a The Community of the Resurrection	3Back to Home

4 Navigation --------------- Homepage St. Matthew St. Matthew 2 St. Mark St. Luke St. Luke 2 St. John St. John 2 Acts of Apostles Acts of Apostles 2 --------------- The Letters --- Romans --- 1. Corinthias --- 2. Corinthias --- Galatians --- Ephesians --- Philippians --- Colossians --- 1. Thessalonians --- 2. Thessalonians --- 1. Timothy --- 2. Timothy --- Titus --- Philemon --- Hebrews --- James --- 1. Peter --- 2. Peter --- 1. John --- 2. John --- 3. John --- Jude --------------- The Apocalypse

One of the earliest hymns in the Christian Church contained the lines "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light." ( Eph. 5: 14) These lines sum up the attitude of the New Testament. From the first page of the New Testament to the last, the belief in eternal life with God is affirmed. The early Christians are in a real sense "the community of the resurrection." They know that God's power is greater than death's power, because God has conquered death by raising Christ from the dead (see Chapter 7). This is the charter for their existence. And it changes everything. No more is the idea of God's power over death a pious hope. It is a hard-shelled fact. Christ has been raised from the dead, and those who believe in him can be "partakers of his resurrection." The New Testament, in other words, does not hotly debate and argue about this belief, because it is the backbone of every other belief. Jesus takes it for granted, in an almost offhand comment, "You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just" ( Luke 14: 14). He defends belief in eternal life in debate with the Sadducees (who denied it), although he makes clear that the resurrection is not just a reproduction of the conditions of this life. Eternal life is one of the recurring themes of the Fourth Gospel and the attitude there underlined is expressed by Jesus, "This is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life" ( John 6: 40). God conquers death God gives us the power to conquer The Only Real "Answer" A Question You Can't Avoid Some Current Answers -- a Dime a Dozen The First Part of the Biblical Answer What Is the "Image of God"? Some Consequences The Second Part of the Biblical Answer What Sin Is Supplying Some Documentation What Sin Is Not Getting Straightened Out How Can I Be Changed? The Third Part of the Biblical Answer The First Step After the First Step The Heart of the Matter Not Once and for All Some Hints for Growing -- Tried and Tested A Final Warning Why Isn't "Individual Religion" Enough? The Case Against the Church -a Bagful of Objections When Did the Church Get Started? Just What Is a "Covenant"? The "New Covenant" Becomes a Possibility Those Words of Jesus to Peter Those "Upsetters of the World" A Rebuttal of the Case Against the Church Why the Church? Last Judgment? Second Coming? What Do They Mean? The Inescapability of Eschatology The Point of Biblical Eschatology: History Is Going Somewhere The Dangers of Literalism Exploring New Testament Eschatology The Kingdom of God A Few Bits of Help The Gift of God Schatology and "What I Do Today" What Happens When I Die? Sheol -- Where God Is Not Present The Community of the Resurrection Paul's Attempt to Describe the Christian Fact A "Spiritual Body" The Facts of the Case I Try to Live a Good Life. Why Isn't That Enough? The "Micah" Variation The "Worship and Action" Variation The "Therefore" Variation The Biblical faith that God is the Creator