Spiritual Resurrection?

Morocco

Hey everybody, I'm still pretty new here but have been lurking about the boards for sometime. I just had a thought and was wondering what you guys think about it. It was actually inspired by another thread, but it has to do with the resurrection. It seems to me that when Jesus was talking about giving life to people it was a figurative life... a spiritual life. Take John 5: 24-25 Jesus here said:

"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.

How can an alive person be dead yet hear his word and become alive? Unless its talking about a spiritual life given to a physically alive person. Could these dead who “hear the voice” and live be spiritually dead people, not physically dead people? Could all those “in their graves” who will hear his voice and come out be symbolic of the spiritually dead having a spiritual resurrection? To me this scripture looks like it is a spiritual thing and not a physical thing.

I am the furthest thing from a scholar so in no way do I take thoughts like this seriously until I can prove them to myself but it was just something I was toying around with. Lemme know what you think!

Star Moore

Hi Morroco........I agree. I think at one time, we are spiritually dead and when we began to be a spirit driven person, then we come to life.

vitty

hiya

Mistah MOJO

Hi Morocco. Yes, you're correct. Stick closely to the Spiritual/Allegorical understanding that's opening up to you and you'll do well. Revert to primitive-superstitious literalism and you'll be steered way off course. MM

"As for me and my household we shall serve peanut butter sandwiches."

heathen

I think it's fair to say it covers both the physical and spiritual . Jesus did raise the dead a couple of times during his ministry . Ancient Israel was a dead nation in a spritual sense but jesus offered a means for forgiveness that could bring the faithfull back to life during the resurrection and thus being brought back to life figuratively.

Hellrider

I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.

It`s an interesting point you make, but I don`t think it`s meant to be taken symbolically, like you think. The JWs just ignore this verse, or believes it refers to the dead after they have been risen, but as you correctly point out, they hear this while still dead! The "dead" here means those who have (physically) passed away. There is nothing symbolical about it. In jewish thought and belief at this time, the souls (or what would then be called "spirit") of the dead did not cease to exist after the body had died. It went either to Sheol (the underworld) or to heaven (to the "bosom of Abraham").

elatwra

I think it is definitely speaking about litarally dead people and it might be refering to Mathew 27:50-53

50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. 51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. 52 The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people

peacefulpete

There is reason to understand the entire Jesus narrative tradition as having been intended as metaphor. The Johannine community that produced the G. John appears to have understood that at a time when many Christians were attempting to literalize the stories.

heathen

I'm looking at the Greatest man book and what the society says is that in Mathew 27 that it's not talking about dead people being resurrected but that people were walking bye as the quake hit and were exposed to the dead bodies . Doesn't really make sense either way you look at it , The scripture itself is saying the dead came to life then walked into the holy city .What I find interesting is how most christian religionists will not see the meaning of why jesus brought people back from the dead , if they were already in paradise then why would he bring people back only to die a second time ? Why not show them as spirits to show that people will have spirit bodies ? I think it wasn't until the holy spirit got involved later at pentecost that nobody was prepared for a heavenly hope . Interesting stuff .......

Midget-Sasquatch

I've learned that there are several themes/concepts in some of Jesus' dialogue in G.John that have remarkable similarities to those of non-christian mystics. Like being the "Bread from Heaven" and especially about being One with God.

Mystics assert that all of us share in the divine. We only need to break through the illusion of separateness or ignorance of our "true selves". Perhaps along a similar vein, once people learn how to commune with the Father, they can now to some extent experience eternity even before physical death. The rest of us ignorant smucks would be missing out on the "true life".

Spiritual Resurrection?

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