Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!att!princeton!njin!paul.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: grossg@patriot.rtp.dg.com (Gene Gross) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: The missing body/Empty tomb Message-ID: Date: 3 May 91 07:17:09 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Data General Corporation, RTP, NC. Lines: 79 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article sandrock@aries.scs.uiuc.edu (Mark Sandrock) writes: > >And to argue that "With God all things are possible" is to distort and >misuse this wonderful wisdom, since in the trivial sense many things ARE >impossible for God, such as evil, imperfection, etc. And for God to act >against His own Will, His own perfect laws, would show an imperfection, i.e., >the need for a change or an interruption in the working of these laws. > >Yes, Jesus WAS seen by many following His death on the cross, but it was >NOT the physical body of Jesus which was seen. It was His spiritual body, >or better said, His soul, which naturally at that time still manifested >the wounds that He had so recently been forced to suffer. It was given >to those close to Jesus to be able to see and hear that which normally they >would not see and hear for the sake of strengthening their faith in Jesus >and the truth of His Message. In 1 Cor. 15, Paul sets forth the Gospel that he was preaching to others in very clear and plain terms. This is also the Gospel that Paul received, namely "..how that Christ died for our sins...And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day..." When Ignatius, the bishop of Antioch, was being transported to Rome for his execution, he wrote these words: "For I know that after His resurrection also He was still possessed of flesh and I believe He is so now...And thus was He, with flesh, received up in their sight unto Him that sent Him, being with that same flesh to come again, accompanied by glory and power." The conclusion of the Apostle's Creed (the Old Roman Creed) affirms the "resurrection of the flesh" (sarkos anastasin) and the "life evelasting." And what is a resurrection if that which dies is not also that which is raised up? In John 2:18-22, we find Jesus has just thrown the moneychangers out of the temple. The Jews have said to him, "'What sign have you to show us, since you are doing these things?' In answer Jesus said to them, 'Break down this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.'" In verse 21 we read, "But he was talking about the temple of his body." Verse 22 reads, "When, though, he was raised up from the dead, his disciples called to mind that he used to say this; and the believed the Scripture and the saying Jesus said." Please notice that Jesus Himself said that it would be His body, the physical body, that He would raise up again. There is nothing in that passage that causes anyone to believe otherwise. And the disciples understood this. When Jesus appeared to the disciples, one time He ate with them. Can a spirit eat? Another time Jesus is specific in saying that He is eating to prove to them that He is physical for a spirit cannot eat. Then Jesus appears before the disciples (Luke 24:39) and comforts them saying, "See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch me and see, for spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." Jesus said it in the strongest way He could; He was risen from the dead. He presented physical proof -- His human body. Paul, in the 1 Cor. 15 passage that I referred to previously, makes this comment (this is verse 14 from the Amplified): "If Christ has not risen, then our preaching is in vain (amounts to nothing) and your faith is devoid of truth and is fruitless -- without efffect, imaginary and unfounded." Did Paul really believe that Jesus had been resurrected bodily; decide for yourself based upon what he wrote to Timothy: "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the *man* Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5, KJV). The Bible clearly states that Jesus was resurrected bodily from the dead. It was not some disembodied spirit or soul that wandered about. The body was not found in the tomb because Jesus rose from the dead as He said that He would. The body of Jesus Christ came alive again and walked the face of the earth for another 40 days before ascending into heaven. This is the truth of Scripture and is the assurance to us that there will also be a resurrection for us at the return of our Blessed Hope. There is no reincarnation, only resurrection. En Agape tou Iesou, Gene Gross