The Encyclopedia of World Religions

resurrection S 387

Stone, Campbell, and their associates met in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1832. They determined that they agreed on basic teachings and decided to unite. From that date the Christian Churches and the Disciples of Christ formed a “brotherhood.” Because their ultimate goal was to restore the original unity of the Christian church, the name restoration movement arose. Today many scholars within the tradition do not like this name. In ret rospect, it seems to reflect views about Christian unity that were unrealistic. Despite the hopes for unity, the development of the movement was largely characterized by divi sion. Very conservative churches accepted Camp bell’s dictum of speaking only when the Bible spoke and rejected the use of instruments in wor ship. They officially separated themselves from the other churches in 1906 as the Churches of Christ (Non-instrumental). These churches have since divided into smaller units over issues such as the use of a common cup in communion ( see E UCHA RIST ) and the holding of Sunday School. With the rise of the CHARISMATIC MOVEMENT Churches of Christ with a Pentecostal orientation arose from this tra dition ( see P ENTECOSTALISM ). They sometimes allow the use of music. Another split came in the 1930s. Some mem ber churches favored the so-called higher criti cism of the Bible and a more unified church struc ture. Others opposed that criticism and favored a looser church structure. The two groups split. Those who favored a looser structure call them selves Churches of Christ and Christian Churches. They tend to be found among rural churches in the Midwest. The others eventually constituted themselves as the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in 1968. Disciples tend to be found among urban, northern churches. They also tend to emphasize issues such as diversity and social justice. At the beginning of the 21st century, the Churches of Christ (Non-instrumental) had roughly 1,500,000 members in the United States, the Churches of Christ and Christian Churches about 1,072,000 members, and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) about 805,000 members.

resurrection The notion that the bodies of the dead will rise and regain life. This notion is found especially in C HRISTIANITY and I SLAM but also in J UDAISM . Of the three, only Christianity teaches that resurrection has already happened once in the person of J ESUS . The idea of resurrection does not figure prom inently in the Hebrew B IBLE (Old Testament). In fact, it appears only in the very late book of D AN IEL . It is anticipated in E ZEKIEL ’s VISION of dry bones coming together again (Ezekiel 37:1–14), but this vision foresees not a resurrection of the dead but a change in fortune for the nation of Israel. For the most part the Hebrew Bible envisions a dry, dreary existence for the dead in a place it calls “Sheol.” In the so-called intertestamental period (roughly 200–1 B . C . E .) the notion that the dead would be raised at the end of time seems to have become fairly common among Jews ( see 2 Macca bees 7.14, 12.43; 4 Ezra 2:23). It became so possibly under the influence of the Persians, who liberated the Jews from captivity in Babylon. From them it passed into Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Within Judaism the notion of resurrection appears, for example, in Maimonides’s famous summary of Jewish teaching known as the “Yig dal,” a poetic version of which is often used in SYNAGOGUE services. While affirming the resurrec tion of the dead, however, traditional Judaism has focused on sanctifying this life, not anticipating a future one. The Reform movement, influenced by the European intellectual movement known as the Enlightenment, has been reluctant to affirm that the dead will be raised. It prefers to speak instead of “eternal life,” a phrase that can be interpreted in various ways. The resurrection of the dead is much more important within Christianity and Islam. It figures in the notion of a final judgment that both reli gions share. In addition, Islam as well as Christian ity connects the resurrection of the dead with the return of Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 15, P AUL develops a particularly detailed scenario for the resurrec tion. He teaches that at the sound of the last trum pet, the dead, along with those still living, will assume a spiritual, imperishable body, in contrast