Resurrection
an expression denoting the revival of the human body in a future state after it has been consigned to the grave. Traces of this doctrine are found in other religions, in Zoroastrianism, and especially in later Judaism, but the doctrine is peculiarly Christian. In the earlier Hebrew Scriptures there is no mention of it. It is not to be found in the Pentateuch, in the Psalms, nor even in the earlier prophecies. It is supposed to be alluded to in Isaiah (xxvi: 19), and in Ezekiel (xxxvii) in the well-known chapter as to the revival of dry bones in the valley of vision; and in the last chapter of Daniel (xii: 2) there is the distinct affirmation that "many that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." There is also a well-known passage in Job (xix: 25-27) which was long thought to refer to the doctrine of the resurrection of the body; but modern criticism denies the validity of this reference. It is therefore not till the later Judaism that the doctrine appears, and it is sometimes said, doubtfully, to have been derived from Persia or elsewhere. In the time of our Lord it had become a formal doctrine of the Pharisees. The general body of the Jewish people seem also to have believed in it; the Sadducees alone disputed it. It appears, in fact, to have become bound up in the Jewish mind with the idea of a future life, so that an argument which proved the one proved the other.
It should be added that Mohammedanism cherishes gross beliefs on this head.
It remained for Christ and His apostles to reveal clearly the doctrine of the resurrection of the body, and to connect it with the fact of Christ's own resurrection as its special evidence and pledge. The following may be stated as the main RESURRECTION points involved in the doctrine as revealed in the New Testament: (1) The resurrection of the dead is ascribed to Christ Himself; it will complete His work of redemption for the human race (Jonn v: 21; I Cor. xv: 22 sq.; I Thess. iv: 14; Rev. 1:18). (2) All the dead will be raised indiscriminately to receive judgment according ing to their works, "they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation" (John 1:21-29; I Cor. xv:22; Rev. xx: 12-15). (3) The resurrection will take place at "the last day," by which seems to be meant the close of the present world (John vi:39, 40, xi:24; I Thess. iv: 15).
The Gnostics denied the resurrection of the body, and made the change a purely spiritual one. The Catholic belief was greatly developed by Tertullian, Jerome, and Augustine, who, however, insisted that the resurrection body, though identical with the original one, is a glorified body. A third view, represented in ancient times by Origen, and recently by Rothe, affirms that the spirit must always have a bodily organism, and that the perfected personality necessarily assumes a spiritualized embodiment; in this view resurrection is limited to perfected spirits.