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109-515: The Living Christ may refer to: Jesus, who many Christians believe came back to life at his resurrection The Living Christ Series , a 1951 drama film series " The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles ", a 2000 declaration by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Living Christ Church , a Sri Lankan autonomous indigenous fellowship of churches Topics referred to by

218-636: A "celestial body", made of a finer material than the flesh. In the Epistle to the Philippians Paul describes how the body of the resurrected Christ is utterly different from the one he wore when he had "the appearance of a man", and holds out a similar glorified state, when Christ "will transform our lowly body", as the goal of the Christian life – "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (I Corinthians 15:50), and Christians entering

327-413: A "legendary materialization" of the visionary experiences, "borrowing the traits of the earthly Jesus." Yet, according to Dunn, there was both "a tendency away from the physical ... and a reverse tendency towards the physical." The tendency towards the material is most clear, but there are also signs for the tendency away from the physical, and "there are some indications that a more physical understanding

436-484: A "massive realism" to them, as seen for example in Luke having Jesus insisting that he was of "flesh and bones", and John having Jesus asking Thomas to touch his wounds. Dunn contends that the "massive realism' ... of the [Gospel] appearances themselves can only be described as visionary with great difficulty – and Luke would certainly reject the description as inappropriate." According to Dunn, most scholars explain this as

545-562: A Christian philosopher at Oxford University, the question " 'Did Jesus rise from the dead?' is the most important question regarding the claims of the Christian faith." According to John R. Rice , a Baptist evangelist, the resurrection of Jesus was part of the plan of salvation and redemption by atonement for man's sin . According to the Roman Catechism of the Catholic Church, the resurrection of Jesus causes and

654-471: A belief in a bodily resurrection. Other texts range from the traditional Old Testament view that the soul would spend eternity in the underworld, to a metaphorical belief in the raising of the spirit. Most avoided defining what resurrection might imply, but a resurrection of the flesh was a marginal belief. As Outi Lehtipuu states, "belief in resurrection was far from being an established doctrine" of Second Temple Judaism . The Greeks traditionally held that

763-735: A belief in the resurrection of the soul alone, which was then developed by the Pharisees as a belief in bodily resurrection, an idea completely alien to the Greeks. Josephus tells of the three main Jewish sects of the 1st century AD, that the Sadducees held that both soul and body perished at death; the Essenes that the soul was immortal but the flesh was not; and the Pharisees that the soul

872-523: A bodily resurrection meant a new imprisonment in a corporeal body, which was what they wanted to avoid – given that, for them, the corporeal and the material fettered the spirit. James Dunn notes that there is a great difference between Paul's resurrection appearance, and the appearances described in the Gospels. Where "Paul's seeing was visionary ... , 'from heaven'", in contrast, the Gospel accounts have

981-399: A combined argument. While the coherence of the empty tomb narrative is questionable, it is "clearly an early tradition". Vermes rejects the literal interpretation of the story, and also notes that the story of the empty tomb conflicts with notions of a spiritual resurrection. According to Vermes, "[t]he strictly Jewish bond of spirit and body is better served by the idea of the empty tomb and

1090-423: A commonly held tradition, though Mark may have added to and adapted that tradition to fit his narrative. Other scholars have argued that instead, Paul presupposes the empty tomb, specifically in the early creed passed down in 1 Cor. 15. Christian biblical scholars have used textual critical methods to support the historicity of the tradition that "Mary of Magdala had indeed been the first to see Jesus", most notably

1199-467: A few years of the resurrection. Hans Grass argues for an origin in Damascus, and according to Paul Barnett, this creedal formula, and others, were variants of the "one basic early tradition that Paul "received" in Damascus from Ananias in about 34 [AD]" after his conversion. [3] For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with

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1308-403: A locked room, which Endsjø interprets as something like a resurrection. Smith argues that Mark has integrated two traditions, which were first separate, on the disappearance (from the tomb, interpreted as being taken to heaven) and appearance (post-mortem appearances), into one Easter narrative. According to Géza Vermes , the story of the empty tomb developed independently from the stories of

1417-564: A misnomer since first-century tombs in Judea were built to house multiple bodies. As such, Mark narrates that the women had seen the spot where Jesus was laid while the later gospels state that the tomb was "new" and unused. The composition and classification of the empty tomb story have been the subject of considerable debate. Several scholars have argued that the empty tomb story in Mark is similar to "assumption" or "translation" stories, and not

1526-428: A missing body was far more likely to be interpreted as an instance of removal by a divine agent than as an instance of resurrection or resuscitation. Richard C. Miller compares the ending of Mark to Hellenistic and Roman translation stories of heroes which involve missing bodies. However, Smith also notes that certain elements within Mark's empty tomb story are inconsistent with an assumption narrative, most importantly

1635-637: A more complex reality: for example, when the author of the Book of Daniel wrote that "many of those sleeping in the dust shall awaken", religion scholar Dag Øistein Endsjø believes he probably had in mind a rebirth as angelic beings (metaphorically described as stars in God's Heaven, stars having been identified with angels from early times); such a rebirth would rule out a bodily resurrection, as angels were believed to be fleshless. Other scholars hold that Daniel exposes

1744-538: A number of men and women gained physical immortality as they were translated to live forever in either Elysium , the Islands of the Blessed , heaven, the ocean, or literally right under the ground. While some scholars have attempted to trace resurrection beliefs in pagan traditions concerning death and bodily disappearances, the attitudes towards resurrection were generally negative among pagans. For example, Asclepius

1853-500: A resurrection story, in which certain special individuals are described as being transported into the divine realm (heaven) before or after their death . Adela Yarbro Collins , for example, explains the Markan narrative as a Markan deduction from an early Christian belief in the resurrection. She classifies it as a translation story, meaning a story of the removal of a newly-immortal hero to a non-Earthly realm. According to Daniel Smith,

1962-460: A white robe" to two, adds Peter's inspection of the tomb, and deletes the promise that Jesus would meet his disciples in Galilee. John reduces the women to the solitary Mary Magdalene , and introduces the " beloved disciple " who visits the empty tomb with Peter and is the first to understand its significance. Mark 16:1–8 probably represents a complete unit of oral tradition taken over by

2071-478: A white robe" to two, makes reference to earlier passion predictions ( Luke 24:7 ), and adds Peter's inspection of the tomb. He also deletes the promise that Jesus would meet his disciples in Galilee. In Mark and Matthew, Jesus tells the disciples to meet him there, but in Luke the post-resurrection appearances are only in Jerusalem . Mark and Luke report that the women visited the tomb in order to finish anointing

2180-541: Is also attested by archaeological finds from Jehohanan , a body of an apparently crucified man with a nail in the heel which could not be removed who was buried in a tomb. Contra a decent burial, Martin Hengel has argued that Jesus was buried in disgrace as an executed criminal who died a shameful death, a view which is "now widely accepted and has become entrenched in scholarly literature." John Dominic Crossan argued that Jesus's followers did not know what happened to

2289-501: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Resurrection of Jesus The resurrection of Jesus ( Biblical Greek : ἀνάστασις τοῦ Ἰησοῦ , romanized:  anástasis toú Iēsoú ) is the Christian event that God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion , starting – or restoring – his exalted life as Christ and Lord . According to

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2398-450: Is found in a wide variety of early texts, and probably has its historical roots in the earliest stages of Christianity. According to Israeli religion scholar Gedaliahu Stroumsa , this idea came first, and later, docetism broadened to include Jesus was a spirit without flesh. It is probable these were present in the first century, as it is against such doctrines that the author of 1 and 2 John seems to argue. The absence of any reference to

2507-447: Is historical. Dale Allison argues for an empty tomb that was later followed by visions of Jesus by the Apostles and Mary Magdalene, while also accepting the historicity of the resurrection. While he acknowledges contradictions in the Gospels' narratives, he argues that they agree on the important themes and that the differences are inconsequential when judging the historical event as a whole. Allison has endorsed David Graieg's work on

2616-409: Is no mention of an open pit or shallow graves in any Roman text. There are a number of historical texts outside the gospels showing the bodies of the crucified dead were buried by family or friends. Cook writes that "those texts show that the narrative of Joseph of Arimethaea's burial of Jesus would be perfectly comprehensible to a Greco-Roman reader of the gospels and historically credible." Early on,

2725-403: Is not included in the following table. He introduces the "beloved disciple", who visits the tomb with Peter and understands its significance before Peter. The author seems to have combined three traditions, one involving a visit to the tomb by several women early in the morning (of which the "we" in "we do not know where they have taken him" is a fragmentary remnant), a second involving a visit to

2834-489: Is the model of the resurrection of all the dead, as well as the cause and model of repentance , which the catechism calls "spiritual resurrection." Summarizing its traditional analysis, the Catholic Church states in its Catechism: Although the Resurrection was an historical event that could be verified by the sign of the empty tomb and by the reality of the apostles' encounters with the risen Christ, still it remains at

2943-550: The Antiquities of the Jews , a 1st-century account of Jewish history by Josephus , believers of the resurrection are discussed. However, this reference to the resurrection is widely believed to have been added by a Christian interpolator . Within the non-canonical literature of Gospel of Peter , there is a retelling of the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus's followers expected God's Kingdom to come soon, and Jesus's resurrection

3052-519: The Criterion of Embarrassment in recent years. According to Dale Allison , the inclusion of women as the first witnesses to the risen Jesus "once suspect, confirms the truth of the story." N. T. Wright emphatically and extensively argues for the reality of the empty tomb and the subsequent appearances of Jesus, reasoning that as a matter of "inference" both a bodily resurrection and later bodily appearances of Jesus are far better explanations for

3161-575: The Gospel authors, that led to the establishment of Christianity. In Christian theology , the resurrection of Jesus is "the central mystery of the Christian faith". It provides the foundation for that faith, as commemorated by Easter , along with Jesus's life, death and sayings. For Christians, his resurrection is the guarantee that all the Christian dead will be resurrected at Christ's parousia (second coming). Secular and liberal Christian scholarship asserts that religious experiences, such as

3270-549: The Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of John contain two independent attestations of an empty tomb, which in turn suggests that both used already-existing sources and appealed to a commonly held tradition, though Mark may have added to and adapted that tradition to fit his narrative. How and why Mark adapts his material is unclear. Smith believes that Mark has adapted two separate traditions of resurrection and disappearance into one Easter narrative. According to Rudolf Bultmann , "Easter stories [...] fall into two groups – stories of

3379-472: The Gospel of Matthew , an angel appeared to Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb, telling her that Jesus is not there because he has been raised from the dead, and instructing her to tell the other followers to go to Galilee, to meet Jesus. Jesus then appeared to Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary" at the tomb; and next, based on Mark 16:7, Jesus appeared to all the disciples on a mountain in Galilee, where Jesus claimed authority over heaven and earth, and commissioned

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3488-586: The New Testament writing, Jesus was firstborn from the dead , ushering in the Kingdom of God . He appeared to his disciples, calling the apostles to the Great Commission of forgiving sin and baptizing repenters , and ascended to Heaven . For the Christian tradition, the bodily resurrection was the restoration to life of a transformed body powered by spirit , as described by Paul and

3597-485: The visionary appearances of Jesus and an inspired reading of the Biblical texts, gave the impetus to the belief in the exaltation of Jesus as a "fulfillment of the scriptures", and a resumption of the missionary activity of Jesus's followers. Scholars of Jesus as a historical figure tend to generally avoid the topic, since many believe the matter to be about faith, or lack thereof. The conviction that Jesus

3706-521: The Apostles, Jesus appeared to the apostles for forty days and commanded them to stay in Jerusalem, after which Jesus ascended to heaven, followed by the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and the missionary task of the early church. In Judaism, the idea of resurrection first emerges in the 3rd century BC Book of Watchers and in the 2nd century BC Book of Daniel , the later possibly as

3815-535: The Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me." Peter, however, got up and ran to

3924-546: The Jerusalem ekklēsia (Church), from which Paul received this creed, the phrase "died for our sins" probably was an apologetic rationale for the death of Jesus as being part of God's plan and purpose, as evidenced in the scriptures. For Paul, it gained a deeper significance, providing "a basis for the salvation of sinful Gentiles apart from the Torah." The phrase "died for our sins" was derived from Isaiah , especially 53:4–11, and 4 Maccabees , especially 6:28–29. "Raised on

4033-478: The Resurrection appearances, which also argues that early Christians remembered Jesus as having physically risen from the dead. Graieg argues that Paul in First Corinthians remembered Jesus as having bodily risen from the dead and that the resurrection was of core importance to early Christians using a methodology based on memory theory. Graieg argues that Jesus physically rose from the dead and that he

4142-584: The Roman authorities to make arrangements for Jesus’s hurried burial." James Dunn states that "the tradition is firm that Jesus was given a proper burial (Mark 15.42-47 pars.), and there are good reasons why its testimony should be respected." Dunn argues that the burial tradition is "one of the oldest pieces of tradition we have", referring to 1 Cor. 15.4; burial was in line with Jewish custom as prescribed by Deut. 21:22–23 and confirmed by Josephus War ; cases of burial of crucified persons are known, as attested by

4251-455: The Trojan prince Ganymede , and princess Orithyia of Athens , whose mysterious disappearances were seen as the result of their being swept away to a physically immortal existence by the gods, Heracles whose lack of bodily remains after his funeral pyre was considered proof of his physical immortalization, and Aristeas of Proconnesus who was held to have reappeared after his body vanished from

4360-585: The Yehohanan burial; Joseph of Arimathea "is a very plausible historical character"; and "the presence of the women at the cross and their involvement in Jesus's burial can be attributed more plausibly to early oral memory than to creative story-telling." Craig A. Evans refers to Deut. 21:22-23 and Josephus to argue that the entombment of Jesus accords with Jewish sensitivities and historical reality. Evans also notes that "politically, too, it seems unlikely that, on

4469-404: The author. It concludes with the women fleeing from the empty tomb and telling no one what they have seen, and the general scholarly view is that this was the original ending of this gospel, with the remaining verses, Mark 16:9–16 , being added later. The imagery of a young man in a white robe, and the reaction of the women, indicates that this is an encounter with an angel. The empty tomb fills

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4578-781: The body must not be left exposed overnight, but must be buried that day. This is also attested in the Temple Scroll of the Essenes, and in Josephus ' Jewish War 4.5.2§317, describing the burial of crucified Jewish insurgents before sunset. Reference is made to the Digesta , a Roman Law Code from the 6th century AD, which contains material from the 2nd century AD, stating that "the bodies of those who have been punished are only buried when this has been requested and permission granted." Burial of people who were executed by crucifixion

4687-450: The body of Jesus. While Mark doesn't provide any explanation why they couldn't complete their task on the evening of the crucifixion, Luke explains that the first sundown of sabbath had already begun when Jesus was being buried, and that the women were observant of sabbath regulations. In Matthew the women came simply to see the tomb, and in John no reason is given. John reduces the women to

4796-535: The body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered over to

4905-460: The body. According to Crossan, Joseph of Arimathea is "a total Markan creation in name, in place, and in function", arguing that Jesus's followers inferred from Deut. 21:22–23 that Jesus was buried by a group of law-abiding Jews, as described in Acts 13:29. New Testament scholar Dale Allison writes that this story was adapted by Mark, turning the group of Jews into a specific person. Roman practice

5014-429: The criticisms, taking the Gospel accounts to be historically reliable. John A.T. Robinson states that "the burial of Jesus in the tomb is one of the earliest and best-attested facts about Jesus." Dale Allison , reviewing the arguments of Crossan and Ehrman, finds their assertions strong, but "find[s] it likely that a man named Joseph, probably a Sanhedrist, from the obscure Arimathea, sought and obtained permission from

5123-533: The dead ", prōtotokos , the first to be raised from the dead, thereby acquiring the "special status of the firstborn as the preeminent son and heir". His resurrection is also the guarantee that all the Christian dead will be resurrected at Christ's parousia . After the resurrection, Jesus is portrayed as calling the apostles to the Great Commission , as described in Matthew 28:16–20, Mark 16:14–18, Luke 24:44–49, Acts 1:4–8, and John 20:19–23, in which

5232-519: The dead." From Hellenistic times on, some Greeks held that the soul of a meritorious man could be translated into a god in the process of apotheosis (divinization) which then transferred them to a special place of honour. Successors of Alexander the Great made this idea very well known throughout the Middle East through coins bearing his image, a privilege previously reserved for gods. The idea

5341-407: The death of Jesus, while Matthew and Luke date from around AD 85–90. John , the last gospel to be completed, began circulating between 90 and 110, and its narrative of the empty tomb is not merely a different form of the story told in the synoptics, but after John 20:2 differs to such an extent that it cannot be harmonised with the earlier three. In the original ending of the Gospel of Mark ,

5450-468: The disciples receive the call "to let the world know the good news of a victorious Saviour and the very presence of God in the world by the spirit". According to these texts, Jesus says that they "will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you", that "repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in [the Messiah's] name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem", and that "if you forgive

5559-411: The disciples to preach the gospel to the whole world. In this message, the end times are delayed "to bring the world to discipleship". In the Gospel of Luke , "the women who had come with him from Galilee" come to his tomb, which they find empty. Two angelic beings appeared to announce that Jesus is not there but has been raised. Jesus then appeared to two followers on their way to Emmaus, who notify

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5668-514: The disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her. Although Jews , Greeks , and Romans all believed in the reality of resurrection , they differed in their respective conceptions and interpretations of it. Christians certainly knew of numerous resurrection-events allegedly experienced by persons other than Jesus: the early 3rd-century Christian theologian Origen , for example, did not deny

5777-462: The earlier witnesses. In 2 Corinthians 12 Paul described "a man in Christ [presumably Paul himself] who ... was caught up to the third heaven", and while the language is obscure, a plausible interpretation is that the man believed he saw Jesus enthroned at the right hand of God. The many Pauline references affirming his belief in the resurrection include: Jesus is described as the " firstborn from

5886-452: The earliest church, originating perhaps in the Christian community of Antioch in the 30s and preserved in 1 Corinthians , has led some scholars to suggest that Mark invented it. Allison, however, finds this argument from silence unconvincing. Other scholars have argued that instead, Paul presupposes the empty tomb, specifically in the early creed passed down in 1 Cor. 15. Most scholars believe that John wrote independently of Mark and that

5995-457: The eleven remaining Apostles, who respond that Jesus has appeared to Peter. While they were describing this, Jesus appeared again, explaining that he is the messiah who was raised from the dead according to the scriptures "and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem". In Luke–Acts (two works from the same author) he then ascended into heaven , his rightful home. In Acts of

6104-460: The empty tomb and is no doubt responsible for the introduction of the notions of palpability (Thomas in John) and eating (Luke and John)." Ehrman rejects the story of the empty tomb, and argues that "an empty tomb had nothing to do with it ... an empty tomb would not produce faith." Ehrman argues that the empty tomb was needed to underscore the physical resurrection of Jesus. Géza Vermes notes that

6213-412: The empty tomb and stories of the appearance of the risen Lord, though there are stories that combine them both (Mt 28:1–8, 9f; Jn 20:1, 11–18)." N. T. Wright emphatically and extensively argues for the reality of the empty tomb and the subsequent appearances of Jesus, reasoning that as a matter of "inference" both a bodily resurrection and later bodily appearances of Jesus are far better explanations for

6322-399: The empty tomb and the 'meetings' and the rise of Christianity than are any other theories, including those of Ehrman. Dale Allison has argued for an empty tomb, that was later followed by visions of Jesus by the Apostles and Mary Magdalene, while also accepting the historicity of the resurrection. Christian biblical scholars have used textual critical methods to support the historicity of

6431-460: The empty tomb and the 'meetings' and the rise of Christianity than are any other theories, including those of Ehrman. Raymond E. Brown concurred, stating "...in my judgment, the evidence for the bodily resurrection of Jesus is strong...", and critiqued skeptical objections. James DG Dunn writes that the majority of scholars of the Bible believe that the evidence shows that the Resurrection of Jesus

6540-461: The empty tomb by Peter and perhaps by other male disciples, and a third involving an appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene. John has reduced this to the solitary Mary Magdalene in order to introduce the conversation between her and Jesus, but the presence of "we" when she informs the disciples may be a remnant of the original group of women, since mourning and the preparation of bodies by anointing were social rather than solitary activities. Early on

6649-406: The end-products of long oral and written transmission. Three of the four ( Mark , Luke , and Matthew ) are called the synoptics (meaning "seeing together"), because they present very similar stories, and it is generally agreed that this is because two of them, Matthew and Luke, have used Mark as their source. The earliest of them, Mark, dates probably from around AD 65–70, some forty years after

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6758-618: The eve of Passover, a holiday that celebrates Israel's liberation from foreign domination, Pilate would have wanted to provoke the Jewish population" by denying Jesus a proper burial. Andrew Loke , after replying to various objections against the historicity of the guards at the tomb, argues that "the presence of guards at the tomb would imply that Jesus was buried in a well-identified place (contrary to unburied hypothesis)." According to religion professor John Granger Cook, there are historical texts that mention mass graves, but they contain no indication of those bodies being dug up by animals. There

6867-514: The first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." So she came running to Simon Peter and

6976-433: The gods and returns to them after death, this happens "only when it is most completely separated and set free from the body, and becomes altogether pure, fleshless, and undefiled". Scholars differ on the historicity of the empty tomb story and the relation between the burial stories and the postmortem appearances. Scholars also differ on whether Jesus received a decent burial. Points of contention are (1) whether Jesus's body

7085-402: The hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' " Then they remembered his words. Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to

7194-468: The impetus to Christ-devotion and the belief in the exaltation of Jesus. Jesus's death was interpreted in light of the scriptures as a redemptive death, being part of God's plan. The subsequent appearances led to the resumption of the missionary activity of Jesus's followers, with Peter assuming the leadership role in the first ekklēsia (which formed the basis for the Apostolic succession). In

7303-533: The kingdom will be "putting off the body of the flesh" (Colossians 2:11). Paul opposed the notion of a purely spiritual resurrection, as propagated by some Christians in Corinth, which he addresses in 1 Corinthians. The developing Gospel tradition emphasized the material aspects to counter this spiritual interpretation. Paul's views of a bodily resurrection went against the thoughts of the Greek philosophers to whom

7412-621: The letters sent by Paul the Apostle to one of the early Greek churches, the First Epistle to the Corinthians , contains one of the earliest Christian creeds referring to post-mortem appearances of Jesus, and expressing the belief that he was raised from the dead, namely 1 Corinthians 15:3–8. It is widely accepted that this creed predates Paul and the writing of First Corinthians. Scholars have contended that in his presentation of

7521-417: The most sensible historical explanation for these visions is that Jesus [physically] appeared to the disciples." The belief in the resurrection by Jesus's early followers formed the proclamation of the first ekklēsia (lit. "assembly"). The "visions of the resurrected/exalted Christ" reinforced the impact Jesus and his ministry had on his early followers, and interpreted in a scriptural framework they gave

7630-431: The nature of resurrection, that Paul held to a physically resurrected body ( sōma ), restored to life, but animated by spirit ( pneumatikos ) instead of soul ( psuchikos ), just like the later Gospel accounts. The nature of this resurrected body is a matter of debate. In 1 Corinthians 15:44, Paul uses the phrase "spiritual body" ( sōma pneumatikos ), which has been explained as a "Spirit-empowered body", but also as

7739-488: The oldest, three women visit the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus, but find instead a "young man [...] dressed in a white robe" who tells them that Jesus will meet the disciples in Galilee . The women then flee, telling no one. Matthew introduces guards and a doublet where the women are told twice, by angels and then by Jesus, that he will meet the disciples in Galilee. Luke changes Mark's one "young man [...] dressed in

7848-486: The original gospel taken from John's version of the narrative). When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb, and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?" But when they looked up, they saw that

7957-419: The other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!" So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into

8066-420: The post-resurrection appearances are often interpreted as being subjective visionary experiences in which Jesus's presence was felt, as articulated in the vision theory of Jesus's appearances . In the twenty-first century, modern scholars such as Gerd Lüdemann have proposed that Peter had a vision of Jesus, due to severe grief and mourning . Ehrman notes that "Christian apologists sometimes claim that

8175-403: The post-resurrection appearances, as they are never directly coordinated to form a combined argument. While the coherence of the empty tomb narrative is questionable, it is "clearly an early tradition." Vermes notes that the story of the empty tomb conflicts with notions of a spiritual resurrection. According to Vermes, "[t]he strictly Jewish bond of spirit and body is better served by the idea of

8284-532: The reaction of the guards ( Daniel 10:7–9 ). The introduction of the guard is apparently aimed at countering stories that Jesus' body had been stolen by his disciples, thus eliminating any explanation of the empty tomb other than that offered by the angel, that he has been raised. Matthew introduces a doublet whereby the women are told twice, by the angels and then by Jesus, that he will meet the disciples in Galilee ( Matthew 28:7–10 )—the reasons for this are unknown. Luke changes Mark's one "young man [...] dressed in

8393-421: The response to the women from the young man at the tomb: ("He is risen" Mark 16:6 ). Pointing to the existence in earlier Jewish texts both of the idea of resurrection from the grave and of that of a heavenly assumption of the resurrected, Dale Allison argues that resurrection and assumption are not mutually contradicting ideas, and that the empty tomb story probably involved both from the beginning. Early on,

8502-477: The resurrection of the 7th-century BCE semi-legendary Greek poet Aristeas or the immortality of the 2nd-century CE Greek youth Antinous , the beloved of the Roman Emperor Hadrian , but said the first had been the work of demons , not God, while the second, unlike Jesus, was unworthy of worship. Mark Goodacre writes that using "empty tomb" to refer to the disappearance of Jesus' body may be

8611-463: The resurrection, Paul refers to this as an earlier authoritative tradition, transmitted in a rabbinic style, that he received and has passed on to the church at Corinth. Geza Vermes writes that the creed is "a tradition he [Paul] has inherited from his seniors in the faith concerning the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus". The creed's ultimate origins are probably within the Jerusalem apostolic community, having been formalised and passed on within

8720-496: The risen Jesus in person, and ... his understanding of who this Jesus was included the firm belief that he possessed a transformed but still physical body." In Christian theology , the death, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus are the most important events, and the foundation of the Christian faith. The Nicene Creed states: "On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures". According to Terry Miethe,

8829-423: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Living Christ . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Living_Christ&oldid=1029074579 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

8938-440: The scriptures, [4] and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, [5] and that he appeared to Cephas , then to the twelve. [6] Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. [7] Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. [8] Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. In

9047-467: The sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained". The shorter version of the Gospel of Mark ends with the discovery of the empty tomb by Mary Magdalene , Salome, and "Mary the mother of James". A young man in a white robe at the site of the tomb announced to them that Jesus has risen, and instructed them to "tell Peter and the disciples that he will meet them in Galilee, 'just as he told you ' " ( Mark 16 ). In

9156-482: The solitary Mary Magdalene , which is consistent with Mark 16:9 . The story ends with Peter visiting the tomb and seeing the burial cloths, but instead of believing in the resurrection he remains perplexed. The following table, with translations from the New International Version , allows the three versions to be compared. ( Luke 24:12 , in which Peter goes to the tomb, may be an addition to

9265-428: The stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to

9374-554: The stories about the empty tomb were met with skepticism . The Gospel of Matthew already mentions stories that the body was stolen from the grave . Other suggestions, not supported in mainstream scholarship, are that Jesus had not really died on the cross , or was lost due to natural causes . The absence of any reference to the story of Jesus' empty tomb in the Pauline epistles and the Easter kerygma (preaching or proclamation) of

9483-414: The stories about the empty tomb were met with skepticism. The Gospel of Matthew already mentions stories that the body was stolen from the grave . Other suggestions, not supported in mainstream scholarship, are that Jesus had not really died on the cross , was lost due to natural causes , or was replaced by an impostor . The belief that Jesus did not really die on the cross but only appeared to do so

9592-466: The story of Jesus's empty tomb in the Pauline epistles and the Easter kerygma (preaching or proclamation) of the earliest church has led some scholars to suggest that Mark invented it. Allison, however, finds this argument from silence unconvincing. Most scholars believe that the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of John contain two independent attestations of an empty tomb, which in turn suggests that both used already-existing sources and appealed to

9701-447: The story of the empty tomb conflicts with notions of a spiritual resurrection. According to Vermes, "[t]he strictly Jewish bond of spirit and body is better served by the idea of the empty tomb and is no doubt responsible for the introduction of the notions of palpability (Thomas in John) and eating (Luke and John)." Both Ware and Cook argue, primarily from Paul's terminology and the contemporary Jewish, pagan and cultural understanding of

9810-413: The third day" is derived from Hosea 6:1–2: Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Paul, writing to the members of the church at Corinth, said that Jesus appeared to him in the same fashion in which he appeared to

9919-409: The tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened. John's chapter 20 can be divided into three scenes: (1) the discovery of the empty tomb, verses 1–10; (2) appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene, 11–18; and (3) appearances to the disciples, especially Thomas , verses 19–29; the last is not part of the "empty tomb" episode and

10028-509: The tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus' head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to where they were staying. At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it

10137-533: The tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. "Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.'" His appearance

10246-441: The tradition that "Mary of Magdala had indeed been the first to see Jesus," most notably the Criterion of Embarrassment in recent years. According to Dale Allison , the inclusion of women as the first witnesses to the risen Jesus "once suspect, confirms the truth of the story." According to Géza Vermes , the empty tomb developed independently from the post-resurrection appearances, as they are never directly coordinated to form

10355-444: The very heart of the mystery of faith as something that transcends and surpasses history. For orthodox Christians, including a number of scholars, the resurrection of Jesus is taken to have been a concrete, material resurrection of a transformed body. Scholars such as Craig L. Blomberg and Mike Licona argue there are sufficient arguments for the historicity of the resurrection. In secular and liberal Christian scholarship,

10464-489: The women with fear and alarm, not with faith in the risen Lord, although the mention of a meeting in Galilee is evidence of some sort of previous, pre-Markan, tradition linking Galilee and the resurrection. Matthew revises Mark's account to make it more convincing and coherent. The description of the angel is taken from Daniel 's angel with a face "like the appearance of lightning" ( Daniel 10:6 ) and his God with "raiment white as snow" ( Daniel 7:9 ), and Daniel also provides

10573-646: Was Jesus. He asked her, "Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him." Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means "Teacher"). Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene went to

10682-601: Was adopted by the Roman emperors, and in the Imperial Roman concept of apotheosis, the earthly body of the recently deceased emperor was replaced by a new and divine one as he ascended into heaven. These stories proliferated in the middle to late first century. The apotheosised dead remained recognisable to those who met them, as when Romulus appeared to witnesses after his death, but as the biographer Plutarch ( c.  AD 46  – c.  120 ) explained of this incident, while something within humans comes from

10791-412: Was current in the earliest Jerusalem community." According to Wright, there is substantial unanimity among the early Christian writers (first and second century) that Jesus had been bodily raised from the dead, "with (as the early Christians in their different ways affirmed) a 'transphysical' body, both the same and yet in some mysterious way transformed." According to Wright, Paul "believed he had seen

10900-444: Was immortal and that the body would be resurrected to house it. Of these three positions, Jesus and the early Christians appear to have been closest to that of the Pharisees. Steve Mason notes that for the Pharisees, "the new body is a special, holy body", which is different from the old body, "a view shared to some extent by the ex-Pharisee Paul (1. Cor. 15:35ff)". The evidence from Jewish texts and from tomb inscriptions points to

11009-484: Was indeed buried by Joseph of Arimathea, but in a tomb for criminals owned by the Sanhedrin . He therefore rejects the empty tomb narrative as legendary. New Testament historian Bart D. Ehrman writes that it cannot be known what happened to Jesus's body; he doubts that Jesus had a decent burial, and also thinks that it is doubtful that Jesus was buried by Joseph of Arimathea specifically. According to Ehrman, "what

11118-399: Was killed by Zeus for using herbs to resurrect the dead, but by his father Apollo 's request, was subsequently immortalized as a star. According to Bart Ehrman , most of the alleged parallels between Jesus and pagan deities only exist in the modern imagination, and there are no "accounts of others who were born to virgin mothers and who died as an atonement for sin and then were raised from

11227-522: Was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you." but when they entered, they did not find

11336-452: Was often to leave the body on the stake, denying an honourable or family burial, stating that "the dogs were waiting." Archaeologist Byron McCane argues that it was customary to dispose of the dead immediately, yet concludes that "Jesus was buried in disgrace in a criminal's tomb". British New Testament scholar Maurice Casey also notes that "Jewish criminals were supposed to receive a shameful and dishonourable burial", and argues that Jesus

11445-653: Was originally a vague statement that the unnamed Jewish leaders buried Jesus becomes a story of one leader in particular, who is named, doing so." Ehrman gives three reasons for doubting a decent burial. Referring to Hengel and Crossan, Ehrman argues that crucifixion was meant "to torture and humiliate a person as fully as possible", and the body was normally left on the stake to be eaten by animals. Ehrman further argues that criminals were usually buried in common graves; and Pilate had no concern for Jewish sensitivities, which makes it unlikely that he would have allowed Jesus to be buried. A number of Christian authors have rejected

11554-477: Was raised from the dead is found in the earliest evidence of Christian origins. The moment of resurrection itself is not described in any of the canonical gospels, but all four contain passages in which Jesus is portrayed as predicting his death and resurrection, or contain allusions that "the reader will understand". The New Testament writings do not contain any descriptions of a resurrection but rather accounts of an empty tomb and appearances of Jesus. One of

11663-413: Was remembered by Christians as having risen in a metamorphized form. Religion professor Dag Øistein Endsjø points to how the notion of an empty tomb would fit with the ancient Greek beliefs that any case of immortalization always required absolute physical continuity. A vanished body could consequently be an indication of someone having been made immortal, as seen for instance in the case of Aristaeus ,

11772-497: Was taken off the cross before sunset or left on the cross to decay, (2) whether his body was taken off the cross and buried specifically by Joseph of Arimathea , or by the Sanhedrin or a group of Jews in general, and (3) whether he was entombed (and if so, what kind of tomb) or buried in a common grave. An often noted argument in favour of a decent burial before sunset is the Jewish custom, based on Deuteronomy 21:22–23, which says

11881-530: Was the first event of the Endtime. As Borg and Crossan note, "For Mark the kingdom of God is already here because the Son of Man is already present". Empty tomb Although the four canonical gospels detail the narrative, oral traditions existed well before the composition of the gospels on the matter. The four gospels were almost certainly not by eyewitnesses, at least in their final forms, but were instead

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