“The Christian account of reality introduced into our world an understanding of the divine, the cosmic, and the human that had no exact or even proximate equivalent elsewhere and that made possible a moral vision of the human person that has haunted us ever since, century upon century.” —David Bentley Hart
Springtide greetings, friend,
As we journey through April and, especially, as we wade through a veritable cascade of devastating news, everyday—headline by breathless headline ushering us past yet another threshold of a continuously ravaged world—I cannot help but feel the stirrings of a tender sedition.
The daily deluge of news bearing what in rather recent memory was considered “unthinkable” augurs the unmistakable arrival of a new, increasingly unrecognizable reality. The truth, at last, is sinking in. There’s no going back.
While I allow this somber realization to settle, it occurs to me that “back” is really not worth returning to. This becomes increasingly clear the more I reflect and lean on the radical message at the heart of our faith—a message still echoing powerfully two millennia later. In his prolific, artful work telling the story of Christianity, David Bentley Hart captures this revolutionary impulse well, observing that the Christian “mythological consciousness” presents “quite unambiguously, a cosmic sedition,” the implications of which we’ve never fully internalized (if such is even possible) and are only ever beginning to grasp, all these centuries later.
Christianity, at its core, is a revolutionary threat to every oppressive power that tries to dominate or diminish human dignity. It directly challenges those who misuse Christian symbols and rhetoric to fuel nationalism, exclusion, and injustice. In an era when the loudest voices invoking faith often betray its deepest truths, our call is clear: resist complacency, confront distortions, and reclaim Christianity’s revolutionary spirit. If ever there were a time for this reclamation, it’s here and now, in the dawning of a new Easter.
Ancient Christian tradition, particularly Eastern Orthodox tradition—with which we happen to share the Easter holiday this year—tends on this holiest of days to emphasize one very potent detail of Jesus’ post-Passion journey: that of Christ descending into hell following his death, liberating those held captive by death and despair. That is, Jesus didn’t merely suffer, die, and rise again—he plunged himself into the very depths of hell to shatter chains and liberate captives—all captives.
During this holiest of seasons, as we accompany Christ to and beyond Golgotha, we’re also invited as his companions to descend with him into the hells of our world—the places of oppression, poverty, injustice, genocide, and marginalization—and work tirelessly to bring liberation, justice, and radical compassion. Even to those held captive by toxic theologies, myopic ideologies, and fascistic tendencies.
May we greet the ample signs of life springing up around us as companions on this journey, reminding us to root ever more deeply in the seditious truth of our faith—not for triumphalism (as Christian nationalists would have it), but for transformation; not for exclusion (as religious gatekeepers and their infernalist theologies would have it), but for radical inclusion.
May we continually embody Christian devotion in a way that remains faithful to its revolutionary roots—freeing captives, challenging injustice, and welcoming all in the expansive embrace of God’s boundless love.
In other words, may we welcome Love’s tender revolution fully into our lives this Easter season.
In love and solidarity,
Thew