Difference between revisions of "Resurrection"

<p> <strong> RESURRECTION </strong> </p> <p> 1. In OT . In our study of the OT doctrine of the resurrection we recognize the need for taking into consideration the chronological order of the different documents of which it is composed. No other belief, perhaps, presents a history into which the process of slow and halting development enters so visibly and consistently. That the later orthodox [[Jews]] advocated the existence in their earlier [[Scriptures]] of the principles which give vitality and a rational basis to this doctrine, is seen in their satisfaction with the answer of Jesus to the Sadducean cavils of His day (see Mark 12:28; cf. Luke 20:39 , Matthew 22:34 ). The gradual awakening of human consciousness in this respect is the best attestation to the Divine self-accommodation to the needs and limitations of the race. Beginning with the vague belief in the existence of a germinal principle of Divine life in man (cf. [[Genesis]] 2:7 ), the latest passages of the OT dealing with the subject embody a categorical assertion of the resurrection of individual [[Israelites]] (cf. Daniel 12:2 f.). Between these two utterances we have the speculations of Psalmists and Prophets, while death became gradually shorn of many of its terrors and much of its power. The common Jewish belief in the time of Jesus finds expression in the words of [[Martha]] concerning her brother [[Lazarus]] ( John 11:24 ), while this formed one of the deep lines of religious cleavage between the [[Pharisees]] and the Sadducees ( Acts 23:6 ff.; cf. Jos. [Note: Josephus.] <em> BJ </em> II. viii. 14; Schürer, <em> HJP </em> <em> [Note: JP History of the Jewish People.] </em> ii. ii. 13). </p> <p> A peculiar feature of Jewish thought as to human life, marking it off clearly from some of the ethnic speculations and philosophic conceptions, consists in their habit of regarding the body as essential to man’s full existence. The traditions embodied in the stories of the translations of Enoch and [[Elijah]] (Genesis 5:24 , 2 Kings 2:11 ) receive their explanation on the assumption that in this way alone would they be enabled to enjoy the continuance of a full and complete life beyond the grave. It was this idea also that gave such a strong feeling of the incompleteness of the existence in Hades, and inspired the Psalmist’s assurance, ‘Thou wilt not leave my soul to Sheol, neither wilt thou suffer thine [[Holy]] One to see corruption’ ( Psalms 16:10 , cf. Job 14:13 ff; Job 19:25 f.). </p> <p> The first specific mention of the hope of a resurrection is found in Hosea, where the prophet’s words are rather of the nature of an aspiration than the distinct announcement of a future event (Hosea 6:2 , cf. Hosea 13:14 ). This is, however, the expression not of an individual who looks forward to being raised from the dead, but of one who sees his nation once more quickened and ‘brought up again from the depths of the earth’ ( Psalms 71:20; cf. Kirkpatrick, <em> The Psalms, ad loc. </em> ). A similar hope finds expression in Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones ( Ezekiel 37:1-14 ). A distinct advance on these utterances is found in the post-exilic prophecy, Isaiah 26:19 , where the prophet breathes a prayer for the resurrection of the individual dead. When this passage is contrasted with the confident assertion of Isaiah 26:14 it is seen that as yet there was no thought of a resurrection save for the Israelite. The same restriction is also found to exist at the later date, when the Book of Daniel was written. In this book there is a clear, unambiguous assertion of the resurrection of individuals, and at the same time a no less clear announcement that there is a resurrection of the wicked as well as of the righteous ( Daniel 12:2 ). It is true that these words not only have no message of a resurrection hope for nations other than Israel, but even limit its scope to those of that nation who distinguish themselves on the side of good or of evil (cf. Driver, ‘Daniel,’ <em> ad loc. </em> , in <em> Camb. [[Bible]] </em> ). At the same time it is easy to see that a great stride forward had been taken already, when the atrocities of [[Antiochus]] [[Epiphanes]] brought religious despair to the hearts of all true Israelites, and roused the fervid patriotism of Judas Maccabæus and his followers. </p> <p> <strong> 2. In the [[Apocrypha]] </strong> . The development of this doctrine in the deutero-canonical and apocryphal literature of the Jews presents a varied and inharmonious blend of colours. [[Inconsistencies]] abound, and can be explained only on the ground that each writing was influenced by the individual experience as well as by the theological Idiosyncrasies of its author. </p> <p> <em> [[Sirach]] </em> . The oldest of the deutero-canonical books is that of ben-Sira, and in his work we look in vain for the idea of a resurrection, either national or individual. On the other hand, the eschatological conceptions of this author do not seem to advance beyond those of Ecclesiastes (cf. Sir 17:30 ). </p> <p> <em> Book of Enoch </em> . Very different from the foregoing are the ideas prevalent in this composite apocalyptic writing. The oldest portion contains an elaborate theory of Sheol, and teaches the resurrection of all righteous Israelites, and so many of the wicked as have escaped ‘without incurring judgment in their life time’ (22.10f.). The sinners who have suffered here ‘will not be raised from thence’ (22.13), inasmuch as retribution, in part at least, has overtaken them. Another writer of a somewhat later date speaks of the resurrection of righteous Israelites only. These shall be raised, after judgment and retribution have been meted out to sinners, to share in the glories of the Messianic Kingdom (90.29 33). A similar opinion is expressed in another part of this writing. None but the righteous shall rise (91.10); but the author seems to interpret the resurrection as that of the spirit only, and not of the body (103.3f.). </p> <p> The most important and best known section of the Book of Enoch (chs. 37 70), which is known as the <em> Similitudes </em> , contains an explicit assertion of a general resurrection (51.1). Whether, however, the writer intended to convey the idea of a resurrection of the [[Gentiles]] is somewhat doubtful. The words of this passage, if taken literally, would certainly convey the impression that a universal resurrection is meant. At the same time we must remember that this thought would be quite contrary to the whole habit of Jewish eschatological thinking, and would stand unique in Jewish pre-Christian literature. (For discussions of this question see the admirable critical edition of the Book of Enoch by R. H. Charles, <em> passim </em> .) </p> <p> <em> Psalms of Solomon </em> . These are probably the product of the 1st cent. b.c. Here, too, a resurrection of the righteous alone is taught (3:16, 13:9, cf. 4:6). Moreover, no resurrection of the body is mentioned explicitly, though it would be rash to assume from his words that the author did not hold this doctrine. </p> <p> <em> 2 Maccabees </em> . A very definite doctrine of the resurrection is taught in this book, though the author expressly denies its applicability to the Gentiles ( 2Ma 7:14 , cf. 2Es 7:1-70 [79f]). The resurrection of the body is strongly held, as affording a powerful incentive and a glorious hope for those who underwent a cruel martyrdom ( 2Ma 14:46; 2Ma 7:11; cf. 2Ma 7:9; cf. 2Ma 7:14 ). At times the writer seems to be controverting the denial of a resurrection, as when he stops to praise the action of Judas in offering sacrifices and prayers for those who had fallen in battle, on the ground that he did so because ‘he took thought for a resurrection’ ( 2Ma 12:43 ). If there were no resurrection of the dead, such a course of action would be superfluous and idle ( 2Ma 12:44 ). </p> <p> <em> Book of Wisdom </em> . It is only necessary to say of this writing that it is an Alexandrian work, written about the beginning of the Christian era, and that according to it the body is an incubus dragging the soul, which is destined for incorruption ( Wis 2:23; Wis 3:1 ), earthwards ( Wis 9:15 [cf. art. ‘Wisdom, Book of,’ in Hastings’ <em> DB </em> <em> [Note: Dictionary of the Bible.] </em> iv. 930 f.]). </p> <p> <strong> 3. Position of the doctrine at and immediately subsequent to the time of Jesus Christ </strong> . It might be said, and said with justice, that the foregoing views were representative, not of contemporary popular beliefs and ideas, but of conceptions prevalent among the educated and thinking classes. It is reasonable, however, to expect that by the time of Jesus these lines of thought would have penetrated to the masses, with such modifications as they were likely to assume in and during the process. This expectation is found to be in harmony with what we observe to have actually existed; for, with one or two exceptions, when He felt called on to make a specific declaration (cf. Mark 12:18-27 = Matthew 22:23-32 = Luke 20:27-38 , John 5:28 f.). Jesus everywhere in His teaching assumed the truth of, and belief in, the resurrection of the dead. We know that materialistic views of this doctrine were held side by side with the more spiritual ideas so prominent in the Book of Enoch (cf. 51.4, 104.4, 8, 62.15f. etc.). </p> <p> In the Apocalypse of Baruch, for example, the questions were asked, ‘In what shape shall those live who live in thy day?’ ‘Will they then resume this form of the present, and put on these entrammelling members, which are now involved in evils, and in which evils are consummated, or wilt thou perchance change these things which have been in the world, as also the world?’ (49.2f.). To these the answer is given, that the bodies of the dead shall be raised exactly as they were when committed to the ground, in order that they may be recognized by their friends (50.2ff.). After this object has been achieved, a glorious change will take place: ‘they shall be made like unto the angels, and be made equal to the stars, and they shall be changed into every form they desire, from beauty into loveliness, and from light into the splendour of glory’ (51.10, cf. Mark 12:25 = Luke 20:36 = Matthew 22:30 ). Even in Rabbinical circles sensuous conceptions were frequent, so that even the clothes in which one was to be buried became a subject of anxious care (see <em> The Apoc. </em> <em> [Note: Apocalypse, Apocalyptic.] </em> <em> of Baruch </em> ed. R. H. Charles, notes on chs. 50 51, and Introd. p. lxxx). </p> <p> At this period, too, the ideas of a universal and of a first and a second resurrection were held and taught (Apoc. [Note: Apocalypse, Apocalyptic.] Bar 30.2 5, 2Es 7:28; 2Es 7:31-37 ). For our purpose it is not necessary to do more than refer to the [[Hellenistic]] or Pythagoræan speculations of the [[Essenes]] to which [[Josephus]] makes reference (see <em> BJ </em> II. viii. 11; Schürer, <em> HJP </em> <em> [Note: JP History of the Jewish People.] </em> ii. iii. 205). The only form of Judaism which contained principles of continuity and life was represented by Pharisaism. The view of this, the most religions and the most orthodox of the Jewish sects, with regard to the resurrection, limited it to the righteous, for whom they postulated a new and a glorified body (see <em> BJ </em> II. viii. 14, cf. <em> Ant. </em> XVIII. i. 3). While this doctrine of a personal resurrection seems to have made much more headway in the Judaism of this age than the other ideas referred to above, it also clearly appears that the limitation of its scope to the righteous was more universally held than its extension to the wicked, in spite of the teaching in Daniel ( Daniel 12:2 ), Apoc. [Note: Apocalypse, Apocalyptic.] of Baruch (30.2 5), and 2 [[Esdras]] (72:32 37). Moreover, a difference of opinion continued to exist as to the time when it was supposed to take place, some writers placing it immediately before (cf. En 51.1f.) and others immediately after the close of the Messianic era (cf. En 91.10, 92.3, Apoc. [Note: Apocalypse, Apocalyptic.] Bar 40 42, 2Es 4:41 , Ps-Sol 3:16, 13:9 etc.). </p> <p> <strong> 4. Teaching of Jesus </strong> </p> <p> ( <em> a </em> ) <em> The Synoptics </em> . Many of the passages in which Jesus’ teaching on the resurrection is recorded by the Synoptists might be interpreted as leaving no room for the doctrine that the wicked shall rise again from the dead. The most conspicuous, perhaps, of these is that Incorporated in the Lukan narrative of His controversy with the Sadducees ( Luke 20:35 f.). The form of the expression ‘the resurrection from the dead,’ as has been pointed out, ‘implies that some from among the dead are raised, while others as yet are not’ (see Plummer, ‘St. Luke’ in <em> ICC </em> <em> [Note: CC International Critical Commentary.] </em> , <em> ad loc. </em> ). The other expression, ‘sons of the resurrection,’ is remarkable for a similar reason. There seems to be an implied antithesis between those whose sonship results in immortality and those who can have no such hope (cf. Plummer, <em> op. cit. </em> Luke 20:36 n. [Note: . note.] ). Other instances, which might be considered as lending countenance to this view, speak of the ‘resurrection of the just’ ( Luke 14:14 ), and contain promises of restoration in the glory of His Kingdom to ‘his elect’ ( Mark 13:27 = Matthew 24:31 ). When, on the other hand, we take a general survey of the eschatological teaching of Jesus, we find that the doctrine of a general bodily resurrection occupies a very assured position even in the Synoptic records. Not only do we find, as already noted, that His teaching on this subject, as against Sadducean negations, was pleasing in Pharisaic circles (cf. Luke 20:39 ), but He is also seen to refer to this question in terms of current Jewish orthodoxy. The future life is personal in the fullest sense, and it is not incorporeal, for’ many shall come from the east and the west and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and [[Jacob]] in the kingdom of heaven’ ( Matthew 8:11 , cf. Luke 13:29 ). </p> <p> ( <em> b </em> ) <em> The Fourth Gospel </em> . The Johannine record of Jesus’ eschatological teaching reveals a profounder view of the resurrection life than that contained in the Synoptics, for it is there dealt with as a spiritual process intimately connected with the quickening life which is ‘given to the Son’ ( John 5:26; cf. John 17:2; John 1:4 ). When Martha expresses her assurance that her brother ‘shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day’ ( John 11:24 ), Jesus at once lays broader and deeper the foundations upon which this belief is to rest for the future. While tacitly acquiescing in her conviction as a ‘sure and certain hope,’ He establishes an organic relationship, immediate and spiritual, between Himself and those committed to Him. This living relationship, in which all believers share, contains the germ of that resurrection life which springs into being at present, and will be perfected at ‘the last day’ ( John 11:26 , cf. John 6:40; John 6:44; John 5:21; John 3:36 ). </p> <p> It is true that Jesus seems to have given no thought to the difficulty of conceiving a resurrection of the wicked on the ground that all resurrection life has its origin in Himself; at the same time no doubt can be reasonably entertained that He looked for the resurrection of all men (see John 12:48; cf. those passages which speak of the body being cast with the soul into Gehenna, Matthew 10:28; Matthew 5:29 f.). Perhaps He considered that a sufficient explanation consisted in asserting the omnipotence of ‘the Father’ after the manner of the OT; ‘The Father raiseth the dead and quickeneth them’ ( John 5:21; cf. Deuteronomy 32:38 , 2 Corinthians 1:9 ). In the Lukan version of Jesus’ argument with the Sadducees we may understand a reference to the idea of the resurrection of all men based on the truth that ‘all live unto him’ ( Luke 20:38 , cf. a slightly different expression in Acts 17:28 ). </p> <p> It may be pointed out here that Jesus seems to have made no attempt to answer the often debated question of the curious as to the nature of <strong> the resurrection body </strong> . He compared the condition of those who had arisen to that of the angels ( Mark 12:25 ), a comparison which is noteworthy for what it implies as well as for the reserve which Jesus used when speaking on this subject. At the same time, we must remember that certain incidents in the post-resurrection life of Jesus on earth appear to have been designed to meet what is legitimate in speculation of this kind. He was anxious to prove that His was a bodily resurrection ( Luke 24:41 ff., John 20:20; cf. Acts 10:41 ), and that His risen body was capable of being identified with the body to which His disciples had been accustomed for so long ( John 20:27 ). On the other hand, the conditions of His existence underwent a complete alteration. For Him now physical limitations, as regards time or space, did not exist ( Matthew 28:2 , John 20:19; John 20:25 , Luke 24:15; cf. Luke 24:34 ); and this freedom from temporal conditions resulted in a life which transcended ordinary experience. Sometimes He remained unrecognized until a well-known characteristic phrase or act revealed His personality ( John 20:14 f., John 21:4 , Luke 24:16; cf. the author’s comment ‘but some doubted’ In Matthew 28:17 ). </p> <p> <strong> 5. Apostolic teaching </strong> </p> <p> ( <em> a </em> ) <em> The Acts </em> . Although the [[Apostles]] do not seem at first to have shaken themselves free from Judaistic conceptions of the Messianic Kingdom ( Acts 1:6 ), it is plain that they looked on the <em> fact </em> of Jesus’ resurrection as of primary importance (see Acts 1:22 ). At all costs this must be placed in the forefront of their evangelistic work, and the principal element of their Apostolic claims to the attention of their Jewish hearers lay in their power, as eye-witnesses, to offer irrefragable proof of <strong> the resurrection of Jesus </strong> from the dead ( Acts 2:24; Acts 2:32; Acts 3:15; Acts 4:10; Acts 4:33; Acts 5:30; Acts 5:32; cf. Acts 10:40 f.). When we compare the fragmentary reports of Petrine teaching in the Acts with the doctrine of 1Peter , we find that in the latter document the Apostle is no less insistent on the fact ( 1 Peter 1:21 ), while he has learned to assign to it the power of penetrating the present life and renewing it ‘unto a living hope’ ( 1 Peter 1:3 ). Christian [[Baptism]] for him receives its spiritual validity ‘through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,’ which enables us to satisfy ‘the appeal of a good conscience toward God’ ( 1 Peter 3:21 ). At the same time we must not forget that elements of this power are recognized more than once in his discourses in Acts. The Pentecostal outpouring, the work of healing, the gifts of repentance and forgiveness of sins, are all described as (flowing from the risen life of Jesus (see Acts 2:33; Acts 4:10; Acts 5:31; cf. Acts 5:20 , where the angelic messenger speaks of the Apostolic teaching as having reference to ‘this life’). </p> <p> ( <em> b </em> ) <em> St. Paul </em> . When we turn to the teaching of St. Paul as it gradually comes into contact with Hellenic and [[Gentile]] thought, we find the doctrine of the resurrection assuming a new and developed prominence in connexion with the resurrection of Jesus. When addressing Jewish audiences, he emphasizes the fact that God raised up Jesus according to certain promises recorded in the OT (of. Acts 13:32 f., Acts 26:6 ff.), and at the same time bases his doctrine of the resurrection on its necessity, and on the relationship of Jesus and the human race. When, however, he came face to face with the Greek mind, his experience was entirely different. The philosophers of [[Athens]] met his categorical assertion of the resurrection of Jesus not merely with a refusal to credit his statement, but with a plain derision of the very idea ( Acts 17:32; cf. Acts 26:8 ). It was doubtless the calm mockery of the [[Athenian]] [[Stoics]] that made him feel that his mission to them was hopeless ( Acts 18:1 ), and caused him, when writing afterwards to the essentially Greek community of [[Corinthian]] Christians, to expound fully his doctrine of the resurrection. In the first of the two letters addressed to this Church he establishes the fact of the resurrection of Jesus, by revealing its harmony with the Divine plan set forth to the Jews in the OT, and showing that it was attested by numerous witnesses of His post-resurrection existence. He next goes on to demonstrate the organic connexion between this resurrection and that of those ‘who are fallen asleep in Christ’ ( 1 Corinthians 15:16 ff.), and the necessity of accepting the doctrine as fundamentally essential to Christian belief and hope ( 1 Corinthians 15:3 f., 1 Corinthians 15:19 , cf. Hebrews 6:1 ). </p> <p> St. Paul’s eschatological doctrine included a belief in <em> a real bodily resurrection </em> . This is quite certain not only from the chapter we have been considering, but also from incidental references scattered throughout his Epistles (cf. the expression, He ‘shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation,’ Philippians 3:21; see Romans 8:11; Romans 4:14 , 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 etc.). Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the Apostle’s contribution to this doctrine is contained in his conception of the nature of the resurrection body. It is evident from the analogies he employs that he intended to establish the identity of the mortal and the glorified bodies ( 1 Corinthians 15:35-41 ). this idea he puts on a rational, though an apparently paradoxical, basis by postulating the existence of ‘a spiritual body’ as distinct from ‘a natural body’ ( 1 Corinthians 15:44 ), and at the same time by insisting on their strict continuity (cf. the repeated doublets ‘it is sown’ … ‘it is raised,’ 1 Corinthians 15:42 ff.). [[Doubtless]] his presentment of this speculative and mysterious question was founded on what he had already learned regarding the nature of the traditional appearances of the risen Jesus. ‘The body of his glory’ Philippians 3:21 ) is the ultimate attainable glory of those whose ‘citizenship is in heaven’ ( Philippians 3:20; cf. Colossians 3:10 , Romans 8:20 , 1 John 3:2 , 1 Corinthians 15:49 ). </p> <p> Side by side with the doctrine of a literal, bodily resurrection, St. Paul’s writings are rich with another conception which is more especially connected with the present life. Following the teaching of Jesus, who claimed to be the power by which resurrection life was alone possible, the Apostle declares that Christ gives this new and glorious life here and now. It is rooted, so to speak, in the earthly life of men, and its final growth and fruit are consummated hereafter (cf. Colossians 2:12; Colossians 3:1 , Philippians 3:10 f., Romans 6:5 ). This inchoative resurrection life has its origin in the spiritual union of baptized Christians with Christ (cf. Romans 6:3 f., Colossians 2:12 , Galatians 3:27 ), and the tremendous possibilities of development are, according to St. Paul, due to a transcendent fellowship with the glorified Jesus (see Ephesians 1:20 to Ephesians 2:10; Ephesians 2:19 ff.). His resurrection is the power by which this union, in all its aspects, is perfected ( Philippians 3:10 f., cf. Romans 1:4 ). It was doubtless the one-sided presentation of Pauline eschatology that led to the heresy of Hymenæus and [[Philetus]] ( 2 Timothy 2:18 ), and the Apostle seems to have felt the necessity of balancing his mystical interpretation by an emphatic insistence on the literal truth that the resurrection is a future objective fact in the progressive life of man. </p> <p> That St. Paul held the doctrine of the resurrection of the wicked as well as of the righteous is evident not only from the words of his defence before [[Felix]] at Cæsarea (Acts 24:15 , cf. Luke 14:14 ), but also from incidental remarks in his Epistles (see 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and 1 Corinthians 15:22 f., where the emphasis which is laid on the first resurrection implies a second and a separate event; cf. Acts 26:7 f. and Philippians 3:11 , where the same implication may be observed). What the connexion is, however, between these two distinct resurrections does not appear to have occurred to the Apostle’s mind, and there seems to be little ground for the supposition that he believed in a distinction between them as regards time. Indeed, the particular passage upon which millenarians rely to prove the affinity of the Pauline and [[Apocalyptic]] doctrines in this respect says nothing of any resurrection except that of ‘those that are Christ’s’ (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:22 ff.). The resurrection of the wicked occupies a very subordinate place in Pauline eschatology, and we need not be surprised at the scanty notice taken of it, when we remember how constantly he is pressing on his readers’ attention the power by which the resurrection to life is brought about ( Romans 8:11 , 1 Corinthians 15:45; cf. John 6:40; John 6:44; John 6:54; John 5:21 for the teaching that it is the quickening Spirit of Christ which causes the resurrection ‘at the last day’). It is sufficient for him to urge men to the attainment of this resurrection which was the goal of his own aspirations (cf. Philippians 3:11 ), and to warn them of the fate attendant on the rejection of Christ (note the expressions ‘day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,’ Romans 2:5; ‘eternal destruction from the face of the Lord,’ 2Th 1:9; cf. 1 Thessalonians 1:10 , Philippians 3:19 etc.). </p> <p> <strong> 6. The Apocalypse </strong> . The principal contribution of the apocalyptic eschatology to the doctrine of the resurrection is contained in ch. 20. Although there is no specific reference to the resurrection of the wicked, this is implied in the expression ‘the first resurrection’ ( Revelation 20:5 ), as well as in the connexion established between the Resurrection and the Judgment. [[Rewards]] and punishments are meted out to all as they stand ‘before the throne,’ for ‘death and [[Hades]] gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works’ ( Revelation 20:12 f.). What precisely is the interpretation by which the millennial reign of the martyrs and loyal followers of Jesus is to be adequately explained it is difficult to conjecture. See, further, artt. Chiliasm, [[Millennium.]] </p> <p> For the Resurrection of Christ, see, further, Jesus Christ, p. 456 ff. </p> <p> J. R. Willis. </p>

<p> <i> The Old Testament. </i> In the Old Testament, the idea of bodily resurrection evolves from a vague concept into a developed expectation. Beginning with the judgment of death in Genesis 3:6 , the divine plan of God unfolds in history. The patriarchal period is more concerned with the first stages of the design. [[Community]] function is central because of the "promise" concerning the "seed." The extension of existence is passed through progeny (Genesis 12:1-3; 15:1-6 ) and individual resurrection is not the central concern. </p> <p> Nonetheless, in the Old [[Testament]] concern is expressed for the individual soul. Job's despairing vacillation over death and decay is answered by the radiant expectation of preservation: "For I know my [[Redeemer]] lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth; and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God" (Job 19:25-26; NRSV cf also Psalm 16:10; Isaiah 26:19 ). </p> <p> One of the principal factors in the development of a fixed notion of an individual resurrection is in response to the problem of theodicy. Because it could easily be seen that corrupt people sometimes were not punished for every wrong and that God's people were at times unjustly treated, individual resurrection was a natural philosophical resolution to this quandary. The resurrection of the just to reward and the unjust to punishment resolved the otherwise meaningless existence for those who followed [[Yahweh]] during times of persecution. There must be incentive to faithfulness toward God when there is no prosperity and no immediate compensation for belief. A further affront was the prosperous nonbeliever who endured no immediate, perceivable effects of sin and selfishness. Therefore, reward for one's earthly actions is integral to individual resurrection and is its initial catalyst. </p> <p> Psalm 49 points out that all die, the "wise" and the "fool" alike. Fools are appointed to Sheol (which is used as a synonym for death or the grave) and "their forms will decay in the grave" (v. 14). Fools cannot continue in their resplendence of material possessions; therefore, the psalmist says, "Do not be overawed when a man grows rich for he will take nothing with him when he dies" (vv. 16-17). Even though theodicy is not directly in view, at the core of the psalm is a proclamation of God's justice, which is dispensed to the fool and the wise person after death. The wise follower of Yahweh is triumphant: "But God will redeem my life from the grave, for he will surely take me to himself" (v. 15). </p> <p> In Psalm 88 the psalmist's existence is about to cease. This is evidenced by the words used to denote death: "the pit" (vv. 4,6); "the dead" (vv. 5,10); "the grave" (vv. 5,11); "the darkest depths" (v. 6); "the lowest pit" (v. 6); "Abaddon" (v. 11); "the place of darkness" (v. 12); "the land of oblivion" (v. 12); and "darkness" (v. 18). The psalmist says, "my life draws near to <i> Sheol </i> " (v. 3), the penumbral expanse of the netherworld. The psalmist then asks the rhetorical questions: "Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the shades rise up to praise you? Is your steadfast love declared in the grace, or your faithfulness in Abaddon? Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness?" (vv. 10-12 NRSV). As with Psalm 6:4-6 the point is that one must be alive in order to praise God. The reference reveals a cognizance of the concept of an individual's resurrection even though the questions are unanswered (cf. Psalm 7:15; 49:15 ). </p> <p> Psalm 6:5 says, "For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who can give your praise?" (NRSV). The psalm reveals God's justice being demonstrated in theodicy: "Deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love." Psalm 73 is enlightening in regards to the development of the concept of individual resurrection. The psalm begins, "Truly God is good to the upright, to those who are pure in heart" (NRSV). The problem is stated clearly: "I saw the prosperity of the wicked" (v. 3 NRSV). These wicked people mock, do violence, oppress, are prideful, and speak evil (vv. 6-9). Yet they are at ease and their wealth has increased (v. 12). The psalmist then makes the rhetorical statement, "Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure" (v. 13). Seeking to understand this seeming incongruity was troublesome to the psalmist (v. 16) until he perceived the end of the unfaithful (v. 17). They will be destroyed in a moment (vv. 19,27), but the righteous Yahwist will receive a different recompense. Even though his flesh and heart may fail, God is his "portion forever" and "afterward will take [him] into glory" (v. 24b). </p> <p> Isaiah 26:10 says, "If favor is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness they deal perversely" (NRSV). Yet God's justice is revealed in the afterlife, as indicated in verse 19: "Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy!" But the wicked have a different end: "The Lord is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins; the earth will disclose the blood shed upon her; she will conceal her slain no longer" (v. 21). </p> <p> Just prior to the exile, an eschatological emphasis instilled by prophetic preaching imparted a growing concern for individuals. The result was a heightened awareness of the afterlife. For example, Jeremiah 31:30 says, "But everyone will die for his own iniquity" (NASB). The concern was no longer just for the nation of Israel or for Abraham's descendants, as it tended to be in the pre-Mosaic period, but for individuals as well. </p> <p> The most conspicuous references to a resurrection are to be found in later apocalyptic literature, as the salvation leitmotif moves closer to the comprehensive perception that is later spelled out in Christ's resurrection. A resurrection of the just and the unjust is affirmed in Daniel 12:2-3 : "Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever." Unlike the "resurrections" of 1Kings 17:17-24,2 Kings 4:31-37 , and 2 Kings 13:20-21 , which are resuscitations to the conditions of earthly life, Daniel 12:2-3 apportions a future allotment by the use of the future tense (both in the [[Hebrew]] text and LXX). </p> <p> <i> Second [[Temple]] Judaism. </i> With the prophetic voice being silent in the second temple period, and a feeling of the remoteness of God, harmonization with the justice of God took the form of requital after death. The question of why bad things happen to righteous people continued to fuel the concept of the resurrection, especially in light of the failure to establish Israel as the powerful nation it had once been. Apocalyptic literature was more commonplace, and the afterlife and the concern for individual salvation were prominent. It is in the context of persecuted saints in the second temple period that resurrection from the dead was developed into the form that is found in the New Testament. It is during this period that the concept of bodily resurrection takes shape. </p> <p> The Maccabean revolt in 167 b.c. incited the earlier belief in the resurrection of the just and polarized it to new heights. The second of seven tortured brothers responds to his persecutors "in his last breath of consciousness" by saying, "You like a frenzy take us out of this present existence but the King of the universe shall raise us up to eternal life, because we have died on behalf of his laws" (2 Maccabees 7:9 , translation mine ). The third brother, after putting forth his hands to the fire, says, "I received these [hands] from heaven and from him I hope to receive them again" (2 Maccabees 7:11 ). After the seven brothers are slain, their mother says, "The [[Creator]] of the universe will give you breath and life again" (2 Maccabees 7:23 ). </p> <p> Other Jewish sources reveal a belief in a resurrection. The early second-century SyriActs (translated from Greek) text 2Baruch is an example. Baruch ask God the questions, "In which shape will the living live in your day? Or how will remain their splendor which will be after that? Will they, perhaps, take again this present form, and will they put on the chained members which are in evil and by which evils are accomplished?" (2Bar 49:2-3). The answer that is given in 2Baruch 50-51 is that initially the "earth will surely give back the dead not changing anything in their form" (2Bar 50:2). After this event, "the shape of those who are found to be guilty as also the glory of those who have proved to be righteous will be changed" (2Bar 51:1-2). The evil will take a more evil "shape" and the righteous will take a more righteous "shape." </p> <p> By the time of Christ, the Pharisees (the most influential Jewish sect just prior to the Christian period who dated back to at least the second century b.c.) believed in a resurrection (Acts 23:8 ) whereas, the Sadducees did not (Matthew 22:23; Acts 23:8 ). </p> <p> <i> The New Testament. </i> The resurrection of Jesus is the principal tenet of the New Testament. Baptism is centered in Jesus' resurrection. Even though Jewish illustrations were present for at least a hundred years before Christ, Paul applies the act symbolically to death, burial, and resurrection. He says, "When you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead" ( Colossians 2:12; NRSV see also Romans 6:3-5; 1 Peter 3:21-22 ). </p> <p> The Lord's Supper is less connected in its symbolism than baptism, but the early correlation that it was celebrated on the Lord's day, that is, on the day that Jesus raised from the dead, reveals an early association. </p> <p> The retelling of the empty tomb of Jesus is found in all four Gospels (Mark 16:1-8; Matthew 28:11-15; Luke 24:1-12; John 20:11-18 ). The empty tomb of Christ stands in sharp contrast to other world religions whose prophets and their adherents never make such a claim. </p> <p> The appearances of Jesus after his resurrection to chosen individuals play an important role in the proclamation of the gospel message (e.g., Matthew 28:9-10,16-17; Luke 24:34; John 20:11-17; 21:1-2; Acts 2:32; 3:15; 4:20; 10:40-41; 13:30-31; 1 Corinthians 15:5-7 ). </p> <p> The resurrection of Jesus is a testimony to the general resurrection of all humans, which will be followed by the dispensing of God's justice; to the righteous there will be a "resurrection of life" and to the unrighteous a "resurrection of condemnation" (John 5:28-29; cf. Revelation 20:4-6 ). Regardless of the complex time sequence involved in the various resurrections recorded in the New Testament, Jesus' bodily resurrection is the basis for the future resurrection of humans (1 Corinthians 15:42-50 ). The Spirit, which was given after his resurrection, is the "guarantee" (or "first installment") that God will raise the righteous from the dead, and that they will not be found "naked, " that is, incorporeal (2 Corinthians 5:1-5; cf. Ephesians 1:13-14 ), but will have a corporeal existence with God. Even though believers "groan" while in their bodies (2 Corinthians 5:2 ), they will be "further clothed" after their resurrection (v. 4). There will be recompense for what was done in the body; therefore, one must seek to please God (vv. 6-10). </p> <p> <i> First Corinthians 15. </i> The earliest teaching in the New Testament concerning the resurrection is undoubtedly 1 Corinthians 15 . Paul "passes on" that which he has received (presumably by oral tradition), which is of "first importance." Paul says that the resurrection was in accordance with the Scriptures—a perception that was an important one considering the magnitude of the teaching. The seemingly insignificant detail of the time sequence ("the third day") is not an inconsequential component; rather, it reveals the historical nature of the event, which was not a private, subjective experience but one that occurred in actual time and was attested by Cephas, the Twelve, and five hundred people. </p> <p> Paul, using simple logic, concludes several things "if the dead are not raised." The specific problem that he is addressing is that some of the Corinthians were saying that there was no resurrection of the dead. If there is no general resurrection, then the conspicuous conclusion that "Christ has not been raised" can be deduced. If "Christ has not been raised, " then several philosophical conclusions can be outlined. </p> <p> First, the missionary proclamation concerning Christ "is useless" (v. 14). This perception was undoubtedly an important one for Paul considering that his commission to the Gentiles was rooted in the idea that Jesus was "first to rise from the dead" (Acts 26:23 ). Therefore, Paul's mission to the Gentiles unfolds in light of the resurrection of Christ and the corollary futility of his own life ensues if there is no resurrection. Paul corresponds with the Corinthians with much passion in these verses. The collapse of the resurrection was commensurate to Christianity being fallacious for Paul. </p> <p> Second, if there is no resurrection the faith of the believer is "vain" and "futile" (vv. 14,17). The eschatological aspect of faith is rooted in the notion of resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus guarantees the resurrection of the believer. Future salvation is based on the resurrection of Jesus. Therefore, faith in God's justice in resolving the problem of theodicy is "vain" (cf. 1 Peter 3:21; Romans 4:25 ) if there is no resurrection. </p> <p> Jesus' resurrection is a prototypical event. As "the firstfruits" (1 Corinthians 15:23 ) he gives the Spirit as the firstfruits to the believer (Romans 8:23 ). This Spirit indwelling is the "first installment" (2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5; Ephesians 1:14 ) and the basis for the hope of the "redemption of our bodies" (Romans 8:23 ). </p> <p> Third, the early missionaries were "misrepresenting God" if there is no resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:15 ). Paul's logic allows no room for a "spiritual" approach that discounts the resurrection. The belief in bodily resurrection is commensurate with belief in God. If God exists and if he created the universe and has power over it, he has power to raise the dead. Attempts to explain the resurrection as a mere sociological phenomenon without the supernatural element minimizes the magnitude of the event and the role that it played in the formation of Christianity. </p> <p> For example, the fourth of Paul's conclusions"you are still in your sins" (v. 17)shows the magnitude for Paul of the resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus showed that Christ's oblation as the sacrificial lamb was accepted by God, which is the basis for the giving of the Spirit to believers and the forgiveness of their sins. </p> <p> Fifth, if there is no resurrection "those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost" (v. 18). In other words, they have returned to dust with no future cognizance of any existence. This statement gets at the core of the basis for hoping and not fearing death. It also affects morality. God's future judgment modifies earthly behavior. Paul's conclusion that "If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die'" (v. 32) reveals the tenable resolution of materialistic hedonism, when the resurrection of Christ as the firstfruit and the ensuing general resurrection are dismissed. As in the Old Testament, theodicy, especially in times of persecution, was perceived as futile if there was no future vindication. </p> <p> Finally, the result of such logic led Paul to declare that "If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied" (v. 19 NRSV). Paul articulates the persecution he received at [[Ephesus]] in verse 32, which only has meaning if the dead are raised. The persecution and even death of many of the early Christians led to Paul's conclusion that theodicy is resolved by bodily resurrection. </p> <p> The rhetorical question is asked in verse 35, "With what kind of body will they come?" Paul's answer is to stress continuity of identity. Even though individuals will be "changed, " they will remain in essence who they are. He illustrates this by using a grain of wheat that will, after it is planted, be changed, but will remain wheat. In the Gospels, the appearances of Jesus stress the continuity of his identity even though he changed. His pierced hands and side attest to the continuity of his identity. </p> <p> Paul's discussion on the "first Adam" who is born of "dust" and the "second Adam" who is Christ and is a "life-giving spirit" has as its goal the statement "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." In other words, spiritual rebirth is necessary to enter the eternal kingdom of God. </p> <p> Not only does the resurrection of Jesus have implications for the individual, according to Paul, but Christ's passage through the cosmos unharmed by evil spirits has placed the universe itself in his subjection (vv. 24-28). This early perception, the so-called classic view of the atonement, is common in the New Testament (cf. Acts 2:32-35; Ephesians 1:20-23; Hebrews 1:13 ). In second temple Judaism, ascension into the cosmos by a saint who confronted evil spirits (e.g., Eth Enoch) was commonplace, but none were permitted passage to "the right hand of God." Jesus' resurrection and subsequent ascension (which are often treated together as one event) is unique in that sense. </p> <p> [[Eric]] W. Adams </p> <p> <i> See also </i> [[Second Coming Of Christ]] </p> <p> <i> Bibliography </i> . J. E. M. Dewart, <i> [[Message]] of the Fathers of the Church </i> ; R. B. Gaffin, Jr., <i> The Centrality of the Resurrection: A Study in Paul's [[Soteriology]] </i> ; G. R. Habermas, <i> The Resurrection of Jesus: An Apologetic </i> ; M. J. Harris, <i> [[Raised]] Immortal: Resurrection and [[Immortality]] in the New Testament </i> ; G. E. Ladd, <i> I [[Believe]] in the Resurrection </i> . </p>

<p> The belief of a general resurrection of the dead, which will come to pass at the end of the world, and will be followed with an immortality either of happiness or misery, is an article of religion in common to Jews and Christians. It is very expressly taught both in the Old and New Testaments, Psalms 16:10; Job 19:25 , &c; Ezekiel 37:1 , &c; Isaiah 26:19; John 5:28-29; and to these may be added, Wis_3:1 , &c; Wis_4:15; 2Ma_7:14; 2Ma_7:23; 2Ma_7:29 , &c. At the time when our [[Saviour]] appeared in Judea, the resurrection from the dead was received as one of the principal articles of the Jewish religion by the whole body of the nation, the Sadducees excepted, Matthew 22:23; Luke 20:28; Mark 12:18; John 11:23-24; Acts 23:6; Acts 23:8 . Our Saviour arose himself from the dead, to give us, in his own person, a proof, a pledge, and a pattern of our future resurrection. St. Paul, in almost all his epistles, speaks of a general resurrection, refutes those who denied or opposed it, and proves and explains it by several circumstances, Romans 6:5; 1 Corinthians 15:12-15; Php_3:10-11; Hebrews 11:35; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 , &c. </p> <p> On this subject no point of discussion, of any importance, arises among those who admit the truth of Scripture, except as to the way in which the doctrine of the resurrection of the body is to be understood;—whether a resurrection of the substance of the body be meant, or some minute and indestructible part of it. The latter theory has been adopted for the sake of avoiding certain supposed difficulties. It cannot however fail to strike every impartial reader of the New Testament, that the doctrine of the resurrection is there taught without any nice distinctions. It is always exhibited as a miraculous work; and represents the same body which is laid in the grave as the subject of this change from death to life, by the power of Christ. Thus our Lord was raised in the same body in which he died, and his resurrection is constantly held forth as the model of ours; and the Apostle Paul expressly says, "Who shall change <em> our vile body, </em> that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body." The only passage of [[Scripture]] which appears to favour the notion of the rising of the immortal body from some indestructible germ, is 1 Corinthians 15:35 , &c: "But some men will say, How are the dead raised up, and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die; and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain," &c. If, however, it had been the intention of the Apostle, holding this view of the case, to meet objections to the doctrine of the resurrection, grounded upon the difficulties of conceiving how the same body, in the popular sense, could be raised up in substance, we might have expected him to correct this misapprehension by declaring, that this was not the Christian doctrine; but that some small parts of the body only, bearing as little proportion to the whole as the germ of a seed to the plant, would be preserved, and be unfolded into the perfected body at the resurrection. Instead of this, he goes on immediately to remind the objector of the differences which exist between material bodies as they now exist;. between the plant and the bare or naked grain; between one plant and another; between the flesh of men, of beasts, of fishes, and of birds; between celestial and terrestrial bodies; and between the lesser and greater celestial luminaries themselves. Still farther he proceeds to state the difference, not between the germ of the body to be raised, and the <em> body </em> given at the resurrection; but between <em> the body itself, </em> understood popularly, which dies, and the body which shall be raised. "It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption," which would not be true of the supposed <em> incorruptible </em> and imperishable germ of this hypothesis; and can only be affirmed of the body itself, considered in substance, and, in its present state, corruptible. Farther: the question put by the objector,—"How are the dead raised up?" does not refer to the <em> modus agendi </em> of the resurrection, or the process or manner in which the thing is to be effected, as the advocates of the germ hypothesis appear to assume. This is manifest from the answer of the Apostle, who goes on immediately to state, not in what <em> manner </em> the resurrection is to be effected, but what shall be the <em> state </em> or <em> condition </em> of the resurrection body; which is no answer at all to the question, if it be taken in that sense. </p> <p> Thus, in the argument, the Apostle confines himself wholly to the possibility of the resurrection of the body in a refined and glorified state; but omits all reference to the mode in which the thing will be effected, as being out of the line of the objector's questions, and in itself above human thought, and wholly miraculous. It is, however, clear, that when he speaks of the body, as the subject of this wondrous "change," he speaks of it popularly, as the same body in substance, whatever changes in its qualities or figure may be impressed upon it. Great <em> general </em> changes it will experience, as from corruption to incorruption, from mortality to immortality; great changes of a <em> particular </em> kind will also take place, as its being freed from deformities and defects, and the accidental varieties produced by climate, aliments, labour, and hereditary diseases. It is also laid down by our Lord, that "in the resurrection they shall neither marry nor be given in marriage, but be like to the angels of God;" and this also implies a certain change of structure; and we may gather from the declaration of the Apostle, that though "the stomach," is now adapted "to meats, and meats to the stomach," yet God will "destroy both it and them;" that the animal appetite for food will be removed, and the organ now adapted to that appetite will have no place in the renewed frame. But great as these changes are, the human form will be retained in its perfection, after the model of our Lord's "glorious body," and the substance of the matter of which it is composed will not thereby be affected. That the same body which was laid in the grave shall arise out of it, is the manifest doctrine of the Scriptures. The notion of an incorruptible germ, or that of an original and unchangeable <em> stamen, </em> out of which a new and glorious body, at the resurrection, is to spring, appears to have been borrowed from the speculations of some of the Jewish rabbins. But if by this hypothesis it was designed to remove the difficulty of conceiving how the scattered parts of one body could be preserved from becoming integral parts of other bodies, it supposes that the constant care of [[Providence]] is exerted to maintain the incorruptibility of those individual germs, or stamina, so as to prevent their assimilation with each other. Now, if they have this by original quality, then the same quality may just as easily be supposed to appertain to every particle which composes a human body; so that, though it be used for food, it shall not be capable of assimilation, in any circumstances, with another human body. But if these germs, or stamina, have not this quality by their original nature, they can only be prevented from assimilating with each other by that operation of God which is present to all his works, and which must always be directed to secure the execution of his own ultimate designs. If this view be adopted, then, if the resort must at last be to the superintendence of a Being of infinite power and wisdom, there is no greater difficulty in supposing that his care to secure this object may extend to a million as easily as to a hundred particles, of matter. This is, in fact, the true and rational answer to the objection that the same piece of matter may happen to be a part of two or more bodies, as in the instances of men feeding upon animals which have fed upon men, and of men feeding upon one another. The question here is one which simply respects the frustrating a final purpose of the [[Almighty]] by an operation of nature. To suppose that he cannot prevent this, is to deny his power; to suppose him inattentive to it, is to suppose him indifferent to his own designs; and to assume that he employs care to prevent it, is to assume nothing greater, nothing in fact so great, as many instances of control, which are always occurring; as, for instance, the regulation of the proportion of the sexes in human births, which cannot be attributed to chance, but must either be referred to superintendence, or to some original law. Another objection to the resurrection of the body has been drawn from the changes of its substance during life; the answer to which is, that, allowing a frequent and total change of the substance of the body (which, however, is but an hypothesis) to take place, it affects not the doctrine of Scripture, which is, that the body which is laid in the grave shall be raised up. But then, we are told, that if our bodies have in fact undergone successive changes during life, the bodies in which we have sinned or performed rewardable actions may not be, in many instances, the same bodies as those which will be actually rewarded or punished. We answer, that rewards and punishments have their relation to the body, not so much as it is the <em> subject </em> but as it is the <em> instrument </em> of reward and punishment. It is the soul only which perceives pain or pleasure, which suffers or enjoys, and is, therefore, the only rewardable <em> subject. </em> Were we, therefore, to admit such corporeal mutations as are assumed in this objection, they affect not the case of our accountability. The personal identity or sameness of a rational being, as Mr. Locke has observed, consists in self-consciousness: "By this every one is to himself what he calls <em> self, </em> without considering whether that self be continued in the same or divers substances. It was by the same <em> self </em> which reflects on an action done many years ago, that the action was performed." If there were indeed any weight in this objection, it would affect the proceedings of human criminal courts in all cases of offences committed at some distance of time; but it contradicts the common sense, because it contradicts the common consciousness and experience, of mankind. </p> <p> Our Lord has assured us, that "the hour is coming in which all that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." Then we shall "all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump," and "the dead shall be raised incorruptible." It is probable that the bodies of the righteous and the wicked, though each shall in some respects be the same as before, will each be in other respects not the same, but undergo some change conformable to the character of the individual, and suited to his future state of existence; yet both, as the passage just quoted clearly teaches, are then rendered indestructible. Respecting the good it is said, "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, we shall appear with him in glory," "we shall be like him; our body shall be fashioned like his glorious body;" yet, notwithstanding this, "it doth not yet fully appear what we shall be," Colossians 3:4; 1 John 3:2; Php_3:21 . This has a very obvious reason. Our present manner of knowing depends upon our present constitution, and we know not the exact relation which subsists between this constitution and the manner of being in a future world; we derive our ideas through the medium of the senses; the senses are necessarily conversant with terrestrial objects only; our language is suited to the communication of present ideas; and thus it follows that the objects of the future world may in some respects (whether few or many we cannot say) differ so extremely from terrestrial objects, that language cannot communicate to us any such ideas as would render those matters comprehensible. But language may suggest striking and pleasing analogies; and with such we are presented by the holy Apostle: "All flesh," says he, "is not the same flesh: but there is one flesh of men, another of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds;" and yet all these are fashioned out of the same kind of substance, mere inert matter, till God gives it life and activity. It is sown an animal body; a body which previously existed with all the organs, faculties, and propensities, requisite to procure, receive, and appropriate nutriment, as well as to perpetuate the species; but it shall be raised a spiritual body, refined from the dregs of matter, freed from the organs and senses required only in its former state, and probably possessing the remaining senses in greater perfection, together with new and more exquisite faculties, fitted for the exalted state of existence and enjoyment to which it is now rising. In the present state the organs and senses appointed to transmit the impressions of objects to the mind, have a manifest relation to the respective objects: the eye and seeing, for example, to light; the ear and hearing, to sound. In the refined and glorious state of existence to which good men are tending, where the objects which solicit attention will be infinitely more numerous, interesting, and delightful, may not the new organs, faculties, and senses, be proportionably refined, acute, susceptible, or penetrating? Human industry and invention have placed us, in a manner, in new worlds; what, then, may not a spiritual body, with sharpened faculties, and the grandest possible objects of contemplation, effect in the celestial regions to which Christians are invited? There the senses will no longer degrade the affections, the imagination no longer corrupt the heart; the magnificent scenery thrown open to view will animate the attention, give a glow and vigour to the sentiments; that roused attention will never tire; those glowing sentiments will never cloy; but the man, now constituted of an indestructible body, as well as of an immortal soul, may visit in eternal succession the streets of the celestial city, may "drink of the pure river of the water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God, and of the Lamb;" and dwell for ever in those abodes of harmony and peace, which, though "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the imagination of man to conceive," we are assured "God hath prepared for them that love him," </p> <p> 1 Corinthians 2:9 . </p>

<p> Both Old and New Testaments record examples of ordinary people who died and were brought back to life. In all these cases the kind of life to which they returned was the same kind of life as they had known previously. They experienced a normal human existence again, and in due course died a normal human death (1 Kings 17:22; 2 Kings 4:32-35; Luke 7:12-15; Luke 8:49-55; John 11:39-44; Acts 9:37-41). The present article, however, is concerned with a kind of resurrection that is an entirely new order of existence, where death has no more power (Romans 6:9; 1 Corinthians 15:54; 2 Corinthians 5:4). </p> <p> Death and the afterlife </p> <p> Old Testament believers did not have a clear understanding of eternal life, though they did at times express the hope of a resurrection through which they would have deliverance from the power of death. Likewise they expected a resurrection of the wicked that would be followed by punishment (Psalms 49:14-15; Daniel 12:2). The reason their understanding was so limited was that Jesus Christ had not yet come. By Christ’s death God broke the power of death and revealed the nature of resurrection life (2 Timothy 1:10; Hebrews 2:14-15). A minority of Jews, the Sadducees, refused to believe in a resurrection of any sort (Matthew 22:23). </p> <p> Death is a consequence of sin, and therefore salvation from sin must include victory over death if that salvation is to be complete. It must involve the resurrection of the body to a new and victorious life. Because Jesus’ death and resurrection conquered sin and death, the believer in Jesus can look forward to salvation from sin and death (Romans 4:24-25; Romans 6:8-10; Romans 8:11; 1 Corinthians 15:26; 1 Corinthians 15:54-57). </p> <p> God created the human being as a unified whole, and therefore he deals with people in the totality of their being. God does not divide them into physical and spiritual ‘parts’. The human being’s destiny, whether for salvation or damnation, is connected not with death but with the resurrection of the body, after which the person faces final judgment (Daniel 12:2; John 5:29; Acts 24:15; see DEATH). </p> <p> [[Assurance]] of Jesus’ resurrection </p> <p> People’s only basis of hope for a victorious resurrection is the resurrection of Jesus (John 11:25; 1 Corinthians 15:20-21; 1 Corinthians 15:45-49). Throughout his ministry Jesus pointed out that he was not only to die but was also to rise from death (Mark 8:31; Mark 9:9; Mark 9:31; John 2:19-21). In spite of Jesus’ clear statements, his disciples often displayed a lack of understanding concerning his coming crucifixion and resurrection. Therefore, when Jesus met with them after his resurrection, he made sure that they knew it was a true bodily resurrection (Luke 24:39-43; John 20:20; John 20:27; 1 Corinthians 15:4-7). </p> <p> Nevertheless, there was something uniquely different about Jesus’ body after his resurrection. On some occasions his physical appearance seems to have changed, for his friends did not at first know who he was (Luke 24:30-31; Luke 24:36-37; John 20:14-15; John 21:4; John 21:12). On other occasions they recognized him immediately (Matthew 28:9; John 20:26-28). </p> <p> In his resurrection body Jesus was capable of normal physical functions (Luke 24:41-43), but he was also able to appear and disappear as he wished. Although always with his disciples invisibly, he could make himself visible to them if he so desired (Luke 24:31; John 20:19; John 20:26; cf. Matthew 18:20). The last time he appeared to them, he disappeared in a way that showed that he would appear to them no more, until he returned in power and glory at the end of the age (Acts 1:3; Acts 1:9-11). </p> <p> Jesus’ resurrection changed the apostles from people who were confused and cowardly into people who were assured and courageous (Acts 2:14; Acts 2:36; Acts 4:13; Acts 4:18-20; Acts 4:29-31; Acts 5:27-29). By his resurrection he had conquered death and made salvation sure, and they were witnesses of these things (Luke 24:46-48; Acts 2:24; Acts 2:32; Acts 5:30-32; Acts 10:39-43). </p> <p> The resurrection was therefore a central theme in the apostles’ preaching. It had a significance that people could not ignore (Acts 2:22-24; Acts 4:2; Acts 4:33). Jesus was alive and, through his disciples, was continuing the work he had begun during the time of his earthly ministry (Acts 3:15-16; Acts 4:10; cf John 14:12-18; see HOLY SPIRIT). </p> <p> Not just the original disciples but all disciples are changed because of Jesus’ resurrection (Ephesians 2:5-6; Revelation 1:17-18). Paul, who had not known Jesus during the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry, claimed that the resurrection gave him assurance of eternal life and confidence in his Christian service (Acts 23:6; Acts 25:19; Romans 1:4-5; 1 Corinthians 9:1; 1 Corinthians 15:8; 1 Corinthians 15:14-15; 2 Timothy 2:8). The resurrection of Jesus is essential for a person’s entire salvation (1 Corinthians 15:14; 1 Corinthians 15:17; 1 Corinthians 15:19; Romans 4:24-25; Romans 8:10-11). This is one of the truths that believers express when they are baptized (Romans 6:3-4; Romans 10:9; Colossians 2:12; see BAPTISM). </p> <p> Having become united with Christ through faith, believers share in the resurrection life of Christ. God’s power worked in Christ in raising him to new life, and that same power can work in those who have come into union with Christ. Christians have a new life. They share in Christ’s conquest of sin, and so can claim victory over sin in their everyday lives (Romans 6:6-11; Romans 6:13; Romans 7:4; Romans 8:10; Ephesians 1:19-20; Philippians 3:10). </p> <p> Future resurrection </p> <p> Only through Jesus’ resurrection can believers have the assurance of a future resurrection. Through their union with him, they can look forward to an entirely new order of existence where sin and death have no more power (1 Corinthians 15:20-26; 1 Corinthians 15:54-57; 1 Peter 1:3-4). This new order of existence will begin at the return of Jesus Christ, when the resurrection of believers will take place (John 6:40; John 6:54; 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). </p> <p> Believers have no way of knowing exactly what the resurrection body will be like. But they know at least that it will be imperishable, glorious and strong, suited to the life of the age to come just as the present body is suited to present earthly life. The link between the future resurrection body and the present physical body may be compared to the link between a plant and the seed from which it grows. The plant is different from the seed, but in a sense it is the same thing. Similarly, the resurrection body of the believer will be different from the present body, but the believer will still be the same person (John 6:40; 1 Corinthians 15:35-38; 1 Corinthians 15:42-44). </p> <p> As Adam’s body was the pattern for the bodies of people in the present life, so Christ’s resurrection body is the pattern for the bodies of believers in the life to come (1 Corinthians 15:45-49; Philippians 3:20-21). The Christian’s expectation at the resurrection is not for the giving of life to a corpse, but for the changing of the whole person into the likeness of Christ (1 John 3:2; cf. Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18). </p> <p> The resurrection of the ungodly is a different matter. Whatever form their resurrection will take, they will not be given spiritual and imperishable bodies. Their resurrection will result not in life, but in judgment, condemnation and eternal destruction (Daniel 12:2; Matthew 10:28; John 5:29; 1 Corinthians 15:50; Revelation 20:6; Revelation 20:12-14; see HELL). </p>

<p> Here is a word of words! The doctrine of which, and the eventful consequence of which, involves in it all our high hopes and expectations of happiness for the life that now is, and that which is to come. The resurrection is the key-stone in the arch of the Christian faith: so that as the apostle Paul strongly and unanswerably reasons, "if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen; and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and our faith is also vain." Yea, saith the apostle, (as if he had said, and that is not the worst consequence if the doctrine be not true, for then) "we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not; for if the dead rise not, then is Christ not raised; and if Christ be not raised your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins; and then all they that are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." (1 Corinthians 15:14-18) </p> <p> The subject therefore, is infinitely important and the apostle hath placed the doctrine in the clearest light possible. It is reduced to this single point—if Christ be not risen, then there is no resurrection of the dead; but if Christ be himself risen, then is he become "the first-fruits of them that slept." For by his own resurrection he gives full proof to all the doctrines he taught; and as he declared himself to be the resurrection and the life, and promised that whosoever lived and believed in him he would raise up at the last day, and in confirmation of it arose himself; hence it must undeniably follow that our resurrection is involved and secured in his. He said himself, "be cause I live, ye shall live also." (See John 11:25-26 etc; John 5:21-29; Joh 14:19) </p> <p> [[Concerning]] the fact itself of our Lord's resurrection I do not think it necessary to enlarge. The New Testament is so full of the interesting: particulars, and the truth of it is so strongly confirmed by the in numerable witnesses both of the living and the dead, yea, God himself giving his testimony to the truth of it, that in a work of this kind I consider it a superfluous service to bring forward any proof. I rather assume it as a thing granted, and set it down as one of the plainest matters of fact the world ever knew, that Christ is risen from the dead. I shall therefore only subjoin under this article the observations which naturally arise out of this glorious truth, in proof also that as Christ is indeed risen from the dead, he arose not as a private per son, but the public Head of his church, which is his body, and thereby became the first fruits of them that slept. </p> <p> The first view of Christ's resurrection, as connecting our resurrection with it, is the full assurance it brought with it that the debt of sin Christ under took, as our Surety, to pay, was discharged. For never surely would the prison-doors of the grave have been thrown open, and Christ let out, had not the law of God, and the justice of God both been satisfied. In that glorious moment when Christ arose from the dead, he proved the whole truth of what he had taught. "Destroy this temple;" (he said, and he spake of the temple of his body) "and in three days I will raise it up." (See John 2:18-22) And hence God the Father on this occasion is called "the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ," because by the blood of the everlasting covenant he had now fulfilled the contract on his part and God now fulfilled it in his, and in confirmation is here called the God of peace. (Hebrews 13:20) </p> <p> The next view of Christ's resurrection, as including in it ours, is that as the man Christ Jesus arose, so assuredly must the bodies of all his redeemed. And as it was said by Moses to [[Pharaoh]] concerning Israel's deliverance from Egypt, "not an hoof shall be left behind," (Exodus 10:26) so it may be said of Israel's seed, not an hair of their head shall perish, much less the humblest and least of Christ's mystical body shall be lost in the ruins of the world, which at the resurrection is then to be burnt. And this resurrection of the bodies of Christ's members is secured by virtue of their union and oneness with their glorious Head; for so the character of the covenant runs—"If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you." (Romans 8:11) [[Sweet]] thought to the believer! He may truly say, I shall arise, not simply by the sovereign power of that voice that raiseth the dead, but by his Spirit which unites me to himself now, and will then quicken me to the new life in him forever. And this is the meaning of that blessed promise of God the Father to the Son—"Thy dead men shall live;"yea, saith the Lord Jesus, in answer as it were, and in a way of confirmation, "together with my dead body shall they arise." And then comes the call—"Awake and sing ye that dwell in the dust, for thy dew [the warm, reanimating, life-giving dew of Jesus in resurrection power to glory, as in regenerating power first in grace from the womb of the morning, in which Christ had the dew from his youth; Psalms 110:3] is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out her dead." (Isaiah 26:19) [[Beautiful]] figure! the dew of herbs revives those plants which appear through the winter like dry sticks, and not the least view of herbage remains. Son of man! can these sticks live? Such will be Christ's dew to the bodies of his people. Oh, precious, precious Jesus! </p> <p> One thought more on this subject of Christ's resurrection, and of his church so highly interested in it, and that is, that as Jesus's resurrection is the cause of ours, and he himself accomplisheth ours by his Spirit as a germ dwelling in us, so the blessedness of our resurrection is, that as Christ's identical body arose, so shall ours. "He will change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body." [[Changed]] it will be from what it was sown in weakness, because it will be raised in power but its identity, consciousness, reality, will be the same. Here again we feel constrained to cry out, Oh, precious, precious Lord Jesus! and to say with Job, "I know that my Redeemer (or, as the words are, my kinsman Redeemer) liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, (for myself) and not another for me." (Job 19:25-27) </p> <p> So much for the doctrine of the resurrection, and the unanswerable testimonies on which it is founded. The Lord strengthen all his people in the faith of it, seeing that by the resurrection of their Lord they are begotten "to this lively hope in Jesus, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for them who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation." (1 Peter 1:3-5) </p>

<p> Old Testament The preexilic portions of the Old Testament contain no statements which point certainly to a hope of resurrection from the dead even though some of Israel's neighbors had such a belief. Death is the end of human existence, the destruction of life (Genesis 3:19; Job 30:23 ). In isolated instances revivification occurs (being brought back to life from death but only as a temporary escape from final death; 1 Kings 17:17-22; 2 Kings 4:18-37; 2 Kings 13:21 ). In addition, God took from the earth two Old Testament figures before their deaths: Enoch (Genesis 5:24 ) and Elijah (2 Kings 2:9-11 ). The scarcity of these statements and the lack of reflection on their meanings, however, point to the absence of any consistent doctrinal conception of resurrection from the dead. </p> <p> Similarly, the Psalms are bereft of clear thought on resurrection. Many of the songs, however, express a hope that communion with God, begun on earth, will have no end (as in Psalm 16:11; Psalm 49:15; Psalm 73:24 ). The Song of Moses (Deuteronomy 32:1 ) and the Song of [[Hannah]] (1 Samuel 2:1 ) assert that Yahweh kills and makes alive. These expressions of hope in God may not suggest a doctrine of resurrection from the dead. They at least confess a conviction that the living God is able to intervene in life's darkest hours. They grope for a firm hope in justice and help beyond the grave. They may reflect the beginnings of a doctrine of resurrection. </p> <p> The prophets proclaimed hope for the future in terms of national renewal (see Hosea 6:1-3; Ezekiel 37:1 ). So pointed is the prophetic expression of national hope that the New Testament writers sometimes used the language of the prophets to expound the doctrine of resurrection (compare Hosea 13:14; 1 Corinthians 15:55 ). The prophetic statements, however, do not necessarily attest to the hope of individual resurrection from the dead but profess the sovereignty of God over all His subjects, even death. </p> <p> On the other hand, Isaiah 26:19 and Daniel 12:2 decidedly teach a belief in resurrection. The Old Testament emphasis on the sovereignty of God in all matters easily led to the prophetic statements. </p> <p> The Old Testament statements about resurrection are scant and do not reveal clear theological reflection. The emphasis upon Yahweh as the God of present life tended to make Judaism a this-worldly religion. The future was generally interpreted as a national future under the sovereign rule of Yahweh. In New Testament times the Saduccees still did not believe in resurrection. The belief, however, in God as sovereign Lord over all, even death, eventually flowered in the brief but salient assertions of the Books of Isaiah and Daniel and possibly in the Psalms. See [[Eschatology]]; [[Future Hope]]; [[Sheol]] . </p> <p> New Testament Jesus' preaching presupposed a doctrine of resurrection. [[Opposition]] by the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection, gave Jesus the opportunity to assert His own thought on the matter (Mark 12:18-27; Matthew 22:23-33; Luke 20:27-38; compare Deuteronomy 25:5-10 ). </p> <p> John's Gospel presents Jesus as the mediator of resurrection who gives to believers the life given Him by His Father (John 6:53-58 ). Jesus is the resurrection and the life (John 11:24-26 ). Jesus pointed to a resurrection of the righteous to eternal life and of the wicked to eternal punishment (Matthew 8:11-12; Matthew 25:31-34 ,Matthew 25:31-34,25:41-46; John 5:28-29 ). In His postresurrection appearances Jesus had a body that was both spiritual (John 20:19 ,John 20:19,20:26 ) and physical (John 20:20 ,John 20:20,20:27; John 21:13 ,John 21:13,21:15 ) in nature. </p> <p> The greatest biblical exponent of resurrection was Paul. For him, resurrection was the final event which would usher Christians out of the bodily struggle of the present age into the bodily glory which will accompany Jesus' second coming (Philippians 3:20-21 ). In resurrection, God's new creation will reach completion (2 Corinthians 5:17-21 ). The bedrock of hope for Christian resurrection is the resurrection of Christ, the foundation of gospel preaching (1 Corinthians 15:12-20 ). Those who follow Christ are organically related to Christ in His resurrection from the dead; Christ is the first fruits of an upcoming harvest (1 Corinthians 15:20-23 ). [[Destruction]] awaits those who do not follow Christ (Philippians 3:19 ). </p> <p> Paul's discourses on the nature of the resurrected body broadens the Old Testament idea of a restored Israel to include the redemption of persons complete with bodies. Paul viewed the human person as a psychosomatic unity. He recognizes no truth in the Greek idea of a separation of body and soul. See 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 ). Those united to Christ in faith become not only one with Him in spirit but also one with Him in body (1 Corinthians 6:15 ). The resurrected body will be a spiritual body, different from the present physical body (1 Corinthians 15:35-50 ); but it will have continuity with the present body because Christ redeems the whole person (Romans 8:23 ). </p> <p> The New Testament unquestionably affirms a doctrine of resurrection of all persons from the dead. [[Humanity]] has a corporate destiny to encounter just and divine response to faithfulness and unfaithfulness (Acts 24:15 ). A resurrection body and life in the consummated kingdom of God will characterize the resurrection of those who follow Christ. </p> <p> [[William]] L. Hendricks </p>

<p> (See JESUS; LAW.) His resurrection is the earnest or "firstfruits" of ours. His life is ours by vital union with Him, and because He lives we shall live also (1 Corinthians 15:23; John 14:19). Christ from Exodus 3:6; Exodus 3:16 proves the resurrection and charges the Sadducees with ignorance of Scripture and of God's "power" (Mark 12:24) as the root of their "error." God said, "I AM the God of Abraham" when [[Abraham]] was dead; but God is the God of the living, Abraham must therefore live again and already lives in God's sure purpose, not a disembodied spirit, which would be no restoration of man in his integrity, but as heir of an abiding city suited to man with perfect body, soul, and spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 11:8-16). (See SADDUCEES.) God promised "to thee will I give this land," not merely to thy posterity. This can only be fulfilled by Abraham rising and, in integrity of parts, inheriting the antitypical Canaan. Disembodied spirits require a body if they are to exercise the functions of life. Abraham's soul now receives blessings from God, but will only "live unto God" when he receives again the body. </p> <p> [[Rabbi]] Simai argues on Exodus 6:3-4, "it is not, said, to give you, but to give them, whereby the resurrection of the dead appeareth out of the law." So [[Manasseh]] ben Israel, "God said to Abraham, I will give to thee and to thy seed after thee the land wherein thou art a stranger; but Abraham did not possess that land; wherefore it is of necessity that they should be raised up to enjoy the good promises, else God's promise would be vain." The Pharisees in holding this preserved the faith gleaned from the Old Testament by the pious fathers of the nation; such was Martha's and Paul's faith (John 11:25; Acts 26:6-8). Jacob's dying ejaculation "I have waited for [[Thy]] salvation" (Genesis 49:18) and Balaam's, "let me die the death of the righteous," etc. (Numbers 23:10), assume a future state. (See JOB expressly asserts his anticipation of the resurrection through his Redeemer (Job 19:23-27) (See REDEEMER for the translated.) So David (Psalms 16:9-11; Psalms 17:14-15) anticipates his "soul not being left in hades," so that "his flesh shall rest in hope," and his "awaking with Jehovah's likeness"; fulfilled in Christ the Head first (Acts 2:25-31), and hereafter to be so in His members. </p> <p> So Isaiah (Isaiah 26:19), "thy dead shall live ... my dead body shall they arise"; Christ's dead body raised is the pledge of the resurrection of all Jehovah's people. Daniel (Daniel 12:2): Hebrew "many from among the sleepers, these (the partakers of the first resurrection, Revelation 20) shall be unto everlasting life; but those (the rest who do not rise until after the thousand years) shall be unto shame" (1 Corinthians 15:23). The wicked too shall rise (John 5:28-29; Revelation 20:13). Essentially the same body wherewith the unbeliever sinned shall be the object of punishment (Jeremiah 2:10; Isaiah 3:9-11; Revelation 22:11-12; 2 Corinthians 5:10), "that every one may receive the things done by the instrumentality of ('dia ') the body." Self consciousness witnesses the identity between the body of the infant and full grown man, though that identity does not consist in the sameness of the particles which compose the body at different stages. </p> <p> Possibly there is some indestructible material germ at the basis of identity between the natural (psychic, i.e. soulish or animal) body and the resurrection body which 1 Corinthians 15:44-45 call a "spirit-animated body," in contrast to the "natural." "Christ will transfigure our body of humiliation (2 Corinthians 4:10; 2 Timothy 2:11-12; 'not vile, nothing that He made is vile:' Whately on his death bed), that it may be conformed unto the body of His glory" (Philippians 3:21). The mere animal functions of flesh and blood shall no longer be needed they do not marry, but are equal to the angels (Luke 20:35-36; 1 Corinthians 6:13; 1 Corinthians 15:35-57; 1 Peter 1:3-4) The time is fixed for the Lord's coming (Colossians 3:4; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; Revelation 20). (See REGENERATION.) </p>

<div> 1: Ἀνάστασις (Strong'S #386 — Noun [[Feminine]] — anastasis — an-as'-tas-is ) </div> <p> denotes (I) "a raising up," or "rising" (ana, "up," and histemi, "to cause to stand"), Luke 2:34 , "the rising up;" the AV "again" obscures the meaning; the Child would be like a stone against which many in Israel would stumble while many others would find in its strength and firmness a means of their salvation and spiritual life; (II) of "resurrection" from the dead, (a) of Christ, Acts 1:22; 2:31; 4:33; Romans 1:4; 6:5; Philippians 3:10; 1 Peter 1:3; 3:21; by metonymy, of Christ as the Author of "resurrection," John 11:25; (b) of those who are Christ's at His Parousia (see COMING), Luke 14:14 , "the resurrection of the just;" Luke 20:33,35,36; John 5:29 (1st part), "the resurrection of life;" John 11:24; Acts 23:6; 24:15 (1st part); 1 Corinthians 15:21,42; 2 Timothy 2:18; Hebrews 11:35 (2nd part), see [[Raise]] , Note (3); Revelation 20:5 , "the first resurrection;" hence the insertion of "is" stands for the completion of this "resurrection," of which Christ was "the firstfruits;" Revelation 20:6; (c) of "the rest of the dead," after the [[Millennium]] (cp. Revelation 20:5 ); John 5:29 (2nd part), "the resurrection of judgment;" Acts 24:15 (2nd part), "of the unjust;" (d) of those who were raised in more immediate connection with Christ's "resurrection," and thus had part already in the first "resurrection," Acts 26:23; Romans 1:4 (in each of which "dead" is plural; see Matthew 27:52 ); (e) of the "resurrection" spoken of in general terms, Matthew 22:23; Mark 12:18; Luke 20:27; Acts 4:2; 17:18; 23:8; 24:21; 1 Corinthians 15:12,13; Hebrews 6:2; (f) of those who were raised in OT times, to die again, Hebrews 11:35 (1st part), lit., "out of resurrection." </p> <div> 2: Ἐξανάστασις (Strong'S #1815 — Noun Feminine — exanastasis — ex-an-as'-tas-is ) </div> <p> ek, "from" or "out of," and No. 1, Philippians 3:11 , followed by ek, lit., "the out-resurrection from among the dead." For the significance of this see [[Attain]] , No. 1. </p> <div> 3: Ἔγερσις (Strong'S #1454 — Noun Feminine — egersis — eg'-er-sis ) </div> <p> "a rousing" (akin to egeiro, "to arouse, to raise"), is used of the "resurrection" of Christ, in Matthew 27:53 . </p>

<p> This may be said to be the fundamental principle of God's dealings with man in grace, seeing that man is through sin under the judgement of death. The expression, 'The general resurrection' is found in works on theology, and is explained as meaning that the dead will all be raised at the same time; but this idea is not found in scripture. The Lord speaks of a resurrection unto life. "The dead <i> in Christ </i> " will be raised at the coming of the Lord Jesus, 1 Thessalonians 4:16; and John speaks of the <i> first </i> resurrection, and adds that "the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." Revelation 20:5,6 . The term 'first' designates rather the <i> character </i> than the time of the resurrection, it will evidently include only the saved; 'the rest' being simply raised for judgement. </p> <p> It will be seen in Romans 8:11 , that the resurrection of believers is of a wholly different order from that of the wicked: the saints will be quickened by, or on account of, God's Spirit that dwells in them, which certainly could not be said of the unconverted. The resurrection of the saints is also distinguished from that of the wicked in being, like that of the Lord and of Lazarus, 'out from among (ἐκ) the dead.' Mark 12:25 . It was the earnest desire of Paul to attain this. Philippians 3:11 (see Greek) </p> <p> The resurrection condition is in the strongest contrast to that after the flesh. That which springs from the seed sown in the ground appears very different in form from the seed sown, though absorbing the substance of the seed. 1 Corinthians 15 refers only to the resurrection of the saints, as may be seen in 1 Corinthians 15:23,24 . There were those at [[Corinth]] who said that there was no resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:12 ); and on the other hand it appears from 2 Timothy 2:18 , some held that the resurrection had already past, that they had in fact reached a final condition! </p> <p> Few distinct intimations of the resurrection are found in the O.T., though the idea of it underlies all the teaching. Job may perhaps have learnt it (Job 19:25-27 ), and when the Lord rebuked the Sadducees He taught that resurrection could be gathered inferentially from God speaking of Himself as the God of Abraham, [[Isaac]] and Jacob long after they were dead. He is God of the living, not of the dead. Mark 12:26,27 . Martha spoke of the resurrection as a matter of common orthodox belief, John 11:24; which is also implied in its being said that the Sadducees did <i> not </i> believe in it. </p> <p> Isaiah 26:19; Ezekiel 37:1-14; and Daniel 12:2 , are often quoted as testimony to resurrection; but these passages are figurative and refer to Israel being raised up as from their national decease (the consequence of their departure from the Lord, Isaiah 1:1-4 ), when God will again bless them on the earth. It is an important fact, however, that the figure of resurrection is used. </p>

<p> A rising again from the state of the dead; generally applied to the resurrection of the last day. This doctrine is argued, </p> <p> 1. From the resurrection of Christ, 1 Corinthians 15:1-58 : </p> <p> 2. From the doctrines of grace, as union, election, redemption, &c. </p> <p> 3. From Scripture testimonies, Matthew 22:23 , &c. Job 19:25; Job 19:27 . Isaiah 26:19 . Philippians 2:20 . 1 Corinthians 15:1-58 : Song of Solomon 12: 2. 1 Thessalonians 4:14 . Revelation 20:13 . </p> <p> 4. From the general judgment, which of course requires it. As to the nature of this resurrection, it will be, </p> <p> 1. General. Revelation 20:12; Revelation 20:15 . 2 Corinthians 5:10 . </p> <p> 2. Of the same body. It is true, indeed, that the body has not always the same particles, which are continually changing, but it has always the same constituent parts, which proves its identity; it is the same body that is born that dies, and the same body that dies that shall rise again; so that Mr. Locke's objection to the idea of the same body is a mere quibble. </p> <p> 3. The resurrection will be at the command of Christ, and by his power, John 5:28-29 . </p> <p> 4. Perhaps as to the manner it will be successive; the dead in Christ rising first, 1 Corinthians 15:23 . 1 Thessalonians 4:16 . This doctrine is of great use and importance. It is one of the first principles of the doctrine of Christ; the whole Gospel stands or falls with it. It serves to enlarge our views of the divine perfections. It encourages our faith and trust in God under all the difficulties of life. It has a tendency to regulate all our affections and moderate out desires after earthly things. It supports the saints under the loss of near relations, and enables them to rejoice in the glorious prospect set before them. </p> <p> See Hody on the Resurrection; Pearson on the Creed; [[Lame]] Street Lect. ser. 10; Watt's Ontology; Young's Last Day; Locke on the Understanding, 50: 2: 100: 27; Warburton's Legation of Moses, vol. 2: p. 553, &c; [[Bishop]] Newton's Works, vol. 3: p. 676, 683. </p>

<p> The doctrine of the resurrection is full of joy to the bereaved. It clothes the grave with flowers, and wreathes the tomb with unfading laurel. The sepulchre shines with alight brighter than the sun, and death grows fair, as we say, in full assurance of faith, 'I know that my brother shall rise again.' [[Rent]] from the ignoble shell the pearl is gone to deck the crown of the Prince of Peace; buried beneath the sod the seed is preparing to bloom in the King's garden. Altering a word or two of Beattie's verse we may even now find ourselves singing: </p> <p> 'Tis night and the landscape is lovely no more: Yet ye beautiful woodlands I mourn not for you; </p> <p> For morn is approaching your charms to restore, [[Perfumed]] with fresh fragrance, and glittering with dew: Nor yet for the ravage of winter I mourn; [[Kind]] nature the embryo blossom will save; The spring shall yet visit the mouldering urn; The day shall yet dawn on the night of the grave.' </p>

<p> (1): (n.) A rising again; the resumption of vigor. </p> <p> (2): (n.) The cause or exemplar of a rising from the dead. </p> <p> (3): (n.) State of being risen from the dead; future state. </p> <p> (4): (n.) Especially, the rising again from the dead; the resumption of life by the dead; as, the resurrection of Jesus Christ; the general resurrection of all the dead at the Day of Judgment. </p>

<p> RESURREC'TION, n. s as z. L. resurrectus, resurgo re and surgo, to rise. </p> <p> A rising again chiefly, the revival of the dead of the human race, or their return from the grave, particularly at the general judgment. By the resurrection of Christ we have assurance of the future resurrection of men. 1 Peter 1 . </p> <p> In the resurrection, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage. Matthew 22 . </p>

<p> (ἀνάστασις ) OF THE BODY, the revivification of the human body after it has been forsaken by the soul, or the reunion of the soul hereafter to the body which it had occupied in the present world. This is one of the essential points in the creed of Christendom. </p> <p> I. History of the Doctrine. — It is admitted that there are no traces of such a belief in the earlier Hebrew Scripture. It is not to be found in the Pentateuch, in the historical books, or in the Psalms; for Psalms 49:15 does not relate to this subject; neither does Psalms 104:29-30, although so cited by [[Theodoret]] and others. The celebrated passage of Job 19:25 sq. has indeed been strongly insisted upon in proof of the early belief in this doctrine; but the most learned commentators are agreed, and scarcely any one at the present day disputes, that such a view of the text arises either from mistranslation or misapprehension, and that Job means no more than to express a confident conviction that his then diseased and dreadfully corrupted body should be restored to its former soundness; that he should rise from the depressed state in which he lay to his former prosperity; and that God would manifestly appear (as was the case) to vindicate his uprightness. Thatno meaning more recondite is to be found in the text is agreed by Calvin, Mercier, Grotius, Le Clerc, Patrick, Warburton, Durell, Heath, Kennicott, Doderlein, Dathe, Eichhorn, Jahn, De Wette, and a host of others. That it alludes to a resurrection is disproved thus: </p> <p> 1. The supposition is inconsistent with the design of the poem and the course of the argument, since the belief which it has been supposed to express, as connected with a future state of retribution, would in a great degree have solved the difficulty on which the whole dispute turns, and could not but have been often alluded to by the speakers. </p> <p> 2. It is inconsistent with the connection of the discourse; the reply of [[Zophar]] agreeing, not with the popular interpretation, but with the other. </p> <p> 3. It is inconsistent with many passages in which the same person (Job) longs for death as the end of his miseries, and not as the introduction to a better life (Job 3; Job 7:7-8; Job 10:20-22; Job 19; Job 17:11-16). </p> <p> 4. It is not proposed as a topic of consolation by any of the friends of Job; nor by Elihu, who acts as a sort of umpire; nor by the Almighty himself in the decision of the controversy. </p> <p> 5. The later Jews, who eagerly sought for every intimation bearing on a future life which their Scriptures might contain, never regarded this as such; nor is it once referred to by Christ or his apostles. </p> <p> 6. The language, when exactly rendered, contains no warrant for such an interpretation; especially the phrase "yet in my flesh shall I see God," which should rather be rendered "out of my flesh." (See [[Book Of Job]]). </p> <p> Isaiah may be regarded as the first Scripture writer in whom such an allusion can be traced. He compares the restoration of the Jewish people and state to a resurrection from the dead (Isaiah 26:19-20); and in this he is followed by Ezekiel at the time of the exile (ch. 37). From these passages, which are, however, not very clear in their intimations, it may seem that in this, as in other matters, the twilight of spiritual manifestations brightened as the day-spring from on high approached; and in Daniel 12:2 we at length arrive at a clear and unequivocal declaration that those who lie sleeping under the earth shall awake, some to eternal life, and others to everlasting shame and contempt. </p> <p> In the time of Christ, the belief of a resurrection, in connection with a state of future retribution, was held by the Pharisees and the great body of the Jewish people, and was only disputed by the Sadducees. Indeed, they seem to have regarded the future life as incomplete without the body; and so intimately were the two things-the future existence of the soul and the resurrection of the body-connected in their minds that any argument which, proved the former they considered as proving the latter also (see Matthew 22:31; 1 Corinthians 15:32). This belief, however, led their coarse minds into gross and sensuous conceptions of the future state, although there were many among the Pharisees who taught that the future body would be so refined as not to need the indulgences which were necessary in the present life; and they assented to our Lord's assertion that the risen saints would not marry, but would be as the angels of God (Matthew 22:30; comp. Luke 20:39). So Paul, in 1 Corinthians 6:13, is conceived to intimate that the necessity of food for subsistence will be abolished in the world to come. </p> <p> In further proof of the commonness of a belief in the resurrection among the Jews of the time of Christ, see Matthew 22; Luke 20; John 11:24; Acts 23:6-8. Josephus is not to be relied upon in the account which he gives of the belief of his countrymen (Ant. 18:2; War, ii, 7), as he appears to use terms which might suggest one thing to his Jewish readers and another to the [[Greeks]] and Romans, who scouted the idea of a resurrection. It is clearly taught in the Apocryphal books of the Old Test. (Wisdom of Solomon 3:1, etc.; 4:15; 2 Maccabees 7:14; 2 Maccabees 7:23; 2 Maccabees 7:29, etc.). — Many Jews believed that the wicked would not be raised from the dead; but the contrary was the more prevailing opinion, in which Paul once took occasion to express his concurrence with the Pharisees (Acts 24:15). </p> <p> But although the doctrine of the resurrection was thus prevalent among the Jews in the time of Christ, it might still have been doubtful and obscure to us had not Christ given to it the sanction of his authority, and declared it a constituent part of his religion (e.g. Matthew 22; John 5:8; John 5:11). He and his apostles also, were careful to correct the erroneous notions which the Jews entertained on this head, and to make the subject more obvious and intelligible than it had ever been before. A special interest is also imparted to the subject from the manner in which the New Test. represents Christ as the person to whom we are indebted for this benefit, which, by every variety of argument and illustration, the apostles connect with him, and make to rest upon him (Acts 4:2; Acts 26:3; 1 Corinthians 15; 1 Thessalonians 4:14, etc.). </p> <p> II. Scripture Details. — The principal points which can be collected from the New Test. on this subject are the following: </p> <p> 1. The raising of the dead is everywhere ascribed to Christ, and is represented as the last work to be undertaken by him for the salvation of man (John 5:21; John 11:25; 1 Corinthians 15:22 sq.; 1 Thessalonians 4:15; Revelation 1:18). </p> <p> 2. All the dead will be raised, without respect to age, rank, or character in this world (John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15; 1 Corinthians 15:22). </p> <p> 3. This event is to take place not before the end of the world, or the general judgment (John 5:21; John 6:39-40; John 11:24; 1 Corinthians 15:22-28; 1 Thessalonians 4:15; Revelation 20:11). </p> <p> 4. The manner in which this marvellous change shall be accomplished is necessarily beyond our present comprehension, and therefore the Scripture is content to illustrate it by figurative representations, or by proving the possibility and intelligibility of the leading facts. Some of the figurative descriptions occur in Matthew 24; John 5; 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; Philippians 3:21. The image of a trumpet-call, which is repeated in some of these texts, is derived from the Jewish custom of convening assemblies by sound of trumpet. </p> <p> 5. The possibility of a resurrection is powerfully argued by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:32 sq., by comparing it with events of common occurrence in the natural world. (See also 1 Corinthians 15:12-14; and comp. Acts 4:2.) — Kitto. </p> <p> 6. The numerous instances of an actual raising of individuals to life by our Lord and his apostles, not to speak of a few similar acts by the Old Test. prophets, and especially the crowning fact of our Lord's resurrection from the grave, afford some light on these particulars. (See below.): </p> <p> 7. The fact of the general judgment (q.v.) is conclusive as to the literal truth of this great doctrine. </p> <p> But although this body shall be so raised as to preserve its identity, it must yet undergo certain purifying changes to fit it for the kingdom of heaven, and to render it capable of immortality (1 Corinthians 15:35 sq.), so that it shall become a glorified body like that of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:49; Romans 6:9; Philippians 3:21); and the bodies of those whom the last day finds alive will undergo a similar change without tasting death (1 Corinthians 15:51; 1 Corinthians 15:53; 2 Corinthians 5:4; 1 Thessalonians 4:15 sq.; Philippians 3:21). </p> <p> III. Theories on the Subject, — Whether the soul, between the death and the resurrection of the present body, exists independent of any envelope, we know not. Though it may be that a union of spirit with body is the general law of all created spiritual life, still this view gives no countenance to the notions of those who have attempted to prove, from certain physiological opinions respecting the renewal — every few years — of the human frame during life, and the final transmission of its decomposed elements into other forms of being, that the resurrection of the body is impossible. The apostle asserts the fact that the "dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed; for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality" (1 Corinthians 15:35-53). While this passage affirms the identity of the body before and after the resurrection, it by no means affirms the identity of the constituent particles of which the body is, at different periods, supposed to be made up. The particles of a man's body may change several times betiween infancy and old age; and yet, according to our ideas of bodily identity, the man has had all the time "the same body." So also all the particles may be changed again between the process of death and the resurrection, and the body yet retain its identity (see the Bibliothec Sacra, 2, 613 sq.). Doubtless the future body will be incorruptible, infrangible, and capable of being moved at will to any part of the universe. The highest and most lengthened exercises of thought and feeling will doubtless not occasion exhaustion or languor so as to divert in any way the intellect and the affections from the engagements suited to their strength and perfection (see the Brit. and For. Evang. Rev. April, 1862). But that there is no analogy — that the new body will have no connection with, and no relation to, the old; and that, in fact, the resurrection of the body is not a doctrine of Scripture — does not appear to us to have been satisfactorily proved by the latest writer on the subject (Bush, Annistasis,.N. Y. 1845); and we think so highly of his ingenuity and talent as to believe that no one else is likely to succeed in an argument in which he has failed. </p> <p> Among the speculations propounded as a solution of the problem of the resurrection, the most ingenious, perhaps, as well as fascinating, is the germ theory, which assumes that the soul at death retains a certain ethereal investiture, alndthat this ha's, by virtue of the vital force, the power of accreting to itself a new body for the celestial life. This is substantially the Swedenborgian view as advocated by the late Prof. Bush, and has recently received the powerful support of Mr. [[Joseph]] Cook in his popular lectures. It is thought to be countenanced especially by Paul's language (1 Corinthians 15) concerning the "spiritual body" of the future state (1 Corinthians 15:4), and his figure of the renewed grain (1 Corinthians 15:37). This explanation, however, is beset with many insuperable difficulties. </p> <p> (a.) The apostle's distinction between the psychical (ψυχικόν, "natural") and thepneumatical (πνευματικόν , "spiritual") in that passage is not of material (φυσικόν, physical) as opposed to immaterial or disembodied; for both are equally called body (σῶμα, actual and tangible substance), such as we know our Lord's resurrection body was composed of (Luke 24:39). It is merely, as the whole context shows ("corruptible- incorruptible," "mortal-immortal," etc.), the difference between the feeble, decaying body of this life in its present normal state, and the glorious, fadeless frame of the future world in its transcendent condition hereafter; in short, its aspect as known to us here from natural phenomena, and its prospect as revealed to us in Scripture. This appears from the contrasted use of these terms in another part of the same epistle (1 Corinthians 2:14-15) to denote the unregenerate as opposed to the regenerate heart, the former being its usual or depraved, and the latter its transformed or gracious, state. </p> <p> (b.) In like manner the apostle's figure of grain as sown, while it admirably illustrates, in a general way, the possibility of changes in the natural world as great as that which will take place in the resurrection body, yet — like all other metaphors — was never intended to teach the precise mode of that transformation, and accordingly it fails in several essential particulars to correspond to the revival of the body from the grave. 1. The seed never actually dies, nor any part of it. It is the germ alone that possesses vitality, and this simply expands and develops, gathering to itself the material of the rest of the seed, which undergoes chemical and vital changes fitting it for nutriment until the young plant attains roots and leaves wherewith to imbibe nourishment from the outer world. This whole process is as truly a growth as that anywhere found in nature; it is, in fact, essentially the same as takes place in the hatching of an egg or the gestation of an animal. 2. The real identity of the original plant or seed and its successor or the crop is lost in this transmutation, as the apostle himself intimates (v. 37). It is, in fact, the reproduction of another but similar thing rather than the continuation or renewal of the: same. The old plant, indeed, perishes, but it never revives. The seed is its offspring, and thus only represents its parent. Nor is the new plant anything more than a lineal descendant of the old one. We must not confound the resurrection with mere propagation. The young plant may, we admit, in one sense be said to be identical with the germ sown, notwithstanding the great change which it takes on in the process of growth; and this is the precise point of the apostle's simile. But we must not press his figure into a literal strictness when comparing things so radically different as the burial of a corpse and the planting of grain. The principle of life is continuous in the latter; but this is not a distinct substance, like the soul; it is merely a property of matter, and in the case of the body must cease with physical dissolution. </p> <p> (c.) We would ask those who maintain this theory a simple question: Is the so-called germ or "enswathement" which is supposed to survive, escape, or be eliminated from the body at death is it matter or is it spirit? We presume all will admit that there are but these two essential kinds of substance. Which of these, then, is it? It must, of course, belong to the former category. Then the body does not actually and entirely die! But this contradicts all the known phenomena in the case. The whole theory under discussion is not only a pure begging of the question really at issue, but it is improbable and inconsistent. There is absolutely not the slightest particle of scientific or historical evidence that the body leaves a vital residuum in dissolution, or evolves at death an ethereal frame that survives it in any physical sense whatever as a representation. We remand all such hypotheses to the realm of ghostland and "spiritualism." </p> <p> (d.) In the case of the resurrection of the body of Jesus, which is the type of the general resurrection, and the only definite instance on record, it is certain that this theory will not apply. Not, only is no countenance given to it by the language of Holy Scripture concerning the agency which effected that resuscitation, viz. the direct and miraculous power of the Holy Spirit, but the circumstances obviously exclude such a process. There, was the defunct person, entire except that the spark of life had fled. If it be said that there still lingered about it some vital germ that was the nucleus around which reanimation gathered, what is this but to deny that Jesus was ttuly and effectually dead? Then thie whole doctrine of the atonement is endangered. In plain English, he was merely in a swoon, as the Rationalists assert. It may be replied, indeed, that the revivification of our Lord's body, which had not yet decomposed, of course differed in some important respects from that of the bodies of the saints whose elements will have dissolved to dust. But on the ordinary view the two agree in the essential point, viz. an actual and full return to life after total and absolute extinction of it; whereas under the theory in question one main element of this position is denied. It matters little how long the body has been dead, or to what extent disorganization has taken place — whether but a few hours, as in the case of the son of the widow of Nain; or four days, as in that of Lazarus; or thousands of years, as in thatof the saints at the final judgment. It is equally a resurrection if life have utterly left the physical organism, and not otherwise. We conclude, therefore, that there is no scriptural, consistent, or intelligible view except the one commonly entertained by Christians on this subject, viz. that the pure and immaterial soul alone survives the dissolution of the body, and that at the last day almighty power will clothe this afresh with a corporeal frame suitable to its enlarged and completely developed faculties, and that the identity of the latter will consist, not so much, if at all, in the reassemblage of the individual particles of which its old partner was composed, much less of some subtle and continuous tertium quid that emerged from the decaying substance and reconstructs a new physical home for itself, but in the similar combination of similar matter, similarly united with the same immortal spirit, and with it glorified by some such inscrutable change as took place in our Saviour's body at the transfiguration, and as still characterized it when preternaturally beheld by [[Saul]] on his way to Damascus. </p> <p> IV. Literature. — This is very copious (see a list of works on the subject in the appendix to Alger's Doctrine of a Future Life, Nos. 2929-3181). We here mention only a few of the most important: Knapp, Christian Theology, translated by Leonard Woods, D.D., § 151-153; Hody, On the Resurrection; Drew, [[Essay]] on the Resurrection of the Human. Body; Burnet, State of the Dead; Schott, Dissert. de Resurrect. Corporis, adv. S. Burnetumn (1763); Teller, Fides Dogmat. de Resurr. Carnis (1766); Mosheim, De Christ. Resurr. Mort., etc., in Dissertatt. ii, 526 sq.; Dassov, Diatr. gua Judceor. de Resurr. Mort. Sentent. ex Plur. Rabbinis (1675); Neander, All. Geschichte, etc., I, 3:1088,1096; II, 3:1404-1410; Zehrt, Ueber d. Auferstehung d. Todten (1835); Hodgson, Res. of Hum. Body (Lond. 1853). (See [[Resurrection Of Christ]]). </p>