John Dominic Crossan: Paul, Christ, & the Mystery of Execution & Resurrection

In this session, biblical scholar John Dominic Crossan explores his proposal to reconstruct Easter, focusing on Paul's understanding of "the mystery of God." Crossan argues that this mystery refers to how God allowed Jesus, as Messiah, to be executed by Roman civilization to reveal its inherent injustice, while simultaneously vindicating Jesus through resurrection to reveal the justice of creation. He proposes that historically, the earliest interpretations of Jesus's exaltation were likely focused on individual ascension rather than resurrection, and that it was Paul who transformed this understanding into universal resurrection as an in-time process rather than merely an end-time event. Crossan contrasts Western Christianity's individual resurrection imagery with Eastern Christianity's universal resurrection imagery, arguing that the Eastern tradition is more faithful to Paul's original vision. He concludes by suggesting that Paul's cosmic justice concept serves as a metaphor for humanity's evolutionary challenge of sustainability, and proposes that both theists and atheists should focus on cosmic evolution rather than debating God's existence.

You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube

To access all 5 of Crossan's lectures, submit questions, and join future live streams, head here to join the class.

John Dominic Crossan, professor emeritus at DePaul University, is widely regarded as the foremost historical Jesus scholar of our time.

Previous Podcast Episodes with Dom & Tripp

• Paul, Josephus, & the Challenge of Nonviolent Resistance
• Paul, Rome, & the Violent Normalcy of Civilization
• Paul & the Fictional History of Luke-Acts
• Paul & Thecla
• Ask JC Anything
• Diana Butler Bass & John Dominic Crossan: The Resurrection of Jesus
• Brian McLaren & John Dominic Crossan: The Message of Jesus & the Judgement of Civilization
• Brian Zahnd & John Dominic Crossan: God, Violence, Empire, & Salvation
• Why the Biblical Paul is Awesome
• Christian Resurrection & Human Evolution
• The Cross & the Crisis of Civilization
• The Coming Kingdom & the Risen Christ
• The Parables of Jesus & the Parable of God
• How to think about Jesus like a Historian
• the Last Week of Jesus’ Life
• Jesus, Paul, & Bible Questions
• Saving the Biblical Christmas Stories
• the most important discovery for understanding Jesus
• The Bible, Violence, & Our Future
• Resurrecting Easter
• on the First Christmas 
•  From Jesus’ Parables to Parables of God 
• Render Unto Caesar
• on God & Empire

Join Dom Crossan at ...Theology Beer Camp | St. Paul, MN | October 16-18, 2025 3 Days of Craft Nerdiness with 50+ Theologians & God-Pods and 600 new friends.

ONLINE CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT: The Many Faces of Christ Today

The question Jesus asked his disciples still resonates today: "Who do you say that I am?"

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As always, the class is donation-based (including 0), so head over to ManyFacesOfChrist.com for more details and to sign up!

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