Crucifixion as Punishment for Threatening Power

For part 7 of 12 on “What is the Nicene Creed?” we unpack these lines:

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
        he suffered death and was buried

On the third day he rose again
            in accordance with the Scriptures;

One of the wild things about the Creed is we go right from Jesus’ birth, via Mary, to his death, at the hands of Pontius Pilate. And yet, even wilder still, is that our God in Christ suffered death. The crucifixion – a death used by the Roman Empire to terrify and suppress enslaved people who rebelled – and the resurrection – are at the epicenter of Christian faith. What does it mean that Jesus died this way? What does it mean that on the third day, he rose? We are delighted and amazed to welcome to the podcast the inimitable Rev. Dr. Canon Kelly Brown Douglas, whose enormous work as priest, preacher, teacher, and writer, has long explored these questions.

More about our guest: 

The Rev. Canon Kelly Brown Douglas is the Canon Theologian at the Cathedral and Visiting Professor of Theology at Harvard Divinity School for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 academic years.  In 2017, she was named Dean of Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, and in 2019, she was appointed to the Bill and Judith Moyers Chair in Theology at Union. Kelly is considered a leader in the field of womanist theology, racial reconciliation, social justice, and sexuality and the Black church.

From 2017 to 2023, she was Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary and Professor of Theology. She was named the Bill and Judith Moyers Chair in Theology at Union in November 2019 where she is now Dean emeritus. She served as Interim President of Episcopal Divinity School from 2023-24. During the 2023 fall term, she served as Honorary Professor of Global Theology at Emmanuel Theological College in Liverpool, England.

Ordained as an Episcopal priest in 1983, Douglas currently serves as the Canon Theologian at the Washington National Cathedral and Anglican Communion Canon at Newcastle Cathedral in Newcastle, England.

Prior to Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary, she served as Professor of Religion at Goucher College where she held the Susan D. Morgan Professorship of Religion and is now Professor Emeritus. Before Goucher, she was Associate Professor of Theology at Howard University School of Divinity (1987-2001) and Assistant Professor of Religion at Edward Waters College (1986-87). Douglas holds a master’s degree in theology and a PhD in systematic theology from Union.

Douglas is the author of many articles and several books including the 2023 Grawemeyer Award winning book, Resurrection Hope: A Future Where Black Lives Matter. Her academic work has focused on womanist theology, racial justice issues as well as sexuality and the Black church. Her current research interest involves expanding the moral imaginary in fostering a more just future.

Douglas proudly serves on the New York City Homeless Coalition Board and the Public Religion and Research Institute Board.

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More about Father Lizzie:

BOOK: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/762683/god-didnt-make-us-to-hate-us-by-rev-lizzie-mcmanus-dail/

RevLizzie.com

https://www.instagram.com/rev.lizzie/

https://www.tiktok.com/@rev.lizzie

Jubilee Episcopal Church in Austin, TX - JubileeATX.org 

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More about Mother Laura:

https://www.instagram.com/laura.peaches/

https://www.tiktok.com/@mother_peaches

St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh, PA

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Theme music:

"On Our Own Again" by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue).

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