141) The Biblical Promise is Resurrection, NOT Dis-embodied Escape to Heaven

One God Report

This episode continues the contrast between the biblicaldoctrine of the hope of resurrection of the dead compared to the common mainstreamChristian expressions about death being only the separation of the soul fromthe body and so-called promise of going to heaven.

Whilethe New Testament emphasizes the bodily resurrection of Jesus and the futureresurrection of believers, many Christians today speak of the dead asimmediately entering heaven as disembodied souls. The personnever really dies. But we see that many Scripture passages – we will look at afew in just a moment (Acts, 1 Corinthians, and 1 Thessalonians) – that highlightthe hope of resurrection at Christ’s return, not immediate ascension to heaven.

Incontrast to the biblical hope of resurrection, popular phrases such as “went toheaven” or “is now in a better place” reflect a Greek, Platonic view of thesoul's separation from the body at death—an idea rooted in Plato’s Phaedo,where death is seen as liberation of the soul from the body. MainstreamChristianity has drifted from the early Christian hope in resurrection toward aless real and disembodied afterlife.

Additional Resources:Where do we go when we die? Interview with Pastor Sean Finnegan ⁠https://youtu.be/w8rgs85dBtk⁠Conditional Immortality ⁠(Restitutio podcast)⁠⁠https://restitutio.org/2019/02/14/164-theology-3-conditional-immortality/⁠ Challenging Conditional Immortality (Restitutio podcast)⁠https://restitutio.org/2019/02/21/165-theology-4-challenging-conditional-immortality/⁠ #bible, #gotoheaven, #deityofchrist