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Resurrection garden story7/23/2023 ![]() Greek philosophers generally denied this traditional religious belief in physical immortality. As may be witnessed even into the Christian era, not least by the complaints of various philosophers over popular beliefs, traditional Greek believers maintained the conviction that certain individuals were resurrected from the dead and made physically immortal and that for the rest of us, we could only look forward to an existence as disembodied and dead souls. Indeed, in Greek religion, immortality originally always included an eternal union of body and soul. Many other figures, like a great part of those who fought in the Trojan and Theban wars, Menelaus, and the historical pugilist Cleomedes of Astupalaea, were also believed to have been made physically immortal, but without having died in the first place. Later he found not only to have been resurrected but to have gained immortality. According to Herodotus's Histories, the seventh century BC sage Aristeas of Proconnesus was first found dead, after which his body disappeared from a locked room. Alcmene, Castor, Heracles, and Melicertes, were also among the figures sometimes considered to have been resurrected to physical immortality. Memnon, who was killed by Achilles, seems to have received a similar fate. Achilles, after being killed, was snatched from his funeral pyre by his divine mother Thetis and resurrected, brought to an immortal existence in either Leuce, the Elysian plains or the Islands of the Blessed. Asclepius was killed by Zeus, only to be resurrected and transformed into a major deity. In ancient Greek religion a number of men and women became physically immortal as they were resurrected from the dead. Taking a more positive position, Tryggve Mettinger argues in his recent book that the category of rise and return to life is significant for Ugaritic Baal, Melqart, Adonis, Eshmun, Osiris and Dumuzi. Sir James Frazer in his book The Golden Bough relates to these dying and rising gods, but many of his examples, according to various scholars, distort the sources. A few extant Egyptian and Canaanite writings allude to dying and rising gods such as Osiris and Baal. The concept of resurrection is found in the writings of some ancient non-Abrahamic religions in the Middle East. Religion Ancient religions in the Near East Resurrection, from the Latin noun resurrectio -onis, from the verb rego, "to make straight, rule" + preposition sub, "under", altered to subrigo and contracted to surgo, surrexi, surrectum ("to rise", "get up", "stand up" ) + preposition re-, "again", thus literally "a straightening from under again". Īside from religious belief, cryonics and other speculative resurrection technologies are practiced, but the resurrection of long-dead bodies is not considered possible at the current level of scientific knowledge. In Hinduism, the core belief in resurrection/reincarnation is known as saṃsāra. There are stories in Buddhism where the power of resurrection was allegedly demonstrated in Chan or Zen tradition. Like the Abrahamic religions, the Dharmic religions also include belief in resurrection and reincarnation. While most Christians believe Jesus' resurrection from the dead and ascension to heaven was in a material body, some believe it was spiritual. ![]() The death and resurrection of Jesus is a central focus of Christianity. Some believe the soul is the actual vehicle by which people are resurrected. As a religious concept, it is used in two distinct respects: a belief in the resurrection of individual souls that is current and ongoing ( Christian idealism, realized eschatology), or else a belief in a singular bodily resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The general resurrection of the dead is a standard eschatological belief in the Abrahamic religions. Ancient Greek religion generally emphasised immortality, but in the mythos a number of men and women were made physically immortal as they were resurrected from the dead. With the advent of written records, the earliest known recurrent theme of resurrection was in Egyptian and Canaanite religions, which had cults of dying-and-rising gods such as Osiris and Baal. Disappearance of a body is another similar, but distinct, belief in some religions. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which involves the same person or deity coming back to a body, rather than the different one. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. Plaque depicting saints rising from the dead
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