Easter myths

This morning in the bath my son asked “What is the end of the Easter story?” adding “I need to know in case [my teacher] asks…” I explained that the standard version tended to include resurrection, the empty tomb being discovered by Mary and Martha, then a period of Jesus “being seen” by various disciples (eg. doubting Thomas) to lend credence to the resurrection, and finally ascension to heaven.

I was a bit vague about the last part, and moved hastily on to explain that of course there were also different accounts: eg. Jesus represented as an immortal son of god, for whom human death and resurrection were impossible; Jesus having had a special relationship with Mary Magdalene who in some excluded gospels seems to be represented as a wife or certainly #1 disciple. And the equally heretical Ebionites who apparently believed that Jesus was born a normal human who was “possessed” by a divine spirit upon his baptism, making him temporarily “Christ” until he was crucified, when the divine spirit left him to his mortal misery and pain – consequently no resurrection.

So, I continued, the “Easter story” was made up of a carefully selected bunch of accounts chosen more for the political welfare of the early church than for any reasons of historical or theological veracity. It was a long bath…

“I can’t say any of that!” he objected, “Most of the people in my class are Christians.”

I could see what he was getting at, but few things irritate me more than having to tow the Christian line simply because that’s what everyone does.

Because of the priviledged role of Christianity in British culture there is an almost universal tendency to confuse christian myth and PR with historical fact. Children are taught the “Easter story” and the “Christmas story” at school as though coherent “stories” existed, rather than collections of contradictory accounts many of which were written more than a hundred years after the supposed events and the vast majority of which were suppressed by the early church and excluded from the orthodox cannon of the New Testament.

Simply because these “stories” are so well known few children ever think to question them. And as my son was pointing out, to do so would make you unpopular and “weird”. Since he is a child who rarely shys away from being controversial, this was obviously a big no go area. This is the very reason why I think it is so important for schools to present christianity differently – pointing out the conflicts and discrepancies, explaining that the Bible did not fall from heaven pre-printed with Gideon logos, but was a deliberate and political construct, aimed at perpetuating the christian church as an institution.

Ok, this might go over the heads of a lot of 10 year olds… but better a fragmented narrative that they can make choices about than a seamless piece of religious propaganda.