Did Jesus physically rise from the dead?

[TheBannerofHomuraAkemi]

You arent agreeing with Paul but with mediocrity. There is nothing godly or moral about scrambling for more time. The resurrection Paul wants is a resurrection that matters not a materialistic me-me.

What are you even talking about?

 

[Katzpur]

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

Yeah, but then He wouldn't have been resurrected at all. You have to actually have died in order to be resurrected. You can't just go off radar for a while.

When you're dead you're dead.

Right. And when you're resurrected, you are no longer dead.

 

[PureX]

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?

We are to interpret it in whatever way makes the most positive sense to us, an has the most positive effect on who we are and how we behave in the world.

 

[nPeace]

Though angels temporarily appeared on earth to people, the scriptures never teach that angels became flesh/human, as did Jesus Christ.

Right, but you didn't answer the question.
Are the angels flesh, or spirit - physical, or spiritual body?

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

Yes. We agree with the scriptures, that say Jesus came in the flesh, but what does that mean to you?

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.

So perhaps you can explain to me then, How did Jesus raise his own body from the dead, and God raised Jesus from the dead?

Acts 2:
24 But God resurrected him by releasing him from the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held fast by it. 25 For David says about him: ...27 because you will not leave me in the Grave, nor will you allow your loyal one to see corruption.
31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he forsaken in the Grave nor did his flesh see corruption. 32 God resurrected this Jesus, and of this we are all witnesses.

 

[Dell]

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

I would agree, his body if dead would have corrupted. No body can be rejuvenated after long period of death. So if a resurrection occurred his body would not have been corrupted by death or every cell of his body would have to be rebuilt, replaced, or repaired. If rebuilding a dead body were possible, it would end up as different brain and body altogether even if it looked the same. Jesus 2.0

BTW, the idea of resurrection from the dead is nothing new, other religions had accounts of resurrection of gods or prophets prior to this.

 

[Notaclue]

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?

1Jn.3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.


it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him;


We don't know?

 

[godnotgod]

Now, as far as the resurrection goes, the meaningful one is physical, the spiritual one isn't noted by any text, it's all physical. In other words, no matter what actually happened, Jesus was around after the 'crucifixion'.

Ya, he survived the Crucifixion and got spirited away by his close friends and relatives to the Buddhist monastery at Hemis in Ladakh in the Himalayas where the Buddhist monks knew him as 'our beloved St. Issa' during his 18 'missing years'. 'Issa' means 'savior'. Jesus's, or rather Yeshua's words were transcribed onto some Buddhist scrolls which are kept in their possession, but which were translated into English by a Russian traveler named Notovitch. His book: 'The Secret Life of Jesus Christ' was the result. Yeshua is buried in a tomb in the Himalayas known as 'The Tomb of Jesus'.

Sorry, folks. There was no 'resurrection'. It's a myth, understood as such if you just put on your thinking caps and use your heads.

 

[godnotgod]

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

Science does not deal with the supernatural or miracles. But the question for me is: why is there a necessity for a resurrection at all? Isn't The Crucifixion, which is the shedding of divine blood for the redemption of sin enough? The addition of The Resurrection is just a way of 'proof' that Jesus was who he claimed he was: God in the flesh. But if you need a resurrection to prove that claim, then of what use is faith? This addition only serves to destroy faith. Who needs The Resurrection when you've got The Crucifixion?

 

[godnotgod]

For me, the Resurrection simply proves there is a path from death to life.

However, there is no such 'proof' of any 'resurrection' from the dead. For one thing, Jesus, or rather Yeshua, was a Nazarene, a sect of the Essenes, which did not believe in bodily resurrection, nor in blood sacrifice. These doctrines came from pagan Mithraism.

If you are concerned with scriptural flaws, consider that Paul stated that there were 500 eyewitnesses to the resurrection, and that some were still alive while he wrote those words, but knowing this, did not beat a path to their doors to interview and document their testimony. There is not a single word that has come down to us from one of these so-called 'eyewitnesses', either written or oral, accounts which would have spread like wildfire about the single most important event in the history of the world. Instead, we have dead silence and a footnote by Paul, for me, a concocted myth. It's just so much window dressing to make the notion that Jesus was God in the flesh true, and has become the centerpiece of Christian dogma, when it is The Crucifixion that should hold place of pride, since it is the event that saved all of mankind from eternal damnation, an event which a Nazarene would not have given credence to, since they did not believe in bodily resurrection nor blood sacrifice. A Nazarene was a breath, not a blood based practice. They did not believe in animal, let alone human sacrifice, and never the sacrifice of the deity itself. This is superstition, and comes from both paganism and Judaism. Yeshua was a man of the East, like the Buddha, where the breath is the life-force, by which divine union is realized.

If you need to expand your understanding as to how the teachings of Yeshua were overwritten with those of the pagan god Mitrha and how they were transformed to become modern Christianity, see here, especially the section on Paul and the Mystery Religions:

Paul and the Mystery Religions

 

[Jumi]

I personally don't think my view matters, since I don't have proof of either and I'm not Christian.

I'd also like to mention the Lazarus syndrome

Lazarus syndrome - Wikipedia

 

[Deeje]

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.

Where is heaven? Do Bahai's believe in the existence of a place called heaven? If so where is it?
The Bible speaks of it as a realm....a place inhabited by beings who are spirits (i.e. extraterrestrials who are not material beings and who do not inhabit a material world.) It is not a place where material creatures can exist. Humans have only ever been given tantalizing glimpses of the place in visions.

We earth-bound beings are stuck on a perpetually moving "spaceship" encapsulated with all our life support contained within the atmosphere so that we have to remain here to survive. There is no air or gravity in space. No food or water, and nowhere to live that is even remotely habitable like we have right here on planet Earth.

Can science prove that a place like heaven 'cannot' exist? Or that it is impossible for spirit beings to exist? What is yet to be discovered?
Jesus clearly placed his Father "in heaven" when he taught us the model prayer.

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.

But stars and planets are not "beings". They are made of matter but they are not alive. There are other celestial phenomenon out there that seem to defy science's ability to explain them. Not surprising when you consider that science is in its infancy really. Most of what man has discovered in science has only been in the last couple of centuries or so. Bacteria were not taken seriously as the cause of illness until the 1870's. So we only learned about germs about 150 years ago.

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.

The difficulty with that approach is that science could be lagging so far behind the knowledge and ability of these spirit beings so as to seem like 'slugs' in comparison. A telescope would not come close to detecting something or someone in an invisible realm.

Dismissing something because science can't yet detect it is a little short sighted don't you think? Consider the possibilities.....

 

[Regiomontanus]

However, there is no such 'proof' of any 'resurrection' from the dead. For one thing, Jesus, or rather Yeshua, was a Nazarene, a sect of the Essenes, which did not believe in bodily resurrection, nor in blood sacrifice. These doctrines came from pagan Mithraism.

If you are concerned with scriptural flaws, consider that Paul stated that there were 500 eyewitnesses to the resurrection, and that some were still alive while he wrote those words, but knowing this, did not beat a path to their doors to interview and document their testimony. There is not a single word that has come down to us from one of these so-called 'eyewitnesses', either written or oral, accounts which would have spread like wildfire about the single most important event in the history of the world. Instead, we have dead silence and a footnote by Paul, for me, a concocted myth. It's just so much window dressing to make the notion that Jesus was God in the flesh true, and has become the centerpiece of Christian dogma, when it is The Crucifixion that should hold place of pride, since it is the event that saved all of mankind from eternal damnation, an event which a Nazarene would not have given credence to, since they did not believe in bodily resurrection nor blood sacrifice. A Nazarene was a breath, not a blood based practice. They did not believe in animal, let alone human sacrifice, and never the sacrifice of the deity itself. This is superstition, and comes from both paganism and Judaism. Yeshua was a man of the East, like the Buddha, where the breath is the life-force, by which divine union is realized.

If you need to expand your understanding as to how the teachings of Yeshua were overwritten with those of the pagan god Mitrha and how they were transformed to become modern Christianity, see here, especially the section on Paul and the Mystery Religions:

Paul and the Mystery Religions

Hello. Just a quick comment: Jesus was not an Essene. Shared some of their worldview, yes. But big differences. There is a lot of scholarship out there on this.

Peace

 

[Deeje]

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 question is...why does it matter? What is the big deal about the resurrection of Jesus? Wasn't it his death that paid for man's sins?
What did his resurrection prove and why do Christians treat it as something very important?

Christ was given a body of flesh and blood in order to be born as a human child. He had to become a son of Adam in order to pay the debt that Adam left for his children. He became their "redeemer" by paying for their release from slavery to sin and death. Having come from heaven to fulfill that mission, Jesus was not to remain in a grave, never to live again. There was so much more to do in his role as Messiah. He resided in heaven before his earthly sojourn and he had to return there as the "Logos"...God's most trusted son and spokesman. Without the resurrection, Jesus could not complete his mission to return to heaven to prepare a place for his chosen ones and to set up a Kingdom arrangement in order to rule mankind for 1,000 years in the future.

He could not return to heaven as a man of flesh and blood because humans cannot exist outside of Earth's atmosphere. He was raised as a spirit, but capable of materializing fleshly bodies. He did this for two reasons.....1) because he needed his disciples to see that he was alive with their own eyes, and 2) because Jews were forbidden to communicate with spirits, he always "appeared" to them in human form. Angels too could materialize human form when delivering messages to God's human servants.

The resurrection of Christ also set the scene for the general resurrection of mankind. (John 5:28-29) Jesus was by no means the only person to be resurrected....others too were raised from the dead.....but all were raised in the flesh and given back to their families. Jesus was the first one to be raised "in the spirit" but promised that his co-rulers would be raised in the same way that he was.

Jesus' resurrection was a guarantee for all others to come.

 

[godnotgod]

Hello. Just a quick comment: Jesus was not an Essene. Shared some of their worldview, yes. But big differences. There is a lot of scholarship out there on this.

Peace

The Nazarene were a sect of the Essenes.

The mythical concoction of Paul called 'Jesus' may not have been an Essene, but Yeshua was.

"The Nazarenes originated as a sect of first-century Judaism. The first use of the term "sect of the Nazarenes" is in the Book of Acts in the New Testament, where Paul is accused of being a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes"

Nazarene (sect) - Wikipedia

I do not give credence to the notion that 'Jesus' being a Nazarene refers to his being a citizen of Nazareth. We have no factual evidence of any 1st century 'Nazareth' having existed.

 

[Regiomontanus]

A Nazarene is an Essene.

The mythical concoction of Paul called 'Jesus' may not have been an Essene, but Yeshua was.

Hello. Jesus was not an Essene is all I am saying here. Nothing to debate. Consult the work of the leading Dead Sea Scroll scholars (say, Joseph Fitzmyer, Peter Flint, James Vanderkam) and you will see why this common misperception has been convincingly put to rest.

Peace

 

[Thinking Homer]

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,?

If you look at the context of 1 Corinthians 15, Paul is writing to the church in Corinth, a city which was mostly indulged in pagan culture. The Greek philosophy in those days taught that at the time of death, the body would die and the soul set free (hence what you did with your body had no impact on your soul).

One of the core doctrines of the Christian faith is the resurrection of the body on the Last Day, which Paul mentions later on in the chapter (1 Cor 15:35). Jesus was the first person to experience this 'true resurrection' (Lazarus died again inevitably), and so gave hope to Christians that they will also one day experience this resurrection.

However if Jesus Christ never rose from the dead, then it destroys many core doctrines of our faith:
1. Jesus was merely a human prophet, not God
2. There is no resurrection after the dead

 

[Thinking Homer]

The question is...why does it matter? What is the big deal about the resurrection of Jesus? Wasn't it his death that paid for man's sins?
What did his resurrection prove and why do Christians treat it as something very important?

Christ was given a body of flesh and blood in order to be born as a human child. He had to become a son of Adam in order to pay the debt that Adam left for his children. He became their "redeemer" by paying for their release from slavery to sin and death. Having come from heaven to fulfill that mission, Jesus was not to remain in a grave, never to live again. There was so much more to do in his role as Messiah. He resided in heaven before his earthly sojourn and he had to return there as the "Logos"...God's most trusted son and spokesman. Without the resurrection, Jesus could not complete his mission to return to heaven to prepare a place for his chosen ones and to set up a Kingdom arrangement in order to rule mankind for 1,000 years in the future.

He could not return to heaven as a man of flesh and blood because humans cannot exist outside of Earth's atmosphere. He was raised as a spirit, but capable of materializing fleshly bodies. He did this for two reasons.....1) because he needed his disciples to see that he was alive with their own eyes, and 2) because Jews were forbidden to communicate with spirits, he always "appeared" to them in human form. Angels too could materialize human form when delivering messages to God's human servants.

The resurrection of Christ also set the scene for the general resurrection of mankind. (John 5:28-29) Jesus was by no means the only person to be resurrected....others too were raised from the dead.....but all were raised in the flesh and given back to their families. Jesus was the first one to be raised "in the spirit" but promised that his co-rulers would be raised in the same way that he was.

Jesus' resurrection was a guarantee for all others to come.

A lot of questions that have been popping up of why the resurrection is important. It is true that it is the death of Christ that served to wash away sins (sacrificial atonement). However I believe that the resurrection was just as important to validate that Jesus was indeed the "sacrificial lamb" that was intended to wash away our sins, and not just another prophet who was persecuted by a pagan culture at the time.

Paul also mentions that faith in the resurrection is important for our salvation:

'If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. ' Romans 10:9-10

Recommended resource:
"Why is the resurrection of Jesus Christ important? It proves who Jesus is. It demonstrates that God accepted Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. It shows that God has the power to raise us from the dead. It guarantees that the bodies of those who believe in Christ will not remain dead but will be resurrected unto eternal life."

Why is the resurrection of Jesus Christ important?

 

[Brickjectivity]

What are you even talking about?

Sorry if it was unclear. Resurrection in the Bible is the opposite of a pagan afterlife. Its putting ones life into christ, denying self. The idea of going to heaven to live, see old friends, etc. not biblical I think but more of a rabbit trail. The OP began by objecting that Paul believed otherwise, but it was badly done. Paul is primarily concerned with resurrection of spiritual Israel. The body of christ is the church according to Paul, and when he says christ is raised he refers to this.

 

[InvestigateTruth]

If you look at the context of 1 Corinthians 15, Paul is writing to the church in Corinth, a city which was mostly indulged in pagan culture. The Greek philosophy in those days taught that at the time of death, the body would die and the soul set free (hence what you did with your body had no impact on your soul).

One of the core doctrines of the Christian faith is the resurrection of the body on the Last Day, which Paul mentions later on in the chapter (1 Cor 15:35). Jesus was the first person to experience this 'true resurrection' (Lazarus died again inevitably), and so gave hope to Christians that they will also one day experience this resurrection.

However if Jesus Christ never rose from the dead, then it destroys many core doctrines of our faith:
1. Jesus was merely a human prophet, not God
2. There is no resurrection after the dead

Hello,

1.Resurrection of the Body is in Bible. But, the Bible says, there is spiritual body, and there is natural body. That still leaves the question, which type of body would be resurrected.

2. If having a physical body is so important and worthy, why the Father does not have one for Himself, and why even the Son did not have a physical body before being born from marry? After all He was in heaven and had come down from heaven, so, it means before He came down, He was in heaven without a physical body, right?

 

[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 through the stratosphere to be with His Father in heaven. God can work miracles for certain but the last time I investigated the matter 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 there sitting on the right

Where is heaven? Do Bahai's believe in the existence of a place called heaven? If so where is it?
The Bible speaks of it as a realm....a place inhabited by beings who are spirits (i.e. extraterrestrials who are not material beings and who do not inhabit a material world.) It is not a place where material creatures can exist. Humans have only ever been given tantalizing glimpses of the place in visions.

We earth-bound beings are stuck on a perpetually moving "spaceship" encapsulated with all our life support contained within the atmosphere so that we have to remain here to survive. There is no air or gravity in space. No food or water, and nowhere to live that is even remotely habitable like we have right here on planet Earth.

Can science prove that a place like heaven 'cannot' exist? Or that it is impossible for spirit beings to exist? What is yet to be discovered?
Jesus clearly placed his Father "in heaven" when he taught us the model prayer.



But stars and planets are not "beings". They are made of matter but they are not alive. There are other celestial phenomenon out there that seem to defy science's ability to explain them. Not surprising when you consider that science is in its infancy really. Most of what man has discovered in science has only been in the last couple of centuries or so. Bacteria were not taken seriously as the cause of illness until the 1870's. So we only learned about germs about 150 years ago.



The difficulty with that approach is that science could be lagging so far behind the knowledge and ability of these spirit beings so as to seem like 'slugs' in comparison. A telescope would not come close to detecting something or someone in an invisible realm.

Dismissing something because science can't yet detect it is a little short sighted don't you think? Consider the possibilities.....

I think you’re making something simple unnecessarily complicated. Baha’is believe heaven to be in an unseen realm beyond the physical world. That’s where Jesus went. The problem is that some people look up at the sky and call that heaven to.