Editing Resurrection of Jesus (section)

==Resurrection of a transformed body==

[[Géza Vermes]] notes that the story of the empty tomb conflicts with notions of a spiritual resurrection. According to Vermes, "[t]he strictly Jewish bond of spirit and body is better served by the idea of the empty tomb and is no doubt responsible for the introduction of the notions of palpability (Thomas in John) and eating (Luke and John)".{{sfn|Vermes|2008a|p=148}}

Both Ware and Cook argue, primarily from Paul's terminology and the contemporary Jewish, pagan and cultural understanding of the nature of resurrection, that Paul held to a physically resurrected body (''[[wikt:σῶμα#Noun|sōma]]''), restored to life, but animated by spirit (''[[pneuma]]tikos'') instead of soul (''[[Soul in the Bible|psuchikos]]''), just like the later Gospel accounts.{{sfn|Ware|2014b}}<ref group=web name=Hurtado.Ware">Larry Hurtado (11 September 2014 ), [https://larryhurtado.wordpress.com/2014/09/11/paul-on-jesus-resurrection-a-new-study/ ''Paul on Jesus’ Resurrection: A New Study'']</ref> The nature of this resurrected body is a matter of debate. In 1 Corinthians 15:44,<ref name="auto">{{bibleverse|1 Corinthians|15:44}}</ref> Paul uses the phrase "spiritual body" (''sōma pneumatikos''),<ref group=web>{{cite web| url = https://www.stfonline.org/1-corinthians-1544-soul-body-spiritual-body| title = ''1 Corinthians 15:44 ''| work = Spirit & Truth Fellowship International| date = 14 May 2013}}</ref> which has been explained as a "Spirit-empowered body",{{sfn|Ware|2014b}}<ref group=web name=Hurtado.Ware"/><ref group=web name="Brown.body"/> but also as a "celestial body", made of a finer material than the flesh.{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=94}}<ref group=web name="Brown.body">Taylor S. Brown (august3, 2018), [https://www.patheos.com/blogs/thechristianrevolution/2018/08/the-resurrection-of-the-body-spiritual-physical-both-actually/ ''The Resurrection of the Body: Spiritual? Physical? Both, Actually.'']</ref>{{refn|group=note|name="Habermas"}}

In the [[Epistle to the Philippians]] Paul describes how the body of the resurrected Christ is utterly different from the one he wore when he had "the appearance of a man", and holds out a similar glorified state, when Christ "will transform our lowly body", as the goal of the Christian life – "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (I Corinthians 15:50), and Christians entering the kingdom will be "putting off the body of the flesh" (Colossians 2:11).{{sfn|Lehtipuu|2015|pp=42–43}}{{sfn|Endsjø|2009|pp=141, 145}} Paul opposed the notion of a purely spiritual resurrection, as propagated by some Christians in Corinth, which he addresses in 1 Corinthians.{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=94}} The developing Gospel tradition emphasized the material aspects to counter this spiritual interpretation.{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=90}}

Paul's views of a bodily resurrection went against the thoughts of the Greek philosophers to whom a bodily resurrection meant a new imprisonment in a corporeal body, which was what they wanted to avoid – given that, for them, the corporeal and the material fettered the spirit.<ref>''Meditation and Piety in the Far East'' by Karl Ludvig Reichelt, Sverre Holth 2004 {{ISBN|0-227-17235-3}} p. 30</ref>

[[James Dunn (theologian)|James Dunn]] notes that there is a great difference between Paul's resurrection appearance, and the appearances described in the Gospels. Where "Paul's seeing was visionary ... , 'from heaven{{'"}}, in contrast, the Gospel accounts have a "massive realism" to them,{{sfn|Dunn|1997|p=115}} as seen for example in Luke having Jesus insisting that he was of "flesh and bones",<ref>{{bibleverse|Luke|24:37–39}}</ref> and John having Jesus asking Thomas to touch his wounds.<ref>{{bibleverse|John|20:27}}</ref> Dunn contends that the "massive realism' ... of the [Gospel] appearances themselves can only be described as visionary with great difficulty – and Luke would certainly reject the description as inappropriate".{{sfn|Dunn|1997|p=115}} According to Dunn, most scholars explain this as a "legendary materialization" of the visionary experiences, "borrowing the traits of the earthly Jesus".{{sfn|Dunn|1997|p=116}}{{refn|group=note|According to Sheehan, Paul's account of the resurrection is not meant to be taken as referring to a literal, physical rising from the grave.<ref name="Sheehan.2013">{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-gospel-according-to-thomas-sheehan/Content?oid=873733|title=The Gospel According to Thomas Sheehan|last=McClory|first=Robert|work=The Chicago Sun-Times|year=1989|access-date=31 March 2013}}</ref> Paul's understanding of the resurrection, and perhaps Peter's as well, is a metaphorical one, with the stories of Jesus's (figurative) resurrection reflecting his triumphant "entry into God's eschatological presence."{{sfn|Sheehan|1986|p=111}} Sheehan:{{blockquote|The word "resurrection" is a metaphor that unfortunately has been taken literally. That's where the confusion begins. In the New Testament the word for "resurrection" means literally "awakening," like waking up your kids in the morning. The New Testament says not that God "resurrected" Jesus from the dead, but that he "awoke" him. Using metaphoric language, the New Testament says God awoke Jesus from the sleep of death and brought him into God's heavenly presence. There's nothing here about an event in space and time. Resurrection doesn't mean coming back to life."<ref name="Sheehan.2013"/>}} Sheehan quotes Helmut Koester:{{blockquote|"Resurrection is thus a mythological metaphor for God's victory over the powers of unrighteousness. ... The preaching of Jesus' resurrection was thus the proclamation that the new age had been ushered in": "The Structure and Criteria of Early Christian Beliefs" in Robinson and Koester, Trajectories, 223, 224.{{sfn|Sheehan|1986|p=261}}}}}} Yet, according to Dunn, there was both "a tendency away from the physical ... and a reverse tendency towards the physical".{{sfn|Dunn|1997|p=116-117}} The tendency towards the material is most clear, but there are also signs for the tendency away from the physical, and "there are some indications that a more physical understanding was current in the earliest Jerusalem community".{{sfn|Dunn|1997|p=117}}

According to Wright, there is substantial unanimity among the early Christian writers (1st and 2nd century) that Jesus had been bodily raised from the dead,{{sfn|Wright|2003|pp=9-10}} "with (as the early Christians in their different ways affirmed) a 'transphysical' body, both the same and yet in some mysterious way transformed".{{sfn|Wright|2003|p=711}} According to Wright, Paul "believed he had seen the risen Jesus in person, and ... his understanding of who this Jesus was included the firm belief that he possessed a transformed but still physical body".{{sfn|Wright|2003|p=398}}