a metaphor: “after the cross comes resurrection.”  But being raised with Christ is the motivation and power for holiness, and Allberry puts this teaching across firmly yet accessibly. All of this gives us Hope. The resurrection is God’s ‘yes’ pointing to a new and wonderful, concrete and bodily future, life after death in a renewed creation.

Lastly and most fascinatingly this gives us power and hope for mission. Although I know that it is the Risen Christ who sends out and empowers his disciples at the end of Matthew and the start of Acts, I am not sure how much the resurrection really features in my missiology. Allberry’s insistence on not only the reality of future judgement but the need to honour and proclaim the Risen Christ before all peoples was a helpful corrective.

With a light hand and amusing anecdotes this is a faithful, readable and at times thought-provoking primer on the central doctrine of our faith.