Installment #1 of Essay… continuation to follow in the coming Days
By Dr. Herbert R.
WHY THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY IS NECESSARY
In few days time it will be holy week and for the spiritually minded Christian this is a week to prepare for, spiritually and bodily. Easter is the feast of all feasts. The celebration of Easter and the teachings on the Resurrection of Christ is central to the Christian faith. This doctrine was preached by St. Paul, when writing to the Corinthians he said: “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised. And if Chris has not been raised, then empty (too) is our preaching: empty too your faith…For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is in vain; you are still in your sins:” [I Corinthians 15:13-15 (New American Bible)] This verse from the New Testament gives us a hint that even during the time of the apostles, the narrative account of the Resurrection has been at the center of theological controversy. The Corinthians influenced by Greek philosophy tended to interpret the resurrection in the metaphorical and spiritual manner. But St. Paul in rebutting this erroneous notion emphasized the importance of the Physical Resurrection. More often God works in wonderful ways and He wants us to accept His grace with faith. Thus, in making the apostles the sole witnesses of the Resurrection of Christ, He wanted us to grasp this truth in faith. He wants us to accept with faith the words spoken to us and relayed to us by the apostles. Here too, our Lord showed us the importance of the Church as an organization established by Christ as the Divine agent for the perpetuation of the truth. This truth was spoken to us by St. Paul, when he wrote to Timothy thus: “…you should know how to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the foundation of truth.” [Emphasis supplied] [I Timothy 3:15b (New American Bible)] Here too the Lord laid emphasis on the special mission of the Apostles as the ones sent to establish the Church on earth. This is one of the reasons why the resurrection of Christ was not manifested to the multitude of the people but to the apostles, because the mission of establishing churches and the confirmation of the beliefs were laid down on the Apostles and their legitimate successors. As Christ said to St. Peter: "You are the Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not overcome it." As the Scriptures said, the Church is the pillar and foundation of truth. For even Scripture cannot be the subject of private interpretation. The Bible is the treasure and patrimony of the Church. It is integral to the whole of the economy of what we call the Sacred Deposit of the Faith or known more commonly as Sacred Tradition. [2 Peter 1:20 “Know this first of all, that there is no prophecy of Scriptures that is a matter of personal interpretation, for no prophecy ever came through human will; but rather human beings moved by the holy Spirit spoke under the influence of God.” (New American Bible)] Thus, the quoted scripture above rejects the Sola Scriptura argument of Martin Luther. The Bible itself cannot be taken singularly apart from the context of Sacred Tradition because the Scripture is part of that sacred deposit of faith entrusted to the Church. Aside from the written words of Scriptures there were also other things which Christ said and did, which according to St. John the Evangelist, “…if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.” [John 21:24b (New American Bible)] And here too we find the doctrine of the Resurrection of the Dead as central to this deposit of faith. The burial customs and practices of the Church speak of this faith in the physical resurrection. Perhaps this is the reason why we bury our dead in consecrated grounds and we refuse cremation. By means of these burial practices we seek to demonstrate our faith in the reality of the physical resurrection of the dead. We deny the nihilism of the eastern religions and we believe that the resurrection of the dead is a reality to come. This is also the reason why we Catholics have the custom of placing the relics of Saints and Martyrs in stone altars. By doing so we demonstrate by action our faith in the Resurrection of the Body.
CONTROVERSIES SURROUNDING THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY
The Doctrine of the Resurrection remains a controversial belief even in our times. During the apostolic times, St. Paul had to refute the Greeks in their belief that the Resurrection of the Body is an impossibility. It was difficult for the ancient Greeks to conceptualize the reality of the Resurrection of the Body because of their belief in the immortality of the soul or the transmigration of soul’s doctrine which makes bodily resurrection an unnecessary thing. On the other hand St. Paul had to refute the unbelief of some of the Jews of his time who cannot conceived the idea of crucifixion and suffering as necessary for resurrection. For them to teach that one has to take up one’s cross in order to enter the kingdom of God is foolishness. Even during the age of the Church Fathers, this controversy continue to rage. We saw the Gnostics [ “A collective name for a large number of greatly-varying and pantheistic-idealistic sects, which flourished from some time before the Christian Era down to the fifth century, and which, while borrowing the phraseology and some of the tenets of the chief religions of the day, and especially of Christianity, held matter to be a deterioration of spirit, and the whole universe a depravation of the Deity, and taught the ultimate end of all being to be the overcoming of the grossness of matter and the return to the Parent-Spirit, which return they held to be inaugurated and facilitated by the appearance of some God-sent Saviour.” Gnosticism. New Advent Encyclopedia. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06592a.htm
To be continued….
By Dr. Herbert R.
WHY THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY IS NECESSARY
In few days time it will be holy week and for the spiritually minded Christian this is a week to prepare for, spiritually and bodily. Easter is the feast of all feasts. The celebration of Easter and the teachings on the Resurrection of Christ is central to the Christian faith. This doctrine was preached by St. Paul, when writing to the Corinthians he said: “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised. And if Chris has not been raised, then empty (too) is our preaching: empty too your faith…For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is in vain; you are still in your sins:” [I Corinthians 15:13-15 (New American Bible)] This verse from the New Testament gives us a hint that even during the time of the apostles, the narrative account of the Resurrection has been at the center of theological controversy. The Corinthians influenced by Greek philosophy tended to interpret the resurrection in the metaphorical and spiritual manner. But St. Paul in rebutting this erroneous notion emphasized the importance of the Physical Resurrection. More often God works in wonderful ways and He wants us to accept His grace with faith. Thus, in making the apostles the sole witnesses of the Resurrection of Christ, He wanted us to grasp this truth in faith. He wants us to accept with faith the words spoken to us and relayed to us by the apostles. Here too, our Lord showed us the importance of the Church as an organization established by Christ as the Divine agent for the perpetuation of the truth. This truth was spoken to us by St. Paul, when he wrote to Timothy thus: “…you should know how to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the foundation of truth.” [Emphasis supplied] [I Timothy 3:15b (New American Bible)] Here too the Lord laid emphasis on the special mission of the Apostles as the ones sent to establish the Church on earth. This is one of the reasons why the resurrection of Christ was not manifested to the multitude of the people but to the apostles, because the mission of establishing churches and the confirmation of the beliefs were laid down on the Apostles and their legitimate successors. As Christ said to St. Peter: "You are the Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not overcome it." As the Scriptures said, the Church is the pillar and foundation of truth. For even Scripture cannot be the subject of private interpretation. The Bible is the treasure and patrimony of the Church. It is integral to the whole of the economy of what we call the Sacred Deposit of the Faith or known more commonly as Sacred Tradition. [2 Peter 1:20 “Know this first of all, that there is no prophecy of Scriptures that is a matter of personal interpretation, for no prophecy ever came through human will; but rather human beings moved by the holy Spirit spoke under the influence of God.” (New American Bible)] Thus, the quoted scripture above rejects the Sola Scriptura argument of Martin Luther. The Bible itself cannot be taken singularly apart from the context of Sacred Tradition because the Scripture is part of that sacred deposit of faith entrusted to the Church. Aside from the written words of Scriptures there were also other things which Christ said and did, which according to St. John the Evangelist, “…if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.” [John 21:24b (New American Bible)] And here too we find the doctrine of the Resurrection of the Dead as central to this deposit of faith. The burial customs and practices of the Church speak of this faith in the physical resurrection. Perhaps this is the reason why we bury our dead in consecrated grounds and we refuse cremation. By means of these burial practices we seek to demonstrate our faith in the reality of the physical resurrection of the dead. We deny the nihilism of the eastern religions and we believe that the resurrection of the dead is a reality to come. This is also the reason why we Catholics have the custom of placing the relics of Saints and Martyrs in stone altars. By doing so we demonstrate by action our faith in the Resurrection of the Body.
CONTROVERSIES SURROUNDING THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY
The Doctrine of the Resurrection remains a controversial belief even in our times. During the apostolic times, St. Paul had to refute the Greeks in their belief that the Resurrection of the Body is an impossibility. It was difficult for the ancient Greeks to conceptualize the reality of the Resurrection of the Body because of their belief in the immortality of the soul or the transmigration of soul’s doctrine which makes bodily resurrection an unnecessary thing. On the other hand St. Paul had to refute the unbelief of some of the Jews of his time who cannot conceived the idea of crucifixion and suffering as necessary for resurrection. For them to teach that one has to take up one’s cross in order to enter the kingdom of God is foolishness. Even during the age of the Church Fathers, this controversy continue to rage. We saw the Gnostics [ “A collective name for a large number of greatly-varying and pantheistic-idealistic sects, which flourished from some time before the Christian Era down to the fifth century, and which, while borrowing the phraseology and some of the tenets of the chief religions of the day, and especially of Christianity, held matter to be a deterioration of spirit, and the whole universe a depravation of the Deity, and taught the ultimate end of all being to be the overcoming of the grossness of matter and the return to the Parent-Spirit, which return they held to be inaugurated and facilitated by the appearance of some God-sent Saviour.” Gnosticism. New Advent Encyclopedia. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06592a.htm
To be continued….
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