Scholars say resurrection misunderstood by Christian faithful

Scholars say resurrection misunderstood by Christian faithful:

"On Easter Sunday, Christians proclaimed the message at the heart of their faith - 'He is risen' - and affirmed the hope that God will raise all the dead at the end of time.

But this belief is deeply misunderstood, say scholars from varied faith traditions who have been trying to clear up the confusion in several recent books.

'We are troubled by the gap between the views on these things of the general public and the findings of contemporary scholarship,' said Kevin Madigan and Jon Levenson, authors of the upcoming book, 'Resurrection, The Power of God for Christians and Jews.'

The book traces the overlooked Jewish roots of the Christian belief in resurrection, and builds on that history to challenge the idea that resurrection simply means life after death. To the authors, being raised up has a physical element, not just a spiritual one. ..."

It seems that, along with the usual "Easter Surprises", there have been a number of well-written, informative and fair treatments of the Resurrection -- one of the core beliefs of Christianity. Rachel Zoll, AP religion writer, has provided readers with an interesting history of resurrection beliefs in Christianity and Judaism, and how they have shaped the spiritual lives af their respective adherents.