Month: December 2024

The Eternal Significance of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. BADR Part 11

The Eternal Significance of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. BADR Part 11

Question: How does the nature of Jesus’ resurrected body shed light on the final transformed bodies of believers in the final days?

A. 1 Cor. 15 – Christ’s [Last Adam]*** resurrection as first fruits – In a twinkling we shall receive our glorified body like Jesus – imperishable and immortal.

Paul on the “spiritual body” – The apostle does not speak of a bodily spirit, but a spiritual body. A spiritual body is a resurrected physical body with greater capacities as an instrument of the Holy Spirit. Among its new powers are those of being incorruptible and giving life (v. 45).

1) Incorruptible– It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption (1 Cor. 15:42). For this corruptible must put on incorruption (1 Cor. 15:53).
2) Glorious – It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory (1 Corinthians 15:43).
3) Powerful – It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power (1 Corinthians 15:43). The believer will have permanent invigoration, unsurpassed beauty, and endless energy.
4) Spiritual – It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body (1 Cor. 15:44) – In the resurrection the believer will have a body perfectly responsive to his redeemed spirit which in turn will be completely amenable to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It will be spiritual also in that it is free of sinful propensities and without physical vulnerabilities & limitations [hyperspace teleport?].

B. Sum: Like the resurrected Jesus Christ, our transformed bodies will be corporeal, recognizable, immortal, imperishable, glorified.

Encounters With the Risen Christ and the Nature of His Resurrected Body. BADR Part 10

Encounters With the Risen Christ and the Nature of His Resurrected Body. BADR Part 10

Question. What is the nature of appearances of the risen Jesus and the nature of his resurrected body?

A. Nature of the Appearances
The initiative in the resurrection appearances always rested with Jesus.
They occurred to several individuals. Some appearances were to a single person; one was to a group of five hundred. They are reported to have taken place during a very specific period of forty days.

Ophthe, which means “he appeared.” This term probably implies seeing something which was objectively present outside the mind of the observer. Phaneroo, “reveal,” as in John 21:1, “Jesus revealed himself”; Harao, in its aorist passive form ophthe – permitted to become visible (Acts 1:3a), (“God permitted him) to become visible” (Acts 10:40).

The writers of the Gospels and Paul agree that Jesus appeared in bodily form. But Jesus’ body is no longer bound by space & time. Finally, there was a continuity between Christ’s body before the resurrection and his mode of existence after the resurrection.

B. Nature of Christ’s Resurrection Body
His body made impressions on physical senses.
Jesus’ body is no longer bound by material or spatial limitations. It has new powers diff. from his earlier, natural body. It belongs to a different order of reality. Jesus’ body is both materialistic and non-materialistic.

You may view the video at:
Encounters With the Risen Christ and the Nature of His Resurrected Body. BADR 10

Is the Trinity Monotheism? Dr. Ali Ataie vs. Dr. Joshua Sijuwade. A Debate hosted by Blogging Theology

Debate: Is the Trinity Monotheism?

Joshua Sijuwade’s philosophical model of the Trinity is sophisticated and impressive. His analytical model of the Trinity is logically coherent, but as any logician or mathematician knows, one can always construct a consistent philosophical (or mathematical) system based on a chosen set of definitions, assumptions or axioms (so long as it does not claim completeness). More importantly, theoretical models, however sophisticated or coherent, must be grounded in historical reality and divine revelation. In this regard, viewers of the debate need to be convinced that Sijuwade’s splendid system of philosophical trinitarianism is consistent with biblical revelation and the Trinitarian doctrine which was framed in the Nicene Creed (AD 325, 381).

Ali Ataie suggests that the chart or Trinitarian scheme presented by Sijuwade is a form of Sabellianism. He also refers to Origen to suggest that Sijuwade’s monarchical model is not exactly (classical) Trinitarian since his model implies that only the Father has aseity, but not the Son or the Holy Spirit. Even then the Father’s aseity is not intrinsic (which is evidence that Ali does not fully understand the meaning of such a fundamental concept as aseity). Ali even argues that the Father cannot be fundamental since his identity as Father is dependent on another person outside of himself. Sijuwade needs demonstrate how Ali’s misrepresentation and concerns were already addressed by the theological concepts used in the Nicene formulation of the Trinity such as “substance and persons” (subsistent relations) within the Trinity, eternal generation of the Son, perichoresis, divine persons and missions etc. and show how his philosophical model of the Trinity is consistent with the “grammar” of Nicene doctrine of the Trinity. Since Sijuwade did not ground his abstract Trinitarian model on the history of the Nicene Trinitarian debate and later Christian trinitarian tradition, he was easily (or deliberately) misunderstood to be defending neither the foundational monotheism of the Bible nor the Trinitarian implicate of the incarnational revelation of Christ. Ali shrewdly exploited the lacuna in Sijuwade’s presentation to undermine his argument. Continue reading “Is the Trinity Monotheism? Dr. Ali Ataie vs. Dr. Joshua Sijuwade. A Debate hosted by Blogging Theology”

Basic Facts about the Virgin Birth of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew and Luke

[I believe] in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit; Born of the Virgin Mary. The Apostles’ Creed.

Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). Matthew 1:23

Mary was a virgin when she was pregnant with Jesus (Matt. 1:18, 25; Lk. 1:27, 34) and he was conceived through the special work of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:20; Lk. 1:35).

How could Mary have a child if she did not yet have a husband and the sexual intimacy that comes with marriage? The biblical response is that God caused the pregnancy and that nothing is impossible with God (Lk. 1:37). This simple phrase nicely summarizes the crux of the debate about the credibility of the virginal conception. A person’s belief or unbelief in the virginal conception rests chiefly on whether they believe in God and his ability to create life in whatever manner he chooses. Accordingly, people often reject the virginal conception because of presuppositions that doubt or limit God’s activity in the world… Continue reading “Basic Facts about the Virgin Birth of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew and Luke”

Supplementary Maps and Charts for Kairos Podcast on Harmonizing the Resurrection Accounts BADR9

The above PowerPoint the supplementary document for Kairos Video Podcast –
Harmonizing Alleged Discrepancies Between the Resurrection Accounts of the Four Gospels. BADR 9