1B: Jesus' Resurrection

Question 1

What is the resurrection?

Answer 1

• the resurrection is recorded in all four gospels
• three days after Jesus’ death by crucifixion, his body disappeared from his tomb. Later, Jesus appeared alive in physical form to various followers
• resurrectio - is Latin ‘to rise again’
• the resurrection is central to Christina belief
• it happened to Jesus and therefore Christians can expect it to happen to them
• a person will experience death, but body is transformed and brought back to life with God.

Question 2

Who was Rudolf Bultmann?

Answer 2

(1884 - 1976) was a German professor of New Testament theology at the University of Marburg.
- best known for his work on demythologisation of scripture

Question 3

What is Rudolf Bultmann’s view?

Answer 3

if we view the world scientifically it is impossible to accept the resurrection as a historical event.
- biblical accounts of Jesus’ resurrection are myths which contain supernatural powers
- modern readers no longer think in first-century mythology so scientific thinking ha rendered the New Testament unintelligible for a modern audience.
- we must demythologise to get to the message which can be understood by a modern audience.
- the resurrection is historically false but cannot be completely dismissed. Instead we must find the kerygma in mythological passages.
- we have to translate the kerygma to a more acceptable form for the time and culture.
- the meaning behind the resurrection was that through Jesus the disciples came to believe in a power greater than death and despair - in a brutal world of politics
- we need faith as well as supernatural, historical ‘facts’. We need this so we can be free to love and live in hope.
- faith is a moment of existential awareness awakened by our own experience of Jesus as a risen reality
- having faith in the risen Jesus does not mean believing in a historical resurrection by having an encounter with the life and teachings of Jesus. This awakens in us hope and love
- even if the resurrection was a historical fact, this would not men much to us as bare historical facts do not inspire hope and love.

Question 4

Who is N.T. Wright?

Answer 4

• Tom Wright (1948-present) is an English New Testament scholar and former Bishop of Durham.
• he argues for the literal and physical resurrection of Christ in history rather than resurrection as a myth.
• to support his argument he offers a study of beliefs about life after death that were around at the time of Christ.

Question 5

What is N.T. Wright’s view?

Answer 5

-