General resurrection or universal resurrection is the belief in a resurrection of the dead, or resurrection from the dead (Koine: , anastasis [ton] nekron; literally: "standing up again of the dead") by which most or all people who have died would be resurrected (brought back to life). Various forms of this concept can be found in Christian, Islamic, Jewish, Samaritan and Zoroastrian eschatology.
Judaism and Samaritanism
There are three explicit examples in the Hebrew Bible of people being resurrected from the dead: The prophet Elijah prays and God raises a young boy from death (1 Kings 17:17–24). Elisha raises the son of the Shunammite woman (2 Kings 4:32–37); this was the very same child whose birth he previously foretold (2 Kings 4:8–16). A dead man's body that was thrown into the dead Elisha's tomb is resurrected when the body touches Elisha's bones (2 Kings 13:21).
While there was no belief in personal afterlife with reward or punishment in Judaism before 200 BCE, in later Judaism and Samaritanism it is believed that the God of Israel will one day give ("life to the dead") to the righteous during the Messianic Age, and they will live forever in the world to come (). Jews today base this belief on the Book of Isaiah (), Book of Ezekiel (), and Book of Daniel (). Samaritans base it solely on a verse in the Song of Moses in the Samaritan Pentateuch, since they accept only the Torah and reject the rest of the Hebrew Bible.
During the Second Temple period, Judaism developed a diversity of beliefs concerning the resurrection. The concept of resurrection of the physical body is found in 2 Maccabees, according to which it will happen through recreation of the flesh.2 Maccabees 7.11, 7.28. Resurrection of the dead also appears in detail in the extra-canonical book of Enoch,1 Enoch 61.5, 61.2. in the Apocalypse of Baruch,2 Baruch 50.2, 51.5 and 2 Esdras. According to the British scholar in ancient Judaism Philip R. Davies, there is "little or no clear reference ... either to immortality or to resurrection from the dead" in the Dead Sea Scrolls texts.Philip R. Davies (2000). "Death, Resurrection and Life After Death in the Qumran Scrolls". In Alan J. Avery-Peck & Jacob Neusner (eds.) Judaism in Late Antiquity: Part Four: Death, Life-After-Death, Resurrection, and the World-To-Come in the Judaisms of Antiquity. Leiden. p. 209. Both Josephus and the New Testament record that the Sadducees did not believe in an afterlife,Josephus, Antiquities 18.16; Matthew 22.23; Mark 12.18; Luke 20.27; Acts 23.8. but the sources vary on the beliefs of the Pharisees. The New Testament claims that the Pharisees believed in the resurrection, but does not specify whether this included the flesh or not.Acts 23.8. According to Josephus, who himself was a Pharisee, the Pharisees held that only the soul was immortal and the souls of good people will be reincarnated and "pass into other bodies", while "the souls of the wicked will suffer eternal punishment".Josephus, Jewish War, 2.8.14; cf. Antiquities 8.14–15. Paul the Apostle, who also was a Pharisee,Acts 23.6, 26.5. said that at the resurrection what is "sown as a natural body is raised a spiritual body".1 Corinthians 15.35–53 Jubilees refers only to the resurrection of the soul, or to a more general idea of an immortal soul.Jubilees 23.31 The Second Temple Judaism tradition at Qumran held that there would be a resurrection of just and unjust, but of the very good and very bad,John Joseph Collins (1997). Apocalypticism in the Dead Sea Scrolls. p. 112. "The resurrection is not universal. It is the destiny of the very good and the very bad, who are raised for reward and punishment respectively. Daniel uses the metaphor of sleep and awakening to indicate the transition that is in ..." and of Jews only.Lester L. Grabbe (1996). An introduction to first century Judaism: Jewish religion and History in the Second Temple Period. . p. 79. "Here the resurrection is not universal but involves only some of the dead. The righteous achieve what is referred to as 'astral immortality'; that is, they become like the stars of heaven (12:3). After this resurrection is found widely ...The Expositor Samuel Cox, Sir William Robertson Nicoll, James Moffatt - 1884 "and that his soul may repose for ever and ever with those elected unto life everlasting." 3 X. While thus the Jews firmly believed in the Resurrection of the dead, it was no universal resurrection that they held. " The extent of the resurrection in 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra is debated by scholars.Jacob Neusner, Alan Jeffery Avery-Peck (2000). Judaism in Late Antiquity: Part Four: Death, Life-After-Death. p. 157. "2, p. 301. On the views of resurrection, judgment, and the world to come in 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra, see the article by John J. Collins in this volume and Nickelsburg, Resurrection, pp. 84-85, 138-140.Liv Ingeborg Lied (2008). The other lands of Israel: imaginations of the land in 2 Baruch. p. 189. "In other words, this is not a resurrection of all Israel or a universal resurrection of mankind (50–51). 'The first' ('the ancients', 'of ... 1Thess 4:15; Cf. Charles, Apocalypse of Baruch, 55–56; Bogaert, Apocalypse de Baruch II, 66)."Turid Karlsen Seim, Jorunn Økland (2009). Metamorphoses: resurrection, body and transformative practices in Early Christianity. p. 29. "In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul argues didactically rather than polemically in defense of a resurrection from the dead.31 In the eschatological scenario of 1 Corinthians 15, there is, differently from 2 Baruch, no universal resurrection ..."
The resurrection of the dead is a core belief in the Mishnah which was assembled in the early centuries of the Christian era.Jacob Neusner (2009), World Religions in America: An Introduction, p. 133: "He who says, the resurrection of the dead is a teaching which does not derive from the Torah. ... Excluded are those who deny the resurrection of the dead, or deny that the Torah teaches that the dead will live." The belief in resurrection is expressed on all occasions in the Jewish liturgy; e.g., in the morning prayer Elohai Neshamah, in the Shemoneh 'Esreh and in the funeral services. Jewish halakhic authority Maimonides set down his Thirteen Articles of Faith which have ever since been printed in all Rabbinic Siddur (prayer books). Resurrection is the thirteenth principle: "I firmly believe that there will take place a revival of the dead at a time which will please the Creator, blessed be His name."David Birnbaum (2005). Jews, Church & Civilization. Volume III. Millennium Education Foundation. p. 157 Modern Orthodox Judaism holds belief in the resurrection of the dead to be one of the cardinal principles of Rabbinic Judaism.
Harry Sysling, in his 1996 study of in the Palestinian Targumim, identifies a consistent usage of the term "second death" in texts from the Second Temple period and early rabbinical writings, but not in the Hebrew Bible. "Second death" is identified with judgment, followed by resurrection from Gehinnom ("Gehenna") at the Last Day.Harry Sysling (1996), Teḥiyyat ha-metim: the resurrection of the dead in the Palestinian Targums, p. 222: "Here the second death is identical with the judgment in Gehinnom. The wicked will perish and their riches will be given to the righteous."
Christianity
Epistles In the First Epistle to the Corinthians chapter 15, ἀνάστασις νεκρῶν is used for the resurrection of the dead. In verses 54–55, Paul the Apostle is conveyed as quoting from the Book of Hosea 13:14 where he speaks of the abolition of death. In the Pauline epistles of the New Testament, Paul the Apostle wrote that those who will be resurrected to eternal life will be resurrected with spiritual bodies, which are imperishable; the "flesh and blood" of natural, perishable bodies cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and, likewise, those that are corruptible will not receive incorruption (1 Corinthians 15:35–54). Even though Paul does not explicitly establish that immortality excludes physical bodies, some scholars understand that according to Paul, flesh is simply to play no part, as people are made immortal.Multiple sources:
Archibald Robertson & Alfred Plummer (1914). A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the First Epistle of St Paul to the Corinthians. Edinburgh. pp. 375–76. Oscar Cullmann (1965) . "Immortality of the Soul or Resurrection of the Dead". in Krister Stendahl (ed.) Immortality and Resurrection. New York. p. 35. Gunnar af Hällström (1988). Carnis Resurrection: The Interpretation of a Credal Formula. Helsinki. p. 10. Caroline Walker Bynum (1995). The Resurrection of the Body in Western Christianity, 200–1336. New York. p. 6. Other scholars understand that fleshly bodies do take part in the resurrection, while being transformed and glorified (becoming immortal and incorruptible, but without losing their physicality).
Gospels and Acts The Gospel of Matthew has Jesus famously teach/preach for the first time in 4:17, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matthew 6:19–21. It introduces the expression (), which is used in a monologue by Jesus who speaks to the crowds about "the resurrection" called simply (Matthew 22:29–33). This type of resurrection refers to the raising up of the dead, all mankind, at the end of this present age, the general or universal resurrection.
In the canonical gospels, the resurrection of Jesus is described as a resurrection of the flesh: from the empty tomb in Mark; the women embracing the feet of the resurrected Jesus in Matthew; the insistence of the resurrected Jesus in Luke that he is of "flesh and bones" and not just a spirit or ; to the resurrected Jesus encouraging the disciples to touch his wounds in John. Ending his guidance in Luke 14:14 that hosts should invite "the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind" when they hold a banquet, Jesus refers to the "resurrection of the just".: NKJV Irish Archbishop John McEvilly suggests that he "speaks as if the resurrection were for the just alone; because they alone shall rise to glory, and shall receive the reward of good works. The wicked shall rise, but only to receive condemnation."McEvilly, J. (1898), An Exposition Of The Gospels by The Most Rev. John Macevilly D.D. on Luke 14, accessed on 26 April 2025
In the Acts of the Apostles the expression ἀναστάσεως νεκρῶν was used by the Apostles and Paul to defend the doctrine of the resurrection. Paul brought up the resurrection in his trial before Ananias ben Nedebaios. The expression was variously used in reference to a general resurrection (Acts 24:21) at the end of this present age (Acts 23:6, 24:15). in the King James Version reads: "there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust".
Nicene Creed and early Christianity
Most Christian denominations profess the Nicene Creed, which affirms the resurrection of the dead; most English versions of the Nicene Creed in current use include the phrase: "We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come."
The Christian writers Irenaeus and Justin Martyr, in the 2nd century, wrote against the idea that only the soul survived. (The word "soul" is unknown in the Aramaic; it entered Christian theology through the Greek.)Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament Justin Martyr insists that a man is both soul and body and that Christ has promised to raise both, just as his own body was raised.