Matt 22:31-32

[timfost]

31 But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

Is Jesus speaking of the resurrection of the body, the immortality of the soul, or both? It seems to me that since the Sadducees denied any form of life after death, Christ is using "resurrection" to speak about life after death in general. This seems to be confirmed by verse 32, that God is the God of the living. However, if He is speaking particularly of the soul, why would He say "resurrection" since the soul is everlasting?

Thoughts?

 

[VictorBravo]

The Sadducees denied the resurrection, presenting what they thought was a conundrum. Jesus shot that down with the simple observation that God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob--present tense. And because he is the God of the living, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are necessarily alive, not dead.

But everyone knew they were buried. If they are alive, at some point they will have to come out of the ground to serve their God. Thus, the resurrection is plainly contained in the law and the prophets.

 

[Contra_Mundum]

Denial of the resurrection (seeing that it is explicitly taught in the the OT, Job.19:26; Dan.12:2) is fundamentally a denial of the goodness of creation; or at best a debasement of creation in preference for a mind-over-body dualism.

The Sadducees chopped the OT into the superior (Torah) and inferior, less inspired portions. Jesus corrected them out of the books (Moses) they acknowledged, by reasoning from the Scriptures. He IS the God of the patriarchs; and the patriarchs honored the body, and presumably they would appreciate enjoying one once more. They are not yet as blessed as they will be.

Biblical religion is not Platonic. It is not searching for escape from bodily prison. It denies the hierarchy of being. Sadduceeical interpretation was the "sophisticated" view of the intelligentsia, the religio-philosophical ones, the "brights" of first century Judaism.