Death on a Friday Afternoon : Meditations on the Last Words of Jesus from the Cross

by Neuhaus, Richard John

• ISBN13: 9780465049325
• ISBN10: 046504932X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-04-01
• Publisher: Perseus Books Group

Summary

"If what Christians say about Good Friday is true," writes Richard John Neuhaus toward the beginning of his new book, "then it is, quite simply, the truth about everything." Numerous writers and composers have been captivated by the suggestiveness of the Seven Last Words; Haydn, Beethoven, and Dvo?rak composed major works around them, and such writers as James Joyce, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Dylan Thomas, and Samuel Beckett return to them again and again. But Richard John Neuhaus's sustained exploration of these utterances is something altogether different. Through them he plumbs the depths of human experience and sets forth the central narrative of Western civilizationthe suffering, death, and resurrection of Christin a way that engages the attention of believers, unbelievers, and those who are not sure what they believe.Was it necessary for Christ to die? Is it necessary that we suffer and die? If so, why? What is the connection between the undeniable fact of evil in the world and some ultimate justice? Does justice require punishment and, if so, how can it be just that the one person who was not guilty should suffer such a cruel death? In a culture devoted to pleasure and the avoidance of suffering is it possible that bad things are somehow redemptive? Neuhaus invites the reader into a spiritual and intellectual exploration of the dark side of human experience with the promise of light and life on the far side of darkness.

Author Biography

Richard John Neuhaus is president of the Institute on Religion and Public Life.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Coming to Our Senses	p. 1
Judge Not	p. 35
A Strange Glory	p. 71
Dereliction	p. 103
Witnesses	p. 145
The Sacrifice	p. 187
The Scars of God	p. 229
Biblical References	p. 261
Select Bibliography	p. 271
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