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soul fails to take account of the real
seriousness of death. For an immor–
tal soul would mean that there is no
death, whereas life beyond death
requires the reviva! of the individual
who died; that is, a resurrection.
Human existence is possible only in
community with others, so that, in
addition, a general resurrection is
necessary for true life.
Dr. Pannenberg recognizes that a
resurrection may presuppose a radi–
cal transformation, even a new cre–
ation, as it were. Yet there is still a
clear connection with oneself and
one's life befare death.
But is this hope in a resurrection
-in your resurrection- in the resur–
rection of a l l mankind- only an
empty hope? No, for evidence exists
of the resurrection . The resurrection
of al! mankind at the end of history
has been anticipated in the resur–
rection of Jesus.
The Fact s Surrounding the
Resurrection of Jesus
The culmination of history is the
time when God brings al! the dead
from their graves and makes them
live again. This is the hope of the
living for their dead, and the hope
with which the living approach their
own end. There is only a futile hope if
there were no resurrection. So now,
look at the evidence.
This evidence líes in the experi–
ence of Jesus Christ who died on the
cross and was buried befare the eyes
of H is di sciples. T his Jesus was
reported to have been raised from the
dead by women who vi sited the tomb.
On their initial testimony this is a
foretaste of the final resurrcction at
the end of history- a real reason for
hope.
But isn't belief in J esus' resur–
rection only a matter of faith?
Dr. Pannenberg takes into fui!
account the skepticism of the histori–
cal inquirer. Histori ans would gener–
ally consider the gospel accounts
insufficient because they are usually
dated sorne years after J esus' death.
Dr. Pannenberg accepts this skepti–
cism, with one exception. Sorne
researchers , he points out, would
exclude the possibility of a resur–
rection from the start as contrary to
physicallaw. Dr. Pannenberg argues
this is illegitimate since it substitutes
dogma for sound argument and is,
38
furthermore, contrary to the caution
of many physical scientists on unusu–
al phenomena.
Irrefutable Evidence
Dr. Pannenberg argues there are two
strands of evidence in early Christian
literature which withstand the scruti–
ny of historical criticism:
l.
The appearances of the risen
Jesus to His disciples.
Most scholars consider Paul 's
writings sorne of the earliest of the
New T estament. Yet he himself was
converted soon after the crucifixion,
according to his own testimony.
T herefore, when he enumerates the
witnesses to the resurrection, he is
basing this on eyewitnesses from
whom he heard testimony withi n
only a few years after' the events.
Furthermore, he also personally wit–
nessed a similar appearance of the
one resurrected from the dead.
Despite attempts to psychologize
them away, there is no other explana–
tion for these appearances toso many
individuals over an extended period
of time than an actual manifestation
of the resurrected Lord. The phe–
nomenon of mass delusion is inap–
plicable here.
2.
The empty tomb.
Although Paul does not mentían
the empty tomb, the early Christian
community would have been impossi–
ble without it. The faith of the disci–
ples had been shattered by the cruci–
fixion. Stealing the body away would
have accomplished nothing. Nor
would it have explained their later
willingness to die for their faith.
The Pharisaic polemic did not deny
the empty tomb. Rather it attempted
to explain itas theft of the body by the
disciples. Thus, there is no early
evidence contradicting the empty
tomb by either disciples or enemies.
The very existence of early Christian–
ity is based on the evidence of the
empty tomb: "T he consideration of
the historical situation of the first
community in J erusalem ... cannot
be understood without the tomb hav–
ing been found empty" (Pannenberg,
"Oíd Jesus Really R ise From the
Dead?" Dialog4 [1965], 134).
" BiessedAre the Dead, Which Die
in the Lord"
Death is thus revealed as having
a lready been conquered. l t was con-
quered by Jesus of Nazareth through
the power of God. Death is still our
enemy; we will die. Yet that is not the
end .
J esus' resurrection has already
anticipated and confirmed the hope
and the promise of the resurrection of
al/
the dead at the end of human
history. Without this evidence our
hope-our faith- would be only so
much wishful thinking. Now in addi–
tion to faith there is evidence- histori–
cal evidenceopen to scientific inquiry.
As the sixth chorus in Johannes
Brahms's
Requiem
expresses it with
such fierce emotion from l Corin–
thians 15:
" Behold, 1 shew you a mystery:
We shall not al! sleep, but we shall all
be changed, in a moment, in the
twinkling of a n eye, at the sound of
the last trumpet: for behold, the
trumpet shall sound, and the dead
shall be raised incorruptible, and we
shall all be changed.
"Then shall be brought to pass the
saying that is written, Death is swal–
lowed up in victory. O death, where is
thy sting? O grave, where is thy
victory?"
o
ls
your
reward worth
the ellort?
" Heaven" is not the reward of
the saved. You won't burn in
eterna! hellfire either. Our
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What is the
Reward of the Saved?
quotes
dozcns of surprising scriptures
proving:
• God's reward is far greater tban a
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