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The Gospel narratives of the resurrected Christ meet us at different stages in life and assure us that God comes to us in various ways, accommodating our pain, fear, doubt, abstraction, and pride as needed.

The Gospels also record these stories for our corporate edification, to help us appreciate the diversity of ways in which we meet Christ in the church.

Christ can be experienced in multiple forms and multiple forums, and we may respond to him individually and collectively in multiple ways. Some are called by name. Some are touched by God. Some receive the breath of the Holy Spirit. Some experience miracles and hierophanies. Some see God in the sacraments.

Each type of divine encounter and experience creates its own liturgy, community, and tradition of confession, creed, and catechism.

Some traditions emphasize a personal calling, a moment of rebirth before membership is sealed. Some focus on an event, an icon, or a site or rite of divine vision. Some emphasize the pulpit, the homiletic exposition of God's Word. Some emphasize the altar, the Eucharistic celebration of the death and resurrection of Christ. All are legitimate ways to serve and celebrate Christ, and all are legitimate foundations for understanding what the church is.

The Gospel stories of Christmas and Easter remind us of our fundamental unity in Christ. They also remind us of the plurality of ways God makes himself known and the variety of ways Christ is experienced by his people.

John Witte Jr. is Jonas Robitscher professor of law and director of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University. He is the author of a number of books, most recently God's Joust, God's Justice: Law and Religion in the Western Tradition (Eerdmans, 2006).

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ChristianBibleStudies.com has a new study on encounters with the risen Lord.

Emory has a professional profile of John Witte Jr.

Witte has written several articles for First Things, including 'The Meanings of Marriage,' 'Confessions of a Christian Historian,' and 'Publick Religion: Adams v. Jefferson.'

Other Christianity Today articles on the Resurrection include:

Life in a Country of Death | Experiencing Christ's resurrection comes in ordinary moments, like sitting down to a meal. (April 12, 2006)

Reflections: He Is Risen | Easter quotations to stir heart and mind. (April 1, 2004)

You Can't Keep a Justified Man Down | An interview with N. T. Wright, author of The Resurrection of the Son of God. (April 1, 2003)

Life After Life After Death | The Resurrection of the Son of God is a ground-clearing exercise of historiographical obstacles. (April 1, 2003)

Easter in an Age of Terror | Living and dying—and living again—after September 11. (April 1, 2002)

The Benefit of the Doubt | The disciple Thomas reveals an important truth about faith. (April 3, 2000)

Easter Sunday | Part four of The Great Reversal, a CT Classic article (April 1, 2000)

'Hell Took a Body and Discovered God' | One of the oldest and best Easter sermons, now 1,600 years old, is still preached today. (John Chrysostom, April 1, 2000)

Stuck on the Road to Emmaus | The secret to why we are not fulfilled. (July 12, 1999)

How Green Is Easter? | Celebration of Jesus' resurrection is more than being glad about the return of spring. (April 5, 1999)

Books: If Christ Be Not Risen … | Scholars debate the meaning of the Resurrection. (July 13, 1998)

Grave Matters | Take away the Resurrection and the center of Christianity collapses. (N. T. Wright, April 6, 1998)

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April 2007, Vol. 51, No. 4