At a time when Christian Nationalism is rampant, we may ask ourselves if Christianity has any resources to counteract it. Indeed it does. It is, for example, the tradition of the Empty Tomb.
Many years ago, in his book A Spirituality Named Compassion, Matthew Fox lamented that Christianity historically placed too much emphasis on the cross of Jesus and not enough on his empty tomb. Even though we might be surprised at the support for Trump’s cruelty by some Christian leaders, let us not forget that the roots of such unconscionable behavior might lie in a distorted vision of Christ that held sway for centuries.
The understanding of the cross as “salvific”—whatever might have meant originally- turned out to mean in the unconscious mind of so many people that torture and painful death are, after all, “good things.” It’s hard not to see that within Christianity has been operative a kind of fetishization of the cross and the sadism of the empire that the cross represents.
Moreover, as a symbol, or an archetype, the Empty Tomb has been repressed in the Christian consciousness of the West for a very long time. The Empty Tomb as a symbol is very rich. The tomb of Jesus was carved in the rock, thus it was a cave. His resurrection does not mean that he stood up in such a cave, but that he exited it, leaving death and its shrouds behind.
His tomb being empty and having been emptied, it is not a closed circle but an open circle. This obviously means that the Empty Tomb is primarily a symbol of creativity and liberation in the face of the absurdity and malignancy of evil, such as the evil that Jesus endured during his torture, and so many before and after him. More than that, it is not a closed womb or tomb as in a narcissistic return to womb-like security and fetishness with self. Instead, because it is open and because someone has actually exited from it, it is a tomb in motion, a circle in motion. Thus, a spiral.
Meditating upon the image of a tridimensional spiral might help us resist oppressive power and reframe our belief in progress. If we look at it bidimensionally, it seems to circle back always to the same place. In reality, it goes back but is also goes up, always hitting a different plane.
Why is such a symbol so important in our times? Because the Jewish and Christian revelation is that the human history, while spiral, has a direction. The direction is the increase of love-justice in the world. The spiral represents a true revolution (from the world “to revolve”), for it is a turning around, a turning from, a turning toward and a turning on. It is rebirth, Resurrection.
All quotes are from Matthew Fox, A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice.
See also: Fox, Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ.
And Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul & Society.
See also Matthew Fox, “Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ and Fascism’s Piety of Pain.“
Banner Image: Spiralling from darkness to light. Photo by Lanju Fotografie on Unsplash
Queries for Contemplation
If you are a Christian, have you ever considered placing the Empty Tomb as the center of your spiritual practices and meditation?
If you are not a Christian, can this understanding of the Empty Tomb of Jesus be of some value to you?
Recommended Reading
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice
In A Spirituality Named Compassion, Matthew Fox delivers a profound exploration of the meaning and practice of compassion. Establishing a spirituality for the future that promises personal, social, and global healing, Fox marries mysticism with social justice, leading the way toward a gentler and more ecological spirituality and an acceptance of our interdependence which is the substratum of all compassionate activity.
“Well worth our deepest consideration…Puts compassion into its proper focus after centuries of neglect.” –The Catholic Register
Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election
Matthew Fox tells us that he had always shied away from using the term “Anti-Christ” because it was so often used to spread control and fear. However, given today’s rise of authoritarianism and forces of democracide, ecocide, and christofascism, he turns the tables in this book employing the archetype for the cause of justice, democracy, and a renewed Earth and humanity.
From the Foreword: If there was ever a time, a moment, for examining the archetype of the Antichrist, it is now…Read this book with an open mind. Good and evil are real forces in our world. ~~ Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit and Conversations with the Divine.
For immediate access to Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election, order the e-book with 10 full-color prints from Amazon HERE.
To get a print-on-demand paperback copy with black & white images, order from Amazon HERE or IUniverse HERE.
To receive a limited-edition, full-color paperback copy, order from MatthewFox.org HERE.
Order the audiobook HERE for immediate download.
Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society
Visionary theologian and best-selling author Matthew Fox offers a new theology of evil that fundamentally changes the traditional perception of good and evil and points the way to a more enlightened treatment of ourselves, one another, and all of nature. In comparing the Eastern tradition of the 7 chakras to the Western tradition of the 7 capital sins, Fox allows us to think creatively about our capacity for personal and institutional evil and what we can do about them.
“A scholarly masterpiece embodying a better vision and depth of perception far beyond the grasp of any one single science. A breath-taking analysis.” — Diarmuid O’Murchu, author of Quantum Theology: Spiritual Implications of the New Physics
