The Reconstruction of Resurrection Belief

In the companion volume to this, The Resurrection in Retrospect, Peter Carnley focuses on the inadequacies for faith in Jesus Christ of an approach to his resurrection purely as an event of past historical time. The Reconstruction of Resurrection Belief articulates an alternative understanding of resurrection faith as essentially a response of trust based upon a knowledge by acquaintance with the living presence of Christ today. This book seeks to articulate an understanding of the nature of resurrection faith in the language of today, with as much logical coherence as possible, in the hope that it may have some traction in the increasingly secular world of contemporary scientific materialism. It faces the key challenge of seeking to explain how the claim that the animating Spirit of the Christian community that Saint Paul spoke of as ""the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus"" (Rom 8:2) may be justifiably identified in faith today as ""the living presence of Jesus of Nazareth.""


""It is important that something as central to the Christian Faith as the Resurrection of Christ be the subject of serious theological examination. Peter Carnley serves his readers well as he opens this key theological principle across the disciplines of systematic and biblical theology. The text of The Reconstruction of Resurrection Belief brings a profound depth of scholarship to a discussion of the theological work on the Resurrection over the past century and more. It has been a mark of Carnley's scholarship and church leadership always to bring to the forefront what the text of Scripture actually says. He is not a scholar who seeks to make Scripture conform to his own theological argument, and is critical of those who have done this. . . . This book is part of a two volume project stimulated by Carnley's engagement with a wide range of scholars, particularly the influential and extensive work of biblical scholar, N.T. Wright. It deserves wide reading.
--Philip Freier, Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne and Primate of Australia

""Carnley has succeeded in making deep sense of core Christian truth, authoritatively combining up to date scholarship, rigorous philosophy, and a rich engagement with both Christianity and modernity. He shows how testimony both to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and to the Holy Spirit connects with experience of Jesus now. He not only faces the big questions that are important for both believers and searchers, he also offers convincing judgements and a wisdom that has matured over many years. A very remarkable and valuable achievement!""
--David F. Ford, University of Cambridge


Peter Carnley was Warden of St. John's College and taught systematic theology in the University of Queensland, prior to becoming Archbishop of Perth in 1981. He was elected Primate of Australia in 2000 and retired from full-time ministry in 2005. A Lambeth D.D. was added to his earned degrees in 2012, and he holds honorary doctorates from the General Theologic...