Jesus and the Demise of Death
Resurrection, Afterlife, and the Fate of the Christian
Publication Year: 2012
What happens after death to Jesus and to those who follow him? Jesus and the Demise of Death offers a constructive theology that seeks to answer that very question, carefully considering both Jesus' descent into hell and eventual resurrection as integral parts of a robust vision of the Christian bodily resurrection. Taking on the claims of N.T. Wright and Richard B. Hays, Matthew Levering draws strongly upon the work of Thomas Aquinas to propose a radical reconstruction of Christian eschatological theology—one that takes seriously the profound ways in which Christianity and its beatific vision have been enriched by Platonic thought and emphasizes the role of the Church community in the passage from life to death. In so doing, Levering underscores the hope in eternal life for Jesus' followers and gives readers firm and fruitful soil upon which to base conversations about the Christian’s future.
Published by: Baylor University Press
Cover
Half Title Page, Epigraph, Title Page, Copyright, Dedication
Download PDF (139.0 KB)
pp. i-vi
Contents
Download PDF (53.7 KB)
pp. vii-viii
Acknowledgments
Download PDF (71.7 KB)
pp. ix-x
Like many people, I have often wondered what there is for me and my loved ones after death: what happens to us? Should even a theologian preserve a discreet silence? As Christians, however, we have much to hope for and much reason for hope. Holding “fast the word of life” (Phil 2:12), I wish to speak about this hope through Scripture and through ...
Introduction
Download PDF (111.6 KB)
pp. 1-12
The eminent biblical scholar Richard B. Hays calls upon contemporary theologians to “press forward to a robust recovery of apocalyptic teaching and preaching.”1 By “apocalyptic,” he has in view the Church’s traditional teaching about “the ultimate glorification of Jesus Christ as Lord over all creation, the resurrection of the body, God’s final judgment ...
Part I. The Passage of Jesus Christ
Download PDF (32.5 KB)
pp. 13-14
1. Christ’s Descent into Hell
Download PDF (114.2 KB)
pp. 15-26
Jesus suffered and died on the cross for our sins, but what happened to him when he died?1 Was he “gathered to his people” (Gen 49:33) like Jacob, or was he “brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the pit” (Isa 14:15)? As many biblical scholars point out, the eschatology of both Second-Temple Judaism and early Christianity affirmed the existence ...
2. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
Download PDF (127.5 KB)
pp. 27-42
Discussing Paul’s (and the Nicene Creed’s) use of “in accordance with the scriptures” (1 Cor 15:4) to describe Jesus’ resurrection, Christopher Seitz argues that this “accordance” cannot be discovered by proof-texting but rather involves carefully sifting the Old Testament witness to God’s covenantal relationship with Israel, in light of the New Testament witness ...
3. Sitting at the Right Hand of the Father
Download PDF (143.2 KB)
pp. 43-60
Discussing Paul’s (and the Nicene Creed’s) use of “in accordance with the scriptures” (1 Cor 15:4) to describe Jesus’ resurrection, Christopher Seitz argues that this “accordance” cannot be discovered by proof-texting but rather involves carefully sifting the Old Testament witness to God’s covenantal relationship with Israel, in light of the New Testament witness ...
Part II. The Passage of Christ's People
Download PDF (32.5 KB)
pp. 61-62
4. A People in Passage: Faith, Eucharist, Almsgiving
Download PDF (150.0 KB)
pp. 63-84
We have seen that Jesus’ passage always has in view our participation in it. The Son of God undertook his paschal journey for our sake. If so, however, what should the life of believers be like as we await the glorious return of Jesus (Acts 1:11) and the consummation of all things? What characterizes the Church as a people in passage?...
5. Can We Merit Eternal Life?
Download PDF (107.4 KB)
pp. 85-96
By participating in Jesus’ passage through faith and works of love enabled by his Holy Spirit, do we merit eternal life? In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus employs the image of a heavenly treasury: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,...
6. Do We Have Spiritual Souls?
Download PDF (115.2 KB)
pp. 97-108
Lewis Ayres has pointed out that the spiritual soul constitutes the “anthropological context within which the structure of traditional discussions of grace and sanctification and the restoration of the imago Dei can be articulated.”1 In Ayres’ view, this anthropological context is a fully biblical one.2 The Church’s affirmation of the reality of the spiritual ...
7. Bodily Resurrection and Beatific Vision
Download PDF (134.7 KB)
pp. 109-126
Commenting on 1 Corinthians 13:12, Anthony Thiselton observes that Paul’s phrase “now we see in a mirror dimly” employs a metaphor drawn from Platonic philosophical culture to describe indirect knowledge, while Paul’s promise of a “face to face” encounter refers to “the perfection of uninterrupted personal intimacy with God.”1 Similarly, commenting...
Conclusion
Download PDF (76.3 KB)
pp. 127-130
No study of resurrection and eternal life can ignore the contemporary Western crisis of faith.1 When we lack a relationship with the living God, literally nothing seems to await us after death; life becomes a thin veneer covering eternal annihilation.2 In this situation, agnosticism passes for hope, as expressed by a recent writer: “I believe that after ...
Notes
Download PDF (462.2 KB)
pp. 131-190
Works Cited
Download PDF (228.6 KB)
pp. 191-220
Index
Download PDF (95.9 KB)
pp. 221-228
Back cover
E-ISBN-13: 9781602584488
Print-ISBN-13: 9781602584471
Page Count: 240
Publication Year: 2012
