In the time of Jesus, the two major Jewish sects were the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Pharisees believed in resurrection, angels, and spirits whereas the Sadducees did not. The Sadducees try to trick Jesus on this issue by asking him who a widow who has lost multiple husbands will be married to after being resurrected. Jesus responds by affirming resurrection and highlighting the Sadducees misunderstanding of the issue:
On that day some Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to Jesus and questioned Him … But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, since you do not understand the Scriptures nor the power of God … But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God: ‘I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB?’ He is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Mt 22:23-32).
Jesus makes it clear that the resurrection of the dead will occur. It is also clear that this will happen on the last day. “Martha said to [Jesus], ‘I know that he will rise in the resurrection on the last day’” (Jn 11:24). But what will the resurrection of the dead entail? The Bible is mostly silent on this issue but does say that it will (1) be a bodily resurrection where the soul is reunited with an improved body; and (2) that this resurrection will occur for both the righteous and the wicked.
Paul is clear that all of the dead will be resurrected when he says, “[T]here shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked” (Acts 24:15). John writes, “[A] time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come out: those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the bad deeds to a resurrection of judgment” (Jn 5:28-29). The book of Revelation is a bit more cryptic, but the following passage is typically interpreted as referring to the resurrection of all. “And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them … And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rv 20:13-15).
It is also clear that our souls will be reunited with a physical body. This first happened with Christ’s resurrection, which is referred to as the firstfruits of resurrection (1 Cor 15:23). The implication is that resurrected bodies will be like that of Christ’s resurrected body: physical, the same physical body that we lived with in some sense, but a body that is much improved. Paul writes, “Behold, I am telling you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” (1 Cor 15:51-52).
It is natural to question how a body can be resurrected if it is extremely decayed, cremated, or otherwise in a state where the atoms required for a new body are simply not present. This is a mystery, but it should be recognized that the atoms in every animal are regularly replaced. An old person has none of the original atoms of their younger self, and yet they are the same person. In the same way, our resurrected bodies will still be us, even though the material makeup may be different.
The quote by Paul above states that our resurrected bodies will be changed and imperishable. The reference to Christ as the Firstfruit also implies that our resurrected bodies will in someway be like Christ’s glorified body. It can be assumed that these are very good and desirable things, but one last verse provides a clearer picture of our resurrected bodies. “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our lowly condition into conformity with His glorious body, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.” (Phil 3:20-21). Our resurrected bodies will be glorious as Christ’s resurrected body is glorious and be suitable for our citizenship in Heaven.
The Roman Catholic position is clear that everyone will be subject to resurrection. The proceedings of the Fourth Lateran Council state, “All of them will rise with their own bodies, which they now wear, so as to receive according to their deserts, whether these be good or bad.”[i] The Lutheran position is almost identical. The Augsburg Confession reads, “It is also taught that our Lord Jesus Christ will return on the Last Day to judge, to raise all the dead, to give eternal life and eternal joy to those who believe and are elect, but to condemn the ungodly and the devils to hell and eternal punishment.”[ii]
Although not part of any Lutheran confession, it is interesting to note that Martin Luther viewed the general resurrection as part of the ultimate victory of Christ. David Scaer writes, “Luther takes a total advantage of Paul’s imagery of the church as Christ’s body … the combined imagery of the ‘Head’ and ‘Firstfruits’ suggests to Luther a birth in which the child’s head comes out before the body.”[iii] Luther was originally overwhelmed and terrified by the idea that God was going to judge and condemn the sinner at any moment.[iv] But understanding the general resurrection as part of Christ’s victory allowed Luther to alleviate much of his anxiety.
The predominant Reformed position regarding the general resurrection is somewhat more detailed than the Roman Catholic and Lutheran. The Westminster Larger Catechism states:
“ We must first of all believe that at the last day there is going to be a resurrection of all the dead, both the righteous and the wicked. When that happens, those who are still alive on earth will be instantly changed, and the very same bodies of the dead that were buried will be reunited with their souls and raised up by the power of Christ. Through the Spirit of Christ and by virtue of his resurrection, as their head, the bodies of the righteous will be raised in power, spiritual and imperishable, and made in the likeness of Christ’s glorious body. Christ will raise up in dishonor the bodies of the wicked, who offend him as judge.”[v]
And so, the Reformed position not only affirms the resurrection of all the dead, but that souls will be reunited with their “very same bodies” and that these bodies will be glorified versions in the likeness of Christ’s resurrected body.
The Arminian position similarly has greater detail than the Roman Catholic and Lutheran. The Arminian Confession reads, “This resurrection will happen at the second and glorious coming of Jesus Christ for the judgment of all, that is, when He will call all the dead to life … For at that time, He will awaken out of the dust of the earth His faithful and holy ones who were indeed dead to eternal and blessed life, and give to them alone a glorious and incorruptible body.”[vi] The Methodist position, although historically based on Arminianism, is more similar in detail to the Roman Catholic and Lutheran. Its Confession reads, “We believe all men stand under the righteous judgment of Jesus Christ, both now and in the last day. We believe in the resurrection of the dead; the righteous to life eternal and the wicked to endless condemnation.”[vii]
[i] Proceedings of the Fourth Lateran Council, Article 1, Confession of Faith, 1215.
[ii] Augsburg Confession, Article XVII. Concerning the Return of Christ to Judgment.
[iii] David Scaer, “Luther’s Concept of the Resurrection in His Commentary on I Corinthians 15,” Concordia Theological Quarterly, Vol. 47, No. 3, July 1983: 221.
[iv] Anfechtungen is the German word that Martin Luther used to describe the overwhelming anxiety and fear that he experienced throughout his spiritual journey. This included the terrifying concept that, at any moment, God was going to judge and condemn all sinners. Viewing the general resurrection as the culmination of Christ’s victory allowed Luther to welcome rather than dread the general resurrection.
[v] Westminster Larger Catechism, Question 87.
[vi] The Arminian Confession of 1621, Ch. 19, ¶2.
[vii] Confession of Faith of the Evangelical United Brethren Church, Article XII (contained in The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church, 2016).
Leave a Reply