Resurrection: A Reader
Early Church Writings on the Doctrine of the Resurrection
I enjoy Easter. Around this time of year, my wife and I hide eggs stuffed with prizes and candy for our children to find. It is a joy for them and a delight for us to watch them enjoy the holiday. We also give them Easter baskets filled with some of their favorite things—it’s an opportunity for us to bless our children—to delight in them. We take advantage of doing that whenever we can.
For some people, Easter is a time to reflect on the resurrection of Jesus more too. I am certainly grateful for this heightened sense in society at large. However, as Christians, we do not need a special holiday to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. As Ryan Davidson often reminds me—every Lord’s Day is a holiday. As Christians, we have the joy of celebrating the resurrection of our Savior every single Sunday. In fact, that is the reason we gather on Sunday, the Christian Sabbath—because Christ is risen.
But given that Christians and non-Christians are more aware of the historical reality of the resurrection of Jesus around this time of year, I thought producing a brief reader of sorts that details the established testimony of the church regarding the resurrection to be a helpful way for us to meditate on this miracle.
Therefore, in what follows you will see the apostolic teaching on the doctrine of the resurrection and how early the doctrine of the resurrection was affirmed/established in a culture that would not have readily received a testimony of a man (the God-Man) being eternally and bodily raised from the dead. For those of us who are Christians, this should bolster our faith. We have inherited such a rich faith tradition.
The Apostle Peter (Acts 2:22-32)
22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. 25 For David says concerning Him:
‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. 27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’
29 “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.
The Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 15:3-8)
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.
Clement of Rome (65s)
Demonstrating the Old Testament background of the resurrection by quoting parts of the Old Testament:
"For He saith in a certain place 'And Thou shalt raise me up, and I will praise Thee;' and; 'I went to rest and slept, I was awaked, for Thou art with me. 'And again Job saith, 'And Thou shall raise this my flesh which hath endured all these things.'"1
Ignatius (80s)
“For He suffered all these things for our sakes [that we might be saved]; and He suffered truly, as also He raised Himself truly; not as certain unbelievers say, that He suffered in semblance, being themselves mere semblance. And according as their opinions are, so shall it happen to them, for they are without body and demon-like. For I know and believe that He was in the flesh even after the resurrection; and when He came to Peter and his company, He said to them, "Lay hold and handle me, and see that I am not a demon without body." And straightway they touched Him, and they believed, being joined unto His flesh and His blood. Wherefore also they despised death, nay they were found superior to death. And after His resurrection He ate with them and drank with them as one in the flesh, though spiritually He was united with the Father.”
Polycarp (100s)
“For every one who shall not confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is antichrist: and whosoever shall not confess the testimony of the Cross, is of the devil; and whosoever shall pervert the oracles of the Lord to his own lusts and say that there is neither resurrection nor judgment, that man is the firstborn of Satan.”
Justin Martyr (100s)
“…He has even called the flesh to the resurrection, and promises to it everlasting life. For where he promises to save man, there he gives the promise to the flesh. For what is man but the reasonable animal composed of body and soul? Is the soul by itself man? No; but the soul of man. Would the body be called man? No, but it is called the body of man. If then, neither of these is by itself man, but that which is made up of the two together is called man, and God has called man to life and resurrection, he has not called a part, but the whole, which is the soul and the body. Since would it not be unquestionably absurd, if, while these two are in the same being and according to the same law, the one were saved and the other not?”
Irenaeus (150s)
“The preservation of our bodies is confirmed by the resurrection and ascension of Christ: the souls of the saints during the intermediate period are in a state of expectation of that time when they shall receive their perfect and consummated glory.”
Tertullian (200s)
“The resurrection of the dead is the Christians’ trust. By it we are believers.”
Chrysostom (300s)
“If Christ did not rise again, neither was he slain, and if he was not slain, our sins have not been taken away. If our sins have not been taken away, we are still in them, and our entire faith is meaningless.”
Excerpt of Nicene Creed (325)
“He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered and was buried.
The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures.”
Athanasius (330s)
“For by the sacrifice of his own body he both put an end to the law which was against us and made a new beginning of life for us, by the hope of resurrection which he has given us. For since from man it was that death prevailed over men, for this cause conversely, by the Word of God being made man has come about the destruction of death and the resurrection of life.”
Abrosiaster (Pseudo Ambrose 370s)
“The resurrection from the dead proves that Christ was a man and therefore able to merit by his righteousness the resurrection of the dead.”
The Apostle’s Creed excerpt (earliest forms of this were in the late 300s but not in final form until later)
“I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.”
Excerpt from Athanasian Creed (400s)
“He suffered for our salvation;
he descended to hell;
he arose from the dead;
he ascended to heaven;”