I was curious as to which religion(s) it is that doesn't believe that Jesus was resurrected. I remember hearing about it but can't remember which one it was. So, off I went to research. Haven't found it yet but ran across the Jehovah's Witness page. I was wondering...why do they put CE after a date instead of BC or AD? Anyone know? Thanks!

-- jackiea (jackiea@hotmail.com), March 16, 2000

Answers

Hi, jackiea.

The simple answer to your first question is that all non-Christians (Jews, Moslems, Hindus, and many others) do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus. Were you actually asking if there are any so-called "Christian" denominations that deny the resurrection?

According to reliable Catholic apologists who have studied Mormonism --including converts to Catholicism from Mormonism -- the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints," despite its name is not a Christian ecclesial community, because it does not believe that there is just one, eternal, triune God. Nevertheless, they seem to profess a belief in the resurrection of Jesus. This is from their quasi-scripture, the Book of Mormon (and it is almost copied from the New Testament): "(Mosiah 16) And if Christ had not risen from the dead, or have broken the bands of death that the grave should have no victory, and that death should have no sting, there could have been no resurrection. But there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ."

You may have in mind the Jehovah's Witnesses, who seem to believe in an incomplete resurrection that does not include Jesus's body. This is from their site: "On the third day of Jesus' being in the grave, Jehovah raised him up out of death as a spirit creature, immortal. To establish belief in the resurrection, on different occasions Jesus materialized human bodies [for himself] and appeared to his disciples ..."

To give you an idea of how far people who interpret the Bible for themselves and who allow false ideas from other religions to compromise their thoughts, here is what I found at a (New Age?) site sponsored by the "Unity School of Christianity." [They claim to be "Christian," but outrightly deny the resurrection.] The following, sad to say, is a fruit of an ultra-protestant movement ...

----------------------
==} Who is God? Invisible impersonal power. "God" is interchangeable with "Principle," "Law," "Being," "Mind," "Spirit." God is in everything, much as the soul is in the body. No Trinity. The spirit is reality; matter is not.

==} Who is Jesus? Jesus was a man and not the Christ. Instead, he was a man who had "Christ Consciousness." "Christ" is a state of perfection in every person. Jesus had lived many times before and was in search of his own salvation. Jesus did not die as a sacrifice for anyone's sins. Jesus did not rise physically and will never return to earth in physical form. ...

==} Who is the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is the law of God in action, 'the executive power of both Father and Son." A "Definite" thought in the mind of man. ==} How to Be Saved? By recognizing that each person is as much a Son of God as Jesus is. There is no evil, no devil, no sin, no poverty, and no old age. A person is reincarnated until he learns these thruths and becomes "perfect." ==} What Happens After Death? Death is a result of wrong thinking. One moves to a different body (reincarnation) until enlightenment. No literal heaven or hell.

[END OF QUOTATION FROM UNITY SCHOOL.]

Now, jackiea, you asked about the abbreviation "C.E.", which is used by Jehovah's Witnesses and by many Jews. It stands for "of the Common Era." Thus, the current year is "2000 CE", the 2000th year of the era shared by Jews and Christians. And 3000 years ago, it was "1000 BCE," the 1000th year before the "common era." It is a fairly recent invention from someone who was worried about offending Jewish people and thus wanted to be "politically correct."

How could our traditional designations offend Jewish people? Well, "A.D." stands for "anno Domini", which is Latin for "in the year of the Lord" -- but Jews do not consider Jesus their Lord. And "B.C." stands for "before Christ" -- but Jews would not want pre-Christian years to be spoken of as being before Jesus, who is almost irrelevant to them (religiously speaking). And that is not all. Some Jews are not willing to speak of Jesus as "Christ," because the Greek "christos" (anointed one) is a New Testament translation of the Hebrew "Messiah" (anointed one). My opinion is that Christians should always use A.D. and B.C., because Jesus is indeed the Messiah/Christ, and all of human history revolves around His incarnation, life, death, and resurrection.

God bless you. John

-- J. F. Gecik (jgecik@desc.dla.mil), March 17, 2000.

Matthew, 16

"17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed [it] unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. "18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build MY church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against IT.

"19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. "

First of all the ROCK that Jesus is referring to in this passage is Peter's confession and not Peter himself. If you look at the greek word of ROCK in this text the word is "petras". The Greek word for Peter would have been "Petros".

Christ did give peter the keys to heaven and Peter opened the doors to heaven when he preached on the first gospel sermon on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) in which those who believed, repented and were baptized (Acts 2:38). Catholics have been misinterpreting this scripture for centuries to validate the occupancy of the Pope. The Pope is unscriptural to the word of God. The Catechism is a man made creed and is not in harmony with the Bible (God's Word). Peter was an elder (or pastor; or bishop) but the church should not have a pope lording over the church. The bible doesn't even recognize the Catholic Church. Its not the truth because its not part of God's word, the Bible. To find out about the truth of the Bible and the New Testament church go to

http://www.churchofchrist.org/coc.html#top

If the above site doesn't work go to the site below and then click on

"Who are the churches of Christ, and what do they believe in ?"

http://www.churchofchrist.org/

John chapter 17 speaks about Christ's disciples and the body of believers. The verses basically say that the believers should be one like the Apostles, Christ, and God are one. Denominationalism/Catholicism is unscriptural and is not supported by God's word. The bible speaks about "one body" (the church) in Ephesians 4. To wrap this up, I just want to say that the Catholic church was the first denomination from the New Testament Church. But the religous world needs to go back to the blueprint (the Word of God). This is the only source from God that the religous world can unite on. Whether its worship, the plan to salvation, communion, church organization, etc., we need to get back to the 1st century church. The church thats in the bible.

Biblically we should be Christians and Christians only. Not Catholics, Luthereans, Episcopalians, Methodists, Baptists, Pentecostal, Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, AME, Presbyterians, COGICs, etc.

Believe "and be baptized": Matthew 16:15-16

Repent "and be baptized": Acts 2:38

Confess "and be baptized" Acts 8:26-39

Be Baptized: 1 Peter 3:19-21; Romans 6:3-5; St. John 3:5; Acts 22:16

Baptism is essential to salvation. Not infant baptism. A baby can't believe and can't repent nor confess Christ. Does the Catholic church believe in this? Of course not. Lets be honest with ourselves and true to God's word the Bible. Thanks.

One Lord, ONE FAITH, and One baptism (Ephesian 4:4-5)

I pray that all Catholics submit to the word of God and the word of God only. Then and only then will you be a Christian and a Christian ONLY!!!!!!!!!

With Love,

Derrick

-- Derrick Macon (derrickmacon@hotmail.com), August 04, 2000.

Jmj

Hello, Derrick.
I used to work with a fellow who belonged to your Protestant denomination, the Church of Christ. He said very many of the things that you wrote here. I tried to help him see how our beliefs were alike in so many ways and why he was mistaken when our beliefs were not the same.

I am sure that I and other Catholics here would also like to respond to you, but first I would like to know if you will be coming back here to read our words -- or if you just stopped in on a one-time basis for some quick proselytizing? If you do come back and assure us that you will take part in conversations, could you please mention whether or not you believe that you could be wrong (fallible)?

Waiting to hear from you and praying for you too,
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jgecik@desc.dla.mil), August 05, 2000.