The Resurrection and Baptism

In the Resurrection Debate, atheist Steven Carr debates Christians John Twistleton and James Hollingsworth about the historicity of Jesus' resurrection.

As I indicated in my post, The Resurrection Debate: The Blog and Sources, I wasn't too impressed by many of the Christians' "arguments." But there were a few occasions when Twistleton managed to shine, particularly in his posts, John Twisleton - March 27 and John Twisleton 2 April 2008. There, Twistleton actually wrestles with what Paul has to say about the resurrection, and he makes a pretty convincing case that Paul viewed it as bodily. But, alas, making a few good arguments every now and then doesn't save a sinking ship, and Twistleton's complaint at the end that Carr uses Paul too much didn't help him much either. It's like Twistleton was afraid of Paul, when he didn't have to be!

Twistleton does well to bring up Romans 6, which likens the Christian's baptism to Jesus' resurrection. A sinner symbolically goes into a grave and comes out a new person, in the same way that Jesus was buried in a tomb and emerged from it with a new body. In my opinion, that model of resurrection entails an empty tomb, since it presents the person going into the grave and coming back out of it. If that's Paul's model, then the empty tomb motif is a part of Christianity's earliest traditions.

Paul's comparison of resurrection with the spiritual life of the believer is important, especially in light of a discussion I had with Steven on Romans 8:11: "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you" (NRSV). Under my post, Tim Keller's Two Gospels?, I said to Steven:

"And Paul did define resurrection in one place as rescucitating a corpse. In Romans 8, he says that God will quicken your mortal bodies." Steven responded that Romans 8:11 is about the here and now, meaning that it is spiritual, not physical and literal. According to Steven, Romans 8:11 describes sinners receiving life through God's Spirit, which enables them to bear spiritual fruit in the here and now. For Steven, it is unrelated to literal life after death--the type that occurred with Jesus and that will occur with all believers. Consequently, as far as Steven is concerned, Romans 8:11 is irrelevant to Jesus' resurrection, so we cannot use it to say that (in Paul's mind) God quickened Jesus' body.

But can one radically distinguish Paul's teaching on spiritual resurrection from what he believes about the resurrection of Jesus? He likens the former to the latter in Romans 6! And, in Romans 8:11, Paul mentions twice that God raised Christ from the dead as he seeks to assure his readers that God will quicken their mortal bodies. So is it that much of a stretch to assume that Paul defines resurrection as God quickening a dead body, which would be consistent with an empty tomb?

I'll close here. This will probably be my last official post for a while on the resurrection, but I'll still interact with Steven and others under the posts I have already written. I need variety in my posts!