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.
