> >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.
> Do they also agree that Christians are spiritually alive in this life,
> and that the remaining obstacle to be reckoned with is how the Gospel
> deals with physical death? My impression is that TEs see the Gospel as
> emphasizing salvation from spiritual death while agreeing to disagree
> with the traditional orthodox view that physical death is also the
> result of sin and Adam's fall and the resultant curse by God on
> creation.
All TEs, as far as I know, agree that Christians are spiritually alive in
this life, and that Christians once again have hope for the resurrection.
That much is fully "orthodox." They doubt whether the New Testament texts
really _teach_ that physical death (particularly animal death) was a
result of the fall and the curse (though we can all understand how that
conclusion could be drawn). Some TEs believe, due to the mention of the
"Tree of Life" in Genesis, that physical immortality would have been
attainable by sinless humans (before the fall) through God's provision ---
though not necessarily a "natural" part of their physical nature.
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"Halcyonity is relative." | Loren Haarsma
--Dad (_Calvin_and_Hobbes_) | lhaarsma@opal.tufts.edu