E-Book Overview
This text draws on the evidence of Paul and the Gospels to present the case for accepting the historicity of the bodily resurrection of Jesus.
E-Book Content
ASSESSING THE NEW TESTAMENT EVIDENCE FOR THE HISTORICITY OF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS WILLIAM LANE CRAIG WILLIAM LANE CRAIG EARNEDA bocrORATE IN PHILOSOPHY Ii! 11\E U!'jJVE'S.1J'Y OF J!.jRMINGHAM, ENGLAND, BEFORE TAKING A GOCTOIU\TEiN THEOLO- GY FROM THE LUDWIG MAXIMJtJANS l:JNIVERSITATMONCHEN, GEAAjANY, AT !"l;II.CH LA~ INSTITUTION HE WAS FOR TWO )'EARS A FEL1!:OW OF THE A LEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT-STIFfU G, WRI'FlNG ON THE HlSToRittrv OF THE RESURREGIlON OF JESUS. HAVING SPENT SEYEN.(NEARS AT J:HE KATHOtlKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN, B ELCruM, HE IS CURRENTLY A R ESEkR€H PR0FESS0J( A'f TAtBOT SCHOOL OF E HAS T HEOLQ Ei.S. VC IIOS, ) (I This makes it li kely that the building f r o m Cor. 15 :5 4 ). God in II Cor . 5 : 1 is not r eceived immediately upon death , but at the Par ou s ia . ~ This f a ct also s eems cl ear fr om a Odes of Solomon 11 :1 1; 21 : 3; 25 :8) . I t i s not a t all evident that the robes of glory g i ve n to t he righteous a r e new bodi es , rather than new clothes . Much clos er t o thes e pa r a ll el s than Paul' s doc trine of the res urrecti on body are the whit e r obes of Rev. 4 : 4; 6 : 11; 7 :9 , 13, 14 . Paul do es not r ef er to the re surrect i on body as a ga rment, but as a bui l d i ng . The poi nt Paul wis hes to express i s that he wants t o poss es s the re surre ct i on body wi t hout the ne cess i ty of dying so t hat ther e wou l d be no interval of s epa r ation of sou l from body . This wou l d pr ev ent the di squieti ng stat e of being fo und na ked (P l ummer , Corinthians , pp. 147-48; [ Kumme l- J Liet zmann , Korin ther II, p. 117; Sevenster , MRemarks , " p . 207 ; Al l o, Seconde ~pitre, p . 123 ; Gras s, Ostergeschehen, pp . 158-59; Cu l l mann, Immor t al i t y , pp. 5253; Mou le , "Dual i sm, " pp . 118-19, 122; Hughes, Epi s t le , pp . 168-69, Barrett , Se cond Epistle, p . 156 ) . 67The evidenc e of I Thess . 4; I Cor. 15; and Rom. e s eems to stand deci sive l y aga inst those w h~ t hi nk the new body is r eceived immediat ely after death ([Heinrici- ] Meyer , Zweiter Briet, p . 122; Davies , Paul, pp. 311 , 317- 18; Wh i te l y , Theology, p. 260 ; Bultmann , Korin ther , pp . 135 -3 9 ; Meyer , "Pau l' s View of t he Res urre ction , · p. 379) . As Al lo s ays, it i s unbe l i evabl e tha t had Paul changed his mi nd on the dead 's receivi ng t heir resurrection bodies at the Parous ia , he would not have t old t he Cor i nt hi ans , but cont i nued to use precis ely t he same l anguage (Al l o , Second epltre , p . 151 ) . If a new body is receive d i mmedi a t e l y, then the r e is no r esu r r e ction of the dead . But Pau l in his later l ette rs d id not abandon the doctrine and hope of t he r esurr ecti on . The whole poi nt o f I I Cor . 4 : 7-5 :1 0 , whi ch ought to be read as a un it , is that t hough our weak and compar i son with Rom. 8. 68 There the groa ning ( a t Ev eit", ; cf. I I Cor . 5 : 2 ) concerned our waiting f or the e s chat ologi c a l r edempt i on of our bod ies (v. 23 ) . God wi ll t he n g ive life t o our mortal bodi es ( ~ ~ a 1. a l,. n a€: t. to: &vrno: OWUOTO ULJ ~ \I ) {v • 11) , a phra.s e reminiscen t o f I I Cor . 5 : 4, 1:\10 XO T0 1. 0 a ~ t o a\ln t ~\I be l eaguer ed bodies a re gradua l l y fa i l i ng , we hav e t he hope of the r esurr ect ion . The "out e r natur e " (4: 16) is not t he ol d man of s i n, but the earthen ve ss el (4:1 ), the body ( 4 : 10 ; 5 :6, 8, 10), t he rqor tal fles h (4 :11 ), t he earthl y t e nt (5:1) , the mor tal ( 5:4) . As God r ais ed J e s us, he wil l also r a ise us (4:1 4; c f . I Cor. 6 : 14) . Thi s hope i s t ha t whic h is ex pr e s s ed in 5: 1. I t would be a des perate exp edi e