The Facts of the External Resurrection of Christ
The sermon emphasizes that faith in Jesus is based on the objective fact of the resurrection, rather than internal experiences or subjective feelings.
Adolf Schlatter emphasizes that the disciples did not base their faith in Jesus on internal mystical experiences but on the objective truth of what God did through Christ. The early Christians understood faith through sober reasoning and the tangible evidence of God's actions, rather than seeking emotional enhancements or mystical visions. The disciples' conviction of encountering the risen Jesus was not rooted in subjective visionary states but in the external event of Easter, which provided the foundation and power for their lives.
Text
If the disciples had looked for the basis of their faith in Jesus to the internal movements of their soul, the church would have turned into a gathering of mystics who spent their time trying to produce within them the ecstatic condition by which the Christ would become visible also to them.
The idea, however, that it was Christianity's calling to enhance its emotions to such a degree that it would culminate in a vision of Jesus wherein the assurance of salvation was rooted or completed is not interwoven with early Christian history. The disciples always and solely, by a sober use of the idea of truth, understood faith in such a way that what happened showed them what God was and did, so that the objectiveness of an accomplished fact would present the basis for their conviction and the goal for their will.
The Easter account did not create the effort in the disciples to retreat into their inner lives and to seek there the revelation of God that world history denied them. Conversely, their lives rather received its basis and its power from the event that came to them externally.
If the disciples' conviction of having seen Jesus once more subsequent to his death was derived from visionary states of being, the consequences of this process would have had to be revealed in the entire state of piety.
As a result, we would have received in the place of Christianity a religion in which the individual elevated himself to God one way or another.
Sermon Outline
- The Basis of Faith in Jesus
- The Easter Account
- The Consequences of a Subjective Faith
- Would have led to a religion of individualism
- Where the individual seeks to elevate themselves to God
Key Quotes
“The disciples always and solely, by a sober use of the idea of truth, understood faith in such a way that what happened showed them what God was and did, so that the objectiveness of an accomplished fact would present the basis for their conviction and the goal for their will.” — Adolf Schlatter
“The Easter account did not create the effort in the disciples to retreat into their inner lives and to seek there the revelation of God that world history denied them.” — Adolf Schlatter
“If the disciples' conviction of having seen Jesus once more subsequent to his death was derived from visionary states of being, the consequences of this process would have had to be revealed in the entire state of piety.” — Adolf Schlatter
Application Points
- Faith in Jesus should be based on the objective fact of the resurrection, rather than internal experiences or subjective feelings.
- A sober use of the idea of truth is essential for understanding faith in Jesus.
- A subjective faith can lead to a religion of individualism, where the individual seeks to elevate themselves to God.