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WHAT
PRESBYTERIANS BELIEVE
ABOUT RESURRECTION |
What
is resurrection?
In
the literal meaning of the word, “resurrection” is
that state of a dead person returning to corporeal or
bodily life. In a religious context, resurrection is
a concept which is associated with belief in eternal life.
This understanding of resurrection is such that the dead
do not return to life and live for awhile before dying
once again; but that those who are raised from death are
raised to life from which they will never die again.
In some ancient cultures (like the ancient Egyptians),
belief in resurrection applied to the death only of
monarchs who were resurrected as gods (or to the death of
monarchs who were considered gods during their reign and
who were resurrected to reign beyond this world).
Belief in a personal resurrection of each human being was
a concept first held in post-exilic Judaism.
In a Christian context, belief in a personal resurrection
is not founded so much on Jewish influence, but is founded
more so on the belief that resurrection has already
occurred in the person of Jesus Christ. |
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What
is the resurrection of Christ?
If
there is any one doctrine which defines Christianity, it
most certainly is the doctrine of the resurrection of
Jesus Christ. That God the Father raised from the
dead the crucified Jesus is central to the faith of every
Christian. Indeed, there is no Christianity without
the resurrection of Christ. As the apostle Paul
writes:
“For
I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn
had received: that Christ died for sins in accordance with
the scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was
raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures
. . .. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is
futile and you are still in your sins.”
(1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 17)
God raised Jesus Christ from death. Christ did not,
and could not, raise Himself from the dead. He could
not raise Himself from the dead because He was dead.
We believe that God raised this same Jesus from death, not
as a reward for good works, but as an affirmation that the
life of trust and obedience lived by Christ is the life
which God intends for all of humanity. In raising
Jesus from death, God is proclaiming to us His love and
that He will not allow sin and death to separate us from
His love.
For our part, we are to respond to God’s proclamation of
love for us by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. |
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How
do we know that the resurrection of Christ actually
happened?
Doubt
about the resurrection of Jesus Christ is no new issue.
In his letter to the church at Corinth, the apostle Paul acknowledges this doubt as early as the
first century of Christianity.
“Now
if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can
some say there is no resurrection of the dead? If
there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not
been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our
proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in
vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God,
because we testified of God that He raised Christ—Whom
He did not raise if it is true that the dead are not
raised. For, if the dead are not raised, then Christ
has not been raised.” (1
Corinthians 15:12-16)
For as long as Christians have been proclaiming that Jesus
Christ has been raised from the dead, there have been
skeptics who call for proof of such a claim.
The appeal to Scripture as evidence does not provide proof
to the skeptics. Indeed, the appeal to Scripture
often gives the skeptic more reasons for skepticism.
The accounts of the resurrection of Christ in the four
gospels do not agree with one another. They differ
with regard to when the risen Christ first appeared and to
whom. They do not agree in the details, such as the
number of angels at the empty tomb, or where those angels
were.
Of course, all four gospels do agree that the tomb was
empty. The empty tomb is often presented as evidence
of the resurrection.
Yet, the empty tomb does not prove the Christian claim of
Jesus being raised from the dead. The skeptic can
rationalize the empty tomb by claiming that someone could
have moved the body, or that Jesus was not really
dead—merely comatose.
The arguments which the skeptics have to their advantage
is that medical science and personal experience teaches us
that death is permanent—that dead persons stay dead.
Now even if modern science could account for resurrection,
and even if modern medicine could confirm that Jesus was
truly dead, but is now alive, these would not prove the
Christian teaching about the resurrection. Neither
Scripture, nor the empty tomb, nor modern science can
prove that Jesus Christ was raised from death by God the
Father. None of these things can prove that the
resurrection of Jesus Christ destroys the power of sin or
insures the resurrection of God’s people.
Presbyterians believe that when we proclaim the
resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are not offering proof
against doubt. Rather, we are making an affirmation
of faith. We are not saying that we believe in
something which we know is scientifically untrue.
Rather, we are claiming that Christ’s resurrection is
God’s affirmation to us that Christ’s life of
faithfulness and love for God is the life which He intends
for all of humanity. We are claiming to trust in
God’s unmerited love for us.
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What
is the nature of Christ’s resurrection?
When
Christians speak of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we
are not speaking of the resurrection in any figurative or
metaphorical way. We are not saying that Christ
lives on merely in our hearts or in our memories (although
we do
acknowledge that He most certainly does abide in our
hearts and minds). Rather, we are speaking of the
resurrection of Christ as a returning to life of a real
person—the resurrection of a living human being.
We are speaking of a resurrection of the body.
It is indeed true that the Biblical accounts report
strange and bewildering encounters between the resurrected
Jesus and His disciples. In the Gospel according to
Luke, after His resurrection, Jesus was unrecognizable to
His followers (Luke
23:13
-16). Also, Jesus vanishes and appears right before
His disciples such that they thought they were seeing a
ghost (Luke
23:28
-37).
As strange as these accounts might seem, the writers of
the Gospels are quite intentional in their witness to the
tangible reality of Christ’s resurrection. He
showed the disciples the wounds from His crucifixion, He
let them touch Him, and He even ate with them—all these
things He did to demonstrate that He is a real person.
The risen Jesus is a living human being and not a ghost.
[Jesus]
said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts
arise in your hearts? Look at My hands and My feet;
see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a
ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I
have.” And when He had said this He showed them
His hands and His feet. While in their joy they were
disbelieving and still wondering, He said to them, “Have
you anything to eat?” They gave Him a piece of
broiled fish, and He took it and ate it in their presence.
(Luke 23:38-43)
Now, we Presbyterians do not pretend to understand the
nature of Christ’s resurrected body—a body which seems
quite different than any other physical body with which we
are familiar. But whatever be the nature of the
resurrection of Jesus Christ, we believe that His
resurrection is a resurrection of His body. |
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What
is the resurrection of the body?
Presbyterians,
like many Christians, reaffirm our faith by saying the
Apostles’ Creed. Among its affirmations is the
statement, “I believe in the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting” (Apostles’ Creed).
Now, when we say that we believe in resurrection of the
body, we are not talking about the resurrection of
Christ’s body (although we do
affirm our faith in Christ’s bodily resurrection).
Rather, we are expressing our Christian hope in our own
bodily resurrection. We are affirming our faith that
God will raise the bodies of all those who are reconciled
to God through Christ.
Many persons (even many Christians), upon hearing this
talk about the resurrection of the body, become concerned
about this Christian affirmation. In claiming to
believe in the resurrection of the body, are Presbyterians
saying that God will resuscitate or reanimate dead,
decaying bodies—bodies which have long since decomposed
and returned to the dust of the earth? Will God
revive us in the very physical bodies with which we
originally died? Will God resurrect us into the same
physical bodies which will once again decay and perish as
they did before (as do all physical bodies according to
the laws of physics)?
To these questions, we Presbyterians must say “No.”
We believe that the resurrection of the body is a
resurrection of a body quite different from the one which
we have in this life. The apostle Paul speaks of the
resurrected body as a spiritual body.
But
someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With
what kind of body do they come?” What you sow does
not come to life unless it dies. And as for what you
sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare
seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. So it
is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown
is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is
sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown
in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a
physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If
there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body.
(1 Corinthians 15:35-37, 42-44)
So, what does Paul mean when he speaks about a spiritual
body? Unfortunately, Paul does not say much else
about spiritual bodies. We might speculate as to
what he means, but it would be nothing more than
speculation. However, there are two things which we
can say. First, a spiritual body is spiritual—it
is not physical. Whereas a physical body is
perishable (that is, prone to death and decay), a
spiritual body is imperishable—it cannot degenerate or
die. Thus, the resurrection of a spiritual
body means a resurrection to eternal life.
Second, a spiritual body is a body—a
distinct human being. For the ancient Greeks, human
beings were souls who were contained in bodies—human
beings were actually souls whose bodies were incidental
and dispensable. But, for Paul (and for other
Biblical writers), human beings were living
bodies—having a body is significant and indispensable to
being human. A body distinguishes a person from the
rest of God’s creation—a body makes someone a distinct
person. A body is what makes someone a “self.”
Thus, when one is raised from death to a spiritual body,
that one is raised, not as someone different, but as
one’s own self. Indeed, to be reconciled to
God—to be returned to a righteous relationship with Him
through Christ—is to be raised as oneself for the sake
of that righteous relationship. (After all, if you
are not yourself in the resurrection, then with whom does
God have this reconciled relationship?)
So, what is the resurrection of the body? Perhaps
our understanding of the Christian hope in the
resurrection is best expressed in the resurrection of
Jesus Christ Himself. Of Christ, the letter to the
Ephesians says that “He is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, so that He might come to have first place
in everything” (Ephesians 1:18b). Although we may
not now comprehend the true nature of Christ’s
resurrection, nor the full nature of spiritual bodies,
Presbyterians believe that our resurrection will be like
the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
See
what love the Father has given us, that we should be
called children of God; and that is what we are. The
reason the world does not know us is that it did not know
Him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we
will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know
is this: when He [Christ] is revealed, we will be like
Him, for we will see Him as He is.
(1 John 3:1-2) |
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Is
resurrection the same thing as immortality?
To
understand the Christian concept of resurrection, one must
understand what resurrection is not.
Resurrection should not be confused with another religious
concept associated with eternal life—immortality.
Although both resurrection and immortality are religious
concepts, and both involve belief in eternal life, the two
concepts are quite different. Immortality is the
concept that a person has eternal life in that the soul of
that person never dies—that the soul is “immortal.”
Resurrection, on the other hand, is the concept that a
person, having already died, returns to bodily life—it
is the concept that a dead person is raised from death.
As the teachings of and about Jesus Christ began to spread
from their origins in
Palestine
into the Hellenistic world, the message of resurrection
encountered the Greek idea of the immortality of the soul.
And, although “immortality of the soul” and
“resurrection of the body” are historically
conflicting concepts, early Christians often merged the
two into one concept of eternal life.
This notion of the immortality of the human soul had so
permeated Christian theology that even the historical
confessions of the reformed tradition reflect this belief.
The
bodies of men, after death, return to dust, and see
corruption; but their souls (which neither die nor sleep),
having an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God
who gave them. The souls of the righteous, being
then made perfect in holiness, are received into the
highest heavens, where they behold the face of God in
light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their
bodies. (The Westminster
Confession of Faith; chapter 34)
The first problem with this notion is that nowhere in the
Scriptures is there any reference to the separation of
bodies from souls, even for a brief time. The
Biblical witness never divides human beings into mortal
and immortal parts. It never distinguishes between
mortal bodies and immortal souls [although Paul does
distinguish between the mortality of physical bodies and
the immortality of spiritual bodies (1 Corinthians 15:44,
53)].
The second problem with this notion is that nowhere in the
Scriptures is there any reference to the immortality of
disembodied souls. In fact, the only time that the
New Testament mentions “immortality” (αθανασία;
athanasia)
is when it is used to describe God (1 Timothy 6:16) or to
describe our resurrected, spiritual bodies (1 Corinthians
15:53-54). “Immortality” is never used
Biblically to describe our souls.
Like many Christians, Presbyterians believe that the
eternal life which we share with our Lord Jesus Christ
does not involve the division of body and soul.
Immortality is not an intrinsic quality of the human soul.
Rather, immortality (as a gift from God) is the quality of
ourselves as spiritual bodies—as those whom God raises
us from death. |
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So,
when are the dead raised?
Confusion
often arises when we try to discern from Scripture when
this resurrection from the dead is to occur—confusion
between the eternity of eternal life and the passing of
time in this earthly life.
There are some passages of Scripture which describe those
who have died as being “asleep” as they await the
coming of Jesus Christ and the resurrection which
accompanies His return.
But
we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters,
about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not
grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we
believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through
Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen
asleep. For this we declare to you by the word of
the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the
coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who
have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself, with a cry
of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound
of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead
in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are
left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them
to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the
Lord forever. Therefore, encourage one another with
these words. (1 Thessalonians
4:13-18)
Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all
fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in
the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For
the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised
imperishable, and we will be changed.
(I Corinthians 15:51-52)
And
yet, there are some passages of Scripture which describe
eternal life, not as a general resurrection at the return
of Christ, but as an individual resurrection at the moment
of each person’s death.
One
of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding Him
(Jesus) and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save
yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him,
saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the
same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have
been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve
for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.”
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into
Your kingdom.” He replied, “Truly I tell you,
today you will be with me in
Paradise
.” (Luke 23:39-43)
For
to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. If I am
to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me;
and I do not know which I prefer. I am hard pressed
between the two: my desire is to depart and be with
Christ, for that is far better.
(Philippians 1:21-23)
So,
when are the dead raised? The passages of Scripture
which speak to this question are not so much of a problem
when one realizes that there is actually a problem with
the question. The question, “When
are the dead raised?” is a temporal question—it is an
inquiry about time. The question is being asked by
those of us who are living—those of us who live through
the passing of time. But, time (and its passing from
the past, through the present, into the future) is not a
matter for death, for resurrection, and for God.
Those persons who have died are beyond the concerns of
passing time. For them, time and its passing
consequences of degeneration, corruption, and suffering
are no longer reckoned. For them (as it is with
God), all of the past, present, and future are an eternal
instant. As we read in the psalms:
You
turn us back to dust, and say, “Turn back, you
mortals.” For a thousand years in Your sight are
like yesterday when it is past, or like a watch in the
night. (Psalm 90:3-4)
When
Scripture speaks about Christ’s return, it is referring
to a time when all of God’s people (past, present, and
future) are restored to God. It refers to a time
when we who are alive will know the grace of not only
abiding eternally with God, but also abiding eternally in
the fellowship of all of God’s people—in the communion
of saints.
So, when are the dead raised? For Presbyterians,
this question doesn’t matter. What does
matter is that in resurrection, “today” and
“forever” are one and the same.
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