Christianity - A Journey from Facts to Fiction — Page 91
Revival or Resurrection? 91 his mortal body and that he was resuscitated from death in ordi- nary physical terms. If my understanding of St Paul is not accept- able to some Christian theologians, they will have to admit that St Paul glaringly contradicted himself because at least in some of his accounts of Jesus’ as new life he leaves no shadow of doubt that he understood Jesus’ as new life to be the resurrection and not revival of the human body in which his soul is said to have been caged. Following are some of the relevant passages which speak for themselves: And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. (1 Corinthians 6:14) So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. (Ibid 15:42–44) Lo! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall 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 shall be changed. (Ibid 15:51–52) We are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:8) The problem which remains to be resolved arises out of St Paul’s reference to the early Christian account of how Jesus as was