Topic
Resurrection
The raising of the dead in bodily form. Scripture describes a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous, and only the former is said to be raised imperishable.
Also called: raising of the dead, bodily resurrection, anastasis
Daniel speaks of many who sleep in the dust awaking, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. John records Jesus speaking of a resurrection of life and a resurrection of judgment. Everyone is raised; not everyone is raised to the same thing.
Paul describes the resurrection body of those in Christ: sown perishable and raised imperishable, the mortal putting on immortality. He does not extend that description to the unrighteous, and he says the perishable does not inherit the imperishable.
On the conditionalist reading this is where immortality is actually conferred, and it is conferred on those who belong to Christ. The unrighteous are raised to face judgment, not granted a body that cannot die.
What this is not
Terms in this dispute are routinely collapsed into one another. These distinctions are what keep the argument honest.
- The resurrection is not the intermediate state, which is the period before it.
- Being raised is not the same as being made imperishable, which Paul reserves for those in Christ.
- The resurrection of judgment is a real bodily raising, not a figure of speech for condemnation.
Principal passages
- 1 Corinthians 15:35-57Listed in the Scripture index
- Daniel 12:2
- John 5:28-29Listed in the Scripture index
- Acts 24:15Listed in the Scripture index
- 1 Corinthians 15:42-43
Where this is argued in the case
- S22 The Biblical Case for Conditional ImmortalityThe synthesis: 1 Corinthians 15 read through, and the short chain of reasoning from perishable bodies to the fate of the soul.
- S09 Why Final Judgment Is DelayedWhy continued existence before judgment is evidence of God sustaining, not of inherent immortality.
- S23 The Day of JudgmentThe language of a day, and what it means for when full justice is administered.
- S01 Mark 9: Undying Worms and Unquenchable FireWhat Isaiah 66:24 contributes to Jesus’ warning, and what "unquenchable" means everywhere else in Scripture.
Objections that turn on this
- S30 Is Annihilation Really Punishment?Two answers: finite experiences genuinely matter, and exclusion from eternal life is itself the ultimate loss.
Related topics
Sources for this topic
- Joseph Dear. The Bible Teaches Annihilationism. 1st edition, PDF version. 2016. approximately 590 pages View original of The Bible Teaches Annihilationism (opens in a new tab) Details
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