Christendom inconsistent beliefs #3: Christ never died?

[Eloi]

Oddly enough, this is the belief of all of Christendom.

However, Jesus said just the opposite:

Rev. 1:17 When I saw him, I fell as dead at his feet.
And he laid his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last, 18 and the living one, and I became dead, but look! I am living forever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of the Grave.
... 2:8 “And to the angel of the congregation in Smyrʹna write: These are the things that he says, ‘the First and the Last,’ who became dead and came to life again ..."

If Jesus says that he "became dead" and "came to life again", why do theologians and religious leaders of Christendom say that he never died, and they say even that he "resurrected himself"? Isn't that a clear denial of Jesus' statements in this regard?

[onewithhim]

[Replying to onewithhim in post #19]

What he meant was that he was worthy to be raised up from the dead, as he remained faithful and obedient to the end. In that sense he raised himself. Any other understanding will, of course, chuck all the other scriptures in the Bible that concern the raising of Jesus.

If this is the case, then it can also be understood that everyone who does remain faithful and obedient to The Father, will also have similar powers of creativity and ability to use those powers in relation to The Christ, because The Christ is not an individual person...rather It is a Spirit Personality... a gathered force of Like-Minded persona...involved in building the works of The Fathers Will.

First of all, I didn't say the last paragraph above. That is your imaginative creation. I did write the first paragraph.

[William]

[Replying to onewithhim in post #21]

If this is the case, then it can also be understood that everyone who does remain faithful and obedient to The Father, will also have similar powers of creativity and ability to use those powers in relation to The Christ, because The Christ is not an individual person...rather It is a Spirit Personality... a gathered force of Like-Minded persona...involved in building the works of The Fathers Will.
How can we back that idea up scripturally?

The first step I would take is to examine anything biblical Jesus was said to have spoken, to see if it any of it fits the above description.

Some which spring to mind are;

As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do

That is your imaginative creation.

I am simply quoting biblical Jesus as per 'scriptural back-up' so it is not my imaginative creation and I do not know if what he said was his imaginative creation or not.

For that matter I am not particularly sure what it is you are trying to convey by the remark, other than something along the lines of "That is your interpretation of the scripture" i

As argument, such statement is pointless, for there is no interpretation of scripture which has ever proven to be true, and therefore unable to be called "imaginative creation".

[onewithhim]

I don’t know why or how you could say that no interpretation of Scripture has been proven to be true. I have seen more than I can count. Perhaps you would enjoy some excellent interpretive work done by Jehovah’s Witnesses’ governing body on the website www.jw.org
You would at least find what they have to say interesting.

[We_Are_VENOM]

How can Jesus resurrect himself from the dead, if he were actually dead? The confusion appears to be in the recognizing the body as being 'who Jesus was' when that wasn't actually the case, as surely as the temple was not 'God', but considered the 'house' or 'container' of 'The Spirit of God'.

This is easy peasy. It is simple.

Scripture states (implies) that Jesus' body became dead after he gave up his spirit (John 19:30).

So, after his spirit left his body, his body became dead, but his spirit obviously remained living.

For resurrection purposes, Jesus placed his spirit back into his body, and his body became alive again.

Again, it is simple. To complicate things is an injustice to truth.

[William]

[Replying to We_Are_VENOM in post #24]

Which aspect was Jesus...the body or the spirit?

[We_Are_VENOM]

[Replying to We_Are_VENOM in post #24]

Which aspect was Jesus...the body or the spirit?

Depends on which moment in time you are referring to.

[William]

[Replying to We_Are_VENOM in post #24]

Which aspect was Jesus...the body or the spirit?

Depends on which moment in time you are referring to.

The part of the story we are addressing

[We_Are_VENOM]

[Replying to We_Are_VENOM in post #24]

Which aspect was Jesus...the body or the spirit?

Depends on which moment in time you are referring to.

The part of the story we are addressing

Depends on how you look at it.

[William]

[Replying to We_Are_VENOM in post #28]

When you wrote;

So, after his spirit left his body, his body became dead, but his spirit obviously remained living.

For resurrection purposes, Jesus placed his spirit back into his body, and his body became alive again.

Which way were you looking at it?

[We_Are_VENOM]

[Replying to We_Are_VENOM in post #28]

When you wrote;

So, after his spirit left his body, his body became dead, but his spirit obviously remained living.

For resurrection purposes, Jesus placed his spirit back into his body, and his body became alive again.

Which way were you looking at it?

After his spirit left his body, I would say he was in the spirit...but when he resurrected, he was clearly in a spiritual (yet physical) body.

So I don't know what to call it....perhaps his body was physical but with a spiritual twist to it?

You asked what aspect was it, I don't know.