> Two interesting verses are 1 Corinthians 15:25-26... "For He (Christ)
> must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last
> enemy that will be abolished is death." Since our spiritual death has
> already been conquered by Christ at His crucifixion, death, and
> resurrection, and individually manifested to us at our conversion and
> rebirth, it is no longer an enemy. The only remaining enemy appears to
> be physical death.
>
> The Gospel speaks of our everlasting life, both spiritually and
> physically, both of which Christ came to conquer.
Here is a quick summary of how many TEs understand this point:
--Sin makes us spiritually dead in this life.
--Sin robs us of the hope of resurrection in the new creation.
(Physical death is our enemy BECAUSE of sin.
"The sting of death is sin.")
Christ conquers both.
(It might also be worth noting: Scriptures indicate that Christ's
ultimate conquering of physical death will not result in immortality being
"restored" in THIS creation. Rather, Christ's ultimate conquering of
physical death will result in resurrection into the new creation.)
> I think that for TE
> to remain viable it has to integrate the Gospel with the role that
> death plays in TE mechanisms.
We're happy to wrestle with these questions, but remember that most of the
TEs on this discussion group are profession scientists and engineers ---
we're only amateur theologians. We study enough theology to satisfy
ourselves with the answers, but that may not be detailed enough for
someone more deeply into theology. For more detailed answers than we can
provide here, it's best to turn to books written by professional
theologians who deal with this question. I'd be very interested if
someone could read, summarize, and critique one or more of those books for
this group.
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The best things in life are free. | Loren Haarsma
There is no such thing as a free lunch. | lhaarsma@opal.tufts.edu
===> Lunch is not one of the best things in life. |