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Resurrection of the Dead


Resurrection of the dead, or resurrection from the dead (Koine: ἀνάστασις [τῶν] νεκρῶν, anastasis [ton] nekron; literally: "standing up again of the dead"; is a term frequently used in the New Testament and in the writings and doctrine and theology in other religions to describe an event by which a person, or people are resurrected (brought back to life). In the New Testament of the Christian bible, the three common usages for this term pertain to (1) the Christ, rising from the dead; (2) the rising from the dead of all men, at the end of this present age and (3) the resurrection of certain ones in history, who were restored to life. Predominantly in Christian eschatology, the term is used to support the belief that the dead will be brought back to life in connection with end times. Various other forms of this concept can also be found in other eschatologies, namely: Islamic, Jewish and Zoroastrian eschatology.

Early Christian church fathers defended the resurrection of the dead against the pagan belief that the immortal soul went to the underworld immediately after death. Currently, however, it is a popular Christian belief that the souls of the righteous go to Heaven.

At the close of the medieval period, the modern era brought a shift in Christian thinking from an emphasis on the resurrection of the body back to the immortality of the soul. This shift was a result of a change in the zeitgeist, as a reaction to the Renaissance and later to the Enlightenment. André Dartigues has observed that especially “from the 17th to the 19th century, the language of popular piety no longer evoked the resurrection of the soul but everlasting life. Although theological textbooks still mentioned resurrection, they dealt with it as a speculative question more than as an existential problem.”


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