SHORT CHRISTIAN READINGS SELECTED FOR FORMER JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES
Jehovah's Witnesses and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
By Walter R. Martin
(edited)
Jehovah's Witnesses and their official organization, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, have historically denied the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, and have maintained that His was a "spirit" or "spiritual" resurrection to quote the Watchtower.
"The King, Christ Jesus, was put to death in the flesh and was resurrected an invisible spirit creature." [1]
Further developing their teaching, the Witnesses proclaim: "In His resurrection He was no more human. He was raised as a spirit creature." [2]
In addition to this, the Watchtower has even suggested that Christ's body was "dissolved into gases" or "preserved somewhere as the grand memorial of God's love." [3]
In order to understand the true teaching of the resurrection, it is necessary to review briefly the Biblical position, which is at considerable odds with the Watchtower.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is quite literally the historical bedrock upon which the Christian faith rests. The Apostle Paul indeed tells us that "if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching in vain, and your faith is also vain" (1 Corinthians 15:14). He also declares, "If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins" (verse 17).
From these two statements in the Word of God, we can see the resurrection of our Lord determines the validity of our faith and even our salvation, for without His resurrection our faith is "vain" and we are "yet in our sins."
In this connection, it must also be remembered that every verse in the Bible which deals with the resurrection of the dead, and the Lord particularly, refers exclusively to the human body; i.e., a bodily resuscitation; never a spirit or spiritual resurrection. In fact, the word "resurrection" is never applied to the soul or spirit of man. This fact is born out in the original Hebrew and Greek. Beyond this, our Lord specifically prophesied that His resurrection would be bodily; that is, in a glorified form of the body that He then possessed. When speaking to the unbelieving Jews, as recorded in the second chapter of John's Gospel, Christ stated "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (verse 19).
The Jews, however, thought he was referring to the temple in Jerusalem, but the Apostle John clearly declares our Lord's meaning: "But he spake of the temple of his body" (verse 21).
The Greek word "soma" is translated "body" throughout the New Testament, so it is an inescapable fact that Christ was referring to his own physical form -- hence a bodily resurrection.
Two classic New Testament references which corroborate our Lord's prophecy of His bodily resurrection are in the 20th chapter of John and 24th chapter of Luke. In John 20 when our Lord appeared to the doubting Thomas, the same body in which He died upon the cross is evidenced by His own words:
"Reach hither thy finger, and behold by hands, and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing" (verse 27).
In Luke 24, we again see how the words of Christ refute the spirit resurrection idea of Jehovah's Witnesses.
"And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrightened, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your heart? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them" (verses 36-43).
Not only, then, did our Lord have "flesh and bones," but he showed them the same hands and feet which bore the wounds of Calvary (verses 39, 40). The fact that He also ate broiled fish and a honeycomb (verse 42 and 43) proves that He was not a "spirit creature" as Jehovah's Witnesses contend. Moreover our Lord's words, "It is I myself ... a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have" (verse 39) was uttered according to verse 37 and 38 because the disciples thought He was a spirit. Jesus, however absolutely disproved that by offering His body as tangible evidence (verse 39, 40).
Sometimes, Jehovah's Witnesses attempt to explain away these appearances of Christ by asserting that He had a "spiritual body" (1 Corinthians 15:44), or that He merely assumed different bodies to encourage His disciples, which the Jehovah's Witnesses say accounts for the fact that those who knew Him the best in life did not recognize Him after His resurrection (John 20:11-16; Luke 24:15-30).
The Jehovah's Witnesses also argue that 1 Peter 3:18, which refers to Christ's resurrection and states that He was "made alive in spirit" (literal Greek), establishes their theory, but they are in error.
While it is true that Paul speaks of "a spiritual body" he nevertheless calls it a "body" (Greek "soma") and we have already seen how Christ possessed "flesh and bones" (Luke 24:39). A spiritual body then is not "a spirit" as the Jehovah's Witnesses make out, but a glorified, immortal, physical form possessing certain spiritual characteristics or attributes (i.e., the ability to pass through locked doors or vanish at will. John 20:19, 26; Luke 24:31)
Again, the Jehovah's Witnesses' idea that because Mary Magdalene and the disciples could not recognize Christ on three occasions "proves" that He had assumed "different bodies" other than the one in which He died upon the cross, is disposed of by Luke 24:16. Luke there tells us that when the disciples encountered Jesus, their eyes were kept from recognizing Him as a direct act of Christ's will. When He finished His conversation, He allowed their sense of vision to perceive who He really was; thus "their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight" (verse 31).
Finally, 1 Peter 3:18, far from "proving" that Jesus was raised a spirit as the Witnesses insist, only proves that He was raised in or by the Spirit of God as the Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 8:11. The main objections, then, that Jehovah's Witnesses raise against the bodily resurrection of our Lord are all thoroughly answered by the Scriptures themselves and represent no real threat to historic Christian doctrine of the resurrection.
The Bible, therefore, does have much to say about the resurrection of Christ as we have seen, and nowhere supports the spirit-resurrection theory of Jehovah's Witnesses. In fact, all of it contradicts their teaching.
To the sincere, zealous, yet misled members of Jehovah's Witnesses, the Christian church must repeat the statement of our Lord Himself: "Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have" (Luke 24:38, 39).
The true teaching concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ does indeed determine a person's eternal destiny (1 Corinthians 15:14, 17). For "If you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from among the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9, Literal Greek).
FOOTNOTES:
1. Let God Be True, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, p. 122, Edition 1946.
2. The Kingdom is at Hand, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, p. 258.
3. Studies in the Scripture, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, p. 129, Vol 2.
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The Resuurection of Jesus
"Jesus answered and said unto them, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.' ... But he spake of the temple of his BODY." -- John 2:19,21.
"Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not FLESH and BONES, as ye see me have." -- Luke 24:39.
"Then saith him to Thomas, 'reach hither thy finger, and behold my HANDS; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into MY SIDE'" -- John 20:27.
As Bible-based Christians, we maintain that the body of Jesus was RESURRECTED (i.e., raised back to life). The Bible teaches that "the body without spirit is dead." (James 2:26). Conversely, the body WITH spirit is alive. The Bible's statements about the resurrection of Jesus simply mean that the body of Jesus was reanimated. In other words, Jesus' BODY came back to life (only with supernatural power and glory, such that it can never decay or die again).
That's the whole point of the empty tomb. The corpse, the cadaver, is gone because Jesus got up and walked out of the tomb!
The Watchtower Society teaches that at his resurrection, Jesus' body was destroyed (dissolved/disintegrated/etc.) -- not raised intact. Any appearances of Jesus in the New Testament are when Jesus ASSUMED (i.e., took on) a body, but the body in which Jesus appeared bore no real connection with the body which was slain. For the average JW, the reason Jesus assumed a body was to accommodate the weak faith and unbelief of the disciples.
We believe that IF God the Father had dissolved the fleshly body of Jesus, and transformed him into a spirit being, Jesus COULD have assumed fleshly bodies, just as angels do. This is possible. But instead, the Bible teaches that God the Father raised the fleshly body back alive -- the same body, only this time imbued with immortality. That's the point of John 2:19-21. "Break down this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. ... But he was talking about the temple of his body."
Take some time to read Acts 2:24-32, 13:30-37, and 26:8. The emphasis is on the fact that Jesus did not remain dead, his corpse did not decay, "nor did his flesh see corruption."
What about going through walls (John 20:26)? Why couldn't they recognize Jesus normally (Luke 24:15-31, John 20:14)? Are those characteristics of a fleshly body, asks the Watchtower Society?
(a) The resurrection body of Christ and the resurrection body which God's faithful people will receive on the Last Day is a "spiritual body" (1 Cor. 15:44). It is with a BODY, not as a SPIRIT. There is the glory of God and the power of the Spirit of God infused in the resurrection body, and this is one reason why the resurrected Jesus could do supernatural things which mortal, unpowerful bodies cannot.
(b) Mortal bodies which are subject to pain and death are capable of doing a lot more than you would think. The mortal body of Jesus could walk on water (Matt. 14:25), and could walk straight "through the midst" of an angry crowd without being seen (Luke 4:30, John 10:31). All these miracles are done through the power of God's Holy Spirit, working with mortal humans. If the Spirit of God could enable a mortal Jesus to enter a room with the doors shut (and to do other miracles), there is no reason to say that the Lord Jesus, with a glorified, immortal, tangible body could not also be transported into a closed room.
(c) The objection about not recognizing Jesus is answered by simply reading the text. Luke 24:16 says "their eyes were kept [or held] from recognizing him." It doesn't say Jesus' face was altered, or the body he "assumed" looked different. It simply says their eyes were KEPT from recognizing him.
The passage in John 20:11-16 also does not attribute Mary's inability to recognize Jesus to any changes in his face. Since nothing indicates a physical alteration in Jesus' features, we may assume that the reason indicated in Luke 24:16 (the power of God) was behind Mary's temporary lack of perception in this instance, also.
At John 20:24, we find Thomas' statement, "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails and stick my finger into the print of the nails and stick my hand into his side, I will certainly not believe." When Jesus showed himself to Thomas, alive instead of dead, he told him, "Put your finger here, and see my hands, and take your hand and stick it into my side, and stop being unbelieving but become believing (John 20:27).
If "Pastor" Russell's teaching is correct, then Jesus' body really dissolved, and those holes in his hands and side which he exhibited to Thomas were not ACTUALLY created by the nails and spear. However, Jesus was leading Thomas to THINK they were. In essence, Jesus is deceiving Thomas about the origin of those wounds. This conclusion is inescapable if the Watchtower is right.
However, if Jesus was not deceiving Thomas about the origin of the wounds, then those wounds in his body were created by the spear and nails. As biblically-based Christians, we acknowledge that the body of Jesus was transformed as it was raised back to life, and infused with spiritual power and glory, and that his resurrected body had genuine continuity with the body which suffered death on the cross.
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THE BODILY RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST
Author Unknown
(edited)
The Bible says in: John 2:19-21 "Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body."
Jesus foretold His "bodily" resurrection. The Greek word "soma" means a literal, physical body. He is clearly talking about a body that the Jews would destroy or kill and they did this by crucifixion.
Notice Christ's words in verse 19: "Destroy THIS temple, and in three days I will raise IT up." We know that Jesus was not referring to the temple building in Jerusalem, so when He said, "Destroy this temple...," what other temple could He have meant? Obviously, He was referring to the fleshly, physical body He possessed at that time.
It therefore follows that when Jesus went on to say, "and in three days I will raise IT up," the "it" refers to the same body as "this body."
Also, Christ said to the Jews, "...in three days "I" will raise it up." This presupposes that He would be conscious while His body lay in the tomb. Otherwise, how would He have known when the three days had elapsed?
There are times that a Jehovah's Witness will respond with the idea that Jesus was referring to his "symbolic" body, namely the "Church." However, the "Church" didn't even come into existence until the Day of Pentecost!
Luke 24:37-39 -- Jesus said He was NOT a spirit: "But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And He said to them, "Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have."
Matthew 14:26 -- "And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear."
Jesus was walking on the water and his disciples mistook Him for a spirit. Did Christ materialize a different body on THIS occasion? This incident took place BEFORE the crucifixion.
Colossians 2:9 -- "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;"
Again, the Greek word for "bodily" (soma) refers to a literal, physical body.
I Timothy 2:5 -- "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,"
Isn't a man someone who has a body?
Acts 17:30, 31 -- "because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead."
If "the man Jesus is dead, forever dead," as quoted in Studies in the Scriptures, Vol. 5, p.454 then who is the "man" mentioned in this verse and in I Timothy 2:5?
Compare Psalm 16:9, 10 -- "Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption."
with
Acts 2:25-31 -- "My flesh shall rest in hope ... and not see corruption."
In hope of what? Christ's fleshly body could not be destroyed. There would be no hope if his body was to be "dissolved into gases," as the Society believe, because isn't this a form of corruption?
-- WT 11-15-91 p.31 says "God disposed of Jesus' body."
-- WT 9-1-53 p.518 Tells how God did this.
Acts 13:29-33 -- "Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. But God raised Him from the dead. He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people. And we declare to you glad tidings -- that promise which was made to the fathers. God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus."
The word "Him" in all cases refers to the BODY. Compare this with: Romans 10:9 "they took Him down from the tree, and laid Him in a tomb, but God raised Him from the dead."
All the above words "HIM" refer to the BODY! What then was the real meaning of the empty tomb - "disposal" of the body - or the "resurrection" of the body?
Romans 8:11 -- "But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you."
The word "also" presupposes that Christ has had His mortal body quickened (made alive) like our bodies will be. "Also" means "in the same way; in like manner." Are the Jehovah's Witnesses to be resurrected as "spirit creatures" too? The WatchTower Society says that the word "body" means "the Church," but Paul says OUR body (personal possession). The Bible never speaks of the body of the Church as being the body of the saints; the Church is always called "Christ's body." Neither is the Church ever spoken of as "our vile body." Therefore, it is our vile PHYSICAL bodies that shall be fashioned like His glorious body.
To show that His resurrection body would be "around" even in the Kingdom of God, Jesus said in:
Luke 22:15-18; 29-30: "And He said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God."
"And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel."
If Jesus had anticipated being an immaterial spirit, He would not have built their hopes up of His eating and drinking with them in the Kingdom.
The WatchTower Society says in their publication "Make Sure of All Things", 1965, p.466 "The human spirit does not produce intelligence apart from the physical body." (Psalm 146:4)
The WatchTower Society misapplies this text to mean at death the human spirit has no intelligence. Then this can only mean that if Christ was raised as a mere spirit, then He has no intelligence!
Continuity between the body sown and the body raised
In I Corinthians ch.15, Paul compare the pre-resurrection and the post-resurrection states to a seed that is sown and the plant that comes from it, which is in material continuity with it. This analogy strongly suggests a physical identity between the pre-resurrection and post-resurrection body. The body that is resurrected is the same body that is sown. When we sow a seed, we don't get an invisible plant!
The Four Gospels go into great lengths to say that the body of Jesus was not in the tomb. If Jesus didn't need His body, then why couldn't His body have been left in the tomb? What happened to His body? If Jesus went out of existence for 3 days, then what was created was something brand new that never existed before. This is not the doctrine of the Biblical resurrection; which is to bring back into existence something that once existed. The spirit of Jesus left the body and three days later re-entered the body.
Example: Luke 8:55 - the little girl's spirit returned to her dead body.
If the disciples did not believe in the resurrection of the body, why would they run to the tomb to investigate reports of Jesus' resurrection? Why would a physical body be proof of a predicted "spiritual" resurrection? And if the Jews believed in a spiritual resurrection, why would they want a guard placed at the tomb?
"Let God Be True", 1952, pp. 273,274 says that some people after Jesus' death tried to "thwart the Son of God's coming forth from the grave."
Q #1: When Christ rose from the grave, did the body rise? The soul? The spirit? If none, then what DID rise? To the Jehovah's Witnesses, the extinction of the spirit is also the extinction of the soul, leaving only the body. The Watchtower Society is left with no continuity between the person who died on Calvary and the "person" who rose 3 days later. The risen Jesus is but a clone; a facsimile; a duplicate, but NOT the original. This is RE-CREATION - not resurrection!
Q #2: Is there a part of us that isn't body, soul or spirit?
Q #3: If nothing came from the grave, then what were "some people trying to "thwart?"
"Let God Be True", p.273 also says that the resurrection is "no illusion or imagined thing."
In other words, this book means to say that the resurrection actually happened; no one just imagined it. Yet, the Jehovah's Witnesses admit that it didn't take place at all - which would make it an illusion!
"Let God Be True", p. 274 also says that Satan and his demons tried to obscure the true meaning of the resurrection by teaching that the resurrection was only in a spiritual sense.
Yet, the Jehovah's Witnesses teach that the resurrection did not really take place. It was a spiritual resurrection. This is double-talk
THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS AND THE BODILY RESURRECTION OF CHRIST
Clear and convincing statements from the earliest days of the Christian Church:
"I commend the Churches, in which I pray for a union both of the flesh and spirit of Jesus Christ, ..." -- Ignatius, Epistle to the Magnesians, ch. 1 (long version).
To show that His resurrection body would be "around" even in the Kingdom of God, Jesus said:
"... and by those under the earth, [I mean] the multitude that arose along with the Lord. For says the Scripture, "Many bodies of the saints that slept arose," (Matt. 27:52) their graves being opened. He descended, indeed, into Hades alone, but He arose accompanied by a multitude; ..." -- Ignatius, Epistle to the Trallians, ch. 9 (long version).
"But if, as some that are without God, that is, the unbelieving, say, He became man in appearance [only], that He did not in reality take unto Him a body, ..." -- Ignatius, Epistle to the Trallians, ch. 10 (long version).
"I desire the bread of God, the heavenly bread, the bread of life, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ," -- Ignatius, Epistle to the Romans, ch.7 (long version).
"But your prayer to God shall make me perfect, that I may attain that to which I have been called, while I flee to the Gospel as to the flesh of Jesus Christ, ..." -- Ignatius, Epistle to the Philadelphians, ch. 5 (long version).
"Him who said, "The Word was made flesh;" and again, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up;" and once more, "If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto Me." The Word therefore did dwell in flesh, for "Wisdom built herself an house." The Word raised up again His own temple on the third day, when it had been destroyed by the Jews fighting against Christ." -- Ignatius, Epistle to the Smyrnaeans, ch. 2 (long version).
CHAPTER III. -- CHRIST WAS POSSESSED OF A BODY AFTER HIS RESURRECTION
"And I know that He was possesed of a body not only in His being born and crucified, but I also know that He was so after His resurrection, and believe that He is so now." -- Ignatius, Epistle to the Smyrnaeans, ch. 3 (long version).
"And this was He, with the flesh, received up in their sight unto Him that sent Him, being with that same flesh to come again, accompanied by glory and power. For, say the [holy] oracles, "This same Jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come, in like manner as ye have seen Him go unto heaven. But if they say that He will come at the end of the world without a body, how shall those "see Him that pierced Him," and when they recognise Him, "mourn for themselves?" For incorporeal beings have neither form nor figure," -- Ignatius, Epistle to the Smynaeans, ch. 3 (long version).
"... in the name of Christ Jesus, and in His flesh and blood, in His passion and resurrection, both corporeal and spiritual, in union with God and you." -- Ignatius, Epistle to the Smyrnaeans, ch. 12 (long form).
"I commend the Churches, in which I pray for a union both of the flesh and spirit of Jesus Christ, ..." -- Ignatius, Epistle to the Magnesians, ch. 1 (short version).
"But your prayer to God shall make me perfect, that I may attain to that portion which through mercy has been allotted me, while I flee to the Gospel as to the flesh of Jesus, ..." -- Ignatius, Epistle to the Philadelphians, ch. 5 (short version).
CHAPTER II. -- CHRIST'S TRUE PASSION
"Now, He suffered all these things for us; and He suffered them really, and not in appearance only, even as also He truly rose again. But not, as some of the unbelievers, who are ashamed of the formation of man, and the cross, and death itself, affirm, that in appearance only, and not in truth, He took a body of the Virgin, and suffered only in appearance, forgetting, as they do, Him who said, "The Word was made flesh;" and again, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up;" and once more, "If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto Me." The Word therefore did dwell in flesh, for "Wisdom built herself an house." The Word raised up again His own temple on the third day, when it had been destroyed by the Jews fighting against Christ." -- Ignatius, Epistle to the Smyrnaeans, ch. 2 (short version).
CHAPTER III. -- CHRIST WAS POSSESSED OF A BODY AFTER HIS RESURRECTION
"And I know that He was possessed of a body not only in His being born and crucified, but I also know that He was so after His resurrection, and believe that He is so now." -- Ignatius, Epistle to the Smyrnaeans, ch. 3 (short version).
"And thus was He, with the flesh, received up in their sight unto Him that sent Him, being with that same flesh to come again, accompanied by glory and power. For, say the [holy] oracles, "This same Jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come, in like manner as ye have seen Him go unto heaven." But if they say that He will come at the end of the world without a body, how shall those "see Him that pierced Him," and when they recognise Him, "mourn for themselves?" For incorporeal beings have neither form nor figure, ..." -- Ignatius, Epistle to the Smyrnaeans, ch. 3 (short version).
"... in the name of Christ Jesus, and in His flesh and blood, in His passion and resurrection, both corporeal and spiritual, in union with God and you." -- Ignatius, Epistle to the Smyrnaeans, ch. 12 (short version).
CHAPTER II. -- OBJECTIONS TO THE RESURRECTION OF THE FLESH
"And there are some who maintain that even Jesus Himself appeared only as spiritual, and not in flesh, but presented merely the appearance of flesh: these persons seek to rob the flesh of the promise." -- Justin Martyr, On the Resurrection, ch. 2.
CHAPTER IX. -- THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST PROVES THAT THE BODY RISES
"Why did He rise in the flesh in which He suffered, unless to show the resurrection of the flesh? And wishing to confirm this, when His disciples did not know whether to believe He had truly risen in the body, and were looking upon Him and doubting, He said to them, "Ye have not yet faith, see that it is I;" and He let them handle Him, and showed them the prints of the nails in His hands. And when they were by every kind of proof persuaded that it was Himself, and in the body, they asked Him to eat with them, that they might thus still more accurately ascertain that He had in verity risen bodily; and He did eat honey-comb and fish. And when He had thus shown them that there is truly a resurrection of the flesh, wishing to show them this also, that it is not impossible for flesh to ascend into heaven (as He had said that our dwelling-place is in heaven), "He was taken up into heaven while they beheld," as He was in the flesh." -- Justin Martyr, On the Resurrection, ch. 9.
"Therefore God, winking at the times of ignorance, does now command all men everywhere to turn to Him with repentance; because He hath appointed a day, on which the world shall be judged in righteousness by the man Jesus; ..." -- Irenaus, Against Heresies, Book III, ch. 12, section 9.
" [The Son of man would] descend to those things which are of the earth beneath, seeking the sheep which had perished, which was indeed His own peculiar handiwork, and ascend to the height above, offering and commending to His Father that human nature (hominem) which had been found, making in His own person the first-fruits of the resurrection of man; ..." -- Irenaus, Against Heresies, Book III, ch. 19, section 3.
"... even as the blessed Paul declares in his Epistle to the Ephesians, that "we are members of His (Christ) body, of His flesh, and of His bones." He does not speak these words of some spiritual and invisible man, for a spirit has not bones nor flesh; ..." -- Irenaus, Against Heresies, Book V, ch. 2, section 3.
"Christ did rise in the substance of flesh, and pointed out to His disciples the mark of the nails and the opening in His side (now these are the tokens of that flesh which rose from the dead), ..." -- Irenaus, Against Heresies, Book V, ch. 7, section 1.
"... the Lord observed the law of the dead, that He might become the first-begotten from the dead, and tarried until the third day "in the lower parts of the earth;" then afterwards rising in the flesh,...For as the Lord "went away in the midst of the shadow of death," where the souls of the dead were, yet afterwards arose in the body, ... it is manifest that the souls of His disciples also, shall go away into the invisible place allotted to them by God, and there remain until the resurrection, awaiting that event; then receiving their bodies, and rising in their entirety, that is bodily, just as the Lord arose," -- Irenaus, Against Heresies, Book V, ch. 31, section 2.
"... when the holy soul of Christ descended [to Hades], many souls ascended and were seen in their bodies...when the Word of God became one with flesh, by a physical and hypostatic union, the heavy and terrestrial [part], (the body) having been rendered immortal, was borne up into heaven, by the divine nature, after the resurrection." -- Irenaus, Fragments XXVIII.