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The Good and Bad News of a Bodily Resurrection « No Longer Be Children
There has been much talk and attention given of late to the fact that Christianity has been unduly influenced by Greek, Platonic thought – especially in matters of the resurrection. Plato's god was a vague intellectual/spiritual entity who was off in a world of perfection, thinking about thinking. To think purer and more sublime thoughts was seen as reaching towards divinity. Heaven was seen as one's intellect finally breaking free from the shell of mortality to float upwards towards perfect spiritual bliss.
As I say that, many of you realize that this sort of thinking has influenced the church. Especially when you read older books, you will often hear people saying things like, "In the resurrection of the spirits…" or "when we finally shed this mortal coil, and shall be with our Lord forever…" What they are envisioning is something quite a lot like Plato's spiritual resurrection and eternal, bodyless heaven.
However, this is not how the Jews thought and – thank God! – this is not the resurrection which the Bible teaches. Rather, just as Jesus was resurrected bodily(cf. 1 John 4:1-3, 2 John 1:7, Luke 24:39) will also, by the same power, resurrect each one of us (1 Cor. 6:14). This is tremendously good news!
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