The boy in a first...
Illustration
The boy in a first grade Sunday school class asked: "Say, Pastor, how are the dead raised? Is it like the launch of a moon mission? I don't understand." Would we be reluctant to call the child a "fool"?
The Apostle Paul called the questioner a fool, but then proceeded to give the man an answer. Paul was not an eyewitness to the resurrection. No one who witnessed the events surrounding Christ's death was present to speak from the crowd, so Paul explained it the best he could.
There were two contrasting beliefs in Paul's day. Jews believed that the resurrection took place with the flesh and bones of the body. Greeks believed the mortality was in body parts or disembodied spirits. The New Testament does not provide any real clear understanding of the quantum physics of resurrection.
Pastors would not call their questioning congregations foolish if they simply expressed doubt. The resurrection may be more difficult for twentieth century people to give credence than it was for the first century church. Paul makes countless analogies to the kind of spiritual body that has been resurrected. He talks about the body being a seed that sprouts and grows. He talks about being asleep and then waking up. Paul is as unsure as the rest of us. He has heard the good news of Christ and tries to explain it.
Paul is doing the best he can to put the resurrection into words, without looking foolish.
-- Becker 1
The Apostle Paul called the questioner a fool, but then proceeded to give the man an answer. Paul was not an eyewitness to the resurrection. No one who witnessed the events surrounding Christ's death was present to speak from the crowd, so Paul explained it the best he could.
There were two contrasting beliefs in Paul's day. Jews believed that the resurrection took place with the flesh and bones of the body. Greeks believed the mortality was in body parts or disembodied spirits. The New Testament does not provide any real clear understanding of the quantum physics of resurrection.
Pastors would not call their questioning congregations foolish if they simply expressed doubt. The resurrection may be more difficult for twentieth century people to give credence than it was for the first century church. Paul makes countless analogies to the kind of spiritual body that has been resurrected. He talks about the body being a seed that sprouts and grows. He talks about being asleep and then waking up. Paul is as unsure as the rest of us. He has heard the good news of Christ and tries to explain it.
Paul is doing the best he can to put the resurrection into words, without looking foolish.
-- Becker 1
