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21 - Resurrection, Transformation, and Deification

from Part V - Contested Beliefs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 August 2023

By
M. David Litwa
Edited by
Bruce W. Longenecker  and
David E. Wilhite
Bruce W. Longenecker
Affiliation:
Baylor University, Texas
David E. Wilhite
Affiliation:
Baylor University, Texas
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Summary

In the earliest period of the Christian movements, resurrection meant many things to many people. Claims that resurrection is unique to Christian discourse or unattested in Greco-Roman thought are based on overly determined understandings that respect neither the diversity of early Christian conceptions nor the breadth of Greco-Roman lore.1 The explosion of research on resurrection forbids a comprehensive survey. In this essay, the focus will be on ontology – what resurrection meant for the body, a body different from yet in continuity with the celestial and deathless body it becomes. From this discussion follows an inquiry as to what resurrection meant with regard to human identity: Do resurrected individuals remain human, or do they transcend humanity to become a higher entity?

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge History of Ancient Christianity , pp. 491 - 513
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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