The Soul And Ressurection Flashcards
Christian concept of the soul
- People have souls which are capable of surviving death
- Christians reject the idea of bodily rebirth (reincarnation), also Plato’s ideas that the body and soul part (dualism)
- Instead Christians teach that life after death will take the form of ressurection, where the person will be given a renewed spiritual body to continue their journey into the afterlife
Why do Christians believe in ressurection of the soul
The Pharisees
- The Pharisees taught of ressurection whereas the
(This is in first century Palestine - time of Jesus).
The Pharisees were an extremely influential political group - they influenced a lot of the laws, teachings and beliefs of the time
Why do Christians believe in the ressurection of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus’ tomb was empty = belief that he had been resurrected from death to eternal life.
Jesus was seen in physical form after death - he then ascended into heaven.
However it is still not clear if this was in his physical body or a spiritual body. Many Christians believed Jesus continued in a transformed spiritual body in the afterlife.
So whether it was ressurection in the afterlife or in this life is unclear
Painting of Jesus & ‘doubting’ Thomas
- Who are the people in the picture
- What had happened before this
- What is the deeper meaning behind the painting
The picture captures a man named Thomas - came to known as doubting Thomas because he doubted that the man claiming to be Jesus ressurrected was actually him in the flesh.
Jesus had just been crucified and set to lay dead in a tomb and three days later this man appears claiming to be Jesus.
Thomas did not believe it was Jesus - as he had seen his corpse.
Jesus told Thomas to look at his wounds - where the nail marks were present.
Symbolises that Jesus did not just return in a new spiritual body, or as a ghost, this was actually Jesus in the exact same body he had died in
What questions/issues surround ressurrection?
Metaphor
- Are the Bible passages to be read metaphorically or literally?
Is it supposed to be a metaphor for rebirth?
Is the painting of doubting Thomas symbolic of remaining faithful to Jesus after his death - as his teachings are still with you as his body and soul once were?
What questions/issues surround ressurrection?
- Was Jesus’ ressurrection unique to him, is it something every once can expect or is it exclusively for Christians?
There is a belief that Lazarus was ressurrected - but there are no other examples.
3) Why are there not thousands of empty coffins and graveyards?
4) What happens if you are cremated and there is no physical body to be ressurrected ? - This could result in a ‘renewed’ body but that is not the same physical body you died in as Jesus’.
5) Will people need some sort of physical body, if so in what sense will they be the same person?
6) Issues of intentions when aiming to get into heaven
7) Is hell a fair motivation to do good?
St. Paul answering questions/issues surrounding ressurrection
+ Quote
The early church had similar questions surrounding ressurection which St.Paul tried to answer.
St.Paul was adamant that Jesus had risen from the dead and that this ressurection was a promise to all Christians
He uses the example of a seed in 1 Corinthians:
“The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable”
- The body you are raised in will not die and decay like the natural body
To help understand the questions surrounding a imperishable, spiritual body - Paul uses the analogy of a tent being replaced by a more solid structure to imply that in an afterlife we have a more substantial eternal house rather than an impermanent body (A platonic overlap)
So What are the central beliefs for Christians concerning ressurrection + Some issues with them
- Traditionally, ressurrection will involve bodily life (evidenced through the empty tomb and Doubting Thomas). Whether this is with a ‘material’ body or ‘spiritual’ body they will be glorified and no longer capable of being corrupted/destroyed
- The ressurrected person will be the same person as the one who died. They will not just be similar but the same person
Issues: Arguably the essence of a human is that there is the possibility of us being corrupted/destroyed
- Life after death will be a miracle given by God. The person is ressurrected through the gift and grace of God.
The Grace of God and his nature is ineffable: thus why we cannot grasp the complex nature of ressurrection
What to do if you get a question of ressurrection
- Discuss it biblically (what do Christians believe and where do their central beliefs come from)
- Discuss what happened to Jesus
- Discuss the philosophical questions surrounding it
