Christian tradition has largely held three theological affirmations on the resurrection of the physical body. Firstly, that bodily resurrection is not a superfluous hope of afterlife. Secondly, there is immediate post-mortem existence in Paradise. Finally, there is numerical identity between pre-mortem and post-resurrection human beings. The same tradition also largely adheres to a robust doctrine of The Intermediate State, a paradisiacal disembodied state of existence following the biological death of a human being. This book argues that these positions are in fact internally inconsistent, and so a new theological model for life after death is required. The opening arguments of the book aim to show that The Intermediate State actually undermines the necessity of bodily resurrection. Additionally, substance dualism, a principle The Intermediate State requires, is shown to be equally untenable in this context. In response to this, the metaphysics of the afterlife in Christian theology is re-evaluated, and after investigating physicalist and constitutionist replacements for substance dualist metaphysics, a new theory called "Eschatological Presentism" is put forward. This model combines a broadly Thomistic hylemorphic metaphysics with a novel theory of Time. This is an innovative examination of the doctrine of life after death. It will, therefore, be of great interest to scholars of analytic theology and philosophy of religion.

Karl Barth saw Chapter 15 as the center of 1st Corinthians, arguing that a misunderstanding of the resurrection underlies all the problems in Corinth. In this volume, he develops his view of biblical eschatology, asserting that Chapter 15 is key to understanding the testimony of the New Testament. Barth understood the "last things" not as an end to history but as an "end-history" with which any period is faced. "He only speaks of last things who would speak of the end of all things, of their end understood plainly and fundamentally, of a reality so radically superior to all things that the existence of all things would be utterly and entirely based upon it alone, and thus, in speaking of their end, he would in truth be speaking of nothing else than their beginning." Page 104

Jesus truly is alive today. But compared to his atoning death, Jesus' resurrection sparks relatively little discussion in the church. Inadvertently,we can become so focused on the good news that Christ died for our sins, that we almost forget he was "raised for our justification" (Romans 4:25). In Raised with Christ, author Adrian Warnock exhorts Christians not to neglect the resurrection in their teaching and experience. Warnock takes his cue from Acts, where every recorded sermon focuses on Jesus' resurrection. He stresses that Christians who faithfully proclaim both the death and the bodily resurrection of Jesus, and live out the implications of that message in vibrant,grace-filled churches, will be enabled to reach a world that lives in death's dark shadow. The power of the risen Christ is active in every true Christian, transforming our lives. Raised with Christ will help you discover afresh the massive implications of the empty tomb. Jesus' resurrection really has changed everything.

Christians today go directly to Heaven once they are finished with their earthly existence. This is a great comfort to all believers. But that wasn't the belief of the Old Testament people of God. How is it that Christians today see it differently? What changed? When did it change? Understanding the general resurrection of the dead from the Preterist standpoint - and the fact that it has already been fulfilled - actually serves to shed light on the mindset of the modern Christian. Eternal life in Heaven, surrounded by the overwhelming love of God, is distinctly and intensely preferable to any existence on earth. This book looks at the general resurrection of the dead as the culmination of the work of Christ in the first century and provides great comfort for what it means in our understanding of the afterlife, while at the same time countering the idea that the resurrection of the dead, in Preterist thought, is relegated merely to a concept of passing from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant. The resurrection of the dead also results in a great promise for us today, since we don't have to face any intermediate state to await some future resurrection, but instead go directly to be in our eternal home with our Creator, in a new body provided for us in Heaven - a body, unlike the physical body, which is suitable for existence in Heaven.Beginning in Genesis and working clear through to Revelation, relevant passages that have been attributed to the idea of the resurrection of the dead are examined, with a critical eye on what such passages meant to the original audience in their cosmic mindset, and how we should understand them today.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1874.

Edited by Paul Copan and Ronald Tacelli, this is a lively and provocative debate between Christian philosopher William Lane Craig and New Testament scholar and atheist Gerd Lüdemann on the historical truth of the resurrection.

Biblical theology and doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses.