Weekend Economists Rise Again August 10-12, 2012 [View all]

[Demeter]

Yes, well, it's feeling really strange to be doing this, after an entire week stuck in my local Reality. It's like losing one's mind, when one loses one's computer. So if I fumble, just point me in the right direction....

I'm not the Resurrection NOR the Light, and I won't play one on the tubes, either, but let's see who started the whole idea and where it's taken the human race...

Resurrection (anglicized from Latin resurrectio) is the concept of a living being's literally coming back to life after death. It is largely a religious concept, where it is used in two distinct respects —a belief in the resurrection of individual souls that is current and ongoing (Christian idealism, realized eschatology), or else a belief in a singular "Resurrection of the Dead" event at the end of the world. Most eschatologies believe in a universal resurrection, wherein all people from all history are resurrected. The Resurrection of the Dead is a standard eschatological belief in the Abrahamic religions. In a number of ancient religions, a life-death-rebirth deity is a deity which dies and resurrects. The death and resurrection of Jesus is a central focus of Christianity.

The soul is believed by some to be the divine and immortal part of the human mind[citation needed] and some believe it is the actual vehicle by which people are resurrected.[1] However, theological debate ensues with regard to what kind of resurrection is factual —either a spiritual resurrection with a spirit body (i.e. Heaven), or a material resurrection with a restored human body.[2] While most Christians believe Jesus' resurrection was in a material body; which was seen by over 500 people, a very small minority believe it was spiritual.[3][4][5]

There are documented rare cases of the return to life of the clinically dead which are classified scientifically as examples of the Lazarus syndrome, a term originating from the Biblical story of the Resurrection of Lazarus.

Ancient religions in the Near East

The concept of resurrection is found in the writings of some ancient non-Abrahamic religions in the Middle East. A few extant Egyptian and Canaanite writings allude to dying and rising gods such as Osiris and Baal. Sir James Frazer in his book The Golden Bough relates to these dying and rising gods, but many of his examples, according to various scholars, distort the sources. Taking a more positive position, Mettinger argues in his recent book that the category of rise and return to life is significant for the following deities: Ugaritic Baal, Melqart, Adonis, Eshmun, Osiris and Dumuzi.

So, it's an idea that's been around for a long time....

Let's see if we can spot signs of Resurrection in this moribund economy....