Journeys / From another faith / Step 4 of 7
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All 7 steps in From another faith You’re on step 4
A garden at dawn
Early on a Sunday morning, a few women walked to a tomb outside Jerusalem carrying spices for a body. What they found has divided the world ever since.
“But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they and some others came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. They entered in, and didn’t find the Lord Jesus’ body.”
You’ll need
- Fifteen minutes.
Remember Honest disagreement is a form of respect.
The whole story on one page
The story of salvation
Every page of the Bible fits somewhere on this line. Find yourself on it. Spoiler: it ends well.
- Creation
God makes everything, and it’s good. CCC 279
- The Fall
We stop trusting him. Everything cracks. CCC 397
- The promise
God calls Abraham to gather a scattered world. CCC 59
- The covenant
Freedom from Egypt, the Law, a people of his own. CCC 62
- The prophets
Hold on. Something new is coming. CCC 64
- The Word made flesh
God becomes one of us in Jesus. CCC 461
- The Spirit and the Church
Pentecost. The Church is sent out. CCC 731
- He comes again
All things made new. CCC 1042
Key points
What the Church teaches
This is where Catholics and Muslims part ways most clearly. Most Muslims read the Qur’an as saying Jesus wasn’t crucified. Christians stake everything on the claim that He was, and that three days later His tomb was empty. Respect means saying that plainly, not tiptoeing around it.
“And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah's messenger - they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain.”
What Catholics believe happened
For Christians, Jesus’ violent death “was not the result of chance,” but God’s plan to rescue the human race. CCC 599 St. Paul passed on the earliest summary of the faith he’d been given, and the cross is right at the top. CCC 601
“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,”
The cross and the Resurrection are the center of the Good News the apostles were sent to tell. CCC 571 The Resurrection is “the crowning truth of our faith in Christ.” CCC 638
Why it matters so much to Christians
For a Christian, the cross isn’t a defeat God had to dodge. It’s where God’s love went all the way down, into suffering and death, and came out the other side. That’s why every Catholic church has a crucifix. It’s not gloomy. It’s the proof of how far He’d go.
“Becoming terrified, they bowed their faces down to the earth. The men said to them, ‘Why do you seek the living among the dead? He isn’t here, but is risen. Remember what he told you when he was still in Galilee,”
If the tomb really was empty, what follows? If it wasn’t, what follows? Both questions deserve an honest answer.
Try this, this week
- Read Luke 23-24. Two chapters, the death and the empty tomb.
- Ask yourself what kind of evidence would matter to you.
More from the voices of the revival
Why Did Jesus Have to Die the Way He Did?Bishop Robert Barron · Bishop Robert Barron · Jan 8, 2014 · 5 minYouTube
From the official channels of the teachers named. Links checked 10 October 2026; each film was matched to this topic by its title and channel, so treat it as a starting point. Scripture and the Catechism cited on this page are the authority. All videos by topic.
If this is hard
You may simply disagree here, and that’s honest. The Church doesn’t ask you to pretend otherwise.
Common questions
Tap a question to open it. Every answer is cited.
Why does the cross matter so much?
Answered on video by Bishop Robert Barron · Full answer page
The Church teaches that God’s plan of salvation was accomplished once for all by the redemptive death of His Son. CCC 571
Step 4 of 7 · From another faith
Christianity grew from the Jewish people. What does the Church say to Jews, and to every faith?
Step 5: Mary, honored by bothTake it with you
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When you’re ready
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Your real next step
This page can’t give you the sacraments. A parish can.
We’re just pointing. People walk with you. Find a Catholic parish near you, go to a Mass, or just ask a priest for ten minutes. You don’t need to have it figured out.
Sources on this page
How we know · 13 Catechism paragraphs · 3 Bible passages
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 59, 62, 64, 279, 397, 461, 571, 599, 601, 613, 638, 731, 1042 (official text on vatican.va).
- Scripture (World English Bible, Catholic edition, public domain; modern verse numbers, Douay-Rheims numbers in brackets where they differ): Luke 24:1-3; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Luke 24:5-6.
Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words and cites every teaching claim. Our own wording is not an official Church text. Found a mistake? Report an errorCorrections.