Catholic World News News Feature
Pope outlines St. Paul's testimony to the central reality of the Resurrection November 05, 2008
The reality of the Resurrection is a key to the teaching of St. Paul, Pope Benedict XVI told his weekly public audience on November 5.
"The Cross cannot of itself explain the Christian faith," the Pope said. "The Paschal mystery consists in the fact that the crucified One 'was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.'" The Resurrection, he said-- citing St. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians-- resolves "the drama of the Cross."
The Holy Father observed that in his teaching on the Resurrection, St. Paul makes it clear that he is relying on the testimony of the disciples who saw the risen Christ. "All his arguments are rooted in the shared tradition in which the faith of all the churches is expressed," the Pope remarked. In his epistles St. Paul relates that "something extraordinary yet at the same time very real happened" on Easter morning, and many witnesses testify to it.
Even in these early days of the Church, then, St. Paul relied on the "chain of tradition" that reaches down to today's Christians, the Pope said. He suggested that in this way the Apostle offers "a universally-valid model for theology and preaching." The Pope explained: "Theologians and preachers do not create new visions of the world or of life but remain at the service of transmitted truth."
The Resurrection completes the Gospel message, in the thought of St. Paul, because it "consists in the fact that Jesus, elevated from the humility of His earthly existence, was declared to be Son of God with power," the Pope continued. Thus the Resurrection fully reveals the identity of Christ as "Lord of the living and the dead."
Still the Resurrection refers back to the Cross, since Jesus had to suffer and die before he rose. Pope Benedict reminded his audience that the theology set forth by St. Paul makes great challenges to believers. "Christianity is not the easy path, rather it is a demanding climb," the Pope said. But the struggle is made easier because the route is "illuminated by the light of Christ and his great hope."
