Spiritual Resurrection And Corinthians Flashcards
Whats resurrection?
-Resurrection is the defining feature of the Christian belief it is understoodby Christians either as a bodily or spiritual resurrection
-Resurrection of the body is described in the writings of St Augustine, this influenced the beliefs of the traditional denominations e.g. Roman Catholics
-The flesh is needed so that both the spiritual in the physical effects of sin can be removed and Augustine presumes from the gospels that Jesus’ resurrection is physical
-The idea of spiritual resurrection is influenced by Plato’s dualistic – souls are essentially non physical material housed in a physical body
Augustine quote
the world has come to the belief that the earthly body of Christ was received up into heaven.
Idea of an immortal soul
-The idea of an immortal soul is not biblical, but derives from Greek thought.
-For some Christians, the idea of physical resurrection does not make sense.
-They argue that the dead body rots away to nothing in the grave or is completely destroyed by fire in cremation.
-The elements that make up the body are returned to nature and re-used in such a way that resurrection of the flesh is a nonsensical idea.
-This does not mean, though, that they reject the idea of resurrection.
Who seems to support spiritual resurrection?
Saint Paul seems to support the idea of spiritual resurrection when he says that what is sown a physical body is raised a spiritual body although perhaps poles idea of an you incorruptible heavenly body retains some kind of physical aspect.
What is spiritual resurrection?
For some believers, it is the soul or spirit of the person that is resurrected.
When the body comes to its end in death, the soul lives on with God.
Spiritual resurrection Paul quote
‘It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body’ (1 Corinthians 15:44)
Corinthians quote
‘We shall not all sleep [die], but we shall all be changed.’ (1 Corinthians 15:51)
What does Paul seem to be indicating?
-This seems to indicate that the resurrected ‘body’ will be quite different to the body that has died
-Some think Paul’s words imply that there will be some kind of physical aspect to the resurrection, but that the soul may be resurrected into in a new heavenly body that had no physical existence on Earth.
-Others argue that Paul is trying to explain that a miraculous change will come over physical bodies so that they become perfect, no longer subject to ageing and decay.
What questions does spiritual resurrection raise?
What age and condition will the resurrected body be?
Will it be the same age as the person was at death, or will all bodies be the same ageless form?
Will someone who died in infancy be resurrected as an infant, or as the adult they might have become?
Will someone with a missing limb or organ be resurrected whole or as they were at death?
Pauls first letter to the Corinthians
-In his first letter to the people in the Church at Corinth, Paul’s purpose was to intervene in disputes that risked splitting the community. One of these was about the resurrection.
-Paul says: ‘Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?’ (1 Corinthians 15:12)
What had the Corinthians clearly been struggling with?
Clearly, the Corinthians had been struggling to make sense both of the idea of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and also of the implication that humans too can be resurrected.
What does Paul’s explanation focus on?
-Paul’s explanation focuses on an insistence that resurrection is possible. Humans can indeed be resurrected and Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead.
-If the Corinthians do not believe in resurrection, then their faith in Jesus has been pointless. He goes on say:
-‘In fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.’ (1 Corinthians 15:20)
What is the raising of christ?
-In other words, the raising of Christ is the beginning of the resurrection of all humankind.
-We can guess some of the things the Corinthians had been saying from what Paul writes: How can this physical body be resurrected as it is? Bodies grow old and sick and decay. Disease and injury leave bodies disfigured and ugly. How could a body like this be resurrected in the Kingdom of God?
Why is Paul’s letter important?
-First, it is a very early piece of Christian theology.
-All of Paul’s authentic letters were written before 58CE, and this one is thought to date from sometime between 53 and 57CE.
-This means that it was written only 20-25 years after the death of Jesus. It shows the development of
-Christian thought at an early stage, at a time when people who remembered Jesus would still be alive.
-We can see how Paul uses his certainty that Jesus was raised physically from the dead to argue that belief in the resurrection is both rational and essential for members of the emerging Church.
What does Paul’s letter form?
-it forms the basis for Christian teaching on resurrection. According to Paul, the death and resurrection of Jesus was not a one-off spectacular historical event.
-It was the cause of, and evidence for, the start of a new relationship between humankind and God, one that was no longer damaged by the sin of Adam.
-Death was not the end, but there was hope for eternal life in the presence of God alongside the risen, ascended Christ
