Editing Resurrection of Jesus (section)

=====Christ-devotion=====
The New Testament writings contend that the resurrection was "the beginning of His exalted life"{{sfn|Novakovic|2014|p=135}}{{refn|group=note|Novakovic quotes C.E.B. Cranfield, ''The Epistle to the Romans'', 1:62.{{sfn|Novakovic|2014|p=135, note 78}}}} as Christ and Lord.{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|pp=508, 591}}<!-- Hurtado (2003)  nor Hurtado (2005) has so many pages... --><ref group=web name="Holcomb"/> Jesus is the "[[Firstborn (Judaism)|firstborn]] of the dead", ''prōtotokos'', the first to be raised from the dead, thereby acquiring the "special status of the firstborn as the preeminent son and heir".{{sfn|Novakovic|2014|p=152}}<ref group=web name="Holcomb"/> [[Gregory Beale]] writes:

{{blockquote|"Firstborn" refers to the high, privileged position that Christ has as a result of the resurrection from the dead ... Christ has gained such a sovereign position over the cosmos, not in the sense that he is recognized as the first-created being of all creation or as the origin of creation, but in the sense that he is the inaugurator of the new creation by means of his resurrection.<ref group=web name="Holcomb"/>}}

Hurtado notes that soon after his death, Jesus was called Lord (''[[Kyrios]]''), which "associates him in astonishing ways with God".{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|p=179}} The term Lord reflected the belief that God had exalted Jesus to a divine status "at God's 'right hand{{'"}}.{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|p=181}} The worship of God as expressed in the phrase "call upon the name of the Lord [''Yahweh'']" was also applied to Jesus, invocating his name "in corporate worship and in the wider devotional pattern of Christian believers (e.g., [[baptism]], [[Exorcism in Christianity|exorcism]], [[Faith healing|healing]])".{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|pp=181-182}}

According to Hurtado, powerful [[religious experience]]s were an indispensable factor in the emergence of Christ-devotion.{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|pp=64–65, 181, 184-185}}{{refn|group=note|See also Andrew Chester (2007), ''Messiah and Exaltation: Jewish Messianic and Visionary Traditions and New Testament Christology'', Mohr Siebeck; and Larry Huratdo (11 December 2012), [https://larryhurtado.wordpress.com/2012/12/11/early-high-christology-a-recent-assessment-of-scholarly-debate/ {{"'}}Early High Christology': A Recent Assessment of Scholarly Debate"].}} Those experiences "seem to have included [[Vision (spirituality)|visions]] of (and/or ascents to) God's heaven, in which the glorified Christ was seen in an exalted position".{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|pp=72–73}}{{refn|group=note|name="Hurtado_visions"|These visions may mostly have appeared during corporate worship.{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|p=73}} Johan Leman contends that the communal meals provided a context in which participants entered a state of mind in which the presence of Jesus was felt.{{sfn|Leman|2015|pp=168–169}}}} Those experiences were interpreted in the framework of God's redemptive purposes, as reflected in the scriptures, in a "dynamic interaction between devout, prayerful searching for, and pondering over, scriptural texts and continuing powerful religious experiences".{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|p=184}} This initiated a "new devotional pattern unprecedented in Jewish monotheism", that is, the worship of Jesus next to God,{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|p=53}} giving Jesus a central place because his ministry, and its consequences, had a strong impact on his early followers.{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|pp=53–54}} Revelations, including those visions, but also inspired and spontaneous utterances, and "charismatic exegesis" of the Jewish scriptures, convinced them that this devotion was commanded by God.{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|pp=72–73, 185}}

Ehrman notes that both Jesus and his early followers were [[Jewish eschatology|apocalyptic Jews]], who believed in the bodily resurrection, which would start when the coming of God's Kingdom was near.{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|p=99}} According to Ehrman, "the disciples' belief in the resurrection was based on [[Vision theory of Jesus' appearances|visionary experiences]]",{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|pp=98, 101}} arguing that visions usually have a strong persuasive power, but also noting that the Gospel-accounts record a tradition of doubt about the appearances of Jesus. Ehrman's "tentative suggestion" is that only a few followers had visions, including Peter, Paul and Mary. They told others about those visions, convincing most of their close associates that Jesus was raised from the dead, but not all of them.{{refn|group=note|name=Sanders.first"}} Eventually, these stories were retold and embellished, leading to the story that all disciples had seen the risen Jesus.{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|pp=101–102}} The belief in Jesus's resurrection radically changed their perceptions, concluding from his absence that he must have been exalted to heaven, by God himself, exalting him to an unprecedented status and authority.{{sfn|Ehrman|2014|pp=109–110}}

While the vision theory has gained support among critical scholars since the last quarter of the 20th century,<ref name=Habermas_2011_Trinity>Gary Habermas (2001), [http://www.garyhabermas.com/articles/trinityjournal_latetwentieth/trinityjournal_latetwentieth.htm ''The Late Twentieth-Century Resurgence of Naturalistic Responses to Jesus' Resurrection'']. Trinity Journal (TRINJ 22NS (2001) 179-196)</ref> conservative Christian scholars who believe in a bodily resurrection reject the visionary theories in favor of a literal interpretation of the textual accounts of a physical resurrection.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.equip.org/free/DJ923.htm |title=Habermas |access-date=2005-08-26 |archive-date=2003-02-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030207070853/http://www.equip.org/free/DJ923.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.leaderu.com/offices/billcraig/docs/visions.html|title=Visions of Jesus: A Critical Assessment of Gerd Lüdemann's Hallucination Hypothesis|author-first1=William Lane|author-last1=Craig}}</ref><ref>Michael Morrison [http://www.gci.org/Jesus/resurrectionhistory The Resurrection of Jesus: A History of Interpretation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329191338/http://www.gci.org/Jesus/resurrectionhistory |date=2015-03-29 }}</ref>{{sfn|Habermas|2005|pp=135–153}}<ref>{{cite journal|author-last1=Wright|author-first1=N.T. |title=Christian Origins and the Resurrection of Jesus: The Resurrection of Jesus as a Historical Problem|journal=Sewanee Theological Review|year=1998|url=https://ntwrightpage.com/2016/07/12/christian-origins-and-the-resurrection-of-jesus-the-resurrection-of-jesus-as-a-historical-problem/}}</ref>{{sfn|Wright|2003|pp=690–691}}{{sfn|Allison|2005|pp=324–325}}