The resurrection of the dead is the great hope of the Christian faith; that this life of trials is not the end, but that God has a greater plan laid out for us. The idea of a spiritual life in heaven is not one that is found in the Old Testament, and is not an expectation that many first century Jews are likely to have held. Instead, a large number of Jews believed in the ?resurrection of the dead?. This idea is intimately linked with the fervently expected coming of the Kingdom of God on Earth. In first-century Jewish expectation, when the LORD restored the Kingdom to Israel and finally ended the Jewish people?s long exile, the righteous dead would be physically brought back from death to share the Kingdom with the living.
The Living in turn would be endowed with a ?resurrection body?, an incorruptible spiritual presence that would descend from heaven and endow the Saints with immortality. This was viewed as immortality here on Earth, and not a disembodied existence in another dimension.
It is what the apostle Paul referred to in 1 Corinthians 15:54. What he referred to was the perishable being clothed by the imperishable and the mortal being clothed by immortality. This means that the written saying ?Death has been swallowed up with victory? holds truth.
The Rapture: Did it happen?
The Rapture is a commonly held hope in many American Churches but is a surprisingly recent doctrine. Only in the past two centuries have evangelical Christians placed much emphasis on it. Could it have taken place in A.D. 70? Potentially! As the resurrection body is invisible, it is possible that all first century Christians were swept into the cloud of glory at the time of Jesus? appearance in the sky above Jerusalem in A.D. 70. However, this is different to the idea of resurrection.
The evidence from Near-Death-Experiences (NDEs)
Preterism asserts that Biblical prophecy and the Resurrection has already taken place. This is testified by evidence from NDEs, whereby Christians experience heaven directly at the point of death. According to scripture, if the resurrection had not taken place then this should not be happening. Instead, both the righteous and wicked were said to be in a state of sleep in Sheol awaiting the final judgment and vindication of the righteous.
