Special Episode Recap: Wounded Yet Risen: Trauma, Survival, and the Cross in Mark 15
What happens when Christians stop rushing from crucifixion to resurrection and instead sit with the silence, the scars, and the cry of abandonment?
In this special episode of Wesleyan Threads, Pastor Britt steps outside the usual focus on Methodist history, doctrine, and polity to explore Mark 15 through the lens of trauma theology. Originally developed as part of a NT 501 project at Candler School of Theology, this episode reflects on Jesus’ crucifixion as a site of real suffering, divine solidarity, and wounded hope.
The episode does not treat trauma as something to be explained away. Instead, it asks what it means that Christian faith confesses a crucified and risen Christ. Jesus is not raised as though the cross never happened. The wounds remain part of the story. Resurrection does not erase crucifixion. It transfigures it.
Drawing on Mark’s passion narrative, Jürgen Moltmann’s theology of the cross, Shelly Rambo’s work on trauma and resurrection, and trauma-informed biblical interpretation, the episode invites listeners to consider a deeper kind of Easter hope. The hope of resurrection is not that pain never mattered. The hope is that pain does not get the final word.
Key Threads
Trauma theory as a lens for interpreting Scripture
Silence, fragmentation, and abandonment in Mark’s Passion narrative
Jesus’ cry of dereliction and divine solidarity in suffering
Resurrection not as reversal of trauma, but survival with scars
Theological engagement with Jürgen Moltmann’s The Crucified God
Explore More
Jürgen Moltmann, The Crucified God — A powerful theological meditation on suffering and divine solidarity.
Shelly Rambo, Resurrecting Wounds: Living in the Afterlife of Trauma — A practical and theological reflection on trauma, survival, and resurrection.
David G. Garber Jr., “Trauma Theory and Biblical Studies” — A concise scholarly overview of trauma hermeneutics in biblical interpretation.
Listen to “Wounded Yet Risen” wherever you get your podcasts or at wesleyanthreads.org.
