The early Christian writers used some stunning expressions...

The early Christian writers used some stunning expressions of delight and gratitude when they mentioned Jesus’s death. Think of Paul saying, “He loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20), or “The Messiah died for our sins in accordance with the Bible” (1 Cor. 15:3). Think of John writing perhaps the most famous line in the New Testament, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son” (3:16, KJV).

The focus in all these cases is upon Jesus’s death on the cross, not the resurrection. These must remain central in any authentic description of what the first Christians…