Resurrection of the body.

According to the testimony of the apostles, Jesus not only rose from the dead himself, as he had foretold, but he also promised the same to those who would believe in him: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even if he dies.” (Jn 11:25)
“For my Father’s will is that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him at the last day.” (Jn6:40)
Therefore, “we firmly believe and firmly hope that as Christ is risen from the dead and is alive eternally, the righteous also shall live forever with the risen Christ after their death and that he will rise again on the last day. Our resurrection, like his resurrection, will be the work of the Holy Trinity.” (CCC 989)
The resurrection of the dead and the subsequent full life of the people in eternity is dealt with in the theological discipline called Eschatology. Catholic eschatology gives the theological doctrine, which deals with the consummation of salvation history, that is, the last things concerning man and the world. Since this is a Catholic doctrine, it is obvious that the facts mentioned will be dealing with them in the light of divine revelation and to direct man to his final goal – supernatural eternal life in the communion of the Holy Trinity.

Eschatology is divided into two parts:
1. The eschatology of the individual deals with the last realities of each person (death, special judgment, the fate of the soul at the moment of death, paradise, hell, purgatory).
2. Eschatology of the whole of humanity
Deals with the last events and realities of all mankind and creation (the second Christ’s coming, the resurrection of the dead, the Last Judgment, the end of the world and its restoration, the inauguration of a state that will last for all eternity). The article of faith, “I believe in the resurrection of the body and eternal life,” which is the content of our theme, is addressed in the Eschatology of the Whole Humanity, therefore this part of the Eschatology. We will deal with this part of Eschatology in more detail. First, however, we will at least briefly summarize what, according to Catholic teaching happens to every human being after his natural death. There is no resurrection without death. From a theological point of view, man is a being composed of body and soul, and from his creation he is focused on its supernatural goal – eternal life in paradise. In this spirit, therefore, he is to live. The soul of man has a spiritual essence and was created by God as immortal. God created each man’s soul unique and made it identical to the form of a particular body. That is why, for example, reincarnation (transmigration of the soul) is not possible. The soul of man is the animating principle of the human body and after the death of the body, it remains the sole bearer of the identity and consciousness of the concrete human being. So a man who has lived on earth and will one day be resurrected from the dead is, thanks to this immortal soul the same and if here on Earth, during his lifetime, he has done good or bad deeds, he will one day after the resurrection of the body be truly judged by God for those deeds and adequately positively or negatively rewarded.

The immortal soul of man at the moment of death, that is, immediately after separation from the body comes before a special judgment, where it recognizes its earthly life in its entirety. After the death of the body, man’s earthly life is already complete and can therefore be judged in its entirety by God, whether it has been good, bad, or mediocre. Already in this particular judgment man receives from God the decision about his eternal destiny. The Church’s teaching on special judgment is based on the dogma that the souls of the departed go immediately after death to heaven, to purgatory or hell, as the Holy Scriptures testify, in which, for example, Jesus says
“Today you will be with me in paradise…”(Lk 23:43), so that, regardless of wherever the dead body is, the soul is already heading for a special judgment. Then the soul can experience eternal bliss with God (heaven) or eternal separation from God (hell – damnation) – a life without meaning in life. To temporary purgatory, the soul goes if
it still needs to deal with too much attachment to worldly things, people, and ephemeral pleasures. Eternal bliss or eternal damnation can only be fully experienced after the resurrection of the body and the Last Judgment.

The resurrection of the body.
The Apostles’ Creed says of Christ that, “… he ascended into heaven, sitting at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence he will come to judge the living and the dead.” The purpose of this second coming of Jesus Christ will therefore be the resurrection of the dead and the just reward of all people. Therefore, believers are to be “blameless” at the Lord’s second coming. The Lord Jesus  the second coming (parousia) at the end of the world has been predicted several times: “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then shall he reward every according to his works” (Mt 16:27). “Men shall give an account in the day of judgment for every gift word that they have spoken.” (Mt 12:36)
“All the tribes of the earth will mourn and see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. He will send forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather his elect from the four quarters of the world, from one to.