Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ETERNAL LIFE

A blessed life freed from death. The teaching of eternal life arose gradually in the Bible, but in the NT has a central place.

The ancient Hebrews, like many surrounding cultures, believed in a shadowy underworld, a land of the dead called Sheol where departed spirits go (Deut. 32:22; Amos 9:2; Prov. 9:18). Because of its gloomy nature, this was not considered a “life after death,” and the duration of any individual person in Sheol is uncertain. Contact with it was forbidden (1 Sam. 28).

The first traceable idea of eternal life comes in the postexilic period at the end of the OT. It is often attributed to Persian, Zoroastrian influence. Dan. 12:1-2 is the first certain biblical reference to eternal life. The faithful martyrs are promised a resurrection to eternal life, God’s vindication of their faithfulness. That the first certain mention of eternal life is connected with the resurrection of the body is important for the NT and later Christian teaching. This distinguishes the biblical teaching from Zoroastrian and other religions’ teaching, which have no place for resurrection. Almost alongside this view is the Wisdom of Solomon’s more Greek-influenced teaching of the immorality of the soul, with no mention of resurrection. This was the minority view in Second Temple Judaism, but serves to refute the facile argument that early Christians had to express their faith in Jesus’ eternal life only by proclaiming his resurrection.

Neither did all Second Temple period Jews believe in eternal life of any sort. The Sadducees did not believe it, as witnessed by Josephus (Ant. 18.11-22) and the NT (Mark 12:18-27; Acts 23:6-9). This Sadducean position reflects the older Hebrew teaching in the OT. Jesus and the early Christian Church were closer to the Pharisees on their views of eschatology, especially resurrection, judgment, and eternal life.

The center of NT belief in eternal life is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The NT interprets this in a variety of ways: a vindication of Jesus’ faithfulness (Mark 14:62), echoing Daniel; a fulfillment of OT prophecy (Luke 24:44-46); a new creation through a new Adam (Rom. 5:12-21); a heavenly exaltation (Phil. 2:9; Eph. 4:6-8). Most of these interpretations are compatible with each other; indeed, the NT has a remarkable uniformity in its teaching on the resurrection of Jesus.

Because in Jesus the resurrection of the dead has moved from the end of time (Daniel) into the present age, eternal life in Christ has broken into the present as well. This is especially prominent in John and Paul. Jesus teaches the presence of eternal life (John 5:24). Paradoxically, death is still a reality for the believer as it was for Jesus, so a future dimension of eternal life is focused on the resurrection (John 5:28-29). In Paul, the action of the Spirit at baptism brings the death of the old self and a preliminary entrance into eternal life (Gal. 2:20).

The early Christian teaching of eternal life was often developed in response to problems and misunderstandings in various churches. In 1 Thess. 4:13-18 Paul addresses believers who think that death will separate deceased believers from living believers at the coming of the Lord. Paul responds that God will “bring with him” those who have died in Christ, which already implies life with Christ immediately at death (cf. Phil. 1:23). In 1 Corinthians Paul corrects some believers who hold that eternal life can be obtained without resurrection. He answers that, apart from resurrection, both Jesus’ and the believers’ (which are essentially related), there can be no eternal life and the whole Christian faith collapses (1 Cor. 4:8; 15:12-19; cf. 2 Tim. 2:17-18). In the Gospel of John the shock to some at the death of Lazarus (ch. 11) and the death of the Beloved Disciple before the return of the Lord (ch. 21) lead to further clarification of teaching on eternal life. These passages show that the NT searches for a balance on eternal life between present and future — the believer has passed in Christ from death to eternal life, but this remains to be fully realized in God’s future, especially in the Resurrection and new creation at the eschaton.

The nature of eternal life is sketched only in its essential elements in the NT. The emphasis throughout is on a basic assurance of eternal life, not on a fanciful depiction of details. This accords with the notable restraint in the NT in treating the resurrection of Jesus, the center of eternal life, which is not described in any detail apart from the assertion of its actuality. (The four Gospels include resurrection appearance narratives, but no narrative of the Resurrection itself.) In the Synoptic Gospels Jesus teaches that eternal life is life with God in his kingdom, whether that kingdom is on earth or in heaven. Paul depicts it in terms of the fulfillment of the promise of living with Christ, especially sharing his resurrection. Even in the book of Revelation, the apocalyptic imagery of eternal life in heaven is used symbolically to encourage believers under deadly persecution to remain faithful and obtain the martyr’s crown of eternal life.

Bibliography. G. B. Caird, New Testament Theology, ed. L. D. Hurst (Oxford, 1994), 238-78; G. W. E. Nickelsburg, Resurrection, Immortality, and Eternal Life in Intertestamental Judaism. HTS 26 (Cambridge, Mass., 1972); K. Stendahl, ed., Immortality and Resurrection (New York, 1965).

Robert E. Van Voorst

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ETERNAL LIFE

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)