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Experiences of Jesus’ Resurrection

Posted on April 23, 2011 by Deane Galbraith
None of this would
Review of “Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?” in be possible without
the support of Equinox Publishing.
Maurice Casey, Jesus of Nazareth: An Independent Thank y ou.
Historian’s Account of His Life and Teaching.
London and New York: T&T Clark (Continuum), Search
2010.
Recent Posts
Part 7: Visionary Experiences of Jesus’ Resurrection Study ing Religion in the Age of
a ‘White-Lash’
On By zantine Apocry pha and
As the arguments and examples provided throughout this Erotapokriseis Literature
review have shown, any attempt to appreciate Jesus’ own Discourses of Religion and the
Non-Religious/Secular in
self-understanding as Son of Man, the vision reports of the Islamic Contexts: Call for
earliest Christians, and the development of post-resurrection Expressions of Interest
stories must come to terms with the pervasive influence of A Review of Emily Ogden’s
Credulity : A Cultural History of
visionary experiences. Many of the stories found in, for example, the Acts of the Apostles US Mesmerism
are a world away from our everyday experience. In it we find stories of interactions with Name it and Disclaim it: A Tool
angelic visitors, the account of Peter’s vision of a large sheet being lowered from Heaven for Better Discussion in
Religious Studies
symbolizing that all animals are kosher, and different accounts of Paul’s vision on the road
to Damascus. It can only be reasonably concluded that the earliest Christians experienced Recent Comments
a world in which not only everyday waking life was real, but so too were the “subjective” Karen Zoppa on Study ing
Religion in the Age of a ‘White-
images and experiences within visions and dreams. It was, Casey says, “a culture in which Lash’
visions were normal, and considered to be perfectly real.” While first-century Christians tenzan eaghll on Study ing
still made distinctions between waking life and the world of dreams and visions, they were Religion in the Age of a ‘White-
Lash’
not what most of us would count as our own distinctions. In fact, in first century Palestine, Karen Zoppa on Study ing
a visionary or dreamed experience might even offer a deeper experience of “reality” than Religion in the Age of a ‘White-
did more quotidian and tangible tasks such as going down to the local market to buy Lash’
Matt Baldwin on So You’re Not
groceries. Furthermore, even in what we would consider these ordinary everyday tasks, a Priest? Scholar Explain What
the world was categorized in radically different ways: a purchase of meat was not merely They Do to Outsiders: Natasha
an item on your grocery list, but risked participation in the spiritual realm of sacrifice to L. Mikles
Willi Braun on Something I
gods or demons. Learned from J.Z. Smith:
William O’Connor
Second Temple Judaism was a visionary culture, in which people believed
Bulletin for the study of
that people saw appearances of God and angels, and had visions and religion feed
Rock, Rattle, and Roll: Rattling
dreams in which God and angels appeared Cages and Challenging the
to them. (p. 488) Study of Religion
On Theory (as Pedagogy ) in a
Time of Excess: Asking
So when we read accounts in the Gospels, in particular certain episodes more obviously Questions in 2017
coloured by the indicators of vision reports (e.g. Jesus’ baptism, temptation, Philosophy for Religious
 transfiguration, resurrection appearances), we Studies: An Interview with
Kevin Schilbrack
should consider how these accounts have been
On Finding Common Ground: A
shaped by the visionary experiences of the early (Very Brief) Reflection on a So
Christians who created them. Biblical scholarship, What? Question
Some More Delightful
which originated in and continues to be dominated Iconoclasm: A Response to
by Protestant scholars operating in a rationalistic Andrew Kunze
framework, has always been suspicious or even “They Were Talking about
Themselves”: Michael Altman,
dismissive of visionary experiences. Traditionally, American Hinduism, and
biblical scholars have been a lot more comfortable Critique from the Inside of
examining, for example, how certain Old Testament Religious Studies
If Discourse Is All There Is: On
passages have influenced the telling of the Gospel Study ing Religion in the
stories about Jesus. But given the great importance Ancient Context
of visionary experiences attested throughout the The Insularity of the Study of
Ancient Religions and
The earliest Christians experienced a New Testament and later Christian writings, any “Religion”
world in which not only everyday life was examination of the development of Jesus traditions
real, but so too were the subjective Archives
images and experiences within visions
must consider a complex interaction between the
August 2018
and dreams historical Jesus’ life and teaching, Jewish beliefs
July 2018
found in the Old Testament, Enochic books, New May 2018
Testament and other literature, visionary April 2018
March 2018
experiences, other social and ritual practices of the
February 2018
earliest Christians, and the workings of oral tradition and memory. What is more, January 2018
consideration of this complex socio-cultural environment tends to complicate any simple December 2017
November 2017
solution of cause and influence, rather that provide clear solutions. The proposed solutions
October 2017
hopefully help us think through the problems inherent to understanding the Gospels and September 2017
the historical Jesus, but at best they are only working models hoping to approximate what August 2017
July 2017
happened, and not what in fact happened. June 2017
May 2017
What should be positively shunned by scholars, April 2017
March 2017
however, is the uncritical dismissal of options without
February 2017
due consideration. For the reasons offered above, January 2017
some New Testament scholars have been all too December 2016
November 2016
quickly dismissive of the explanation of the
October 2016
resurrection appearances in terms of visionary September 2016
experiences. They fail to acknowledge that “some August 2016
July 2016
[ancient worldviews] are so odd that they may just June 2016
have happened” (to employ the formulation of N.T. May 2016
Wright in Resurrection of the Son of God, 2003: 636). April 2016
March 2016
And indeed, the pervasive examples of visions and February 2016
vision reports throughout earliest Christian literature, January 2016
including many of those books that came to be December 2015
November 2015
included in the New Testament, provide positive proof Some New Testament scholars have October 2015
of what an odd and foreign world we are dealing with. been all too quickly dismissive of the September 2015
explanation of the resurrection August 2015
appearances in terms of visionary July 2015
Casey devotes many pages to the analysis of Late experiences June 2015
Second Temple and New Testament data on visions, May 2015
which in Jesus studies are still underexplored. I have April 2015
March 2015
mentioned Casey’s observations in respect of 1 February 2015
Corinthians 15.3-8, in which he concludes that Paul does not distinguish, and in fact January 2015
equates, his much later and personal vision of Jesus on the Damascus Road with each of the December 2014
November 2014
other resurrection appearances. In fact, as Casey notes (p. 488), in the presentation of
October 2014
Acts, Paul claims that he was “not disobedient to the heavenly vision” (26.19). Noting the September 2014
similarity of Paul’s reported speech in Acts to his description of a “vision… of the Lord” in 2 August 2014
July 2014
Cor. 12.1, Casey concludes: “It follows that Paul and Luke were both happy to think of
June 2014
Resurrection appearances as visions.” May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
In Acts 10.10-17; 11.5-10, another of Christianity’s early leaders, Peter, is presented as February 2014
experiencing visions. Peter sees his vision of a heavenly sheet while in a “trance”, and January 2014
interprets its symbolic meaning as annulling the kosher laws. Peter simply accepts that December 2013
November 2013
what he sees during a vision must convey some real message from the divine realm.
October 2013
Conversely, in Acts 12.9, Peter claims that his escape from prison was facilitated by September 2013
August 2013
instructions he received from an angel. But significantly, Peter cannot determine whether
July 2013
the angelic instructions and his own escape were real or part of a vision. Grappling under a June 2013
different conception of the boundaries between reality and nonreality, vision and waking May 2013
April 2013
life, Peter finally concludes that both the prison escape and the angel must have been real.
March 2013
February 2013
Although Casey is somewhat at a loss to January 2013
December 2012
make sense of the unusual
November 2012
Transfiguration of Jesus, he concludes October 2012
that in this account too, “someone thought September 2012
August 2012
it appropriate to tell a story of the inner
July 2012
circle of three, Simeon the Rock with June 2012
Jacob and John, the sons of Zebedee May 2012
April 2012
seeing Jesus with his clothing temporarily
March 2012
transformed into the whiteness February 2012
characteristic of heavenly beings” (p. January 2012
December 2011
489). As Christopher Rowland maintains
November 2011
also, Casey concludes, “Jesus himself was Maurice Casey: "Jesus' closest followers during the October 2011
a visionary” (p. 489). Casey notes Jesus’ historic ministry were much more likely to have visions September 2011
of him after his death than normal people in our culture August 2011
call vision at his baptism by John the
today" (painting by James Gleeson). July 2011
Baptist (Mark 1.9-11) and his vision of the June 2011
spiritual consequences of the sending out May 2011
April 2011
of 72: “I saw Satan fall like lightning from
March 2011
heaven” (Luke 10.18; p. 490). Jesus’ visions taught him that his Movement was beginning February 2011
to displace Satan from the heavens (and, I would add, that Jesus himself would be glorified January 2011
December 2010
as leading power under God in the highest heavens, following the similar belief recorded in
November 2010
the Similitudes). Casey is right to conclude, therefore, that it was to be expected that October 2010
Jesus’ own followers would have followed their leader and experienced visionary September 2010
August 2010
experiences based expecially on his teachings about his own resurrection and glorification
in Heaven. Categories
"Gender" in/and the Study of
Religion
All this means that Jesus’ closest followers during the historic ministry
A.T. Coates
were much more likely to have visions of him after his death than normal Academy
people in our culture today. Moreover, they might relate such an event as if Adam Miller
Aly ssa Beall
it were what we may reasonably call an “appearance” of the risen Jesus.
Andrea R. Jain
(p. 490) Announcements
Ben Brazil
Better Know a Blog
The tactic of conservative commentators in recent years, notably N.T. Wright, has been to
Book Reviews
attempt to restrict the meaning of “resurrection” to a bodily resurrection from a physical BookNotes
grave. But as Casey demonstrates, this very conveniently and arbitrarily limits the great Brad Stoddard
Buddhist Studies
diversity of early Jewish beliefs in how a righteous man or woman would “awaken” into
Bulletin Book Reviews
eternal life (pp. 466-468). The restriction of “resurrection” even has to minimise some of Call for papers
the contrary presentations of life after death which are available within the Gospels. In Carl Stoneham
Cathy Gutierrez
Mark 12.25, Jesus assumes there will be a single occasion on which the dead would arise,
Charles McCrary
and that “when they rise from the dead” they will have spiritual bodies, “like angels in the Conference Notes
heavens” (p. 468). By contrast, in Luke 16.19-31, Abraham is presented as already active Craig Martin
Critical Questions Series
in the next world, before any general resurrection. When we add the great diversity of
Deane Galbraith
other Second Temple notions of the afterlife, Casey is right to conclude: Deeksha Sivakumar
Dennis LoRusso
Donovan Schaefer
The stories of the Resurrection appearances in the New Testament fall
Editorial
within the range of what was believed to be possible in Second Temple Emily Bailey
Judaism. (p. 490) Eoin O'Mahony
Film Reviews
Gregory L. Reece
Casey also argues that the appearance of Jesus to “more than 500 brethren at once” Guest Contributor
reported by Paul (1 Cor. 15.6) “is paradoxically not as improbable as an appearance to the Housekeeping
Humor
Eleven all at once” (p. 495). For there are many instances of “strange experiences by large
Ian Brown
numbers of people at once”. He refers to Allison (Resurrecting Jesus, 283 n. 333), who If I Only Knew Then … Tenured
cites “the 1968–1969 sightings of the Virgin Mary at St. Mary’s Coptic church in Zeitoun, Scholars on Professionalization
Interviews
Egypt; she was reportedly seen by tens of thousands, both Muslims and Christians”. So as
Ipsita Chatterjea
Casey concludes, “It is entirely plausible to suppose that some of more than 500 followers Jack Tsonis
James Dennis LoRusso
of Jesus thought that they saw something on a given occasion, that the dominant
Joseph Lay cock
interpretation was that it was Jesus, but that he said nothing.” What Casey is describing is Justin Stein
a mass form of pareidolia, of which the examples are numerous. While widely reported, Karen de Vries
Kate Daley -Bailey
such mass visions are never very convincing to everybody present. So this is probably
Kelly J. Baker
why, as Casey notes: Kenneth G. MacKendrick
Kenny Paul Smith
Lay ing it All Out: On Moving
neither Luke, who cannot have failed to know of this incident from St Paul,
from Dissertation to Book Series
nor any of the other Gospel writers, thought this supposedly amazing Life After Religious Studies
incident worthy of recording. If this experience was not worth writing up, Matt Sheedy
Michael Graziano
it cannot have been as unambiguous as conservative Christians like to
NAASR Notes
believe. (p. 495) Natasha Mikles
Nathan Rein
Open Submission
In conclusion therefore, at least some of those who followed Jesus during his life accepted
Pedagogy
that he would be martyred in Jerusalem and would be vindicated by God, to take up a Philip L. Tite
preeminent place in Heaven. Although these disciples had to flee the authorities at the time Picture Book
Politics and Religion
of Jesus’ crucifixion because of the animosity of some officials, and some appear to have
Reflections on Islamic Studies
later given up on Jesus (see Matthew 28.17), others continued to believe in Jesus’ message Religion and Popular Culture
that he was the Son of Man. These faithful disciples saw Jesus appear to them in visions Religion and Society
Religion and Theory
which they experienced in their native Galilee at some point after Jesus’ death. These
Religion in the News
visions were informed by Jesus’ own teachings about his heavenly exaltation after death, Religion Snapshots
depending as all visions do on the visionary’s existing knowledge. As such visions were Ruminations
Scholarship on the Road
considered real, even “more real” than everyday experience, they would have helped to
Sean McCloud
consolidate the early faith of the disciples and their small but growing community. Sexuality and Gender
South Asian Studies
Southeast Asian Studies
One of the great benefits and joys of Casey’s Jesus of Nazareth, and one of the reasons I
Stacie Swain
have chosen to review it by concentrating especially on a single chapter, is his careful Steven Ramey
attention to detail, clear argumentation, and refusal to rely on accepted authority for its Summar Shoaib
Suzanne Degnats
own sake. As the most suitable textbook on the historical Jesus for university study, it is
Suzanne Owen
resolutely critical in its methodology and conclusions, and does not contain any of the Tenzan Eaghll
embarrassing confessional acclamations which blight most alternative treatments. In Theory & Religion Series
Theory and Method
comparison to what has been offered in recent decades, with the partial exception of Dale
Theory in the Real World
Allison’s recent work, it provides by far the best introduction to the historical Jesus today, Theses on Professionalization
as well as so many original ideas as to make it most worthwhile for the more experienced Tim Morgan
Tim Murphy
Jesus scholars. I warmly and enthusiastically recommend Casey’s Jesus of Nazareth to all
Travis Cooper
who are interested in the study of Jesus, the Gospels, and the origins of earliest Uncategorized
Christianity.
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Blue Devil Knight says:
May 9, 2011 at 12:42 am
NAASR North American
Association for the Study of
Religion pedagogy Pierre
Great series. Could you possibly make a table of contents post for those of us that Bourdieu politics Practicum:
want to start with number 1 and go on? It is buried past your first page…unless Critical Theory
I’m missing the link in which case sorry. Religion
 Reply
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