127. Christ's Resurrection: Appearances, Forms, and Arguments

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Appearances of Christ After Resurrection #

• Christ appeared to the disciples in Jerusalem before commanding them to go to Galilee, demonstrating benignitas (divine benignity) by fulfilling his promise early
• Appearances occurred in different contexts: some in Jerusalem with closed doors (Luke, John), others in Galilee with larger numbers (500+ brothers per 1 Corinthians 15)
• The resurrection itself was not directly observed by anyone; only the risen Christ was seen
• Angel testimony and scriptural authority provide the primary foundation for faith in resurrection

Altered Appearances vs. True Form #

• Objection: If Christ appeared in different forms, isn’t this deceptive, especially when he is Truth itself?
• Response: Not all invention (fingere) constitutes lying; figurative manifestation is not false when it signifies truth
• To the well-disposed (with prepared hearts), Christ appeared in his own form (suam effigiem)
• To those with weak faith or doubt (like disciples on the road to Emmaus), he appeared in altered form (aliam effigiem) to teach them
• The impediment to recognition came from the observers’ condition, not deception on Christ’s part: their eyes were “held” (Luke 24) by divine action until the sacramental breaking of bread revealed him
• This parallels how angels appeared to Abraham in human form without being deceptive

Arguments and Signs (Argumenta) #

• Two meanings of argumentum:
  • Philosophical argument (argumentative proof from principles)
  • Evident sign or sensible indicator (τεκμήριον/tekmērion in Greek, rendered as argumentum in Latin)
• Christ did NOT prove resurrection through philosophical demonstration, which would:
  • Require known principles
  • Not transcend human reason (and resurrection exceeds human reason)
  • Risk making faith depend on philosophical mastery
• Instead, Christ proved resurrection through evident signs (signa evidentia) in two ways:
  1. By testimony: Angels announced resurrection; Christ himself appealed to sacred scripture (Matthew, Psalms, Prophets) as foundation of faith
  2. By sensible signs: The risen body demonstrated solidity (could be touched), retained human features, bore the scars of wounds, ate and drank, yet could pass through closed doors and appear/disappear

Sufficiency of Signs #

• Objection: Angels appear in human form, eat, and converse without having true bodies; so these signs don’t prove true resurrection
• Response: The signs collectively prove both:
  • Truth of resurrection: Real body (flesh and bones), recognizable features, same body with identifying marks (wounds), human nutrition
  • Glory of resurrection: Ability to appear in different forms, pass through closed doors, vanish from sight—demonstrating a body of same nature but different glory
• Acts 1:3 explicitly states Christ appeared τεκμήρια (evident signs) during 40 days, speaking about the kingdom of God

Why Christ Showed Signs Despite Merit of Faith #

• Objection: Faith has merit only when man believes without seeing; Augustine says “take away arguments, for faith is sought”; Gregory says “faith has no merit if human reason provides evidence”
• Response: The merit of faith is not wholly excluded by seeing signs, only by seeing the demonstrated conclusion itself
• Thomas of Didymus saw the wounds (sensible sign) but believed Christ was God (what he did not see)—so he believed what exceeded sight
• The disciples needed these signs because their hearts were “stupid and slow in heart to believing” (Luke 24:25)
• Signs served two purposes:
  1. Disposed the weak-faithed disciples to believe
  2. Made the apostles’ testimony more credible and efficacious for us (1 John 1:1—“what we have seen and heard, we testify”)
• Perfect faith requires no such aids, but lesser faith benefits from them

Key Arguments #

On Figurative Manifestation and Deception #

• Premise: Christ is truth and cannot deceive
• Objection: Different appearances seem to contradict his single true form
• Resolution:
  • Augustine: not all fingere (invention/fiction) is falsehood; only when it signifies nothing
  • When fiction refers to some meaning (aliquid significat), it is “figura veritatis” (figure of truth)
  • Example: Christ’s parables and figurative speech in Scripture are not lies
  • Irony as figurative speech: saying “what a fine example” to someone behaving badly—not lying because the words signify something other than their literal sense
  • Thus Christ’s altered appearances are figurative, not deceptive, when they signify truth to observers

On Whether Eyes Were Held Supernaturally #

• Position: Luke 24:16 states their eyes were “held” (κρατέω/kratēo) lest they know him
• This was not due to demonic deception but to divine action
• The holding of eyes was removed through sacramental action (breaking bread) that lifted the impediment
• This demonstrates Christ could have transformed his appearance (as at Transfiguration on the mountain), but instead the impediment was in the observers, not in Christ’s form

On Argumentum as Philosophical vs. Evidential Sign #

• Argumentum in strict sense = demonstrative proof from principles
• Christ’s use of argumentum = τεκμήριον (evident, sensible sign)
• This distinction explains why Gregory and Ambrose warn against mere human reasoning while Acts 1:3 describes Christ showing “multis argumentis”
• Greek makes it clearer: tekmērion = evident sign; Latin translation uses argumentum = potential confusion

Important Definitions #

Effigies (Latin: εἰκών in sense of appearance/form)

• The particular form or appearance in which something manifests
• “Sua effigies” = his own true form/appearance
• “Alia effigies” = another, different form/appearance
• Not about the substance, but how the substance appears

Fingere / Fingitus (Latin: to invent, feign, imagine)

• Not inherently false; becomes false only when “nihil significat” (signifies nothing)
• Becomes truth-bearing when it signifies something meaningful = “figura veritatis”

Argumentum (Greek: τεκμήριον/tekmērion)

• Philosophical sense: demonstrative proof proceeding from principles
• Evidential sense: sensible, evident sign that manifests truth
• Aristotle uses both meanings

Signum Evidens (evident sign)

• Augustine’s definition of sign: “quod sensum percutit et aliquid aliud praeter se ad animam ducit” (what strikes the senses and brings something other than itself to mind)
• Strong sign that demonstrates/proves something

Testificatio (testimony)

• Testimony of angels announcing resurrection
• Testimony of sacred scripture (Matthew, Psalms, Prophets) as foundation of faith
• Testimony of apostles (1 John 1:1) based on what they saw and touched

Examples & Illustrations #

Figurative Speech and Non-Deception #

• Irony example: “If I come up here on the weekend and find you drunk under the table, I say, ‘what a fine example of an Assumption College student.’ Am I lying? You know what I mean, right?” — When someone is mean to us and we say “gee, you’re nice,” we are not lying but speaking figuratively
• Parables of Christ: All Christ’s figurative teachings and parables in Scripture are not lies but figures of truth
• John the Baptist as serpent: Christ called Pharisees “vipers” (John) and “whitewashed sepulchers filled with sick bones” (Matthew)—not lying because figurative

Appearances in Different Forms #

• Mary Magdalene: Initially did not recognize Christ; thought his body had been moved (weak faith)
• Disciples on Emmaus road: Did not recognize him in altered form; recognized him through breaking of bread (sacramental action that removed impediment)
• Blessed Virgin Mary: Likely appeared to her, though account is missing because it was “too private a family matter”; she would have needed his consolation most
• 500 brothers: Appeared in Galilee with much power; not hidden like appearances in Jerusalem

The Conclave Analogy #

• Disciples, in fear, locked in the conclave (doors shut with keys/clavis)
• Christ appeared to them first inside the locked doors, showing benignitas (benignity/loving-kindness)
• This was not transgression of his promise to appear in Galilee, but acceleration of it from “benignity”
• Note on etymology: conclave relates to clavis (key)—room locked with keys

Notable Quotes #

“Not everything that we invent is a lie, but when that which we invent signifies nothing, then it is a lie. But when our fiction refers to some meaning, it is not a lie but some figure of the truth.” (Augustine, quoted by Berquist)

“Take away arguments, for faith is sought.” (Ambrose—on human arguments, not evident signs)

“Faith does not have merit to which human reason provides experience.” (Gregory)

“What we have seen and heard in our hands have held, this we testify.” (1 John 1:1)

“Such he showed himself to them in the body as he was in them, in their mind.” (Gregory)

“They said we had hoped that he would redeem Israel now.” (Luke 24—disciples’ doubt)

Questions Addressed #

Should Christ Have Appeared in Different Appearances? #

• Objection 1: If Christ appeared in different effigy (appearance), it was not a true appearance but fictitious, and Christ cannot deceive
• Resolution: Figurative manifestation is not deception when it signifies truth. The impediment to recognition came from the observers’ condition (eyes held), not from Christ’s appearance being false

Were the Signs Sufficient to Prove Resurrection? #

• Objection: Angels can appear in human form, eat, and converse without true bodies; therefore these signs don’t prove true resurrection
• Objection: Some signs seemed contrary to human nature (vanishing, closed doors) while others seemed contrary to glory (eating, having scars)
• Objection: Christ forbade touch to Mary Magdalene, so manifestation of touchability seems unsuitable
• Objection: Clarity/glory was not manifested (no sign of brightness shown)
• Resolution: The signs collectively prove both truth and glory of resurrection through twofold testimony (angels and scripture) and through sensible signs showing: solid body, human features, identifying wounds, nutrition; AND ability to appear differently, pass through doors, vanish from sight

Should Christ Have Proven Resurrection by Arguments? #

• Objection: Faith requires belief without seeing; Augustine warns against arguments; Gregory says faith has no merit if reason demonstrates
• Objection: This seems to impede human beatitude (John 20:29—blessed are those who believe without seeing)
• Resolution:
  • Christ used evident signs (tekmērion), not philosophical demonstrations
  • Merit of faith is not wholly excluded by seeing signs, only by seeing the demonstrated conclusion
  • Thomas believed what he did not see (divinity) while seeing what he did see (wounds)
  • Signs disposed weak-faithed disciples and made apostolic testimony more credible for us