* The Watchtower society denies the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ and that He will return bodily. They say Jesus is an invisible spirit creature.
1 Peter 3:18 says: "Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit". -- American Standard Version (AS)
And Paul stated at 1 Timothy 5:15-16: "which, when the right time comes, the blessed only Potentate will display, the King of all who reign and Lord of all who rule, he who alone has immortality, who inhabits unapproachable light, whom none of men have seen nor can see; to whom belong honor and might eternal; amen". -- Byington (By)
For more information supporting this understanding, here is an excerpt from this link,
http://m.wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1101989240 :
****Does Jesus have his fleshly body in heaven?
1 Corinthians 15:42-50, RS: “So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. . . . It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. . . . Thus it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam [Jesus Christ, who was a perfect human as Adam had been at the start] became a life-giving spirit. . . . I tell you this, brethren: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” (Italics added.)
1 Peter 3:18, RS: “Christ also died for sins once for all, . . . being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit [“in the spirit,” NE, AT, JB, Dy].” (At his resurrection from the dead, Jesus was brought forth with a spirit body. In the Greek text the words “flesh” and “spirit” are put in contrast to each other, and both are in the dative case; so, if a translator uses the rendering “by the spirit” he should also consistently say “by the flesh,” or if he uses “in the flesh” he should also say “in the spirit.” [And in which way do most agree?])
Illustration: If a man pays a debt for a friend but then promptly takes back the payment, obviously the debt continues. Likewise, if, when he was resurrected, Jesus had taken back his human body of flesh and blood, which had been given in sacrifice to pay the ransom price, what effect would that have had on the provision he was making to relieve faithful persons of the debt of sin?
It is true that Jesus appeared in physical form to his disciples after his resurrection. But on certain occasions, why did they not at first recognize him? (Luke 24:15-32; John 20:14-16) On one occasion, for the benefit of Thomas, Jesus appeared with the physical evidence of nail prints in his hands and a spear wound in his side. But how was it possible on that occasion for him suddenly to appear in their midst even though the doors were locked? (John 20:26-27) Jesus evidently materialized bodies on these occasions, as angels had done in the past when appearing to humans. Disposing of Jesus’ physical body at the time of his resurrection presented no problem for God. Interestingly, although the physical body was not left by God in the tomb (evidently to strengthen the conviction of the disciples that Jesus had actually been raised), the linen cloths in which it had been wrapped were left there; yet, the resurrected Jesus always appeared fully clothed.—John 20:6-7.****
[Another reason why Jesus' physical body was disposed of by God: He knew that it would eventually be turned into an idol, as mankind is apt to do!]
(BTW, see how many different translations are being used? So, to imply that JW's *only* use the NWT, is disingenuous. Yes the NWT is our preferred choice, but we'll gladly use others
)
More will continue.
1 Peter 3:18 says: "Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit". -- American Standard Version (AS)
And Paul stated at 1 Timothy 5:15-16: "which, when the right time comes, the blessed only Potentate will display, the King of all who reign and Lord of all who rule, he who alone has immortality, who inhabits unapproachable light, whom none of men have seen nor can see; to whom belong honor and might eternal; amen". -- Byington (By)
For more information supporting this understanding, here is an excerpt from this link,
http://m.wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1101989240 :
****Does Jesus have his fleshly body in heaven?
1 Corinthians 15:42-50, RS: “So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. . . . It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. . . . Thus it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam [Jesus Christ, who was a perfect human as Adam had been at the start] became a life-giving spirit. . . . I tell you this, brethren: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” (Italics added.)
1 Peter 3:18, RS: “Christ also died for sins once for all, . . . being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit [“in the spirit,” NE, AT, JB, Dy].” (At his resurrection from the dead, Jesus was brought forth with a spirit body. In the Greek text the words “flesh” and “spirit” are put in contrast to each other, and both are in the dative case; so, if a translator uses the rendering “by the spirit” he should also consistently say “by the flesh,” or if he uses “in the flesh” he should also say “in the spirit.” [And in which way do most agree?])
Illustration: If a man pays a debt for a friend but then promptly takes back the payment, obviously the debt continues. Likewise, if, when he was resurrected, Jesus had taken back his human body of flesh and blood, which had been given in sacrifice to pay the ransom price, what effect would that have had on the provision he was making to relieve faithful persons of the debt of sin?
It is true that Jesus appeared in physical form to his disciples after his resurrection. But on certain occasions, why did they not at first recognize him? (Luke 24:15-32; John 20:14-16) On one occasion, for the benefit of Thomas, Jesus appeared with the physical evidence of nail prints in his hands and a spear wound in his side. But how was it possible on that occasion for him suddenly to appear in their midst even though the doors were locked? (John 20:26-27) Jesus evidently materialized bodies on these occasions, as angels had done in the past when appearing to humans. Disposing of Jesus’ physical body at the time of his resurrection presented no problem for God. Interestingly, although the physical body was not left by God in the tomb (evidently to strengthen the conviction of the disciples that Jesus had actually been raised), the linen cloths in which it had been wrapped were left there; yet, the resurrected Jesus always appeared fully clothed.—John 20:6-7.****
[Another reason why Jesus' physical body was disposed of by God: He knew that it would eventually be turned into an idol, as mankind is apt to do!]
(BTW, see how many different translations are being used? So, to imply that JW's *only* use the NWT, is disingenuous. Yes the NWT is our preferred choice, but we'll gladly use others
)More will continue.
