Ph. D. ABSTRACT
WHAT IS THE NATURE OF JESUS’ RESURRECTION BODY?
LOUIS A. PALIVOS
Given that Jesus Christ rose from the grave, what was the composition of His body? Did He rise in the same body of flesh and bones? Did He have a new body?
Paul writing to the Corinthians described Jesus’ resurrection body as soma pneumatikon (Gk. spiritual body)(σωμα πνευματικον) I Cor. 15:44.
Out of those scholars who accept Jesus’ resurrection, many accept the notion that Jesus’ resurrection body went through some type of transformation. Was this transformation physical, mental or spiritual? The nature ofJesus’ resurrection body shall be investigated Biblically, Apostolically, Creedally, Post-Apostolically, and Scientifically.
Some Biblical scholars describedJesus’ resurrection body as “immaterial,” “nonfleshly,” “invisible,” “super-historical,” “continuity of personality,” “not body,” “saving event,” “myth,” “ethereal, light and pure matter,” “angel-state,” “dematerialized,” “transformed,” “glorified,” “immortal,” “discontinued” or “heavenly.”
Some Biblical scholars describedJesus’ resurrection body as having “materiality,” “flesh and bones,” “visible and fleshy,” “transmuted,” “physical plus,” “reanimated,” “corporeal,” “renewed,” “imperishable,” “resuscitated” or “powerful.”
Apostolic Fathers described Jesus’ resurrection body as “pristine condition,” “spring-time,” “original elements,” “same flesh,” “same body,” “same essential nature,” “a literal and material body,” “form of species,” “celestial,” “ethereal” or“spiritual.”
Among those Biblical Scholars who accept the resurrection of Christ, a central issue is whetherJesus’ resurrection body was material in the sense of molecules and atoms. More importantly, what was the material substance of His spiritual body? Was it a body of mystery? Was it a body of glory?
Paul stated that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.” I Cor. 15:50. Paul seemed to imply that a believer’s body needs to go through some type of physical transformation to get into heaven. Jesus said to Thomas, “put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe!” Jn. 20:27. Jesus seemed to imply that His resurrection body had gone through some type oftransformation but retained physical substance. Are both of Jesus’ and Paul’s statements true?
How did Jesus appear inside the house to the eleven disciples when the doors were locked? (Jn. 20:26). How did Jesus disappear from the sight of the two disciples traveling to Emmaus? (Lk. 24:31). How did Jesus converse with Moses and Elijah? (Lk. 9:31).
According to the New Testament, Jesus’ resurrection body seemed to operate inside and outside of our three spatial and one time dimensions.
According to the Holy Bible, God, as well as other spiritual beings, exist inside our universe of four dimensions of space, time and outside of our universe. God is timeless and spaceless. God is capable of interacting in and out of our four dimensions or in other dimensions of space and time or no dimensions of space and time. In the Old Testament, God spoke to Moses from a burning bush that did not burn up. God appeared to the Israelites in a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night. God’s finger inscribed the Ten Commandments.
Does modern physics help shed light on the material substance ofJesus’ resurrection body? A small number of physicists, whose main work is in String Theory, may provide mathematical clues on how Jesus appeared and disappeared. These String Theorists postulated the existence of extra dimensions of space and one of time beyond the commonly accepted four of space and time. A claim can be made that a being operating in extra dimensions of space and time would be able to perform incredible feats in our height, width, depth and time universe.
String Theory has been called the Theory of Hyperspace or the Kaluza-Klein Theory or Superstring Theory or Supergravity Theory or Supersymmetry Theory or TOE, that is, the Theory of Everything.
String Theory maylive up to its reputation of elegance and provide fresh insights on the nature of Jesus’ resurrection body. String Theory postulated the existence of very small particles that vibrate and oscillate like dancing filaments. Each particle is not point like but a one dimensional loop. These particles are less like strings than they are like vibrating, rotating elastic bands. These particles called strings or branes are greatly stretched at extremely high temperatures and at lower temperatures are contracted like points at 10-33 cm across. Specifically, String Theory postulated that space and time are inseparable from the movement of strings. Space and time are built out of strings. Strings are either open or closed.
String Theory further postulated that after the Big Bang at 10-43 seconds, the universe went through a dimensional split of six curled-up dimensions of space and four dimensions that unraveled into our three space and one time dimensions. The compactification of the six curled-up dimensions are called Calabi-Yau shapes. Calabi-Yau shapes, puncture, tear and repair space. The Calabi-Yau shapes are 100 billion times smaller than a proton and come in thousands of shapes.
In our unraveled four dimensional universe, carbon life can exist, gravity creates stable orbits and electromagnetism allows stable electron orbits.
Though there are various String Theories, one type of String Theory, called M-Theory, postulated the existence of precisely eleven dimensions in our universe: ten of space and one of time. M-Theory seemed to subsume the other String Theories. M means mystery, mother, membrane or matrix, as in the proverb the three blind men and an elephant.
Based on String Theory, one may hypothesize that Jesus’ resurrection body was composed of strings; that it was capable of operating inside our four dimensions of space and time; that it was capable of operating in nine or ten dimensions of space and one of time; and that it was capable of operating outside of the dimensions of space and time. Lastly, one may hypothesize that since String Theory unifies all matter and the four known forces of nature: electromagnetism, gravity, weak nuclear and strong nuclear, that space, time, matter and energy interphase and are interrelated under proper conditions. Space can be compacted very small or expanded, time can be slowed or augmented, energy can become matter and matter energy. Therefore, Jesus’ resurrection body composed of strings could interphase with the four known forces of our universe.
Critics of String Theory argued that String Theory is not experimentally verifiable; that the equations are approximations; that the mathematics have not been invented yet; and that it’s too expensive to build an accelerator the size needed to prove the theory (the size of the universe). Critics ridiculed String Theorists as engaging in “theatrical physics,” “recreational mathematics” andavoiding physical solutions. Critics called String Theorist “ kookie fanatics.”
Naturally, one of the most kookie fanatics was Einstein himself.
In conclusion, String Theory may explain that Jesus’ resurrection body was composed of strings; that it was capable of inter phasing with the four known forces of our universe; and that it could transcend space and time dimensions.