In Resurrecting Easter: How the West Lost and the East Kept the Original Vision, John Dominic Crossan and Sarah Sexton Crossan, present a surprising discovery. Over a 15 year investigation across Egypt, Italy, Turkey, Syria, Israel, and Russia, they found paintings showing something they had never seen in Western art: the risen Jesus grasping the hands of Adam and Eve as he rose to heaven.

As they investigated the divide between the solitary resurrection of the West and the universal resurrection of the East, they concluded that the East had a more holistic understanding of Easter.

Their study is guided by four questions: Why are all the major events in the life of Christ directly described in the Gospels except for his resurrection? Why does Western Christianity depict an individual resurrection but Eastern Christianity a universal resurrection? Which of the two traditions is in fuller continuity with the New Testament? What is the meaning and challenge of universal resurrection?

The differences between East and West raise profound questions about Christian morality and forgiveness.

Resurrecting Easter introduces an inclusive, community-based ideal that offers hope and possibilities for our fractured modern society. (Harper Collins Publishers, 2018, summary from inside book cover).