ABSTRACT
Resurrection of the dead is an element of Christian belief, but there is belief and there is belief. With the denial and the reaction formation in full force, one literally believes in the resurrection of the dead within real time and real space. In the modern period numerous non-literal readings of the resurrection of the dead have been advanced. For example, some believers in the reality of extrasensory perception suggest that the risen Jesus could have manifested his presence to his disciples by means of telepathic communication. The representations of the one who had been crucified moved beyond the psychologically primitive status of a denial of his death and into the more complex realms of reaction formation and rationalization. Rationalization because, if the risen one had indeed previously been the crucified one, then the crucifixion itself must have had some purpose which turned out to be the redemption of sinful humankind.
