From grave to glory : resurrection in the New Testament : including a response to Norman L. Geisler

內容簡介

Part One: Resurrection in the New Testament -- RESURRECTION BEFORE CHRIST -- I. The afterlife and resurrection in Egypt and Greece -- A. Egypt -- B. Greece -- The Homeric poems -- The Orphic religion -- Plato -- Aristotle -- Three reactions to "resurrection" -- II. Immortality and resurrection in the Old Testament -- A. Death -- B. Immortality -- C. Resurrection -- 1 Samuel 2:6 -- Job 19:26-27 -- The Psalms (16:9-11; 17:15; 49:15; 73:23-26) -- Isaianic passages (25:8a; 26:19; 53:10b-12) -- Ezekiel 37:1-14 -- Danielic passages (12:2-3; 12:13) -- Passages in Hosea (6:1-3; 13:14) -- Conclusions -- III. Immortality and resurrection in Intertestamental Judaism -- A. Immortality -- Texts emphasizing or referring exclusively to immortality -- Texts in which the ideas of resurrection and immortality are juxtaposed without attempted harmonization -- Texts in which the ideas of resurrection and immortality are consciously interrelated -- B. Resurrection -- The nature of the resurrection body -- The scene of resurrection life -- The extent of the resurrection -- The function of the resurrection -- IV. "Raisings" in the Gospels (and Acts) -- A. The widow of Nain's son (Luke 7:11-17) -- The circumstances of the miracle -- The performance of the miracle -- The outcome of the miracle -- The historicity of the miracle -- B. The daughter of Jairus (Matthew, Mark, Luke) -- Features common to all three evangelists -- The historicity of the miracle -- C. Lazarus (John 11:1-44) -- The miracle as history -- The miracle as theology -- D. These three miracles of revivification as dramatized theology -- They pointed to the messiahship of Jesus -- They demonstrated the power of Jesus -- They illustrated the compassion of Jesus -- They pictured the conquest of Jesus over death -- They prefigured the resurrection of Jesus and of all people -- E. The raising of Tabitha (Acts 9:36-42) -- F. The raising of Eutychus (Acts 20:7-12) -- G. The raising of "the Saints" (Matthew 27:52-53) -- THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST -- V. Resurrection from the grave: verifiable history -- A. Introduction -- B. Christ's predictions of his Passion and Resurrection -- C. The empty tomb -- Evidence for the empty tomb -- Alleged evidence against the empty tomb -- Explanations of the empty tomb -- D. Evidence from archeology? -- The Nazareth decree -- The Shroud of Turin -- VI. Resurrection in a transformed body: verifiable history -- A. The resurrection appearances of Jesus -- The nature of the appearances -- The purpose and result of the appearances -- The locality of the appearances -- The historicity of the appearances -- B. The resurrection body of Jesus -- The materialistic statements -- The nonmaterialistic statements -- C. The credibility of the records -- D. Other evidence for the resurrection as verifiable history -- VII. Objections to the resurrection as verifiable history -- A. Philosophical objections -- "No events are absolutely verifiable" -- "miraculous occurrences should be ruled out as impossible on a priori grounds" -- B. Historical objections -- "The proven theological tendency of the Gospels points to their historical unreliability" -- "The discrepancies between the resurrection narratives in the four gospels establish the nonhistoricity of the Resurrection itself." VIII. Resurrection to glory at God's right hand: item of faith -- A. The Resurrection as God's vindication of Christ -- The resurrection vindicated the messiahship of Jesus -- The Resurrection vindicated and confirmed the sonship of Jesus -- The Resurrection vindicated the work of Jesus -- The Resurrection of Jesus vindicated his followers and his Father -- B. The Resurrection as God's exaltation of Christ -- The terminology of exaltation -- The session of Christ -- Resurrection and exaltation -- C. The Resurrection and the Ascension -- New Testament references to the ascension -- The significance of the ascension -- D. Conclusion -- RESURRECTION AFTER CHRIST -- IX. The resurrection of believers (1) -- A. Death -- B. The past, spiritual resurrection -- C. The future, bodily resurrection -- The nature of the resurrection body -- The relation between the physical body and the spiritual body -- The time of the bodily resurrection -- D. The interrelationship of spiritual and bodily resurrection -- X. The resurrection of believers (2) -- A. Believers' resurrection and Christ's resurrection -- Spiritual resurrection -- Bodily resurrection -- B. The role of the Holy Spirit in believer's resurrection -- The Spirit is the pledge of a future resurrection transformation -- The Spirit is the means God will use to effect a future resurrection -- The Spirit sustains resurrection life -- The Spirit is the link between the pre- and post-resurrection states of the believer -- XI. "General resurrection" -- A. Universal judgment and the resurrection -- B. The resurrection that leads to life -- C. The resurrection that leads to condemnation -- New Testament references or allusions -- The nature of the condemnation -- The duration of the condemnation -- XII. Resurrection and creation -- A. Romans 8:18-25 -- B. Philippians 3:20-21 -- C. 1 Corinthians 15:20-28 -- D. New creation or renewed creation? -- E. Conclusions -- XIII. The transformation of the living -- XIV. Resurrection, immortality, and eternal life -- A. Resurrection in the New Testament -- B. Immortality in the New Testament -- Terminology -- Observations on the use of these terms -- The immortality of God -- The immortality of humanity -- C. Eternal life in the New Testament -- D. Resurrection and immortality -- As inseparable ideas -- As complementary ideas -- E. Immortality and eternal life -- Similarities -- Differences -- F. Resurrection and eternal life -- Similarities -- DIfferences -- XV. Resurrection formulas: Credal and biblical -- A. Credal formulations -- The resurrection of the flesh -- The resurrection of the dead -- The resurrection of the body -- B. Biblical expressions -- The resurrection of the dead -- The resurrection from the dead -- XVI. The distinctives of the Christian view of resurrection -- A. Egyptian and Christian thought contrasted -- B. Greek and Christian thought contrasted -- C. Jewish and Christian thought contrasted -- XVII. Conclusion -- A. Timeless truths about the risen Jesus -- Jesus is alive forever -- Jesus is conqueror of death -- Jesus is judge of all persons -- B. Appropriate response to the risen Jesus -- Reverential awe -- Humble worship -- Simple belief. Part Two: A response to Dr. Norman L. Geisler -- XVIII. The antecedent of the controversy: The Bishop of Burham Affair -- XIX. The history of the controversy -- XX. The exegetical issues in the controversy -- A. Is the testimony of the New Testament about the resurrection body of Jesus relatively uncomplicated or extraordinarily complex? -- Materialistic statements -- The nonmaterialistic statements -- B. Was the risen Jesus "customarily invisible"? -- The Lukan material -- The Johannine material (John 20:19, 26) -- The Pauline material (I Corinthians 15:5-8) -- The verbal form -- Conclusion -- C. Was the risen Jesus "customarily immaterial"? -- D. What does the phrase "like the angels" signify in Matthew 22:30; Mark 12:25; Luke 20:36? -- E. Did the resurrected Jesus appear to unbelievers? -- XXI. The theological issues in the controversy -- A. In what sense is the resurrection body "spiritual"? What are its other characteristics? -- B. WIll the bodily resurrection of believers be precisely the same as the resurrection of Jesus? -- Unity -- Distinction -- C. Is the glorified Jesus still "in the flesh"? -- D. What should be the church's confessional formula -- the resurrection of the flesh, or of the body, or of the dead, or from the dead, or of the person, or of man? -- Credal formulations -- Biblical expressions -- Phrases without credal or biblical precedent -- E. Was the ascension of Jesus a visible ascent into heaven? If the exaltation of Jesus occurred at the time of his resurrection, what was the significance of his ascension? -- XXII. Reflections on the controversy -- A. Misrepresentations -- By misquotation -- By distortion -- By omission -- By ignoring my clear distinction between the resurrection of Christ and the resurrection of believers in certain respects -- B. Observations on some of Dr. Geisler's methods of argumentation -- Through the misrepresentation of others' views, he creates "straw men," who are then demolished -- He created evidence to establish a point -- He hints at "guilt by association" -- C. The extent of our common ground -- D. Dr. Geisler's competence in Greek -- E. Dr. Geisler and the "consensus of the faithful" -- F. Conclusion.