Sunday, November 10, 2019

Is John 6:39-40 a Problem to Latter-day Saint History and Theology?


One anti-Mormon activist in Utah has recently claimed that John 6:39-40 poses problems for Latter-day Saint theology:

This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day. (NASB)

According to this critic, this is “absolute statement” shows that no one (except Jesus, of course) will be resurrected until the eschaton, ergo, the Latter-day Saint belief that some people were resurrected after 30 CE (e.g., Peter, James, and John who ordained Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to the Melchizedek Priesthood) is false.

As I pointed out to this (Anabaptist) critic, God allows exceptions to the general rule if/when necessary. As two examples--David and his companions consuming the bread of the presence/shewbread (1 Sam 21:4-6; cf. Matt 12:4), notwithstanding it being reserved in normal conditions for the Levitical priests in the temple, and the "absolute statement" by Paul in 1 Cor 15:22 that all will die versus Enoch (Gen 5:24) and Elijah (2 Kgs 2:11) being notable exceptions as they were translated/assumed into heaven and did not die.

Moreover, note that, according to the book of Revelation, there will be two end-time prophets who would be raised back to life (Rev 11:1-14). In Rev 11, the two witnesses will be killed and then they will be resurrected (before the eschaton) according to v. 11. As G.K. Beale notes:

God restores the witnesses to himself after their apparent defeat at the end of the church age. The restoration consists in an overturning of their vanquished condition. The portrayal of the restoration depicts God raising the witnesses from the dead before the eyes of their enemies. The portrayal of resurrection is taken directly from Ezek. 37:5, 10 LXX (some copyists altered εἰσῆλθεν ἐν αὐτοῖς [“entered in them,” A 1006 1841 1854 2329 2351] to εισηλθεν εις αυτους [𝔓47 א 𝔐K] to conform to the exact wording of Ezekiel 37:10 LXX).  (G.K. Beale, The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek New Testament [New International Greek Testament Commentary; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1999], 596-97)

Absolutising John 6:39-40 in the way the critic does, would entail, if they were to be consistent, that the Bible  is internally inconsistent. Instead, Jesus is speaking generally in John 6:39-40, just Paul is speaking generally in 1 Cor 15:22, but there is allowance for God to make exceptions if/when such is necessary for His overall plans in salvation history.