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The learned are going to destroy the Christian religion. Already, according to their boastings, it has pretty nearly come to an end. The pulpit is effete, it cannot command public attention. We stand up and preach to empty benches! As you see—or do not see. Nothing remains for us but to die decently, so they insinuate. And what then? When our Lord was dead, when the clay-cold corpse lay watched by the Roman soldiery, and with a seal upon the enclosing stone, was not the cause in mortal jeopardy? But how fared it? Did it die out? Every disciple that Jesus had made forsook Him, and fled, was not Christianity then destroyed? Nay, that very day our Lord won a victory which shook the gates of hell, and caused the universe to stand astonished. Matters are not worse with Him at this hour! His affairs are not in a sadder condition today than then. Nay, see Him today and judge. On His head are many crowns, and at His feet the hosts of angels bow! Jesus is the master of legions today, while the Caesars have passed away! Here are His people—needy, obscure, despised, I grant you, still, but assuredly somewhat more numerous than they were when they laid Him in the tomb. His cause is not to be crushed, it is forever rising.

Elesha Coffman is managing editor of Christian History magazine.

Copyright © 2002 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Last week's Christian History Corner focused on today, Maundy Thursday.

Also appearing on our site today:

Easter in an Age of Terror | Living and dying—and living again—after September 11.

Crucifixion | Quotations to stir the heart and mind at Easter.

Links to the works excerpted above include:

• The Easter Sermon of John Chrysostom
  
  
• "On Easter," A poem of Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus
  
  
• Martin Luther, "A Sermon on Christ's Resurrection" [Mark 16:1-8]
  
  
• John Donne, "Preached to the Lords upon Easter-day"
  
  
• Charles Spurgeon, "The Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus" [2 Timothy 2:8]
  
  

Christianity Today International's Easter page has articles and reflections on the resurrection, the story of Easter, and more.

Christian History Corner appears every Friday at ChristianityToday.com. Previous editions include:

The Other Holy Day | In the rush toward Good Friday and Easter, don't forget Maundy Thursday. (March 22, 2002)

The Politics of Patrick | In the field of Irish history, every turn of phrase hints at the author's spin. (March 15, 2002)

Don't Touch That Dial | Could a bitter debate among religious broadcasters really cause a "full-scale split in evangelicalism"? (Mar. 8, 2002)

Translation Wars | Sharp as debate over the TNIV may be, the version's translators are getting off easy compared to John Wycliffe and William Tyndale. (March 1, 2002)

The Cremation Question | Firm belief in resurrection hasn't kept Christians from caring-and arguing-about what happens to the bodies of the dead. (Feb. 22, 2002)

Citius, Altius, Sanctus | The modern Olympics, though hardly Christian, hail from an era when athleticism was next to godliness. (Feb. 15, 2002)

Alternative Religions | Many non- and semi-Christian groups laid claim to the West, but none more successfully than the Mormons. (Feb. 8, 2002)

Zion Haste | Does the passion of a few nineteenth-century Chicagoans still influence American policy in the Middle East? (Feb. 2, 2002)

Final Solution, Part II | The Nazis planned to obliterate Christianity, too, according to newly published Nuremberg documents. (Jan. 25, 2002)

Tell Me a Story | The most helpful church history scholarship is both broad and narrative. (Jan. 18, 2002)

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March (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46