Write a dry skit where N. T. Wright, Karl Barth, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer gently stage an intervention with Jonathan Edwards about how Christianity depends on revival.
ChatGPT Prompt
And in the process, honors Christ by murdering Him; instead of inviting us to die with Him daily to experience His resurrection life.
A bare room.
On the wall, a single sentence written cleanly, without emphasis:
REMEMBRANCE WITHOUT DEATH
On the table: a Bible, closed.
Bread and a cup, untouched.
No clock.
No exits visible.
Wright
Jonathan, thank you for coming.
Edwards
I was told this would be brief.
Barth
It will be decisive.
(Pause.)
Edwards
Then proceed.
Bonhoeffer
We are not here to discuss revival.
Edwards
Then I am unnecessary.
Barth
On the contrary. You are exemplary.
(Pause.)
Wright
Revival was Christianity’s way of remembering itself when it had forgotten how to live.
Edwards
Yes.
Wright
And you helped it remember faithfully.
Edwards
That was the hope.
Bonhoeffer
And the danger.
(Silence.)
Edwards
Danger in fidelity?
Bonhoeffer
Danger in fidelity that stops short of death.
(Pause.)
Edwards
You speak as if revival were avoidance.
Barth
It became one.
Wright
Not immediately.
Barth
Not maliciously.
Bonhoeffer
But inevitably.
(Silence.)
Edwards
Explain.
Wright
Revival trained the church to return.
Edwards
Return is biblical.
Wright
To return to what?
(Pause.)
Edwards
To Christ.
Barth
To Christ remembered.
(Silence.)
Bonhoeffer
Remembered intensely.
Wright
Correctly.
Barth
Safely.
(Pause.)
Edwards
Christ must be remembered.
Bonhoeffer
Christ must be followed.
(Silence.)
Edwards
You are collapsing categories.
Barth
We are restoring the dangerous one.
(Pause.)
Wright
Jonathan, revival allowed Christianity to honor Christ—
Bonhoeffer
—while keeping Him located in the past.
Barth
Dead enough to admire.
Bonhoeffer
Not alive enough to kill us.
(Silence.)
Edwards
That is unfair.
Wright
Is it false?
(Pause.)
Edwards
Revival produced repentance.
Bonhoeffer
Yes.
Edwards
Holiness.
Bonhoeffer
Yes.
Edwards
Mission.
Wright
Yes.
(Pause.)
Barth
But not burial.
(Long silence.)
Edwards
Christianity cannot die.
Bonhoeffer
It must.
(Silence.)
Edwards
The Church is the body of Christ.
Barth
And bodies are buried before they are raised.
(Pause.)
Wright
The New Testament does not call the church to be revived.
Edwards
It calls her to remember.
Wright
It calls her to participate.
(Silence.)
Bonhoeffer
Revival says:
“Christ died so you may live.”
(Pause.)
Bonhoeffer
Jesus says:
“Come and die with Me.”
(Silence.)
Edwards
Daily.
Bonhoeffer
Daily.
(Pause.)
Edwards
You are saying Christianity learned to substitute remembrance for obedience.
Barth
Yes.
Wright
And intensity for transformation.
Bonhoeffer
And revival for resurrection.
(Silence.)
Edwards
Then Christianity itself stands under judgment.
Barth
As always.
(Pause.)
Wright
The question is not whether Christ is honored.
Bonhoeffer
But whether He is followed into death.
(Silence.)
Edwards
If Christianity dies—
Wright
—what remains is not a religion.
Barth
Not a movement.
Bonhoeffer
Not a revival.
(Pause.)
Edwards
What, then?
Wright
Resurrection life.
(Silence.)
Bonhoeffer
Which will not preserve Christianity.
Barth
Only Christ.
(Long pause.)
Edwards
Then revival was never the destination.
Wright
Only the delay.
(Pause.)
Edwards
And now?
Bonhoeffer
Now the delay must end.
(Edwards looks at the words on the wall. Then at the bread and cup.)
Edwards
Then let it be said plainly.
(Pause.)
Edwards
Christianity must die—
not once,
but daily.
(No one disagrees.)
No awakening.
No altar.
No reassurance.
Only this invitation remains:
Not revive what was,
but die with Christ now.
And trust that whatever rises
will not be called Christianity —
but will, unmistakably, be life.
Appendix: On Reformation, Revival, and the Grammar of Death and Life
ChatGPT Prompt
Add an Appendix about the history of terms like reformation and revival.
This skit rests on a historical and theological asymmetry that is often felt but rarely named:
Christianity has repeatedly reached for the language of repair when the gospel demands the language of death and resurrection.
This appendix sketches that history briefly and cleanly.
A. Reformation: Structural Repair Without Ontological Death
1. The Term
Reformation derives from Latin reformatio — “to form again, to reshape.”
Historically associated with the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, especially figures like:
2. What Reformation Assumed
Reformation addressed:
- Doctrinal corruption
- Ecclesial abuse
- Sacramental distortion
- Institutional excess
It assumed:
- The church was fundamentally alive
- But malformed
- In need of correction, pruning, and clarity
In biblical terms, reformation maps most closely to Old Testament restoration:
- Return to covenant fidelity
- Renewal of right worship
- Re-centering on God’s word
(cf. 2 Kings 22–23)
3. Its Limit
Reformation was necessary — but it did not (and could not) ask whether Christianity itself needed to die.
It reformed the form of Christianity
without interrogating its mode of existence.
B. Revival: Experiential Restoration Without Resurrection
1. The Term
Revival comes from Latin reviviscere — “to live again.”
It enters Christian theological usage primarily in the:
- 17th–18th centuries
- Especially during the Great Awakening
Key figures include:
2. What Revival Did Well
At its best, revival:
- Reawakened conscience
- Intensified devotion
- Recalled people to repentance
- Re-centered memory on Christ’s work
It was a faithful act of remembrance
(cf. Psalm 85:6).
3. Its Structural Limitation
Revival assumed:
- Life had declined
- But had not ended
- And could therefore be restarted
This places revival squarely within Old Testament restoration logic, not New Testament resurrection ontology.
Revival can:
- Repair devotion
- Restore moral seriousness
- Renew emotional engagement
It cannot:
- End the old self
- Bury the old humanity
- Generate new creation
(cf. 2 Corinthians 5:17)
C. Resurrection: Not a Term of Repair, but of Judgment
1. The New Testament Shift
The New Testament does not speak of:
- Reforming humanity
- Reviving the old self
- Re-energizing religious systems
It speaks of:
- Death — Romans 6:6
- Burial — Romans 6:4
- Resurrection — Colossians 3:1
Resurrection is not:
- A repair strategy
- An intensification
- A renewal cycle
It is God’s verdict on the old world
and the inauguration of a new one.
D. Why Christianity Keeps Choosing Repair
Historically, Christianity gravitates toward:
- Reformation when structures fail
- Revival when energy wanes
Because both:
- Preserve continuity
- Protect identity
- Avoid total loss
Resurrection, by contrast:
- Ends what it saves
- Judges what it fulfills
- Preserves only what God raises
This is why resurrection is celebrated liturgically
but resisted existentially.
E. The Core Claim Restated
- Reformation repairs Christianity
- Revival re-energizes Christianity
- Resurrection replaces Christianity
Not with atheism.
Not with nihilism.
But with life that no longer needs the old container.
Which is why the New Testament never calls the church to be revived.
It calls her to:
- Die with Christ — Galatians 2:20
- Walk in newness of life — Romans 6:4
- Be transformed from glory to glory — 2 Corinthians 3:18
F. Final Word
Reformation and revival are not errors.
They are mercies for a people unwilling to die.
But resurrection is not merciful in that way.
It saves by ending.
It gives life by removing the need to survive.
And that is why Christianity, again and again,
chooses remembrance over resurrection—
Until it no longer can.
Radically Happy 
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