Persecution and martyrdom of Christians has reached an all-time high with more than “forty-five million” Christians having been put to death in the 20th century.[1] Though the Christian gospel contains hope for the persecuted church, this hope – the resurrection – is often left undefined.[2] Is the resurrection physical, spiritual, or hybrid physical-spiritual? When is the resurrection body received, upon death or at a later time? For the persecuted believer, these questions are of utmost importance, and the Bible answers them. First, the resurrection appearances of Christ as recorded in the gospels demonstrate that His resurrection body is physical. Second, both Jesus and Paul taught that believers will be resurrected in the eschaton. Third, Paul taught that the believer’s resurrection is physical like Jesus’ resurrection. The persecuted believer can rest in the knowledge that he or she will be resurrected with a physical body that will endure for eternity.
Both Semitic and Greco-Roman culture held traditions of disembodied souls that appeared in a “recognizable form of the body,” could “eat with friends and relatives,” and exhibit “their death wounds.”[3] Additionally, both Jews and Gentiles held the belief that “the soul beyond the grave could not be handled.”[4] While the appearances of Jesus did contain many expected features, they also included the ability of His followers to touch Jesus, which indicated a physical resurrection.
For example, John 20:27 recounts an incident where Jesus invites the disciple Thomas to literally put his hands into His wounds to demonstrate that He does indeed have a fleshly body.[5] Second, in John 20:17, Mary Magdalene is described as “cling[ing]” to Jesus.[6] The meaning of this verse has been debated extensively in academic literature. Regardless of whether Mary was literally grasping Him in that moment, He clearly references His physical presence and points Mary to the coming reality that Jesus would soon need to be “encountered in and by the Spirit.”[7] Third, Matthew 28:9 describes Jesus’ appearance at the tomb where the women “took hold of His feet.”[8] Theologian John Gill affirms that the act of the women was done so that “they might know, and be assured that he was really risen, and that it was not a spirit, or a mere phantom and appearance.”[9] Fourth, 1 John 1:1 states that people had “touched Jesus with [their] hands.”[10] This verse contains strong intertextual links to John 1:1-18, Luke 24, and John 20-21 through the use of the word “ψηῳαφάω,” which indicates some form of physical touch.[11] Ultimately, the fact that people were able to touch and handle Jesus directly had the effect of “laying doubt [about the physicality of the resurrection] to rest once and for all.”[12]
However, even if Jesus’ resurrection appearances seemed physical to the women and disciples, it is necessary to examine what the early church taught about Jesus’ resurrection to ensure that modern day interpreters are not misreading the resurrection accounts. Marcus Borg, a fellow of the Jesus Seminar, argues that Jesus’ resurrection was not “fleshly, molecular, protoplasmic, [or] corpuscular.”[13] As evidence, he mentions that the conversion experience of Paul did not feature a fleshly Jesus; rather, Jesus was only a “brilliant light.”[14] Contrary to this view, the data of Scripture point toward Paul’s unified teaching and belief that Jesus was physically resurrected. First, though Jesus did appear to Paul in “a light from heaven,” Paul’s own understanding of his experience was that of seeing Jesus bodily resurrected.[15] For example, Paul uses the word “ἑόρακα” to refer to his Jesus encounter.[16] This word which means “I have seen” is used to indicate “ordinary sight.”[17] Thus, Paul did not believe that his experience was an inner “private revelation” or subjective vision.[18] Rather, Paul believed that his visitation of Jesus was among the last in a line of resurrection appearances. Paul’s inclusion of his experience in the list of resurrection appearances of 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 is a strong indication that “his ‘seeing’ of the risen Jesus was part of a sequence that came to an end.”[19]
Additionally, Paul’s implied injunction to investigate the claims of the resurrection appearances through the use of the statement, “most of them are still alive” speaks to his conviction that those who experienced Jesus “saw something and can be interrogated.”[20] Paul’s own testimony about each of the resurrection appearances indicates that he believed they were physical appearances, rather than internal spiritual experiences. It is vital that the persecuted church can be assured that Jesus’ resurrection was demonstrably a physical one as it serves as the basis for any possible resurrection of believers. However, it still remains to be established that believers share in the same resurrection.
In spite of the historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus, some continue to say that “there is no resurrection of the dead.”[21] Historically, the Sadducees, Hellenistic Jews, and Epicureans all denied that there was a bodily resurrection due to their denial of some part of the afterlife.[22] Additionally, modern denials of the bodily resurrection or even the existence of the afterlife come from a variety of sources including both Buddhists who believe that the physical world is an illusion and materialists who affirm the non-existence of the human person after death. Against this backdrop of secular thinking, Christians may base their hope in both the teachings of Jesus and the affirmations of Paul.
First, Jesus explicitly taught about the reality of the general resurrection of believers in Luke 14:13-15. In these verses, Jesus emphasized that the resurrection will be connected to rewards for deeds done that received no compensation in the current age. This passage alone should provide encouragement to those enduring suffering, for their suffering will not go unnoticed by God and will be rewarded at the time of the general resurrection. Similarly, Jesus affirms the resurrection of the living and the dead in the Gospel of John, and directly confronts the Sadducees’ lack of belief in the resurrection of believers in the Gospel of Luke.[23] However, the most potent statement of Jesus about the resurrection is found in John 11:25, which equates the resurrection power that Jesus utilized in His own resurrection with the resurrection power that would raise believers to life in the general resurrection.[24]
Additionally, Paul affirmed that Jesus’ resurrection was “the firstfruits” of the general resurrection which was to come.[25] In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul’s use of “made alive” referred to Daniel 12:2 and possibly Job 19:26 as foreshadowing Jesus’ own resurrection and the future resurrection of believers.[26] Paul presses the connection by saying that “if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised.”[27] Paul’s arguments connect Jesus’ resurrection and the resurrection of believers so closely that one cannot see salvation without “the resurrection of the believer’s body.”[28] Thus, through both Jesus’ own teaching and Paul’s comments about the resurrection, believers who hold fast to the gospel in the face of persecution can know with certainty that they will participate in the general resurrection. However, it is possible that although Jesus’ resurrection was physical, the believers’ resurrection may not be.
The best evidence that the believers’ resurrection will be physical comes from 1 Corinthians 15; however, many scholars attempt to read this passage as indicating a spiritual resurrection. For instance, New Testament scholar Ernst Teichmann argues that Paul’s entire resurrection treatise was an argument for a heavenly body as opposed to a fleshly body.[29] As evidence he cites Pauline statements such as, “The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.”[30] James Robinson also echoes these sentiments stating that the “future resurrection has become superfluous” in Paul’s writings now that the “spiritual resurrection” has come.[31] These scholars raise the question of whether or not Paul and the early church actually taught a physical, bodily resurrection or a spiritual, metaphysical resurrection.
To make their case, the aforementioned scholars have misrepresented Paul’s central arguments. There are two questions that Paul is trying to address: “by what agency or power” can the dead be raised, and “what will our future bodies be like?”[32] In no way does Paul attempt to address the question of whether or not the resurrection will include a body. Rather, he provides for continuity between the present body and the resurrection body through the use of phrases like, “What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.”[33] As New Testament scholar Michael Licona points out, the seed that dies is the same one that is later made alive.[34] Additionally, the language of being clothed is also indicative that there is continuity between the present body and the resurrection body. Licona argues that Paul is referencing the current mortal body in statements like, “this corruptible [body] must be clothed with incorruptibility.”[35] Thus, Paul in answering the question about the nature of the resurrection body is not saying that believers receive spirit bodies; instead, he is describing how they are fundamentally changed with regard to their subjection to death and sin.
Finally, to assume that Paul is referring to a dichotomy between physical and non-physical in his statement, “If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body,” is a misreading of the text. As New Testament scholar N. T. Wright states, “if one wanted to say ‘non-physical,’ one would use psychikos, not pneumatikos.”[36] The distinction that Paul was making was not whether or not the body was physical, but by what source the body would be empowered.[37] The correct view of 1 Corinthians 15 is that Paul was arguing for the existence of bodily resurrection while at the same time explaining how the resurrection could occur and how the resurrection fundamentally changes the body.[38] Thus, far from denying the bodily resurrection, Paul affirms the bodily resurrection in both his testimony of his personal resurrection appearance and his argumentation against those who would deny the resurrection.
In conclusion, those facing persecution can rest in the knowledge that their bodies will be physically resurrected just like Jesus’ body. The physicality of Jesus’ resurrection was evinced most clearly by reports of people being able to physically touch Him. Both Jesus’ and Paul’s teaching affirmed that Jesus’ resurrection was the firstfruits of the general resurrection that would occur in the eschaton. Finally, Paul’s treatise on the resurrection supported continuity between the current body and the resurrected body in physicality, yet discontinuity in terms of its mortality. The physical resurrection of Christ truly serves as a beacon of hope to all persecuted believers, providing them with the certainty that their suffering is not in vain and their bodies will be fully restored in the life to come.
Allen, Paul, L. The Global War on Christians: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Anti-Christian Persecution. New York City, NY: Image, 2013.
Borg, Marcus. “The Resurrection of Jesus: ‘Physical/Bodily’ or ‘Spiritual/Mystical’?” The Marcus J Borg Foundation, May 16, 2011. Accessed March 9, 2019. https://marcusjborg.org/the-resurrection-of-jesus/.
Gill, John. John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible, 1746. Accessed March 8, 2019. https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-bible/matthew-28-9.html.
Jensen, Matthew, D. Affirming the Resurrection of the Incarnate Christ: A Reading of 1 John. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 2012. https://www-cambridge-org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/core/books/affirming-the-resurrection-of-the-incarnate-christ/39506CFE1B57AD86D1D03735D2AE103D.
Keener, Craig S. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. 2nd ed. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic/InterVarsity Press, 2014.
Kelly, Amy. “Paul’s Hermeneutic in 1 Corinthians 15 and the Believer’s Bodily Resurrection.” Dallas Theological Seminary, 2013.
Klink, Edward W. John. Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016.
Licona, Michael. The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic/InterVarsity Press, 2010.
Most, Glen, W. Doubting Thomas. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2005.
Riley, Gregory, J. Resurrection Reconsidered: Thomas and John in Controversy. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1995.
Robinson, James, M. “Jesus From Easter to Valentinus (or to the Apostles’ Creed)*.” Journal of Biblical Literature 101, no. 1 (1982): 5–37.
Teichmann, Ernst. Die Paulinischen Vorstellungen von Auferstehung Und Gericht Und Ihre Beziehung Zur Jeudischen Apokalyptik. Freiburg im Breisgau: P Siebeck, 1896.
Wright, N. T. The Resurrection of the Son of God. Vol. 3. Christian Origins and the Question of God. London, U.K.: Fortress Press, 2003.
“What Is the Gospel?” The Gospel Coalition, n.d. Accessed March 30, 2019. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/what-is-the-gospel/.
[1] Paul Allen L., The Global War on Christians: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Anti-Christian Persecution (New York City, NY: Image, 2013), 33.
[2] “What Is the Gospel?,” The Gospel Coalition, n.d., accessed March 30, 2019, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/what-is-the-gospel/.
[3] Gregory Riley J., Resurrection Reconsidered: Thomas and John in Controversy (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1995), 612-619, Kindle.
[4] Ibid., 662, Kindle.
[5] John 20:27 (HCSB).
[6] John 20:17.
[7] Edward W. Klink, John, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016), 23307, Kindle.
[8] Matthew 28:9.
[9] John Gill, “Matthew 28:9,” John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible, 1746, accessed March 9, 2019, https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-bible/matthew-28-9.html.
[10] 1 John 1:1.
[11] Matthew Jensen D., Affirming the Resurrection of the Incarnate Christ: A Reading of 1 John (Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 2012), https://www-cambridge-org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/core/books/affirming-the-resurrection-of-the-incarnate-christ/39506CFE1B57AD86D1D03735D2AE103D, 62.
[12] Glen Most W., Doubting Thomas (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2005), 223.
[13] Marcus Borg, “The Resurrection of Jesus: ‘Physical/Bodily’ or ‘Spiritual/Mystical’?,” The Marcus J Borg Foundation, May 16, 2011, accessed March 9, 2019, https://marcusjborg.org/the-resurrection-of-jesus/.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Acts 9:3.
[16] “ἑόρακα,” Englishman’s Concordance, accessed March 10, 2019, https://biblehub.com/greek/eoraka_3708.htm.
[17] N. T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God, vol. 3, Christian Origins and the Question of God (London, U.K.: Fortress Press, 2003), 8689, Kindle.
[18] Ibid.
[19] Ibid.
[20] Ibid; 1 Corinthians 15:6.
[21] 1 Corinthians 15:12.
[22] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, 2nd ed. (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic/InterVarsity Press, 2014), 492.
[23] John 5:28-30; Luke 20:35.
[24] John 11:25.
[25] 1 Corinthians 15:23.
[26] Amy Kelly, “Paul’s Hermeneutic in 1 Corinthians 15 and the Believer’s Bodily Resurrection” (Dallas Theological Seminary, 2013), 5.
[27] 1 Corinthians 15:16.
[28] Kelly, “Paul’s Hermeneutic in 1 Corinthians 15 and the Believer’s Bodily Resurrection,” 9.
[29] Ernst Teichmann, Die Paulinischen Vorstellungen von Auferstehung Und Gericht Und Ihre Beziehung Zur Jeudischen Apokalyptik (Freiburg im Breisgau: P Siebeck, 1896), 42-53.
[30] 1 Corinthians 15:45.
[31] James Robinson M., “Jesus From Easter to Valentinus (or to the Apostles’ Creed)*,” Journal of Biblical Literature 101, no. 1 (1982): 18.
[32] N. T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God, 7831, Kindle; Michael Licona, The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic/InterVarsity Press, 2010), 4118, Kindle.
[33] 1 Corinthians 15:36.
[34] Licona, The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach, 4118, Kindle.
[35] Ibid, 4133, Kindle; 1 Corinthians 15:53.
[36] Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God, vol. 3, 7988, Kindle.
[37] Ibid, 8019, Kindle.
[38] Ibid, 8049, Kindle.
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