Editing Christian eschatology (section)

== Resurrection of the dead ==
{{Main|Resurrection of the dead#Christianity}}
{{Original research section|date=April 2015}}

===Doctrine of the resurrection predates Christianity===
The word ''resurrection'' comes from the Latin ''resurrectus,'' which is the past participle of ''resurgere,'' meaning ''to rise again.'' Although the doctrine of the resurrection comes to the forefront in the New Testament, it predates the Christian era. There is an apparent reference to the resurrection in the book of Job, where Job says, "I know that my redeemer lives, and that he will stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though... worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh I will see God" [Job 19:25–27]. Again, the prophet Daniel writes, "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt" [Dan 12:2]. Isaiah says: "Your dead will live. Together with my dead body, they will arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust, for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth will cast out the dead" [Isa. 26:19].

This belief was still common among the Jews in New Testament times, as exemplified by the passage which relates the raising of Lazarus from the dead. When Jesus told Lazarus' sister, Martha, that Lazarus would rise again, she replied, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day" [Jn 11:24]. Also, one of the two main branches of the Jewish religious establishment, the Pharisees, believed in and taught the future resurrection of the body [cf Acts 23:1–8].

===Two resurrections===
{{main|Resurrection of the dead#Two resurrections of the dead}}
An interpretation of the New Testament is the understanding that there will be two resurrections. Revelation says: "Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such, the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with him a thousand years" [Rev 20:6]. The rest of the dead "did not live again until the thousand years were finished" [Rev 20:5].

Despite this, there are various interpretations: 
:According to the premillennial posttribulational position there will two physical resurrections, separated by a literal thousand years (one in the Second Coming along with the [[Rapture]]; another after a literal 1,000 year reign). 
:According to premillennial pre-tribulationists, there will be three further physical resurrections (one in the Rapture at the beginning of tribulation; another in the Second Coming at the final tribulation; and the last one after a literal 1,000 year reign). They claim that the ''first resurrection'' includes the resurrection in the Rapture, and that the resurrection in the Second Coming, the ''second resurrection,'' would be after the 1,000 year reign.
:According to premillennial midtribulationists, too, there will be three physical resurrections (one in the rapture at the middle of tribulation; another in the Second Coming at the end of the tribulation; and the last one after a literal 1,000 year reign). And the ''first resurrection'' would be the resurrection in the Rapture, and the resurrection in the Second Coming, the ''second resurrection,'' would be after the 1,000 year reign.
:According to amillennial position there will are two resurrections. The ''first resurrection'' would be in a spiritual sense (the resurrection of the soul), according to Paul and John as participation, right now, in the resurrection of Christ through faith and baptism, according to Colossians 2:12 and Colossians 3:1 as occurring within the millennium interpreted as an indefinite period between the foundation of the Church and the Second Coming of Christ, the ''second resurrection'' would be the general resurrection (the resurrection of the body) that would occur at the time of Jesus' return.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Augustine |title=CHURCH FATHERS: City of God, Book XX (St. Augustine) |url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/120120.htm |access-date=2023-10-27 |website=www.newadvent.org |at=Chapter 6}}</ref>

===The resurrection body===
The Gospel authors wrote that our resurrection bodies will be different from those we have now. Jesus said, "In the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels of God in heaven" [Mt 22:30]. Paul adds, "So also is the resurrection of the dead: the body{{nbsp}}... is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body" [1 Co. 15:42–44].

According to the [[Catechism of the Catholic Church]] the body after resurrection is changed into a spiritual, imperishable body:
{{blockquote|[999] Christ is raised with his own body: "See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself" [553]; but he did not return to an earthly life. So, in him, "all of them will rise again with their own bodies which they now bear", but Christ "will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body", into a "spiritual body" [554]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a11.htm|title=CCC – Part 1 Section 2 Chapter 3 Article 11|website=www.vatican.va}}</ref>}}

Both the righteous and the wicked will rise with immortal bodies. However, only the righteous will rise with four endowments: impassibility (incorruptibility), subtility (spirituality), agility (power), and clarity (glory).<ref>''The Catholic Catechism'' by Father [[John A. Hardon]], p. 265</ref>

In some ancient traditions, it was held that the person would be resurrected at the same spot where they died and were buried (just as in the case of Jesus' resurrection). For example, in the early medieval biography of [[St Columba]] written by [[Adomnan of Iona]], Columba at one point prophesies to a penitent at the monastery on [[Iona]] that his resurrection would be in Ireland and not in Iona, and this penitent later died at a monastery in Ireland and was buried there.<ref>Adomnan of Iona. ''Life of St Columba''. Penguin Books, 1995, p. 193 {{ISBN?}}</ref>

===Other views===

Although [[Martin Luther]] personally believed and taught resurrection of the dead in combination with [[soul sleep]], this is not a mainstream teaching of [[Lutheranism]] and most Lutherans traditionally believe in resurrection of the body in combination with the [[immortal soul]].<ref>Evangelical Lutheran intelligencer: Volume 5 – 1830 p. 9 Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Maryland and Virginia "Every one of those committed to our care is possessed of an immortal soul and should we not exceedingly rejoice, that we in the hands of the Supreme Being, may be instrumental in leading them unto "fountains of living water".</ref>

Several churches, such as the [[Anabaptists]] and [[Socinians]] of the Reformation, then [[Seventh-day Adventist Church]], [[Christadelphians]], [[Jehovah's Witnesses]], and theologians of different traditions reject the idea of the immortality of a non-physical soul as a vestige of [[Neoplatonism]], and other [[Paganism|pagan]] traditions. In this school of thought, the dead remain dead (and do not immediately progress to a [[Heaven]], [[Hell]], or [[Purgatory]]) until a physical resurrection of some or all of the dead occurs at the end of time. Some groups, [[Christadelphians]] in particular, consider that it is not a [[universal resurrection]], and that at this time of resurrection that the [[Last Judgment]] will take place.<ref>Ashton, Michael. ''Raised to Judgement Bible Teaching about Resurrection & Judgement'' Christadelphian, Birmingham 1991 {{ISBN?}}{{page needed|date=May 2023}}</ref>

===Armageddon===
{{Main|Armageddon}}
[[File:The Lamb Defeating the Ten Kings, about 1220 - 1235. Tempera colors and gold leaf on parchment, The J. Paul Getty Museum.jpg|thumb|250px|right|''The Lamb Defeating the Ten Kings'' (c. 1220–1235), miniature from [[Beatus of Liébana]]'s ''[[Commentary on the Apocalypse]]'' (''Commentarius in Apocalypsim''), [[J. Paul Getty Museum]], Los Angeles]]

''Megiddo'' is mentioned twelve times in the [[Old Testament]], ten times in reference to the [[Tel Megiddo|ancient city of Megiddo]] in the [[Jezreel Valley]], and twice with reference to "the plain of Megiddo", most probably simply meaning "the plain next to the city".<ref name = "Bible cite">{{cite web
| year = 2011
| url = http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/?search=megiddo&version1=9&searchtype=all&limit=none&wholewordsonly=no
| title= Bible Keyword Search Results: megiddo (KJV)
| access-date = 2011-01-15}} Listing of the 12 Biblical Old Testament passages containing the word "Megiddo". 
</ref> None of these Old Testament passages describes the city of Megiddo as being associated with any particular prophetic beliefs. The one [[New Testament]] reference to the city of Armageddon found in Revelation 16:16 also makes no specific mention of any armies being predicted to one day gather in this city, but instead seems to predict only that "they (will gather) the kings together to .... Armageddon".<ref name = "No armies referred to">{{cite web
| year = 2011
| url = http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+16&version=NIV
| title= Revelation 16, The Seven Bowls of God's Wrath
| access-date = 2011-01-15}} New Testament excerpt describing various apparent calamities of nature with respect to Armageddon.</ref> The text does however seem to imply, based on the text from the earlier passage of Revelation 16:14, that the purpose of this gathering of kings in the "place called Armageddon" is "for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty". Because of the seemingly highly symbolic and even cryptic language of this one New Testament passage, some Christian scholars conclude that Mount Armageddon must be an idealized location.<ref name="Biblical Horizons, No. 85">{{Cite web |last=Jordan |first=James B. |title=biblicalhorizons » No. 85: Some Observations |url=http://www.biblicalhorizons.com/biblical-horizons/no-85-some-observations/ |access-date=2023-10-27}}</ref> [[R. J. Rushdoony]] says, "There are no mountains of Megiddo, only the Plains of Megiddo. This is a deliberate destruction of the vision of any literal reference to the place."<ref>Rousas John Rushdoony, ''Thy Kingdom Come: Studies in Daniel and Revelation'', p. 190.</ref> Other scholars, including [[C. C. Torrey]], [[Meredith G. Kline|Kline]] and [[James B. Jordan|Jordan]] argue that the word is derived from the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] ''moed'' ({{lang|he|מועד|rtl=yes}}), meaning "assembly". Thus, "Armageddon" would mean "Mountain of Assembly," which Jordan says is "a reference to the assembly at Mount Sinai, and to its replacement, Mount Zion."<ref name="Biblical Horizons, No. 85"/>

The traditional viewpoint interprets this biblical prophecy to be symbolic of the progression of the world toward the "great day of God, the Almighty" in which the great looming mountain of God's just and holy wrath is poured out against unrepentant sinners, led by Satan, in a literal end-of-the-world final confrontation. Armageddon is the symbolic name given to this event based on scripture references regarding divine obliteration of God's enemies. The hermeneutical method supports this position by referencing Judges 4 and 5 where God miraculously destroys the enemy of His elect, Israel, at Megiddo, also called the [[Valley of Josaphat]].{{citation needed|date=July 2014}}

Christian scholar [[William Hendriksen]] says:
{{blockquote|For this cause, Har Magedon is the symbol of every battle in which, when the need is greatest and believers are oppressed, the Lord suddenly reveals His power in the interest of His distressed people and defeats the enemy. When Sennacherib's 185,000 are slain by the Angel of Jehovah, that is a shadow of the final Har-Magedon. When God grants a little handful of Maccabees a glorious victory over an enemy which far outnumbers it, that is a type of Har-Magedon. But the real, the great, the final Har Magedon coincides with the time of Satan's little season. Then the world, under the leadership of Satan, anti-Christian government, and anti-Christian religion—the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet—is gathered against the Church for the final battle, and the need is greatest; when God's children, oppressed on every side, cry for help; then suddenly, Christ will appear on the clouds of glory to deliver his people; that is Har-Magedon.<ref>[[William Hendriksen]], ''More Than Conquerors'', 163.</ref>}}