Resurrection Essential to Christianity

I was intrigued and saddened by John David Prince’s comments.

First, even the most casual understanding of God—the God of the Bible—reveals that God is perfectly holy, that is perfectly separated from his creation (i.e., everything that is not God) and is perfectly good. Thus for someone to be justified before God, that person must meet the very standard that God sets. Even the most foolish must admit that this is impossible. Thus we are fully and completely dependent on a savior. Before Jesus’ personal sacrifice on the cross, the followers of God had to make sacrifices to “cover,” not remove, their sins. This was pre-cursor to Jesus’ sacrifice. Only the perfect sacrifice of Jesus could permanently and completely remove our sins.

Second, a little more study of the scriptures reveals that not only is Jesus the Son of God, He is God. Therefore, it was not an act of personal cruelty of God to sacrifice His Son, it was a perfect act of personal sacrifice to become human and give up His own life for His creation—man. Surely Mr. Prince must have heard that there is no greater love than for a man—in this case God (Jesus)—to lay down his life for his fellow man. It was an act of perfect love for His imperfect creation. That is the real lesson.

Too often, those who wish to criticize Christianity do so from a standpoint of assumed knowledge derived from a human perspective. God cannot be so easily judged. Can the cup judge the potter?

I was intrigued and saddened by John David Prince’s comments.

First, even the most casual understanding of God—the God of the Bible—reveals that God is perfectly holy, that is perfectly separated from his creation (i.e., everything that is not God) and is perfectly good. Thus for someone to be justified before God, that person must meet the very standard that God sets. Even the most foolish must admit that this is impossible. Thus we are fully and completely dependent on a savior. Before Jesus’ personal sacrifice on the cross, the followers of God had to make sacrifices to “cover,” not remove, their sins. This was pre-cursor to Jesus’ sacrifice. Only the perfect sacrifice of Jesus could permanently and completely remove our sins.

Second, a little more study of the scriptures reveals that not only is Jesus the Son of God, He is God. Therefore, it was not an act of personal cruelty of God to sacrifice His Son, it was a perfect act of personal sacrifice to become human and give up His own life for His creation—man. Surely Mr. Prince must have heard that there is no greater love than for a man—in this case God (Jesus)—to lay down his life for his fellow man. It was an act of perfect love. That is the real lesson.

Too often, those who wish to criticize Christianity do so from a standpoint of assumed knowledge derived from a human perspective. God cannot be so easily judged. Can the cup judge the potter?

As an evangelical Christian, I openly confess that I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. However, I would like to make two points and then ask two questions. First, I also can take up a great deal of space with evidence from a wide variety of evangelical authors that supports the resurrection of Christ. Block quoting someone else's analysis of scripture and calling them facts does not really provide a convincing argument. Second, I believe that many misinterpret why Christianity claims to be more than a "mere religion." It is not out of pride or arrogance, although Christians are certainly guilty of these. Our cause is simply this: to preach Christ crucified to the world. We do this out of the love that God first showed us. We are exclusive because Christ says that he is the only way in Scripture, but all people have the potential of coming to faith in him. What we hold to be true in Scripture motivates us to share the gospel with people out of love because we desire that they come into a moving relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. In my opinion, it is this unique personal relationship that sets Christianity apart from all other religons. Now for the questions: one, For all those who believe that the resurrection did not happen or do not believe in Christ, in your own religious system what do you hope for? Two, if you do not believe in the resurrection, is your problem really with Christ or with Christians. Just some thoughts. If you want to continue this discussion, my blog is transformingminds.blogspot.com

Taking one expert's advice over another? It is anyone's decision to whom they choose to listen. Be careful not to be guilty of your own accusation.

O...k, "the concerned Christian now liberated" must really have his books straight...yeah, "scholarship" stands out.

Would Jesus the so called Son Of God need to give himself up and allow His crucifixion even with the power of God on Earth? Should we believe that the man who could supposedly alter water into wine not escape his own death and just forgive all sin without all the pomp and circumstance? Are we to believe that the martyrdom of Jesus was the only was to absolve humanity of all sin? Why would the God who had the power to create the entire universe and life on one planet out of trillions not just have it proclaimed and enacted by Jesus thus saving us all from the grief of the martyrdom of his only begotten Son? What bothers me more that this bogus attempt to display divinity by the authors of the Bible is the fact that if God is omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent goes through the process in the first place? If God is such a grand designer the sacrifice of Jesus is no example of efficiency in planning. A God that is all knowing would not experience any sense of sacrifice because He would already be aware that He would receive His Son back unto Heaven. Any temporary stay in Hades that Jesus might have experienced was like renting a DVD in God’s eyes. He, God knew that eventually His Son would return to his side in Heaven due to God’s stated omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent power, just as the DVD rental store know they will receive their DVD’s in about three days.

Jesus was resurrected because God said so!

Concerned the Christian Now Liberated,

Oh, wow, you really burned Christianity with that post. Man, I might as well go pack away my Bible on that one. Of all the crackpot heresies, yours MUST overcome the truth of orthodoxy.

Heh, keep trying brother, keep trying.

Kurds, Turks and Liturgy of Turkey.

Churchill had a language, He had been in Adana after Second World War. and the Lousanne is in Switzerland, where the agreement for Republic in Anadolu had been signed.

the Chief Prosecuter in Constitutional Court who filed the case of the government party to close is from Urfa,

the new Prime Minister of Pakistan is the recent case to courier the bliss, that is in our heart, while having been writing under the Letter of Paul and Resurrection.

Yusuf Riza Gilani : yusuf is the son of Jacob, the beautiful one. Riza is the will with consent, Gilani is a long way.

but you know, technology is a little joke : ) there is chronology in it too.

there shall be school here on Washington Post OnFaith, and this study shall go on, as a reference, for from here to many authorities couriered are these letters.

lets study on "Cehennem",
word for "Hell"

i substitute "M" with "H" in CHNNM
that is "C HNNH"

Muhammed + Ahmed
Mu + Hammah + Med

Hammah is HMMH

what is Persian Fire, where for Moses fire is communication?

what are HAMMAH HANNAH in Hebrew?

is there "hell" then?

i may say HELL is where COMPASSION and WILL "e" shall be initiated. or better say, all shall be Christed "sure-rendered" and all hebrew shall be sons again.

this is the school and education. "the partners in heaven" is this Angelness and Compassion activated, with the Will that wills may happen.

HE-EL, HELL, HE'LL,

this is the MARK on the DEN, man in cave, man in tree, Ark of Mastery and MAsters, the structure and qualification to erection.

thanks for protecting, and construction.

Resurrection is absolutely NOT singular to Christianity... hundreds of other myths predate it.
Which makes what difference exactly?

Resurrection is a deeply personal experience within one's soul. One does not need to be a Christian to experience a Resurrection... one just has to be Spiritual.

Lily S.
http://zrii-for-life.blogspot.com/

The only way to believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ is to have it revealed to you by Him. It is simply, natural man does not receive the things of God. Those of you who do not accept the resurrection or as far that goes anything spiritual (in evangelical terms)can know. If you will seek in humility and in sincerity God will show you. That's not too hard is it?
Thanks for you ministry, Dr. Mohler
Richard

Resurrection is absolutely NOT singular to Christianity... hundreds of other myths predate it.

Yes, the resurrection of Jesus is as essential to Christianity as is the appearance of Banquo's ghost to the plot of Macbeth. More importantly, the resurrection has its basis in the same reality as does Shakespeare's play...which is to say it has no basis in reality.

And, you can take, "Sin and death do not have the final word. Indeed, they are defeated through the saving work of Christ" straight to Revelation where both the Netherworld, (land of the dead) and death itself are cast into the pit of fire. Thus man shall never again die for death itself will have been sent to hell. Don't you imagine that hell is probably some kind of permanent death?

Don't you wonder what Jesus did that made His father so angry He had Him crucified? Making sacrifices to the gods was commonplace at the time, (still is) but sacrificing God's own son to God?

Who was behind the crucifixion, us or God is the real question. If I read you correctly you said it was God. And we, only those who accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior are the beneficiaries. I'm positive that's your position.

Since God is almighty then God could have prevented the crucifixion, a given. Since God did not prevent it then God must have gone along with it. But who actually did it? Who is the beneficiary, accessory to the crime, (crucifying the son of God is a crime?).

Another significant given is that Jesus was the son of the being in the burning bush. That was God wasn't IT? Whatever IT was IT was the father of Jesus or the Bible is full of garbage. Not real good choices there.

Was that almighty God in the burning bush? Above we noted that almighty God could have prevented the crucifixion. The God in the burning bush could not get the Israelites out of Egypt without tricking Pharaoh. Doesn't sound very almighty to me. Pharaoh must have been more powerful than the being in the burning bush. Couldn't almighty God simply will the Israelites to wherever IT wanted them to be? Almighty God needs to use trickery, rely on killers on the run to get what IT wants?

Now try substituting Lucifer, the angel that wanted to be God instead of God in the burning bush. Make a lot more sense? Angels are not almighty but they can trick folks, Pharaoh even. And, we know that angels can impregnate women for the Bible says so doesn't it? I heard that somewhere. Need I supply references?

The picture is clear. IT was Lucifer in the burning bush. He comes from hell, a given. What happened to those who said Lucifer is God? What will happen to those who still say Lucifer is God?

IF is the biggest word in the English language for when IF is properly applied it tells us a tale that goes beyond our wildest imagination. For IF that was Lucifer in the burning bush, and the evidence is all in that direction, then the entire human race is lost for God will surely destroy the entire world. Don't you think? Hagee thinks so and thinks he's going to be raptured up too.

Of course we could change our sinful ways and stop worshiping Lucifer calling Him God and beg God to not destroy us. Maybe the Pagans can supply us with some God pleasing spells, magic words and so on. Or we can go on and let the big money come to those leading the multitudes to hell. And continue their high 'official' social status complete with tax incentives.

Here's the test. Does thinking about http://www.hoax-buster.org/sellyoursoul make your head hurt? Think about how your head is going to feel when you find yourself in the house of the father of Jesus. It's a big house with plenty much room for all so I understand. Count me out. Give my space to an important person.

"Christianity without the literal, physical resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is merely one religion among many."

Regardless, Christianity *is* merely one religion among many.

I understand your pride in your religion. all of us, religious, athiest, secular, take pride in the belief system that is a central component of our lives and our identity. however...

sorry to burst your bubble, but Christianity is merely a religion among many other religions. the attitude that one religious belief system somehow supercedes all others is pretty offensive to those of us who practice one of those other 'mere-religions'.

Dr. Mohler;

Certainly, the bible through the Apostle Paul answers the question quite clearly. The certainty of a Christian’s faith rests squarely on the resurrection: 1Cor 15:12-19 “Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.”

God bless your ministry.

Charles Bemisderfer
Louisville, KY

Avoid apathy, antipathy, personal animus, logical fallacies, ad hominem attacks, or pettifoggery.

Look believingly and live! Avoid Pontius Pilate's horrendous decision. Instead, follow Jesus as did the Evangelist John and the women.

Truth is confirmatory. It can be replicated. It has seismic impact and there is convicting truth.

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Rom 10:9-10).

I celebrate Christ's resurrection each Lord's Day.

In Christian love,
Robert

the supperians, Essenis, the ones known with Supper and the Table, fish, bread, wine, and all other terminology and vocabulary that all attain in the education of?

so may we talk about ESSENIS, the nomadic teachers that Jesus had been initiated in, that we may have the qualifications on Him in this group also?

Dear Dr. Mohler,

You are correct and proved your point from an infalliable source, the Word of God. I agree completely with you. Praise the Lord that God has given us a hope, a victory and a salvation that is sure and is not in vain!

Sincerely,
Barry W. Stone

Dear Rev Mohler

I wish you a wonderful Easter 2008!

Soja John Thaikattil
Sydney, Australia

Happy Easter, Dr. Mohler!

Thanks for your evangelical response, I am glad to see you back, I was sad to see you missing so many question since you have too big a heathen readership here to ignore it.

On-Faith asked nearly an identical question last year, I took it in a slightly different context, assuming that if Christ were not risen, the Bible would reflect as much. Perhaps I took the question too literally, but the essense remains:

Concerning the Resurrection
C.B. Shearer (c) Easter 2007

In order to fully understand the importance of the resurrection, it is necessary to consider the ministry of Jesus Christ.

In the words of Jesus of Nazareth, "For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth." The vast majority of the teachings and ministry of Jesus are concerning the sinfulness of sin, the reality of Hell, and the abundance of God's mercy.

Jesus brought to light the deceitfulness of man's hearts; he did this by exposing prideful selfishness, by telling people who looked with lust that they were guilty of adultery already in their hearts, that a hate filled word is as damnable in the sight of God as the act of murder. Jesus was concerned with the unrighteous state of human beings, and exposited on the teachings of Hell and the just nature of God to rightly punish all law-breakers.

By a magnificent orchestration of History, Jesus continued a long tradition of atonement, in which God requires the shedding of blood for remission of sins. In this act can we see the vast implications of sin and how abominable sin is in God's eyes.

By our transgression we have earned the wage of sin, which is death; both in body and in spirit. The second death, the death of the spirit, promises to be unending torturous pain, which is fitting, as a sin against an infinite God requires infinite retribution.

Before time began, God planned to be the final atonement for the sins of man, to show His perfect love and mercy.

Just as God allowed a perfect, unblemished lamb to be a blood-sacrifice for the Jew's at Passover, Jesus became the perfect, sinless Lamb to the be the blood-sacrifice for all of mankind. He was bruised for our iniquities, and wounded for our transgressions. Punishment that He did not earn, pain He did not deserve. Christ stepped in and took our wages upon His back, He died in our place, taking the full force of God's wrath upon Himself so that we would not have to.

Through the death of Jesus Christ are we blood-bought, are we forgiven our sins, are we given our reprieve from Hell.

From the death of Christ are we alleviated of the second death.

To be honest, there is no way that bones or body could be proved to be His. A definitive statement of finding the body will never be made. A definitive statement of the ascension of Christ has been made, by two authors whose credibility is beyond reproach. Definitively His body will never be found, because He inhabits it in Heaven.

The atoning work of Christ was finished on the Cross at Calvary, and we know the exact moment, because from Christ's own mouth we hear, "It is finished." But the glory of God does not end here, rather three days later when the body of Christ was to be given a proper burial, that body could not be found.

Through the resurrection is death defeated, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life. By defeating death, Christ has made it possible for all men to live forevermore, glorifying God and enjoying Him all the while.

If, by some inconceivable means, the body of Christ, bones intact, were found definitively, my faith would not die, rather be transformed into something different.

Following righteousness was the charge of Christ through His ministry, and with the provision to be redeemed to God, I am certain that I shall never see the second death. However, if Christ be not risen, then my faith in the afterlife is in vain; my faith in God would not be shaken.

However, my world-view would be rerouted, whereas I would be much less willing to endanger my life for Christ's sake, for I would be worried it would be the only one I had, and prolonging it would be of utmost importance.

But through the death-defying resurrection of Christ, I am confident that my soul will live on past my earthly body, and whether I come into the full-presence of God in Heaven in two minutes or eighty years, I am confident that my body will be resurrected in absolute, just as my God's, just as my Savior's, was oh so long ago.

Hallelujah, He is risen!

Happy Bunny Day to everyone since Easter did not happen!!

Can you still be a Christian without the Resurrection? There are too many flaws to include the resurrection story in the current Christian orthodoxies . Clean it up and see what is left historically and then redefine Christianity.

Some facts:

From an analyses of the documents by many contemporary NT exegetes:

The Resurrection is fiction i.e. it was added to make Jesus akin to the Caesars and Greek half gods/half men.

(1a) Mark 8:31-33 = Matt 16:2l-23 = Luke 9:22, (1b) Mark 9:9b = Matt 17:9b, (1c) Mark 9:12b = Matt 17:12b, (1d) Mark 9:30-32= Matt 17:22-23 = Luke 9:43b-45, (1e) Luke 17:25, (1f) Mark 10:32-34 = Matt 20:17-19 = Luke 18:31-34, (1g) Matt 26:1-2, (1h) Mark 14:21 = Matt 26:24 = Luke 22:22, (1i) Mark 14:41= Matt 26:45b,(1j) Luke 24:7

Conclusion: Many references but only a single attestation and from the Second stratum (60-80 AD).

http://wiki.faithfutures.org/index.php/017_Resurrection_of_Jesus

From the course notes of a large Catholic university's graduate theology class:

"Heaven is a Spirit state (no physical bodies abide there.)

Christ's and Mary's bodies are therefore not in Heaven. For one thing, Paul in 1 Cor 15 speaks of the body of the dead as transformed into a "spiritual body." No one knows exactly what he meant by this term.

Most believe that it to mean that the personal spiritual self that survives death is in continuity with the self we were while living on earth as an embodied person.

The physical Resurrection (meaning a resuscitated corpse returning to life), Ascension (of Jesus' crucified corpse), and Assumption (Mary's
corpse) into heaven did not take place.

The Ascension symbolizes the end of Jesus' earthly ministry and the beginning of the Church.

Only Luke's Gospel records it. The Assumption ties Jesus' mission to Pentecost and missionary activity of Jesus' followers The Assumption has
multiple layers of symbolism, some are related to Mary's special role as "Christ bearer" (theotokos). It does not seem fitting that Mary, the body of Jesus' Virgin-Mother (another biblically based symbol found in Luke 1) would
be derived by worms upon her death. Mary's assumption also shows God's positive regard, not only for Christ's male body, but also for female
bodies."

Amazing how this agrees with Professor Crossan and many other contemporary NT exegetes' conclusions based on attestations and stratums.

Some added tidbits:

According to Reimarus as referenced in R.B. Stewart in his introduction to the recent book, The Resurrection of Jesus, Crossan and Wright in Dialogue,

"Reimarus (1774-1779) posits that Jesus became sidetracked by embracing a political position, sought to force God's hand and that he died alone deserted by his disciples. What began as a call for repentance ended up as a misguided attempt to usher in the earthly political kingdom of God. After Jesus' failure and death, his disciples stole his body and declared his resurrection in order to maintain their financial security and ensure themselves some standing."

From: K.C. Hanson and D. E. Oakman, Palestine in the Time of Jesus, Fortress Press, 1998. p.55

"Stories circulated to the effect that Alexander of Macedonia was not only the son of Philip II, but also of the god Zeus-Ammon (Plutarch, Parallel Lives, "Alexander" 2.1-3.2); Plato was the son of Ariston and the god Apollo (Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 3.1-2), and Augustus was the son of Octavius as well as the god Apollo (Suetonius, Lives o f the Caesars 2.4.1-7). The extraordinary character of these elites reputedly stemmed from both their divine origins and their kingroups. Their kin-groups provided one form of legitimation-political right to the throne and/or social status (thus the importance of Joseph in Matthew's genealogy). Their divine procreation provided another: their honor was divinely ascribed, and their greatness as leaders derived from divine paternity."