ResurrectionResurrection noun (Middle English resurreccioun, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin resurrection-, resurrectio act of rising from the dead, from resurgere to rise from the dead, from Latin, to rise again, from re- + surgere to rise) 1) capitalized : the rising of Christ from the dead
2)
often capitalized : the
rising again to life of all the human dead before the final judgment
3): the state of one risen from the dead
5) Christian Science : a spiritualization of thought : material belief that yields to spiritual understanding
Resurrection is the idea that one may come back to life after death. It is a standard belief in the Abrahamic religions and the primary focus of Christianity.
The resurrection of the dead is used in two different ways: (1) a belief in the resurrection of individual souls (as found in Christian teachings), (2) a belief in a singular resurrection of the dead at the end of the world, or (3) a belief that the soul will wake and continue its existence in non-materiality.
The death and resurrection of Jesus, the only example of resurrection offered by Christianity, is the central focus of the fait with a debate existing as to the actual nature of that resurrection. It is either a spiritual resurrection with a spirit body rising into Heaven, or a material resurrection with a restored human body.returning to Earth. While most Christians believe Jesus' resurrection from the dead was in a material body, a very small minority believe it was spiritual.
It is incorrect to apply the term resurretion to cases in which the individual is brought back from the dead as a normal physical being - the story of Lazarus being brought back to life, et al, and modern cases in which someone is pronounced dead only to recover. These miraculous occurences are of a different nature than the resurrection of Jesus and the future resurrection of the dead. They mightmore aptly be called also be called "resuscitations" or "reanimations", since the life given to them is presumably temporary in nature. In contrast, the resurrection of Jesus and the future resurrection of the dead abolish death once and for all
Resurrection of the dead
Most modern Christian churches continue to uphold the belief that there will be a final resurrection of the dead and a World to Come, as the Apostle Paul said: "...he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world..." (Acts 17:3) and "...there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust." (Acts 24:15).
The resurrection of the dead is codified in the Apostles' Creed, which is the fundamental creed of Christianty. The Book of Revelation also makes many references about the Day of Judgment when the dead will be raised
Resurrection found in other religions
The concept of resurrection is referenced in ancient writings which allude to dying and rising gods such as Osiris, Baal, Adonis, Eshmun, and Dumuzi.
In ancient Greek religion a number of men and women were made physically immortal as they were resurrected from the dead. Asclepius was killed by Zeus, only to be resurrected and transformed into a major deity. Achilles, after being killed, was snatched from his funeral pyre by his divine mother Thetis and resurrected, brought to an immortal existence in Paradise. Memnon, who was killed by Achilles, seems to have received a similar fate. Alcmene, Castor, Heracles, and Melicertes, were also among the figures sometimes considered to have been resurrected to physical immortality. In the seventh century BC the sage Aristeas was found dead, after which his body disappeared from a locked room. Later he found not only to have been resurrected but to have gained immortality.