Did Jesus physically rise from the dead?

[nPeace]

Just to create some context, this is what JW believe:

"Usually they could not at first tell it was Jesus, for he appeared in different bodies. He appeared and disappeared just as angels had done, because he was resurrected as a spirit creature. Only because Thomas would not believe did Jesus appear in a body like that in which he had died" (Paradise Lost to Paradise Gained, pg 144)

"Jesus did not take his human body to heaven to be forever a man in heaven. Had he done so, that would have left him ever lower than the angels. God did not purpose for Jesus to be humiliated thus forever by being a fleshly man forever. No, but after he had sacrificed his perfect manhood, God raised him to deathless life as a glorious spirit creature." (Let God be true, pg 41)

Looks like a JW debate.

 

[nPeace]

Jesus was resurrected physically with a new, glorified, eternal body...

As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them. Luke 24:36-43

Hebrews 13:2 . . .Do not forget hospitality, for through it some unknowingly entertained angels.
Genesis 18:1-8

What do you think InChrist... were these angels spirit or flesh?

Also why did Jesus say, "You prepared a body for me." in reference to his coming to earth as a man?

 

[Dawnofhope]

I see Religion and Science to be inextricably related. I think that Science that we may yet understand, could explain Jesus rising again.

The main problem with the resurrection from a science and logical perspective is the ascension of Christ. Its alleged He literally ascended through the stratosphere to be with His Father in Heaven. Although God can work miracles the only celestial beings in space we know of are those such as stars and planets that belong to the phenomenal world. Maybe Jesus really is up in the literal heavens seated on a throne at the right hand side of God. Perhaps we are yet to possess a telescope with sufficient power to detect Him. In the interim, I'm going to apply the principle of the harmony between science and religion when making sense of ancient scriptures.

 

[Katzpur]

I voted "Both spiritual and physical" but I probably should have voted "Physical resurrection" since I don't believe the spirit dies in the first place. I can't go back and change it now, but there would be no point in a spiritual resurrection unless the spirit died along with the body.

 

[Katzpur]

It could be argued if it was a physical Resurrection Jesus wasn't really dead in the first place.

Huh? A physical resurrection would have been impossible had Jesus not died.

 

[Katzpur]

I am trying to turn over a new leaf and not attack other belief systems...

That would certainly be nice. We might actually even find a few things upon which to agree.

 

[InvestigateTruth]

As you may well know, for Christians, the resurrection of Jesus Christ forms the core foundation of our faith. In 1 Corinthians 15:14, St Paul writes, "And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith."

How are we to interpret the resurrection of Jesus? Was it a physical resurrection as traditional views state, or was it merely a spiritual resurrection like Jehovah's Witnesses believe?

The key might be to first answer this question:

Why does Paul say, if Christ has not been raised your faith is useless?


After all, Jesus had so many good teachings, thus regardless if He rose or not, His teachings are still useful, aren't they,?

 

[InChrist]

Hebrews 13:2 . . .Do not forget hospitality, for through it some unknowingly entertained angels.
Genesis 18:1-8

What do you think InChrist... were these angels spirit or flesh?

Also why did Jesus say, "You prepared a body for me." in reference to his coming to earth as a man?

Though angels temporarily appeared on earth to people, the scriptures never teach that angels became flesh/human, as did Jesus Christ. It isn't strange at all that Jesus would say a body was prepared for Him when the verse is read in the context of the passage and the point being made that ...the blood of sacrificial animals cannot take away sin, only the Messiah, when He became incarnate in humanity to perform His priestly work of offering a sacrifice could pay for sin. He did not offer animal sacrifices, but Himself in His physical body gotten through virgin birth from Mary.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God 1 John 4:2

I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. 2 John 1:7

Jesus' words state that He would raise His own body from the dead:

"Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews therefore said, "It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?" But He was speaking of the temple of His body." John 2;19-21

I realize the Watchtower teaches that Jesus did not rise from the dead in the same body He died in. I think this is a dangerous doctrine which contradicts the Bible because it is denying His physical resurrection which is the proof that He conquered death which makes possible eternal life for all who believe and are resurrected as He was.

 

[InChrist]

The key might be to first answer this question:

Why does Paul say, if Christ has not been raised your faith is useless?


After all, Jesus had so many good teachings, thus regardless if He rose or not, His teachings are still useful, aren't they,?

No, because while Jesus had many good teachings, it is not His teachings that save a person. It is His payment for sins on the cross and His resurrection which make possible eternal life for all who trust Him as their Savior.

 

[74x12]

As you may well know, for Christians, the resurrection of Jesus Christ forms the core foundation of our faith. In 1 Corinthians 15:14, St Paul writes, "And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith."

How are we to interpret the resurrection of Jesus? Was it a physical resurrection as traditional views state, or was it merely a spiritual resurrection like Jehovah's Witnesses believe?

Jesus resurrecting physically from the dead is important for theological reasons. According to 1 John 4:3 every spirit that doesn't confess that Jesus came in the flesh is not of God and is antichrist. If we consider Jesus' resurrection as part of His coming then that would mean it's a serious thing to say He did not rise physically from the dead.

In Luke 24:39 Jesus claims a spirit does not have bones or flesh like He has. He wanted Thomas to put his hand into the wounds to prove that He was real and physically alive again from the dead.

 

[Faithofchristian]

The Thread asks ( Did Jesus physically rise from the dead)

That's quite simple to answer.
Yes Jesus was physically rised from the dead. That's why no one was able to find his body or bones. Because Jesus was physically rised.

Now the question is, Who exactly are the dead ?
In the Bible, what group of people does the dead Represent ?

 

[InvestigateTruth]

No, because while Jesus had many good teachings, it is not His teachings that save a person. It is His payment for sins on the cross and His resurrection which make possible eternal life for all who trust Him as their Savior.

Hello, if it is not His teachings that saves, then why Jesus said not everyone who says Lord, Lord will go to heaven, but the one who does the will of my father? For example, helping the poor, when He is not on earth, etc...

 

[Skwim]

As you may well know, for Christians, the resurrection of Jesus Christ forms the core foundation of our faith. In 1 Corinthians 15:14, St Paul writes, "And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith."

How are we to interpret the resurrection of Jesus? Was it a physical resurrection as traditional views state, or was it merely a spiritual resurrection like Jehovah's Witnesses believe?

Interesting question. In Christian theology, to be physically resurrected implies that Jesus' body; his bones, teeth, hair, brain etc. went from being dead to being alive. But a resurrection need not involve a body becoming alive after having lain dead.

Resurrection, from the Latin noun resurrectio -onis, from the verb rego, "to make straight, rule" + preposition sub, "under", altered to subrigo and contracted to surgo, surrexi, surrectum ("to rise", "get up", "stand up") + preposition re-, "again", thus literally "a straightening from under again".
Source: Wikipedia
​

All it really implies is that the body went from a supine or prone position to an upright one, which can happen when a person is alive and well. So I have to give some credence to the Swoon Theory, also mentioned by George-ananda here, that Jesus either deliberately feigned his death or involuntarily fell unconscious, both of which are far more reasonable than having come alive after being dead.

Now, if one asserts his resurrection was purely spiritual, then their must be incontrovertible evidence supporting the claim, just as there needs to be incontrovertible evidence that the body of Jesus was dead. Thing is, so far we haven't seen any evidence for either one. So I'm going along with Willie Occam on this one.

.

 

[InChrist]

Hello, if it is not His teachings that saves, then why Jesus said not everyone who says Lord, Lord will go to heaven, but the one who does the will of my father? For example, helping the poor, when He is not on earth, etc...

Jesus said this because some who claim His name or claim to be "Christians" have never trusted Him as Savior, but continue to live their lives according to their own will. Those who have fully trusted Christ as Savior and who are born again as a new creation will live by His teachings by His strength as they daily submit their lives to Him.

 

[blü 2]

As you may well know, for Christians, the resurrection of Jesus Christ forms the core foundation of our faith. In 1 Corinthians 15:14, St Paul writes, "And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith."

How are we to interpret the resurrection of Jesus? Was it a physical resurrection as traditional views state, or was it merely a spiritual resurrection like Jehovah's Witnesses believe?

Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 says,
44 It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. [...]
50 [...] flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
51 [...] I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed [...]
53 For this perishable nature must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality.

This, however, doesn't happen when you die, but only at some undefined distant future time when 'the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised'. (The idea that the dead are inaccessible until further notice seems not to be so popular these days.)

Nor is Paul's idea compatible with the zombies described in Matthew 27:52-53.

However, the interpretation that Jesus was resurrected in a 'spiritual body' is partly compatible with the post-mortal Jesus of the gospel stories ─ the ability to go unrecognized until he chooses to be recognized, to appear inside locked rooms and to depart from them, to move from place to place apparently at will, to ascend to heaven.

It is not so obviously compatible with the ability to speak, which requires physical breathing and movement of the organs of speech, and if this is claimed to be explicable as telepathy, Jesus also eats a piece of fish. (It's interesting that Thomas, invited in the story to touch Jesus, actually doesn't. A pity no well-equipped scientist was there to take the offer up.)

So what we find in the NT are two incompatible notions of resurrection. Bodily resurrection fits with the resurrections in the Tanakh (1 Kings 17:17+, 2 Kings 4:32+, 2 Kings 13:21) ie is from Jewish tradition. Paul's spiritual resurrection ─ think of Odysseus in the underworld (Odyssey XI), echoed in Aeneas' visit (Aeneid VI), Plato's 'myth of Er' (The Republic) &c ─ is from Greek tradition.

But we're free to take our pick, or add our own, though as always with these questions, it's wise to avoid falsifiable hypotheses.

 

[Luis Marco]

As you may well know, for Christians, the resurrection of Jesus Christ forms the core foundation of our faith. In 1 Corinthians 15:14, St Paul writes, "And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith."

How are we to interpret the resurrection of Jesus? Was it a physical resurrection as traditional views state, or was it merely a spiritual resurrection like Jehovah's Witnesses believe?

Consider, friends, the account of JESUS' Resurrection from The URANTIA Book (1955, Chicago, US)!!!!!:

(Look up coined words in URANTIA in this independent paper, ' Etymology of Coined Words in "The Urantia Book" ': http://www.perfectinghorizons.org/ByChrisHalvorson/etymlogy.pdf).

Paper 189 - The Resurrection | Urantia Book | Urantia Foundation

2. The Material Body of Jesus

189:2.1 (2022.5) At ten minutes past three o’clock, as the resurrected Jesus fraternized with the assembled morontia personalities from the seven mansion worlds of Satania, the chief of archangels—the angels of the resurrection—approached Gabriel and asked for the mortal body of Jesus. Said the chief of the archangels: “We may not participate in the morontia resurrection of the bestowal experience of Michael our sovereign, but we would have his mortal remains put in our custody for immediate dissolution. We do not propose to employ our technique of dematerialization; we merely wish to invoke the process of accelerated time. It is enough that we have seen the Sovereign live and die on Urantia; the hosts of heaven would be spared the memory of enduring the sight of the slow decay of the human form of the Creator and Upholder of a universe. In the name of the celestial intelligences of all Nebadon, I ask for a mandate giving me the custody of the mortal body of Jesus of Nazareth and empowering us to proceed with its immediate dissolution.”

189:2.2 (2023.1) And when Gabriel had conferred with the senior Most High of Edentia, the archangel spokesman for the celestial hosts was given permission to make such disposition of the physical remains of Jesus as he might determine.

189:2.3 (2023.2) After the chief of archangels had been granted this request, he summoned to his assistance many of his fellows, together with a numerous host of the representatives of all orders of celestial personalities, and then, with the aid of the Urantia midwayers, proceeded to take possession of Jesus’ physical body. This body of death was a purely material creation; it was physical and literal; it could not be removed from the tomb as the morontia form of the resurrection had been able to escape the sealed sepulchre. By the aid of certain morontia auxiliary personalities, the morontia form can be made at one time as of the spirit so that it can become indifferent to ordinary matter, while at another time it can become discernible and contactable to material beings, such as the mortals of the realm.

189:2.4 (2023.3) As they made ready to remove the body of Jesus from the tomb preparatory to according it the dignified and reverent disposal of near-instantaneous dissolution, it was assigned the secondary Urantia midwayers to roll away the stones from the entrance of the tomb. The larger of these two stones was a huge circular affair, much like a millstone, and it moved in a groove chiseled out of the rock, so that it could be rolled back and forth to open or close the tomb. When the watching Jewish guards and the Roman soldiers, in the dim light of the morning, saw this huge stone begin to roll away from the entrance of the tomb, apparently of its own accord—without any visible means to account for such motion—they were seized with fear and panic, and they fled in haste from the scene. The Jews fled to their homes, afterward going back to report these doings to their captain at the temple. The Romans fled to the fortress of Antonia and reported what they had seen to the centurion as soon as he arrived on duty.

189:2.5 (2023.4) The Jewish leaders began the sordid business of supposedly getting rid of Jesus by offering bribes to the traitorous Judas, and now, when confronted with this embarrassing situation, instead of thinking of punishing the guards who deserted their post, they resorted to bribing these guards and the Roman soldiers. They paid each of these twenty men a sum of money and instructed them to say to all: “While we slept during the nighttime, his disciples came upon us and took away the body.” And the Jewish leaders made solemn promises to the soldiers to defend them before Pilate in case it should ever come to the governor’s knowledge that they had accepted a bribe.

189:2.6 (2023.5) The Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus has been based on the fact of the “empty tomb.” It was indeed a fact that the tomb was empty, but this is not the truth of the resurrection. The tomb was truly empty when the first believers arrived, and this fact, associated with that of the undoubted resurrection of the Master, led to the formulation of a belief which was not true: the teaching that the material and mortal body of Jesus was raised from the grave. Truth having to do with spiritual realities and eternal values cannot always be built up by a combination of apparent facts. Although individual facts may be materially true, it does not follow that the association of a group of facts must necessarily lead to truthful spiritual conclusions.

189:2.7 (2023.6) The tomb of Joseph was empty, not because the body of Jesus had been rehabilitated or resurrected, but because the celestial hosts had been granted their request to afford it a special and unique dissolution, a return of the “dust to dust,” without the intervention of the delays of time and without the operation of the ordinary and visible processes of mortal decay and material corruption.

189:2.8 (2024.1) The mortal remains of Jesus underwent the same natural process of elemental disintegration as characterizes all human bodies on earth except that, in point of time, this natural mode of dissolution was greatly accelerated, hastened to that point where it became well-nigh instantaneous.

189:2.9 (2024.2) The true evidences of the resurrection of Michael are spiritual in nature, albeit this teaching is corroborated by the testimony of many mortals of the realm who met, recognized, and communed with the resurrected morontia Master. He became a part of the personal experience of almost one thousand human beings before he finally took leave of Urantia.

 

[godnotgod]

As you may well know, for Christians, the resurrection of Jesus Christ forms the core foundation of our faith. In 1 Corinthians 15:14, St Paul writes, "And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith."

How are we to interpret the resurrection of Jesus? Was it a physical resurrection as traditional views state, or was it merely a spiritual resurrection like Jehovah's Witnesses believe?

First of all, Yeshua, the real man, was a Nazarene, which is a Jewish mystical cult. Yeshua did not teach bodily resurrection; only spiritual resurrection. Nor did he teach blood sacrifice. Those teachings were overwritten onto those of Yeshua by Paul as a clever device to convert tens of thousands of pagans into the new religion, since the pagans already had the promise of eternal life under the pagan god Mithra. These overwritings transformed the real man Yeshua into the modern 'Jesus', a myth.

Secondly, Paul emphasizesThe Resurrection as the key to Christian Salvation, rather than The Crucifixion. Why? Because, unlike The Crucifixion, to which many other god-men had been subjected, The Resurrection (along with The Ascension) is 'proof' that 'Jesus' was who he said he was, other god-men still in their graves. But in reality, it is The Crucifixion that is THE central Christian teaching, and NOT The Resurrection. Why? Because it is The Crucifixion that is the shedding of divine blood for the redemption of mankind's sins, and the re-opening of the Gates of Paradise which Adam and Eve had closed via Original Sin.

"Drink, for this is my blood, which shall be shed unto many for the the redemption of sin"

'Salvation' is in the shedding of divine blood, not in the resurrection of 'Jesus'.

And lastly, Paul's account of the so-called '500' eyewitnesses is a concoction out of whole cloth. He stated that some of these eyewitnesses were still alive, but if that were the case, Paul would have beat a path to their door to interview them. News from them of their experience would have spread like wildfire, but it seems to exist in a closed vacuum. There is not a single written word of any of their testimonies of the single most important event in man's history. It's just so much hogwash.

Uh...'500'? How nice and round. Same number as the Buddha's 500 arhats.

Tradition also asserts that 500 disciples were present when Shaka Nyorai (the Historical Buddha) expounded the Flower Sutra on Vultures Peak.

Arhat (Rakan) - Chinese Buddhist Encyclopedia

Coincidence? I think not.

 

[Deidre]

I believe so. Dang, all those Sunday school classes...and I don't know this?

 

[Twilight Hue]

Huh? A physical resurrection would have been impossible had Jesus not died.

It would have been possible if people were led to believe he was dead, then all the sudden he shows up one day.

When you're dead you're dead.

 

[Milton Platt]

I see Religion and Science to be inextricably related. I think that Science that we may yet understand, could explain Jesus rising again.

In the mean time, we should not make such an assumption.