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  1. Why we believe Jesus is still alive
    (from the article on “Apostles” by Alfred Plummer, MA, DD), Hastings Dictionary of the Apostolic Church, Vol. 1, p. 83.

    The important new characteristic of the mission of the Apostles appointed by Jesus was the duty of bearing witness. The twelve seem to have been selected originally because of their fitness for bearing witness. They were not specially qualified for grasping or expounding theological doctrines; nor were such qualifications greatly needed. For the doctrines which the Master taught them were few and simple…

    But because of their simplicity they were very credible witnesses of what they had heard and seen. They had been men of homely circumstances and their unique experience as the personal disciples of Christ made a deep impression on them, especially with regard to the hopeless sense of loss when he was put to death, and the amazing recovery of joy when their own senses convinced them that he had risen again.

    They were thus well qualified to convince others. They evidently did not have the wit to invent an elaborate story, or to retain it when it had been elaborated, and therefore what they stated with such confidence was likely to be true [when told to keep quiet about the resurrection they simply said: “We cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”]

    Acts 4:13-22. “Now as they [the enemies of the faith] observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.

    And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply.

    But when they had ordered them to leave the Council, they began to confer with one another, saying, “What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

    “But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no longer to any man in this name.”

    And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

    But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

    When they had threatened them further, they let them go (finding no basis on which to punish them) on account of the people, because they were all glorifying God for what had happened; for the man was more than forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.”

  2. What if you believe that Christ was only bodily in the grave for three days and that His soul went immediately to heaven after giving up the ghost? Are there any salvific implications for holding to this doctrine? Does it matter?

    It seems that if His soul/spirit ascended to heaven upon death then His comment to Mary (“…I have not yet ascended…”) would be disingenuous considering He had just descended from heaven where He spent the preceding 3 days with the Father…

  3. A conversation I had with a friend of mine a while ago who isn’t saved. She is into Unitarianism. (To me Unitarianism is the worse religion out there. Unitarianism is the Oprah religion). Anyways, she told me she fines it hard to believe how a man can die and come back to life. She is a physicist. Science and faith do not mix with some folks.

    That is why I am forever grateful to the Lord. He died that we may live.
    It is the Resurrection Power of the Holy Spirit. Us believers also have this Resurrection Power that abides in us. Praise you Lord.

    Sin separated us from the Father. Jesus brought us to the Father. Jesus broke the curse of sin.

    In Acts 7:55
    But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

    Stephen saw Jesus standing in Heaven. Saw Him. I can only imagine.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xwzItqYmII

  4. I wrote some things down as I listened to this audio.

    -a witness by God, a sign verifying his word, God giving testimony to the Gospel. (By the resurrection, God saying in effect, “This is my Son. This is your hope. Trust in him and in all that he said. Partake of him and you shall live just as he said.”)

    -a glorious body? (Though Jesus did walk on water, it seems to me that his resurrected body had a glory that was greater than the time prior to the resurrection.)

    -a vision of him given by God proves he exists.

    After reading some of the posts, I want to say that it seems to me that Jesus went into the holiest of all right after his death on the cross, his soul going to God as he commended his spirit to the Father, and that the woman who was told by him not to touch him yet for he had not yet ascended to the Father, (John 20:17) was told by him not to do so because he was going to do as he had said, being the first fruit offering. So it seems to me that he ascended and decended at different times and in different ways. (John 6:62)

  5. I believe that the soul of our Lord went to Sheol/Hades upon His death, and that His body was laid in a tomb on the surface of the Earth.

    Jesus said that He would be 3 days & nights in the heart of the earth. The Greek word corresponding to heart (Kardia) seems to indicate the central or inmost part. I don’t believe that a sepulcher on the surface of the Earth best fulfills the words of Christ in Matthew 12:40.

    Additionally, the messianic prophesy of Psalm 16:10 says that “For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.” Peter makes reference to this passage when he states in Acts 2:31 “…that His soul was not left in Hades…”

    According to cursory research, there are two primary OT words for grave: 1. queber, 2. sheol.

    Queber means “grave, sepulchre, tomb.”
    Sheol means “pit, grave, hell.”

    Here’s some interesting info regarding these two words:

    1. It is never said that the body goes to Sheol. Queber speaks of the body going there 37 times.

    2. Sheol is never said to be located on the face of the earth. Queber is mentioned 32 times as being located on the earth.

    3. Man is never said to have dug or fashioned a Sheol. Man is said to have dug, or fashioned, a queber 6 times.

    4. Man is never said to have touched Sheol. Man touches, or can touch, a queber 5 times.

    5. It is never said that man is able to possess a Sheol. Man is spoken of as being able to possess a queber 7 times.

    6. An individual’s Sheol is never mentioned. An individual’s queber is mentioned 5 times.(W. Bedore, Berean Bible Institute).

    I have not verified this information, but if true, it seems to confirm my beliefs.

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