Van Inwagen's Arguments For The Possibility Of Literal Resurrection

Survival of the individual self through resurrection can be constructed in many different theories. If one believes in personal survival after death, it is typically in the form of duplicate or literal resurrection. The reasons for these are found in a theorist 's ideas of what God can accomplish and what these resurrections constitute for the individual. Van Inwagen’s arguments for the possibility of literal resurrection and the impossibility of various other alternatives are plausible. To prove this, first, I will describe the arguments of the Aristotelian stance the belief of God’s omnipotence, which I oppose, and then present an argument based on Van Inwagen’s description of the causal chain. A criticism for this will be presented that further

To conclude, there is little reason to believe that any other form of resurrection other than literal exists through Van Inwagen’s arguments. The causal chain reflects the patterns of nature and human form. Once a line is broken in the chain it cannot be reformed, at least in the same way it existed before. Since God created that chain he is also bound by its contingency. Further, the idea of free will presents any exact replication of an action unless it is continued by the original agent of said action. God could not recreate the action for then it would be God’s action. Thus, he cannot duplicate any person and say she is the same as before. The only form of resurrection that seems plausible with Van Inwagen’s argument has to be literal resurrection then. From here, we can begin to explore further questions. Such as why a god would want to have humans survive when they may exist in an imperfect form. If nature exists in a continuous cycle of trying to perfect itself, why would God want to keep imperfect copies even through resurrection? Furthering the ideas of Van Inwagen and other philosophers gives us ideas of what our existence really means. However, the best explanation of ideas can be found in our physical reality and seeing how the microcosm might reflect the macrocosm as Van Inwagen begins to suggest in his theories. For now, though, Van Inwagen’s presentation makes literal resurrection more plausible than the others in the way the causal chain works and human’s ability to choose their