click here for full bulletin
From the Pastor’s Desk
A few months ago I was asked why, when we pray the words of the Creed, we say that Jesus “rose again from the dead.” Does this mean that he somehow had risen a first time that we are not aware of?
The answer is one of those things that come from the oddities of languages and translations. The first thing to know is that both of the Creeds we regularly use – the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed – were originally composed in Greek. In the late 4th century, when Latin became the language of the Sacred Liturgy, the Creeds get translated into that language. But, the word “again” does not appear in either the Greek or Latin versions of either Creed!
The Latin text reads, et resurrexit tertia die, secundum Scripturas, literally, “…he rose on the third day, according to the Scriptures.” While the word “again” is not there, it seems that it has been common for quite some time that the word has been added in all English versions. How it came to be inserted is up to much debate and there have been attempts to remove it and make the translation more in line with the original. One common explanation is to try and hear the word “again” as “anew,” that is, “He rose anew according to the Scriptures.” I’m not sure that this is a good explanation, but it seems to have sufficed for quite a while. In the end, what matters most is that all Christians believe and profess that Jesus Christ, after dying on the Cross, rose from the dead. This is central to our Christian faith and is the foundational mystery of our life in God.
Love,
Fr. Tom