Religion: THEOLOGY FOR THE COMMUNITY

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ON DEATH & RESURRECTION: What is the meaning of the Christian hope in this life? A life after death? A tiny soul which, like a butterfly, flutters away above the grave and is still preserved somewhere, in order to live on immortally? That is not the Christian hope. "I believe in the resurrection of the body." Body in the Bible is quite simply man, man, moreover, under the sign of sin. And to this man it is said, Thou shalt rise again. Resurrection means not the continuation of life, but life's completion. "We shall be changed" ( I Corinthians 15); which does not mean that a quite different life begins, but that "this corruptible must put on incorruption." Then it will be manifest that "death is swallowed up in victory." That which is sown in dishonor and weakness will rise again in glory and power. The Christian hope does not lead us away from this life. It is the conquest of death, not a flight into the Beyond.

ON MUSIC: If I ever go to heaven, I would first inquire about Mozart, and only then about Augustine. Thomas, Luther, Calvin and Schleiermacher.