# What is the tense of "Christ is risen"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 8, 2012, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tense-of-christ-is-risen/618185 "2012-04-08T17:02:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tense-of-christ-is-risen/618185/1 "2012-04-08T17:02:54Z")
See subject. Leo ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tense-of-christ-is-risen/618185/2 "2012-04-08T17:09:06Z")
I think it is the Present Perfect tense. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby\_Slippers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/94ad74/32.png) [@Ruby\_Slippers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby_Slippers)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tense-of-christ-is-risen/618185/3 "2012-04-08T17:15:06Z")
I would say it’s simple present tense. The word “risen” in this example is an adjective, similar to “pure as the driven snow.” ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tense-of-christ-is-risen/618185/4 "2012-04-08T17:15:20Z")
You can also parse risen as an adjective, in which case it’s just the present tense. ---
**Author:** ![isaiahrobinson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@isaiahrobinson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/isaiahrobinson)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tense-of-christ-is-risen/618185/5 "2012-04-08T17:36:28Z")
I’d also vote for present tense, with “risen” being an adjective. Present-perfect tense would be “Christ _has_ risen”. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tense-of-christ-is-risen/618185/6 "2012-04-08T17:38:01Z")
Present passive. He _was_ dead but now He _is_ risen. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tense-of-christ-is-risen/618185/7 "2012-04-08T17:52:37Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Present passive. He _was_ dead but now He _is_ risen. Is there a difference between “He is risen” and “He has risen”. I think of the latter as the passive voice. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tense-of-christ-is-risen/618185/8 "2012-04-08T18:01:36Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Is there a difference between “He is risen” and “He has risen”. I think of the latter as the passive voice. In a gun battle, there is a serious difference between “I have shot” and “I am shot” – the parallel meaning is the one you are looking at/for. While I see your point, “He has risen” refers tp an event nearly 20 centuries ago; “He is risen” to his present state today. (All of this, i think it goes without saying, is within a universe of discourse presupposing the Christian Resurrection as factual.) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tense-of-christ-is-risen/618185/9 "2012-04-08T18:09:43Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > In a gun battle, there is a serious difference between “I have shot” and “I am shot” – the parallel meaning is the one you are looking at/for. While I see your point, “He has risen” refers tp an event nearly 20 centuries ago; “He is risen” to his present state today. > > (All of this, i think it goes without saying, is within a universe of discourse presupposing the Christian Resurrection as factual.) Exactly. If I say: “I am cold”, is that passive? ---
**Author:** ![sundog66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@sundog66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sundog66)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tense-of-christ-is-risen/618185/10 "2012-04-08T18:12:31Z")
I think the two most plausible analyses are: 1. Present-tense form of copula _be_, with _risen_ parsed as an adjective. 2. Present perfect, but differing from normal present perfect in that the auxiliary _be_ is used instead of _have_. If (2) is correct, then we have to explain why this pattern is not productive, e.g., why do we not find: a. John is eaten breakfast. b. John is taken a shower. Maybe it’s an archaism. However, I do not think that a passive analysis is tenable (and besides, passive is a voice, not a tense, so it doesn’t really answer the question anyway), because at least in English, intransitive predicates do not passivize. That is, if “Christ is risen” were passive, then we would expect an active counterpart along the lines of “Somebody rose Christ”, contrary to fact: _rise_ is intransitive, cf. transitive variant _raise_. Of course, it’s also true that some passive forms lack active counterparts, e.g., “John is reported to have left” but not “I reported John to have left”. But I don’t think we want to go down that road in this case. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tense-of-christ-is-risen/618185/11 "2012-04-08T18:18:25Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Exactly. If I say: “I am cold”, is that passive? No. The passive voice is used to indicate that something was done to you by someone else. The test is to ask whether you could add the words “by John” to the sentence and still end up with something that makes sense. So “I am shot” is passive because “I am shot by John” is a valid sentence, whereas “I am cold by John” is a hot mess, so “I am cold” is not passive. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tense-of-christ-is-risen/618185/12 "2012-04-08T18:22:03Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > No. The passive voice is used to indicate that something was done to you by someone else. The test is to ask whether you could add the words “by John” to the sentence and still end up with something that makes sense. So “I am shot” is passive because “I am shot by John” is a valid sentence, whereas “I am cold by John” is a hot mess, so “I am cold” is not passive. Right. I was not suggesting it was. I was challenging that “He is risen” is passive. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tense-of-christ-is-risen/618185/13 "2012-04-08T18:42:52Z")
It’san archaic construction. It means the same as “has risen.” ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tense-of-christ-is-risen/618185/14 "2012-04-08T18:54:11Z")
I’m with Frylock. Long ago, I learned that German verbs use the auxiliary verb _sein_ (instead of _haben) to form the present perfect provided that the main verb is intransitive and that it indicates a **change of location or of condition.** The example given was ist storben (has died)._ In Christian theology, and in biblical language not so distantly removed from its Germanic roots, we get not only _thee_ and _thou,_ but also _is risen_ to indicate a permanent change in condition. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tense-of-christ-is-risen/618185/15 "2012-04-08T19:16:59Z")
Is “Christ is risen” actually in the NT? ---
**Author:** ![isaiahrobinson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@isaiahrobinson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/isaiahrobinson)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tense-of-christ-is-risen/618185/16 "2012-04-08T19:47:01Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Is “Christ is risen” actually in the NT? I can’t find that phrase but “he is risen”, “the Lord is risen” and “Jesus of Nazareth, who is risen” [all appear](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paschal_greeting) in the King James version, sometimes multiple times. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tense-of-christ-is-risen/618185/17 "2012-04-08T20:07:18Z")
It’s a deliberate choice of wording to support a specific belief. “He _has_ risen” leaves open the possibility that He rose, but then died again at a later date. “He _is_ risen” deliberately states that He rose, and remains in that state even now. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tense-of-christ-is-risen/618185/18 "2012-04-08T20:38:15Z")
> [@isaiahrobinson](#): > > I can’t find that phrase but “he is risen”, “the Lord is risen” and “Jesus of Nazareth, who is risen” [all appear](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paschal_greeting) in the King James version, sometimes multiple times. OK, so it does look like it might be an archaic grammatical construct. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tense-of-christ-is-risen/618185/19 "2012-04-08T20:50:13Z")
> [@Mr\_Downtown](#): > > I’m with Frylock. Long ago, I learned that German verbs use the auxiliary verb _sein_ (instead of _haben) to form the present perfect provided that the main verb is intransitive and that it indicates a **change of location or of condition.** The example given was ist storben (has died)._ In Christian theology, and in biblical language not so distantly removed from its Germanic roots, we get not only _thee_ and _thou,_ but also _is risen_ to indicate a permanent change in condition. Also French. “I have arrived” is \<\<_Je suis arrivé_\>\>, not \<\<_J’ai arrivé_\>\>, and similar for the other so-called “Advent” verbs. The construction is only just dead in vernacular English; as recently as _The Children’s Encyclopaedia_ a writer could say “I am come too soon for you” with only a slight hint of archaism. And of course “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds”. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tense-of-christ-is-risen/618185/20 "2012-04-08T22:54:59Z")
> [@picker](#): > > I think it is the Present Perfect tense. That’s not a tense in English. > [@Polycarp](#): > > Present passive. He _was_ dead but now He _is_ risen. Neither is this. English has a grand total of two tenses: present and past. The sentence in question is in the present tense, and it also employs the perfect aspect. It’s certainly not in the passive, since the verb isn’t transitive. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tense-of-christ-is-risen/618185.md?page=2)