THE ERRORS OF THE DOCTRINE OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES: THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST

According to the doctrine of Jehovah’s Witnesses, after the body of Jesus Christ was placed in the tomb, it was destroyed by God, made to disappear into thin air, and another was created in its place, a spiritual body.

However, this has no confirmation with the word of God. First of all, it is this same corruptible body that rises again in order to become incorruptible, according to the words of the apostle: “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” (1 Corinthians 15:53-54) Referring to the death and resurrection of his body, Christ said to the Jews: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:19-22) He did not say “I will raise up another temple”, but “I will raise up this temple”, that is, this same body that you will put to death. The Damascene, quoted by Saint Thomas, affirms that “rising again belongs only to those who have fallen” (Summa Theologica III, q 54, a 1 co). Now, it was that body hanging on the cross that fell. Therefore, in order for Christ’s resurrection to be real, it was essential that the same body that fell on the cross should be resurrected, otherwise the resurrection would not have been real, but apparent. When Christ appeared among his disciples while they were indoors behind closed doors, they believed they had seen a ghost. But Christ told them to look at him and touch him (because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as the disciples saw of him), and he showed them the wounds in the hands, feet and side, and then the disciples rejoiced in seeing the Risen One (Luke 24:36-46; John 20:26,27). He also took food and ate it with his disciples (Luke 24:42-43), not out of need for food, but because he had the power to do so and to show them the nature of his body. Christ showed his disciples the reality of his resurrected body, equal in nature but different in glory. And as St. Thomas affirms quoting St. Bede: “Christ kept the wounds of passion not because he was unable to heal them, but to perpetually bear the triumph of his victory.” And he adds: “With those wounds he was able to confirm the hearts of his disciples in the faith of the resurrection.” (Summa Theologica III, q 54, a 4 co) Therefore Jesus Christ has risen with his own body, not another. The same, but with the resurrection he was glorified, transformed into a spiritual body, according to what the apostle says: “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.” (1 Corinthians 15:42-44) Spiritual body does not mean spirit, as does an angel or God himself. Spiritual body means that every act of the body is subjected to the will of the spirit, as St. Thomas Aquinas affirms (Summa Theologica III, q 54, a 1 ad 2). Still St. Thomas, quoting Severian, says: “The appearance of Christ has changed from becoming immortal to mortal, that is, acquiring the appearance of glory, not already losing the substance of one’s features.” And he adds, with reference to those disciples who did not immediately recognize the Risen One: “Nevertheless to those disciples of whom we speak he did not appear in his glorious aspect; but as it was in his power to make his own body visible or invisible, so it was in his being able to make one’s figure appear in a glorious or inglorious form, or in a semi-glorious form, or in any other way. And a small difference is enough for one to appear under a different figure.” (Summa Theologica III, q 54, a 1 ad 3) Therefore Jehovah’s witnesses are seriously mistaken when they affirm that Christ did not rise again with the same body that was put to death on the cross. The resurrection of Christ is a model of the resurrection of the just. But the apostle says that it will be this corruptible body that will be transformed (1Corinthians 15:51-54), not another. And so it was with the resurrection of Christ.