Jesus, the anti-zombie
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Jesus, the anti-zombie
"Taking another look at faith" by Matthew Rigby
https://www.castanet.net/news/Something ... surrection
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Matthew Rigby begins his April 19/22 column quoting his youngest child: "So Jesus is kind of like a zombie?”
Clay Morgan is the author of the book Undead: Revived, Resuscitated, Reborn (Abingdon Press, 2012). Morgan asks: "Could our cultural fascination with the undead have something to do with deeper, spiritual longings and a nagging sense of eternity baked into our DNA?"
Morgan continues: "Many of us move through life just like those fictitious monsters. We shamble around all lifeless like zombies or make like vampires and suck the life out of those around us. Fortunately, we don’t have to stay that way."
Both the Old and New Testaments record stories of people who were resurrected. In the New Testament, Jesus performed three of these miracles and became the fourth; Peter and Paul were also used by God to bring someone back from the dead.
Then there is this remarkable passage from Matthew 27: "And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus' resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people." (verses 50-53)
In an interview, Morgan said: "Of course, these individuals weren't zombies in the Hollywood sense. Like Lazarus, those folks were restored to full life."
Morgan: "Zombies are the complete opposite to Jesus. They come back from the dead to take lives. Jesus came back from the dead to give life to all. Zombies are damaged, decaying, and terrifying. Jesus came back resurrected in perfection, a beautiful sight to all who believe. Zombies transform people from life to death. Jesus offers transformation from death to life. That's why I call him the anti-zombie."
Dr. Paul L. Maier is the former Russell H. Seibert Professor of Ancient History (Western Michigan University), retired in 2011. In an online article, Maier wrote: "Bethany, where he [Jesus] raised Lazarus from the dead, according to John II, is still called 'Betanya' by Israelis. But to the majority Arab population of that Jerusalem suburb, the name of the town is El-Lazariyeh, 'the place of Lazarus.' That name change was known as far back as Eusebius (church historian, A.D. ca 260-339), and exactly what one would expect if indeed Bethany had witnessed so great a miracle as the dead being raised."
https://www.castanet.net/news/Something ... surrection
===
Matthew Rigby begins his April 19/22 column quoting his youngest child: "So Jesus is kind of like a zombie?”
Clay Morgan is the author of the book Undead: Revived, Resuscitated, Reborn (Abingdon Press, 2012). Morgan asks: "Could our cultural fascination with the undead have something to do with deeper, spiritual longings and a nagging sense of eternity baked into our DNA?"
Morgan continues: "Many of us move through life just like those fictitious monsters. We shamble around all lifeless like zombies or make like vampires and suck the life out of those around us. Fortunately, we don’t have to stay that way."
Both the Old and New Testaments record stories of people who were resurrected. In the New Testament, Jesus performed three of these miracles and became the fourth; Peter and Paul were also used by God to bring someone back from the dead.
Then there is this remarkable passage from Matthew 27: "And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus' resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people." (verses 50-53)
In an interview, Morgan said: "Of course, these individuals weren't zombies in the Hollywood sense. Like Lazarus, those folks were restored to full life."
Morgan: "Zombies are the complete opposite to Jesus. They come back from the dead to take lives. Jesus came back from the dead to give life to all. Zombies are damaged, decaying, and terrifying. Jesus came back resurrected in perfection, a beautiful sight to all who believe. Zombies transform people from life to death. Jesus offers transformation from death to life. That's why I call him the anti-zombie."
Dr. Paul L. Maier is the former Russell H. Seibert Professor of Ancient History (Western Michigan University), retired in 2011. In an online article, Maier wrote: "Bethany, where he [Jesus] raised Lazarus from the dead, according to John II, is still called 'Betanya' by Israelis. But to the majority Arab population of that Jerusalem suburb, the name of the town is El-Lazariyeh, 'the place of Lazarus.' That name change was known as far back as Eusebius (church historian, A.D. ca 260-339), and exactly what one would expect if indeed Bethany had witnessed so great a miracle as the dead being raised."