Resurrection Of The Dead
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General resurrection or universal resurrection is the belief in a resurrection of the dead, or resurrection from the dead ( Koine: , ''anastasis onnekron''; literally: "standing up again of the dead") by which most or all people who have died would be resurrected (brought back to life). Various forms of this concept can be found in
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
, Islamic,
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
,
Samaritanism Samaritanism is the Abrahamic, monotheistic, ethnic religion of the Samaritan people, an ethnoreligious group who, alongside Jews, originate from the ancient Israelites. Its central holy text is the Samaritan Pentateuch, which Samaritans ...
and
Zoroastrian eschatology ''Frashokereti'' ( ae, 𐬟𐬭𐬀𐬴𐬋⸱𐬐𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬙𐬌 ') is the Avestan language term (corresponding to Middle Persian ''fraš(a)gird'' ) for the Zoroastrian doctrine of a final renovation of the universe, when evil will be de ...
.


Rabbinic Judaism and Samaritanism

There are three explicit examples in the Hebrew Bible of people being resurrected from the dead: * The prophet
Elijah Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My El (deity), God is Yahweh/YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías''; syr, ܐܸܠܝܼܵܐ, ''Elyāe''; Arabic language, Arabic: إلياس or إليا, ''Ilyās'' or ''Ilyā''. ) w ...
prays and God raises a young boy from death (1 Kings 17:17–24) * Elisha raises the son of the Shunammite woman (2 Kings 4:32–37); this was the very same child whose birth he previously foretold (2 Kings 4:8–16) * A dead man's body that was thrown into the dead Elisha's tomb is resurrected when the body touches Elisha's bones (2 Kings 13:21) While there was no belief in personal afterlife with reward or punishment in Judaism before 200 BC, in later
Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
and
Samaritanism Samaritanism is the Abrahamic, monotheistic, ethnic religion of the Samaritan people, an ethnoreligious group who, alongside Jews, originate from the ancient Israelites. Its central holy text is the Samaritan Pentateuch, which Samaritans ...
it is believed that the
God of Israel God of Israel may refer to: * God in Judaism, God as understood in Jewish theological discussion * Yahweh, the national god of the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah * Tetragrammaton, the four Hebrew letters YHWH as the name of God, and various ...
will one day give ''teḥiyyat ha-metim'' ("life to the dead") to the righteous during the
Messianic Age In Abrahamic religions, the Messianic Age is the future period of time on Earth in which the messiah will reign and bring universal peace and brotherhood, without any evil. Many believe that there will be such an age; some refer to it as the cons ...
, and they will live forever in the
world to come The world to come, age to come, heaven on Earth, and the Kingdom of God are eschatological phrases reflecting the belief that the current world or current age is flawed or cursed and will be replaced in the future by a better world, age, or ...
(''Olam Ha-Ba''). Jews today base this belief on the Book of Isaiah (Yeshayahu),
Book of Ezekiel The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Latter Prophets in the Tanakh and one of the major prophetic books, following Isaiah and Jeremiah. According to the book itself, it records six visions of the prophet Ezekiel, exiled in Babylon, during ...
(Yeḥez'qel), and
Book of Daniel The Book of Daniel is a 2nd-century BC biblical apocalypse with a 6th century BC setting. Ostensibly "an account of the activities and visions of Daniel, a noble Jew exiled at Babylon", it combines a prophecy of history with an eschatology ...
(Dani'el). Samaritans base it solely on a passage called the ''
Haazinu Haazinu, Ha'azinu, or Ha'Azinu ( — Hebrew for "listen" when directed to more than one person, the first word in the parashah) is the 53rd weekly Torah portion (, ''parashah'') in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the 10th in the Boo ...
'' in the
Samaritan Pentateuch The Samaritan Torah ( Samaritan Hebrew: , ''Tōrāʾ''), also called the Samaritan Pentateuch, is a text of the Torah written in the Samaritan script and used as sacred scripture by the Samaritans. It dates back to one of the ancient version ...
, since they accept only the
Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...
and reject the rest of the
Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.
Hebrew: ''Tān ...
. During the Second Temple period, Judaism developed a diversity of beliefs concerning the resurrection. The concept of resurrection of the physical body is found in 2 Maccabees, according to which it will happen through recreation of the flesh. Resurrection of the dead also appears in detail in the extra-canonical books of
Enoch Enoch () ''Henṓkh''; ar, أَخْنُوخ ', Qur'ān.html"_;"title="ommonly_in_Qur'ān">ommonly_in_Qur'ānic_literature__'_is_a_biblical_figure_and_Patriarchs_(Bible).html" "title="Qur'ānic_literature.html" ;"title="Qur'ān.html" ;"title="o ...
, in the Apocalypse of Baruch, and 2 Esdras. According to the British scholar in ancient Judaism
Philip R. Davies Philip R. Davies (1945–2018) was a British biblical scholar. He was Professor Emeritus of biblical studies at the University of Sheffield, England. In the late 1990s, he was the Director for the Centre for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls. He ...
, there is "little or no clear reference ... either to immortality or to resurrection from the dead" in the
Dead Sea scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the ...
texts. Both
Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...
and the New Testament record that the
Sadducees The Sadducees (; he, צְדוּקִים, Ṣədūqīm) were a socio- religious sect of Jewish people who were active in Judea during the Second Temple period, from the second century BCE through the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. T ...
did not believe in an
afterlife The afterlife (also referred to as life after death) is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's identity or their stream of consciousness continues to live after the death of their physical body. The surviving ess ...
, but the sources vary on the beliefs of the Pharisees. The New Testament claims that the Pharisees believed in the resurrection, but does not specify whether this included the flesh or not. According to
Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...
, who himself was a Pharisee, the Pharisees held that only the soul was immortal and the souls of good people will be reincarnated and "pass into other bodies," while "the souls of the wicked will suffer eternal punishment." Paul the Apostle, who also was a Pharisee, said that at the resurrection what is "sown as a natural body is raised a spiritual body."
Jubilees The Book of Jubilees, sometimes called Lesser Genesis (Leptogenesis), is an ancient Jewish religious work of 50 chapters (1,341 verses), considered canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as well as Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews), where it is ...
refers only to the resurrection of the soul, or to a more general idea of an immortal soul. The Second Temple Judaism tradition at
Qumran Qumran ( he, קומראן; ar, خربة قمران ') is an archaeological site in the West Bank managed by Israel's Qumran National Park. It is located on a dry marl plateau about from the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, near the Israeli ...
held that there would be a resurrection of just and unjust, but of the very good and very bad, and of Jews only. The extent of the resurrection in 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra is debated by scholars. The resurrection of the dead is a core belief in the
Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...
which was assembled in the early centuries of the Christian era. The belief in resurrection is expressed on all occasions in the
Jewish liturgy Jewish liturgy is the customary public worship of Judaism. The liturgy may include responsive reading, songs, or music, as found in the Torah and Haftorah, the Amidah, piyyutim, and Psalms. Singing or reading the Psalms has a special role in th ...
; e.g., in the morning prayer ''Elohai Neshamah'', in the '' Shemoneh 'Esreh'' and in the
funeral services A funeral director, also known as an undertaker (British English) or mortician (American English), is a professional involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks often entail the embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as w ...
. Jewish halakhic authority
Maimonides Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah ...
set down his
Thirteen Articles of Faith There is no established formulation of principles of faith that are recognized by all branches of Judaism. Central authority in Judaism is not vested in any one person or group - although the Sanhedrin, the supreme Jewish religious court, would ...
which have ever since been printed in all Rabbinic ''
Siddur A siddur ( he, סִדּוּר ; plural siddurim ) is a Jewish prayer book containing a set order of daily prayers. The word comes from the Hebrew root , meaning 'order.' Other terms for prayer books are ''tefillot'' () among Sephardi Jews, ' ...
'' (prayer books). Resurrection is the thirteenth principle: "I firmly believe that there will take place a revival of the dead at a time which will please the Creator, blessed be His name." Modern
Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...
holds belief in the resurrection of the dead to be one of the cardinal principles of
Rabbinic Judaism Rabbinic Judaism ( he, יהדות רבנית, Yahadut Rabanit), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, or Judaism espoused by the Rabbanites, has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Babylonia ...
. Harry Sysling, in his 1996 study of ''Teḥiyyat Ha-Metim'' in the Palestinian Targumim, identifies a consistent usage of the term "
second death The second death is an eschatological concept in Judaism, Christianity, and Mandaeism related to punishment after a first/initial death on Earth. Judaism Although the term is not found in the Hebrew Bible (the Canonical collection of Hebrew scri ...
" in texts from the Second Temple period and early rabbinical writings, but not in the Hebrew Bible. "Second death" is identified with judgment, followed by resurrection from ''Gehinnom'' ("
Gehenna The Valley of Hinnom ( he, , lit=Valley of the son of Hinnom, translit=Gēʾ ḇen-Hīnnōm) is a historic valley surrounding Ancient Jerusalem, Ancient Jerusalem from the west and southwest. The valley is also known by the name Gehinnom ( ...
") at the Last Day.


Christianity


Epistles

In the First Epistle to the Corinthians chapter 15, ἀνάστασις νεκρῶν is used for the resurrection of the dead. In verses 54–55, Paul the Apostle is conveyed as quoting from the
Book of Hosea The Book of Hosea ( hbo, , Sēfer Hōšēaʿ) is collected as one of the twelve minor prophets of the Nevi'im ("Prophets") in the Tanakh, and as a book in its own right in the Christian Old Testament. According to the traditional order of most Heb ...
13:14 where he speaks of the abolition of death. In the Pauline epistles of the
New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
, Paul the Apostle wrote that those who will be resurrected to eternal life will be resurrected with spiritual bodies, which are imperishable; the "flesh and blood" of natural, perishable bodies cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and, likewise, those that are corruptible will not receive incorruption (1 Corinthians 15:35–54). Even though Paul does not explicitly establish that immortality excludes physical bodies, some scholars understand that according to Paul, flesh is simply to play no part, as people are made
immortal Immortality is the ability to live forever, or eternal life. Immortal or Immortality may also refer to: Film * ''The Immortals'' (1995 film), an American crime film * ''Immortality'', an alternate title for the 1998 British film ''The Wisdom of ...
.


Gospels and Acts

The
Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and for ...
has Jesus famously teach/preach for the first time in 4:17, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matthew 6:19-21. It introduces the expression ἀναστάσεως τῶν νεκρῶν, which is used in a monologue by Jesus who speaks to the crowds about "the resurrection" called simply ῇ ἀναστάσει (Mat. 22:29–33). This type of resurrection refers to the raising up of the dead, all mankind, at the end of this present age, the general or universal resurrection. In the
canonical gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...
, the
resurrection of Jesus The resurrection of Jesus ( grc-x-biblical, ἀνάστασις τοῦ Ἰησοῦ) is the Christian belief that God raised Jesus on the third day after his crucifixion, starting – or restoring – his exalted life as Christ and Lo ...
is described as a resurrection of the flesh: from the
empty tomb The empty tomb is the Christian tradition that the tomb of Jesus was found empty on the third day after his crucifixion. All four gospels relay the story, but beyond a basic outline, they agree on little. In the original ending of the Gospel of ...
in Mark; the women embracing the feet of the resurrected Jesus in Matthew; the insistence of the resurrected Jesus in Luke that he is of "flesh and bones" and not just a spirit or ''
pneuma ''Pneuma'' () is an ancient Greek word for "breath", and in a religious context for " spirit" or "soul". It has various technical meanings for medical writers and philosophers of classical antiquity, particularly in regard to physiology, and is ...
''; to the resurrected Jesus encouraging the disciples to touch his wounds in John. In
Acts of the Apostles The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its messag ...
the expression ἀναστάσεως νεκρῶν was used by the Apostles and Paul the Apostle to defend the doctrine of the resurrection. Paul brought up the resurrection in his trial before Ananias ben Nedebaios. The expression was variously used in reference to a general resurrection (Acts 24:21) at the end of this present age (Acts 23:6, 24:15). in the
King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...
reads: "... there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust."


Nicene Creed and early Christianity

Most Christian denominations profess the Nicene Creed, which affirms the resurrection of the dead; most
English versions of the Nicene Creed in current use The Nicene Creed, composed in part and adopted at the First Council of Nicaea (325) and revised with additions by the First Council of Constantinople (381), is a creed that summarizes the orthodox faith of the Christian Church and is used in the li ...
include the phrase: "We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the
world to come The world to come, age to come, heaven on Earth, and the Kingdom of God are eschatological phrases reflecting the belief that the current world or current age is flawed or cursed and will be replaced in the future by a better world, age, or ...
." The Christian writers
Irenaeus Irenaeus (; grc-gre, Εἰρηναῖος ''Eirēnaios''; c. 130 – c. 202 AD) was a Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the dev ...
and
Justin Martyr Justin Martyr ( el, Ἰουστῖνος ὁ μάρτυς, Ioustinos ho martys; c. AD 100 – c. AD 165), also known as Justin the Philosopher, was an early Christian apologist and philosopher. Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and ...
, in the 2nd century, wrote against the idea that only the
soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
survived. (The word "soul" is unknown in the Aramaic; it entered Christian theology through the Greek.) Justin Martyr insists that a man is both soul and body and Christ has promised to raise both, just as his own body was raised. The Christian doctrine of resurrection is based on Christ's resurrection. There was no ancient Greek belief in a general resurrection of the dead. Indeed, they held that once a body had been destroyed, there was no possibility of returning to life as not even the gods could recreate the flesh. Several early Church Fathers, like Pseudo-Justin, Justin Martyr,
Tatian Tatian of Adiabene, or Tatian the Syrian or Tatian the Assyrian, (; la, Tatianus; grc, Τατιανός; syc, ܛܛܝܢܘܣ; c. 120 – c. 180 AD) was an Assyrian Christian writer and theologian of the 2nd century. Tatian's most influential wor ...
, Irenaeus, and
Athenagoras of Athens Athenagoras (; grc-gre, Ἀθηναγόρας ὁ Ἀθηναῖος; c. 133 – c. 190 AD) was a Father of the Church, an Ante-Nicene Christian apologist who lived during the second half of the 2nd century of whom little is known for certain, ...
argue about the Christian resurrection beliefs in ways that answer to this traditional Greek scepticism to post-mortal physical continuity. The human body could not be annihilated, only dissolved – it could not even be integrated in the bodies of those who devoured it. Thus God only had to reassemble the minute parts of the dissolved bodies in the resurrection. Traditional Christian Churches, i.e. ones that adhere to the
creeds A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets. The ea ...
, continue to uphold the belief that there will be a general and universal resurrection of the dead at "the end of time", as described by Paul when he said: "He hath appointed a day, in which he will judge the world" (Acts 17:31 KJV) and "There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust" (Acts 24:15 KJV).


Modern Era

Early Christian church fathers defended the resurrection of the dead against the pagan belief that the immortal soul went to the
underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underwor ...
immediately after death. Currently, however, it is a popular Christian belief that the souls of the righteous go to
Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...
. At the close of the medieval period, the modern era brought a shift in Christian thinking from an emphasis on the resurrection of the body back to the immortality of the soul.Encyclopedia of Christian Theology Vol. 3, "Resurrection of the Dead" by André Dartigues, ed. by Jean-Yves Lacoste (New York: Routledge, 2005), 1381. This shift was a result of a change in the ''
zeitgeist In 18th- and 19th-century German philosophy, a ''Zeitgeist'' () ("spirit of the age") is an invisible agent, force or Daemon dominating the characteristics of a given epoch in world history. Now, the term is usually associated with Georg W. F. ...
'', as a reaction to the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
and later to the Enlightenment. André Dartigues has observed that especially "from the 17th to the 19th century, the language of popular piety no longer evoked the resurrection of the soul but
everlasting life Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some modern species may possess biological immortality. Some scientists, futurists, and philosophers have theorized about the immortality of the human body, with some suggesting that human immorta ...
. Although theological textbooks still mentioned resurrection, they dealt with it as a speculative question more than as an existential problem." This shift was supported not by any scripture, but largely by the popular religion of the Enlightenment, deism. Deism allowed for a
supreme being In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
, such as the philosophical
first cause The unmoved mover ( grc, ὃ οὐ κινούμενον κινεῖ, ho ou kinoúmenon kineî, that which moves without being moved) or prime mover ( la, primum movens) is a concept advanced by Aristotle as a primary cause (or first uncaused cau ...
, but denied any significant personal or relational interaction with this figure. Deism, which was largely led by rationality and reason, could allow a belief in the
immortality of the soul Christian mortalism is the Christian belief that the human soul is not naturally immortal and may include the belief that the soul is “sleeping” after death until the Resurrection of the Dead and the Last Judgment, a time known as the inte ...
, but not necessarily in the resurrection of the dead. American deist
Ethan Allen Ethan Allen ( – February 12, 1789) was an American farmer, businessman, land speculator, philosopher, writer, lay theologian, American Revolutionary War patriot, and politician. He is best known as one of the founders of Vermont and for ...
demonstrates this thinking in his work, '' Reason the Only Oracle of Man'' (1784) where he argues in the preface that nearly every philosophical problem is beyond humanity's understanding, including the miracles of Christianity, although he does allow for the immortality of an immaterial soul.


Influence on secular law and custom

In Christian theology, it was once widely believed that to rise on Judgment Day the body had to be whole and preferably buried with the feet to the east so that the person would rise facing God. An
Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...
from the reign of
King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disag ...
stipulated that only the corpses of executed murderers could be used for dissection. Restricting the supply to the
cadaver A cadaver or corpse is a dead human body that is used by medical students, physicians and other scientists to study anatomy, identify disease sites, determine causes of death, and provide tissue to repair a defect in a living human being. Stud ...
s of murderers was seen as an extra punishment for the crime. If one believes dismemberment stopped the possibility of resurrection of an intact body on judgment day, then a
posthumous execution __NOTOC__ Posthumous execution is the ritual or ceremonial mutilation of an already dead body as a punishment. It is typically performed to show that even in death, one cannot escape justice. Dissection as a punishment in England Some Christians ...
is an effective way of punishing a criminal. Attitudes towards this issue changed very slowly in the United Kingdom and were not manifested in law until the passing of the Anatomy Act in 1832. Cremation was accepted more slowly; the first UK cremation did not take place till October 1882, on private land, and cremation was not declared lawful until 1884, when Dr. William Price, a Druid High priest, was tried and acquitted at South Glamorgan Assizes for the attempted cremation of the body of his baby son.


Denominational views

In
Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
,
Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...
believed in a universal resurrection of bodies for all
immortal soul Christian mortalism is the Christian belief that the human soul is not naturally immortal and may include the belief that the soul is “sleeping” after death until the Resurrection of the Dead and the Last Judgment, a time known as the in ...
s. According to the ''
Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...
'': According to the ''
Summa Theologica The ''Summa Theologiae'' or ''Summa Theologica'' (), often referred to simply as the ''Summa'', is the best-known work of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), a scholasticism, scholastic theologian and Doctor of the Church. It is a compendium of all ...
'', spiritual beings that have been restored to glorified bodies will have the following basic qualities: * Impassibility (incorruptible / painless) – immunity from death and pain * Subtility (permeability) – freedom from restraint by matter * Agility – obedience to spirit with relation to movement and space (the ability to move through space and time with the speed of thought) * Clarity – resplendent beauty of the spirit manifested in the body (as when Jesus was transfigured on
Mount Tabor Mount Tabor ( he, הר תבור) (Har Tavor) is located in Lower Galilee, Israel, at the eastern end of the Jezreel Valley, west of the Sea of Galilee. In the Hebrew Bible (Joshua, Judges), Mount Tabor is the site of the Battle of Mount Tabo ...
) According to the ''
Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...
'' (1911) article on "General resurrection" The '' Catechism of the Catholic Church'' says: In
Anglicanism Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...
, scholars such as the Bishop of Durham
N. T. Wright Nicholas Thomas Wright (born 1 December 1948), known as N. T. Wright or Tom Wright, is an English New Testament scholar, Pauline theologian and Anglican bishop. He was the bishop of Durham from 2003 to 2010. He then became research profe ...
, have defended the primacy of the resurrection in Christian faith. Interviewed by ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' in 2008, senior
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
bishop and theologian N. T. Wright spoke of "the idea of bodily resurrection that people deny when they talk about their 'souls going to Heaven,'" adding: "I've often heard people say, 'I'm going to heaven soon, and I won't need this stupid body there, thank goodness.' That's a very damaging distortion, all the more so for being unintentional." Instead, Wright explains: "In the Bible we are told that you die, and enter an
intermediate state In some forms of Christianity the intermediate state or interim state is a person's existence between death and the universal resurrection. In addition, there are beliefs in a particular judgment right after death and a general judgment or last ...
." This is "conscious," but "compared to being bodily alive, it will be like being asleep." This will be followed by resurrection into new bodies, he says. "Our culture is very interested in life after death, but the New Testament is much more interested in what I've called the life after life after death." Among the original
Forty-Two Articles The Thirty-nine Articles of Religion (commonly abbreviated as the Thirty-nine Articles or the XXXIX Articles) are the historically defining statements of doctrines and practices of the Church of England with respect to the controversies of the ...
of the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
, one read: "The resurrection of the dead is not as yet brought to pass, as though it only belonged to the soul, which by the grace of
Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
is raised from the death of sin, but it is to be looked for at the last day; for then (as Scripture doth most manifestly testify) to all that be dead their own bodies, flesh and bone shall be restored, that the whole man may (according to his works) have other reward or punishment, as he hath lived virtuously, or wickedly." Of
Baptists Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
, James Leo Garrett Jr., E. Glenn Hinson, and James E. Tull write that "Baptists traditionally have held firmly to the belief that Christ rose triumphant over death, sin, and hell in a bodily resurrection from the dead." In
Lutheranism Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
,
Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...
personally believed and taught resurrection of the dead in combination with
soul sleep Christian mortalism is the Christian belief that the human soul is not naturally immortal and may include the belief that the soul is “sleeping” after death until the Resurrection of the Dead and the Last Judgment, a time known as the interm ...
. However, this is not a mainstream teaching of
Lutheranism Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
and most Lutherans traditionally believe in resurrection of the body in combination with the
immortal soul Christian mortalism is the Christian belief that the human soul is not naturally immortal and may include the belief that the soul is “sleeping” after death until the Resurrection of the Dead and the Last Judgment, a time known as the in ...
. According to the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS), on the last day all the dead will be resurrected. Their souls will then be reunited with the same bodies they had before dying. The bodies will then be changed, those of the wicked to a state of everlasting shame and torment, those of the righteous to an everlasting state of celestial glory. In
Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's br ...
, M. Douglas Meeks, professor of theology and Wesleyan studies at
Vanderbilt Divinity School The Vanderbilt Divinity School and Graduate Department of Religion (usually Vanderbilt Divinity School) is an interdenominational divinity school at Vanderbilt University, a major research university located in Nashville, Tennessee. It is one of o ...
, states that "it is very important for Christians to hold to the resurrection of the body." F. Belton Joyner in ''United Methodist Answers'', states that the "New Testament does not speak of a natural immortality of the soul, as if we never actually die. It speaks of resurrection of the body, the claim that is made each time we state the historic Apostles' Creed and classic Nicene Creed," given in ''
The United Methodist Hymnal ''The United Methodist Hymnal'' is the hymnal used by The United Methodist Church. It was first published in 1989 as the first hymnal for The United Methodist Church after the 1968 merger of The Methodist Church with The Evangelical United Brethre ...
''. In ¶128 of the '' Book of Discipline'' of the
Free Methodist Church The Free Methodist Church (FMC) is a Methodist Christian denomination within the holiness movement, based in the United States. It is evangelical in nature and is Wesleyan–Arminian in theology. The Free Methodist Church has members in over 100 ...
it is written: "There will be a bodily resurrection from the dead of both the just and the unjust, they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, they that have done evil unto the resurrection of the damnation. The resurrected body will be a spiritual body, but the person will be whole identifiable. The Resurrection of Christ is the guarantee of resurrection unto life to those who are in Him."
John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...
, the founder of the Methodist Church, in his sermon ''On the Resurrection of the Dead'', defended the doctrine, stating "There are many places of Scripture that plainly declare it. St. Paul, in the 53d verse of this chapter, tells us that 'this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.' Corinthians 15:53" In addition, notable Methodist hymns, such as those by
Charles Wesley Charles Wesley (18 December 1707 – 29 March 1788) was an English leader of the Methodist movement. Wesley was a prolific hymnwriter who wrote over 6,500 hymns during his lifetime. His works include " And Can It Be", " Christ the Lord Is Risen ...
, link 'our resurrection and Christ's resurrection". In
Christian conditionalism In Christian theology, conditionalism or conditional immortality is a concept in which the gift of immortality is attached to (conditional upon) belief in Jesus Christ. This doctrine is based in part upon another biblical argument, that the human ...
, there are several churches, such as the
Anabaptists Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...
and
Socinians Socinianism () is a nontrinitarian belief system deemed heretical by the Catholic Church and other Christian traditions. Named after the Italian theologians Lelio Sozzini (Latin: Laelius Socinus) and Fausto Sozzini (Latin: Faustus Socinus), uncle ...
of the Reformation, then
Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...
,
Christadelphians The Christadelphians () or Christadelphianism are a restorationist and millenarian Christian group who hold a view of biblical unitarianism. There are approximately 50,000 Christadelphians in around 120 countries. The movement developed in the ...
,
Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...
, and theologians of different traditions who reject the idea of the immortality of a non-physical soul as a vestige of
Neoplatonism Neoplatonism is a strand of Platonism, Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and Hellenistic religion, religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a chain of ...
, and other
pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...
traditions. In this school of thought, the dead remain dead (and do not immediately progress to a
Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...
,
Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
, or
Purgatory Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...
) until a physical resurrection of some or all of the dead occurs at the end of time, or in
Paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in paradis ...
restored on earth, in a general resurrection. Some groups, Christadelphians in particular, consider that it is not a universal resurrection, and that at this time of resurrection that the
Last Judgment The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...
will take place. The first-century treatise '' Didache'' comments 'Not the resurrection of everyone, but, as it says, "The Lord will come and all his holy ones with him" (16.7) Many
Evangelicals Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...
believe in a universal resurrection, but divided into two separate resurrections; at the
Second Coming The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is a Christian (as well as Islamic and Baha'i) belief that Jesus will return again after his ascension to heaven about two thousand years ago. The idea is based on messi ...
and then again at the
Great White Throne The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...
. ''The Doctrinal Basis of the Evangelical Alliance'' affirms belief in "the resurrection of the body, the judgment of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, with the eternal blessedness of the righteous, and the eternal punishment of the wicked."
Latter Day Saints The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Jo ...
believe that God has a
plan of salvation The plan of salvation is a Christian concept regarding God's plan to save humanity from sin and its consequences. It occurs first in the New Testament, for example in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Mark, although some scholars consider ...
. Before the resurrection, the spirits of the dead are believed to exist in a place known as the spirit world, which is similar to, yet fundamentally distinct from, the traditional concept of Heaven and Hell. It is believed that the spirit retains its wants, beliefs, and desires in the afterlife. Doctrine of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
teaches that Jesus Christ was the first person to be resurrected, and that all those who have lived on the earth will be resurrected because of Jesus Christ, regardless of their righteousness. The Church teaches that not all are resurrected at the same time; the righteous will be resurrected in a "first resurrection" and unrepentant sinners in a "last resurrection." The resurrection is believed to unite the spirit with the body again, and the Church teaches that the body (flesh and bone) will be made whole and become incorruptible, a state which includes immortality. There is also a belief in Latter-day Saint doctrine that a few exceptional individuals were removed from the earth "without tasting of death." This is referred to as
translation Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...
, and these individuals are believed to have retained their bodies in a purified form, though they too will eventually be required to receive resurrection. Some millennialists interpret the
Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book of R ...
as requiring two physical resurrections of the dead, one before the
Millennium A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting point (ini ...
, the other after it. Mortalists, those Christians who do not believe that humans have
immortal soul Christian mortalism is the Christian belief that the human soul is not naturally immortal and may include the belief that the soul is “sleeping” after death until the Resurrection of the Dead and the Last Judgment, a time known as the in ...
s, may believe in a universal resurrection, such as
Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...
, and
Thomas Hobbes Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5/15 April 1588 – 4/14 December 1679) was an English philosopher, considered to be one of the founders of modern political philosophy. Hobbes is best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influ ...
in ''Leviathan''. Some mortalist denominations may believe in a universal resurrection of all the dead, but in two resurrection events, one at either end of a
millennium A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting point (ini ...
, such as
Seventh-day Adventists The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventism, Adventist Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the Names of the days of the week#Numbered days of the week, seventh day of the ...
. Other mortalist denominations deny a universal resurrection, such as
Christadelphians The Christadelphians () or Christadelphianism are a restorationist and millenarian Christian group who hold a view of biblical unitarianism. There are approximately 50,000 Christadelphians in around 120 countries. The movement developed in the ...
and hold that the dead count three groups; the majority who will never be raised, those raised to condemnation, and a second final destruction in the "
Second Death The second death is an eschatological concept in Judaism, Christianity, and Mandaeism related to punishment after a first/initial death on Earth. Judaism Although the term is not found in the Hebrew Bible (the Canonical collection of Hebrew scri ...
", and those raised to eternal life.


Islam

According to
Islamic eschatology Islamic eschatology ( ar, علم آخر الزمان في الإسلام, ) is a field of study in Islam concerning future events that would happen in the end times. It is primarily based on hypothesis and speculations based on sources from t ...
, the
Day of Resurrection In Islam, "the promise and threat" () of Judgment Day ( ar, یوم القيامة, Yawm al-qiyāmah, Day of Resurrection or ar, یوم الدین, italic=no, Yawm ad-din, Day of Judgement), when "all bodies will be resurrected" from the dead, ...
(''yawm al-qiyāmah'') is believed to be
God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
's final assessment of humanity. The sequence of events (according to the most commonly held belief) is the annihilation of all creatures, resurrection of the body, and the judgment of all sentient creatures. The exact time when these events will occur is unknown, however there are said to be major and minor signs which are to occur near the time of ''Qiyamah'' (
end time The end time (also called end times, end of time, end of days, last days, final days, doomsday, or eschaton) refers to: * Eschatology in various religions—beliefs concerning the final events of history or the destiny of humanity End Time, En ...
). Many
Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
ic verses, especially the earlier ones, are dominated by the idea of the nearing of the day of resurrection.Isaac Hasson, ''Last Judgment'',
Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...
L. Gardet, ''Qiyama'', ''
Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...
''
In the sign of ''Al Quiyamah'', a trumpet will be sounded for the first time, and result in the death of the remaining sinners. Then there will be a period of forty years. The eleventh sign is the sounding of a second trumpet to signal the resurrection as ''ba'as ba'da'l-mawt''. Then all will be naked and running to the Place of Gathering. The Day of Resurrection is one of the six articles of Islamic faith. Everybody will account for their deeds in this world and people will go to
heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...
or
hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
.


Zoroastrianism

The
Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic ...
belief in an end times renovation of the earth is known as ''
frashokereti ''Frashokereti'' ( ae, 𐬟𐬭𐬀𐬴𐬋⸱𐬐𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬙𐬌 ') is the Avestan language term (corresponding to Middle Persian ''fraš(a)gird'' ) for the Zoroastrian doctrine of a final renovation of the universe, when evil will be de ...
'', which includes some form of revival of the dead that can be attested from no earlier than the 4th century BCE. As distinct from Judaism this is the resurrection of all the dead to universal purification and renewal of the world. R. M. M. Tuschling – Angels and Orthodoxy: A Study in Their Development in Syria and ... – 2007 pp.. 23, 271 " While admitting that Judaism and Zoroastrianism share a belief in resurrection, he points to a significant difference between them: in Iranian religion all are resurrected and purified as part of the renewal of the world." In the ''frashokereti'' doctrine, the final renovation of the universe is when evil will be destroyed, and everything else will be then in perfect unity with God ( Ahura Mazda). The term probably means "making wonderful, excellent". The doctrinal premises are (1) good will eventually prevail over evil; (2) creation was initially perfectly good, but was subsequently corrupted by evil; (3) the world will ultimately be restored to the perfection it had at the time of creation; (4) the "salvation for the individual depended on the sum of (that person's) thoughts, words and deeds, and there could be no intervention, whether compassionate or capricious, by any divine being to alter this." Thus, each human bears the responsibility for the fate of his own soul, and simultaneously shares in the responsibility for the fate of the world.


See also

*
Dying-and-rising god A dying-and-rising, death-rebirth, or resurrection deity is a religious motif in which a god or goddess dies and is resurrected.Leeming, "Dying god" (2004)Miles 2009, 193 Examples of gods who die and later return to life are most often cited f ...
*
Posthumous execution __NOTOC__ Posthumous execution is the ritual or ceremonial mutilation of an already dead body as a punishment. It is typically performed to show that even in death, one cannot escape justice. Dissection as a punishment in England Some Christians ...
*
Preterism Preterism, a Christian eschatological view, interprets some (partial preterism) or all (full preterism) prophecies of the Bible as events which have already happened. This school of thought interprets the Book of Daniel as referring to events th ...
*
Technological resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which ...


Footnotes


References

* * * * * * *


External links

* George A. Barton, Kaufmann Kohler
"Resurrection"
''
Jewish Encyclopedia ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on th ...
'' (1906) {{DEFAULTSORT:Resurrection Of The Dead Afterlife Biblical phrases Christian belief and doctrine Christianity and death Christian eschatology Christian terminology Nicene Creed