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Do you have to believe in the Resurrection?

My husband says he is a Christian, but he does not believe in the Resurrection.

Nor does he believe in the virgin birth.

He does believe that Jesus is the Son of God, in Heaven sitting at the right hand of God.

He is a good person, and highly educated.

He was also raised in a home with strong, educated Christian parents.

I do not know where his lack of faith stems, but I find it very disturbing.

21 Answers

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  • 8 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    You cannot be a Christian without believing in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

    That is what the Bible states. Please get your husband to read Romans 1:1-6. Then Acts 2:24-32.

    His lack of belief in the resurrection of Christ probably stems from his lack of belief in the virgin birth. Clearly, he must suppose that Jesus was just a man, born sexually. Yet the Bible states that prior to becoming the baby in Mary's womb, he was the eternal and uncreated Word of God, who IS God, who created everything. Can you get your husband to read John 1:1-14?

    You have reason to be disturbed. He has reason to start reading the Bible to discover what it means to be a Christian.

  • Judah
    Lv 4
    8 years ago

    The Sadducees didn't believe in a Resurrection hence their nickname the Sad-u-sees (Acts 23:8).

    The virgin birth as well is an orthodox Bible-believing Christian doctrine.

    Jesus said I am the resurrection and the life. John 11:25

  • His education and logic are warring with his belief systems. My wife is similar. i think she WANTS to believe, but is too intelligent to believe in the magic parts of the story. She understands that Adam and Eve is myth, that evolution is real, that the universe is billions of years old. I don't think that she actually believes in the resurrection.

    I attended her church last Easter, and her minister, in a somewhat long rambling sermon, actually said at one point "the resurrection doesn't really mean that Jesus died and came back to life". (You could have heard a pin drop). Her view was that the resurrection refers to the resurrection of faith, a renewal, like the renewal of life in the spring. She seems to be working through some concepts, can't wait to see what comes up with next Easter!

    So your husband is not alone, he is just trying to cling to his childhood teaching without contradicting it with logic and reason. Many who go that route end up realizing the truth and becoming atheists, although not all admit it openly (especially in a strong church family). But others will come to accept the contradictions and go on believing

  • Yun
    Lv 7
    8 years ago

    What you and he need to do is go over the chapter of I Corinthians 15.

    That entire chapter is the Apostle Paul demonstrating logically that Christ was resurrected from the dead and that the followers of Christ will be as well.

    Denying the resurrection denies one of the most critical and important portions of Christianity

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  • Mimi
    Lv 7
    8 years ago

    Yes, you must believe in the Resurrection in order to be saved. The Prophets and Jesus Himself said that He would be resurrected, thus making the promise of ours(resurrection).

    Matthew 16:21

    Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection

    21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.

    Matthew 22:30

    30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.

  • Arnie
    Lv 7
    8 years ago

    The mystery's of faith an GOD are beyond human comprehension.

    Faith concerns questions which cannot be settled by evidence.

    How can the universe create itself out of nothingness? Given the fact that the universe began to exist, it must have had a “cause” that originated it.Doesn't it make more sense to assume the existence of a Creation.

    You can't see the wind, but you know it is there because you can see what the wind is doing. You can know that the wind is there because you can feel it.God is like the wind, you can't see him.

    ~~~~~~~

  • Anonymous
    8 years ago

    In order to be considered a Christian, he should believe in Christ' birth by the Virgin Mary, Death and Resurrection.. He can't be half-hearted about it and be selective as to what passages in the Bible he wants to believe.

  • 8 years ago

    There are certain Christian denominations out there who do not believe in a number of closely held Christian beliefs such as the divinity of Christ or the Resurrection.

    The word 'Christian' is so loosely used in the United States that as a Roman Catholic I find it incredulous when someone claims to be a 'Christian', I just don't know what to expect from them.

  • Rick
    Lv 6
    8 years ago

    I see no reason why a person couldn't be a strong Christian and simply not believe in all of the stories told in the Bible. If you have to buy everything that scripture tells you in order to believe in Christ and in God then perhaps you should re-read the Bible. There's a whole lot of stuff in there that seems far more like stories that are trying to explain things rather than literal stories that actually happened exactly that way.

  • 8 years ago

    There are some non-mainstream Christians who openly reject both the virgin birth and the resurrection. One of the most notable examples is the theologian John Shelby Spong, a retired Episcopalian bishop. He angered many mainstream Christians with his "Twelve Points", below:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Shelby_Spong#Twe...

    There are also people who describe themselves as "Christian atheists", meaning that they find something appealing about the teachings of Jesus, but reject all the supernatural elements of the Bible, which would include the virgin birth and the resurrection.

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