No Cross, no Christianity

Giles Fraser is an Anglican clergyman who doesn’t much like evangelicals or Holy Trinity Brompton or any church that is large and successful or Alpha. He thinks that people who have “a personal relationship” with Jesus are creepy.

He reserves a particular dislike, though, for those who believe that Jesus’ death on the cross was a moment of triumph:

Which is why, for the worst sort of Cheesus-loving evangelicals, the cross of Good Friday is actually celebrated as a moment of triumph. This is theologically illiterate. Next week, in the run up to Easter, Christianity goes into existential crisis. It fails.

The disciples run away, unable to cope with the impossible demands placed upon them. The hero they gave up everything to follow is exposed to public ridicule and handed over to Roman execution. And the broken man on the cross begins to fear that God is no longer present.

I suspect what is really rubbing him up the wrong way is that evangelicals believe that, in his time of suffering on the cross, Jesus took upon himself the sins of the whole world – even those of Giles Fraser. He bore the wrath of God the Father for those sins so that we wouldn’t have to, thereby reconciling us to the Father once and for all. How can such a Redemption not be a triumph?

Theological liberals like Giles Fraser don’t like to think about the wrath of God, the innate sinfulness of man and the fact that a holy, just God must punish sin. Theirs is a sub-Christian faith, empty, meaningless, incoherent and worthy of derision.

Without the triumph of the Cross, there is no Christianity.

21 thoughts on “No Cross, no Christianity

  1. Just another unbeliever of the stupid sort, too dim to realise that convenience is not likely to be a valid way to live your life, and angry to hear anyone remind him that there is such a thing as sin. They all have bad consciences, these faux-priests, and hate to have their illusions disturbed. Not merely do they not believe themselves; they don’t believe anyone else does. Good to see Caiaphas and the pharisee still raging against tgat vulgar, ignorant Nazarene and his followers … but … poor soul, unless God is merciful to him, he is surely damned. Let us pray for him.

  2. Just a thought: it wasn’t the crucifixion that was the victory over sin and death, it was the resurrection.

    • Actually, Pietro, Scripture tells us that the crucifixion *was* the place of victory. It was on the cross that Jesus cried “It is finished,” as he breathed his last breaths. St. Paul, in Colossians 2:13-15 writes:

      “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”

      The cross is the place where our sins are put away and our enemies are defeated. The resurrection was the inevitable outcome of the cross because Jesus died there without sin. His death on the cross sealed a life that had been lived in perfect loving obedience to the Father. Death had no right to Jesus because there was no sin in him.

      This is, in part, what Paul refers to as the secret wisdom of God hidden in the cross. “None of the rulers of this age understood this,” he writes, “for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory”
      (1 Corinthians 2:8).

      None of this takes away from the resurrection. Because he lives, so shall we. Because he lives, he lives to intercede for us as our great high priest; and because he lives, he lives to reign until his enemies are made his footstool. The incarnation, the cross, the resurrection, and the ascension of Christ are all of a piece– they are all necessary elements in God’s great work of redemption.

  3. The power of absolute weakness. Of course the cross is important. It’s the one thing that defines Christianity: a God who dies.

    • Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus (fully God and Man) died on the cross. But, the triune God will never die. There will be no hope for us if the triune God did die.

  4. The crucifixion is principle and potency – the Word made flesh – nailed to a cross. The enormity of Jesus’ suffering divinity embodies all suffering, leading us away from fear of suffering to its power to transform.

  5. I cannot for the life of me understand why this Giles Fraser character is still considered to be a Priest. By his own hand he obviously does not have Christian beliefs. My heart and prayers go out to the souls in his Parish. May God protect them from this heretic.

  6. This fellow is not just ignorant–he is evil.
    As AMpisAnglican says: May God protect our brothers and sisters from this heretic, for he is a savage, ravenous and black-hearted wolf among Christ’s flock and they are grave danger.

    ” The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those of us being saved,
    IT IS THE POWER OF GOD!” 1Cor.1:18 and–
    “God forbid I should glory in anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…” Gal.6:14

    “The Cross of Christ was a TRIUMPH for the Son of Man. It was not only a sign that he had TRIUMPHED, but that He had TRIUMPHED to save the human race. Because of what the Son of Man went through on the cross, (He went through it!), every human being has been provided with a way of access to the very presence of God.”
    Oswald Chambers-A man who gave his utmost for His Highest.

    This Fraser fellow is a heretical thief who has broken into the House of God, and I’ll pray for him, but I fear the Master will come one day;
    “and cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites” (Matt.24:15)
    Man-o-man this guy really goads me!

  7. I think everyone should take a lesson from Holy Trinity Brompton. I understand it plants new churches by having a minister and some congregants take it over the building (buy it or have it deeded to them, I guess. I wouldn’t want to just lease it) and renew it. Eventually that plant becomes a growing, thriving evangelical church and assists in another planting. I suggest this needs to be done a lot more, and healthy congregations need to build their resources to do that, time and again. There are a lot of closed up church buildings out there, and more to come I think.

  8. Wonderful discussion here–In our weekly group we will be studying Oswald Chambers Devotional for April 6th:
    THE COLLISION OF GOD AND SIN—-
    The Cross of Christ is:
    The Revealed Truth of God’s judgement on sin.
    The Supreme triumph.
    The Purpose of the Incarnation.
    The Central Event in Time & Eternity.
    The Heart of Salvation.

    THE CROSS IS THE BLAZING CENTER OF GOD’S GLORY!
    Dr. John Piper (The Wasted Life/ Desiring God)

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