Many Religious Cults And Progressive Churches Seek To Diminish Jesus And Make Him A Mere Human And Not God

The New Testament demonstrates from scripture that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, raised Jesus from the Dead. All three are God, and all three participated in the resurrection of Jesus.

The Father Raised Jesus

The most frequent description is that God the Father raised Jesus.

• Acts 2:24 — “But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip.”
• Romans 6:4 — “…just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.”
• Galatians 1:1 — “…Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.”

This establishes the Father’s central role in vindicating His Son and declaring His sacrifice acceptable.

The Son Raised Himself

Jesus also testified that He had authority to raise Himself.

• John 2:19–21 — Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
• John 10:17–18 — “I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again.”

Here, Jesus asserts His divine authority and power as God over death itself.

The Holy Spirit Raised Jesus

Paul and Peter also attribute the resurrection to the Holy Spirit’s power.

• Romans 8:11 — “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.”
• 1 Peter 3:18 — “He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit.”

This shows the Spirit’s active role in imparting resurrection life.

The Unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as One God

These verses are not contradictory. Instead, they demonstrate the harmony of One God in Three Distinct Persons who raised Jesus from the dead:

1. The Father willed and declared the resurrection.
2. The Son exercised divine authority to rise.
3. The Spirit was the agent who applied resurrection power to Christ’s body.

Thus, the resurrection of Jesus is the work of the entire Godhead, displaying the unity and cooperative action of Father, Son, and Spirit.

Jesus was raised from the dead by the power of the Father, by His own authority as the Son, and by the working of the Holy Spirit. The resurrection is therefore the supreme demonstration of the Triune God’s power in salvation.

What Do The Major Religions and Religious Cult Churches Say About Jesus and the Spirit in Participating in Jesus’ Resurrection?

Biblical Christianity

• Jesus participated in His own resurrection: John 2:19–21; John 10:17–18.
• The Spirit raised Jesus: Romans 8:11; 1 Peter 3:18.
• The Father raised Him: Acts 2:24; Galatians 1:1.
• Orthodox Christianity unites these in a Trinitarian act—Father, Son, and Spirit all working together (see Augustine, Sermon 183).

Doctrinal Summary

The Nicene Creed (325, 381 AD) confesses that Jesus “rose again on the third day, in accordance with the Scriptures,” without dividing the Trinity’s role.

All major branches (Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Protestant Evangelical) affirm that the resurrection was an act of the Triune God.

Judaism

Mainstream Rabbinic Judaism: Rejects Jesus as Messiah; denies His resurrection altogether. The Spirit is not viewed as a divine Person but as God’s power or presence.

Messianic Judaism: Affirms the New Testament witness, therefore agreeing that Jesus raised Himself, with the Father and Spirit also active.

Islam

• Qur’an denies the crucifixion and resurrection:
• Surah 4:157 — “They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but it was made to appear so to them.”
• Jesus (‘Isa) is a prophet who did not die, but was taken up to heaven.
• Therefore, there is no doctrine of Jesus or the Spirit participating in resurrection in Islam.

Religious Cults And Progressice Movements

Jehovah’s Witnesses

• Teach that Jesus did not bodily rise.
• Claim He was raised by Jehovah God as a spirit creature, not physically (Watchtower, What Does the Bible Really Teach?, 2005, ch. 7).
• Deny that Jesus raised Himself, since they deny His deity.
• Deny that the Holy Spirit is a person—so it cannot “raise” Jesus.

Mormonism (LDS Church)

• Affirm Jesus rose bodily.
• Attribute His resurrection to the power of God the Father, but also teach that because Jesus was divine, He had power to take up His own life.
• The Holy Spirit’s role is not emphasized in Mormon theology of the resurrection.

Christian Science

• Mary Baker Eddy denied the physical resurrection.
• Jesus’ resurrection was interpreted as a demonstration of the “divine idea” of life overcoming material illusion (Science and Health, §44).
• The Spirit is not a divine Person, so does not participate.

Unitarian/Universalist

• Reject the Trinity.
• Jesus did not raise Himself; God alone raised Him, usually interpreted non-literally.
• The Holy Spirit is seen as an impersonal force, not a divine agent.

Sources and Citations

Scriptural Evidence

The Father Raised Jesus

Acts 2:24 — “But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip.”¹

Romans 6:4 — “…just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.”²

Galatians 1:1 — “…Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.”³

The Son Raised Himself

John 2:19–21 — Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”⁴

John 10:17–18 — “I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again… I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again.”⁵

The Holy Spirit Raised Jesus

Romans 8:11 — “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.”⁶

1 Peter 3:18 — “He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit.”⁷

Early Church Witnesses

Irenaeus (c. 180 AD)

“He [Christ] suffered, and rose again, and ascended into the heavens in the flesh… this is the faith which the Church has received.”⁸

Irenaeus emphasizes that the Father raised Christ, but always in unity with the Son’s divinity.

Tertullian (c. 200 AD)

“It was the whole Trinity, who raised Christ from the dead: the Father by His authority, the Son by His power, the Spirit by His energy.”⁹

Origen (c. 250 AD)

“He rose again by the divinity dwelling in Himself, yet also by the power of the Father, and the operation of the Holy Spirit.”¹⁰

Augustine (c. 400 AD)

“The Father raised Him, the Son raised Himself, and the Holy Spirit raised Him: it is one work of the Trinity.”¹¹

These testimonies show the continuity of early Christian belief that the resurrection was not the act of one Person only, but the united work of the Triune God.

The resurrection is the supreme example of Trinitarian cooperation in salvation:

1. The Father declares Christ righteous and victorious.
2. The Son exercises His divine authority over death.
3. The Spirit applies divine power to transform the mortal body of Christ into immortality.

This unified action affirms both Christ’s deity and the co-equal role of Father, Son, and Spirit in redemption.

Footnotes & References

1. Holy Bible, Acts 2:24, NLT.
2. Holy Bible, Romans 6:4, NLT.
3. Holy Bible, Galatians 1:1, NLT.
4. Holy Bible, John 2:19–21, NLT.
5. Holy Bible, John 10:17–18, NLT.
6. Holy Bible, Romans 8:11, NLT.
7. Holy Bible, 1 Peter 3:18, NLT.
8. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book 3, Ch. 4.
9. Tertullian, On the Resurrection of the Flesh, Ch. 63.
10. Origen, Commentary on Romans, Book 5.
11. Augustine, Sermon 183: On the Resurrection of the Lord.

Trinitarian Christianity

• Bible (NT):
• John 2:19–21 (Jesus raises Himself).
• John 10:17–18 (Jesus takes up His life).
• Romans 8:11 (Spirit raises Jesus).
• Acts 2:24; Galatians 1:1 (Father raises Jesus).
• Augustine, Sermon 183: “The Father raised Him, the Son raised Himself, the Holy Spirit raised Him: it is one work of the Trinity.”

Judaism

• Rabbinic Judaism: Denies Jesus as Messiah and resurrection.
• Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 43a — reference to Jesus’ execution, with no resurrection hope.
• Messianic Judaism: Follows the NT, affirming the same Trinitarian testimony as Christianity.

Islam

Qur’an:

• Surah 4:157 — “They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but it was made to appear so to them.”
• Surah 4:158 — “Rather, Allah raised him to Himself.”
• Commentary (Tafsir Ibn Kathir) explicitly denies Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, teaching substitution instead.

Jehovah’s Witnesses

Watchtower Bible and Tract Society:

• What Does the Bible Really Teach? (2005), ch. 7: Jesus was resurrected as a “spirit creature.”
• The Watchtower, 1 Nov 2009, p. 15: “Jesus’ resurrection was not in the body in which he was put to death but as a spirit creature.”
• Holy Spirit: Defined as “God’s active force,” not a person (Insight on the Scriptures, Vol. 2, p. 1017).

Mormonism (LDS Church)

• Book of Mormon: Alma 11:42–45 — Christ rose physically, and all shall rise.
• Doctrine & Covenants 88:14–16 — body and spirit reunited by the redemption of Christ.
• Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 1, p. 301: “Christ is the only one who had power to lay down his life and take it again.”
• Holy Spirit: Seen as a “member of the Godhead,” but not central in resurrection doctrine (Articles of Faith, Joseph Smith, Art. 5).

Christian Science

• Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures:
• §44: “The lonely precincts of the tomb gave Jesus a refuge from his foes… The power of Spirit was shown by the resurrection.”
• Resurrection is spiritualized, not bodily.
• The “Holy Spirit” in Christian Science is redefined as “Divine Science,” not a personal being (§333).

Unitarian/Universalist

• Unitarian Universalist Association: Denies the Trinity.
• Jesus’ resurrection is often interpreted symbolically.
• John Biddle (17th c. Unitarian pioneer): denied Christ’s deity and therefore self-resurrection.
• UU Christian Fellowship today: emphasizes “spiritual lessons” of resurrection, not literal bodily event.

Categories: Robert Clifton Robinson