{"id":109918,"date":"2025-04-18T18:34:31","date_gmt":"2025-04-19T00:34:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=109918"},"modified":"2025-04-18T18:34:31","modified_gmt":"2025-04-19T00:34:31","slug":"good-friday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2025\/04\/good-friday.html","title":{"rendered":"Good Friday"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Brueghel<\/a>
One of the most pivotally important events in history \u2014 nearly two thousand years ago on \u201cGood Friday\u201d \u2014 went almost completely unnoticed by the world at large, as the most important things not uncommonly do. \u00a0This painting (Pieter Bruegel the Elder, \u201cDie Kreuztragung Christi\u201d [\u201cChrist Carrying the Cross,\u201d 1564] in the Kunsthistorisches Museum of Vienna, captures that fact brilliantly and powerfully. \u00a0Can you find Jesus in it? \u00a0He\u2019s roughly at the center of the painting, as he should be.<\/figcaption><\/figure>Many years ago, not long after our launch, Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship<\/em> began to commission a special article for publication every year at Christmas time and at Easter \u2014 or, more accurately in the latter case, to appear annually on Good Friday. \u00a0Today is<\/em> Good Friday, and here is a link to the Interpreter Foundation\u2019s 2025 Easter article, written by Joseph W. Green<\/a> and entitled \u201cEaster as Threshold: Trauma, Transformation, and God\u2019s Presence in Liminal Spaces\u201d<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Abstract:<\/strong> Using the context of Easter, this personal essay explores perceptions of God\u2019s presence and absence during human suffering. There is a theological thread that ties Christ\u2019s suffering for our griefs and sorrows during his Atonement directly to his ability to succor us as we enter into despair due to our own trauma. Our suffering occurs during moments of transition and vulnerability known as \u201climinal spaces.\u201d It is in these moments that the Savior meets us at the threshold, helping us move through trauma toward transformation in Christ. Our ability to move forward openly in liminal spaces will help us to recognize God\u2019s presence in these moments as well as to discern the reflection of his presence in those who minister to us in our grief.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Moreover, here are links to the Easter articles that we\u2019ve already published in this series during the past several years.\u00a0 I hope that you\u2019ll take time over the next two or three days (or even thereafter) to read one or more of them:<\/p>\n

\u201cChrist is Risen! Truly, He is Risen!\u201d<\/a> (Daniel C. Peterson, a last-minute pinch-hitter)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Goodness of the Cross and Good Friday: Lessons from Bavaria\u201d<\/a> (John W. Welch)<\/p>\n

\u201cResurrection Month\u201d<\/a> (Claudia Bushman)<\/p>\n

\u201cChrist and the Work of Suffering\u201d<\/a> (Melissa Wei-Tsing Inouye)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Crucifixion as a Mockery, Witness, and Warning of the Judgment\u201d<\/a>\u00a0(George L. Mitton)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe First Easter\u201d<\/a> (S. Kent Brown)<\/p>\n

\u201cEasters: The Eternal Atoning Sacrifice Testifies of the Everlasting Redeeming Savior\u201d<\/a>\u00a0(Alan C. Ashton)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Healing and Exalting Powers of Christ Weave Together at Easter\u201d<\/a> (Ann Madsen)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy Did You Choose Me?\u201d<\/a> \u00a0(Joseph Grenny)<\/p>\n

\u201cThree Streams of Gratitude for Jesus\u201d<\/a> \u00a0(Mitt Romney)<\/p>\n

\"Szekely<\/a>
Sunrise at Dead Horse Point, Utah, by Pedro Szekely (Wikimedia Commons public domain image). Until the accursed Latter-day Saints arrived in the area, this was a lush tropical paradise.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The same estimable fellow who, just a few days ago, completely, grossly, obviously, and undeniably misrepresented Heber C. Kimball\u2019s view of abortion and falsely claimed that abortion was extraordinarily common and well-accepted among earlyLatter-day Saints \u00a0\u2014 see \u201cBrazenly Lying about a Nineteenth-Century Church Leader\u201d<\/a> \u2014 is now blaming the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> for mental illness in Utah. \u00a0Why? \u00a0Because, he says, the Church fosters scrupulosity, obsessive perfectionism, guilt, and depression.<\/p>\n

Of course, the issue is far more complicated and far less reducible to anti-Mormon propaganda than he would like it to appear. \u00a0In support of that assertion, I offer a few discussions that he almost certainly won\u2019t consult but that people seeking a balanced<\/em> view of the subject certainly should<\/em>:<\/p>\n