Matter Matters to God

The 18th‑century evangelist and a central figure in the Great Awakening, George Whitefield, preaching in London sometime before 1770, told an anecdote concerning the celebrated actor Thomas Betterton and an Archbishop of Canterbury:

In 1675, the Archbishop of Canterbury became acquainted with a certain actor of some renown, Mr. Betterton. One day the archbishop said, “Mr. Betterton, pray tell me, how is it that you actors on the stage can so move your audiences, whilst speaking of things imaginary, while we, in the pulpit, speak of things real, which our congregations receive as if they were but plain. We, actors, speak of things imaginary as if they were real, while you, in the pulpit, speak of things real as if they were imaginary.”  Therefore, I will not be a velvet-mouthed preacher.

The opening talk at the EMNR Engage 2026: Christianity in the Age of Re-enchantment Conference opened with the above quote. Throughout the conference, some ruminated on that. In the Q&A Round Table, the question was asked: what sort of real things are we talking about in an imaginary way? Without hesitation, Carl Teichrib answered. I will paraphrase it this way:

Matter in Motion. The resurrection is God taking dead, motionless matter and giving it life. It is not merely a resuscitated corpse, but a transformed and glorified body united with the person of Jesus.

This is perhaps the most profound “real thing” in the Christian faith and is one of the things so firmly real to the early believers that they were willing to die even as they proclaimed it.  It wasn’t that the pagan culture in which the believers lived was not spiritually engaged; they certainly were “spiritually engaged,” in enchantment, but not with the true and only God.

The first-century Greco-Roman world was a world of gods, spirits, omens, magic, mystery religions, divination, sacred places, and competing spiritual claims. The issue wasn’t whether the supernatural existed—it was which spiritual claims were true and what truly happens after we breathe our last. The distinctive Christian claim was not simply “there is life after death.” Many ancient religions had concepts of continued existence after death. The radical claim of the Christians was that the dead body itself, the dead matter, would be raised and transformed, and that the person would thereby continue as an embodied person. The pagan world could imagine the soul surviving the death of the body, but Christianity proclaimed something much more radical: God would redeem the body and the person together. Jesus was the evidence! At the cross, Jesus’ body became dead matter. Yet in the resurrection, God took that dead matter and made it living, embodied matter again—not merely a resuscitated corpse, but a transformed and glorified body united with the person of Jesus!

This is not to say that all pagan religions of the first century believed the body was simply discarded or that none had any concept of bodily resurrection. The Greco-Roman religious landscape was diverse. But bodily resurrection was certainly not the normal hope of the pagan philosophical world, and Paul’s proclamation of resurrection in Athens was foreign to their thinking, so that some mocked him (Acts 17:31–32).

The Apostle Paul argues this in 1 Corinthians 15:42-43:

So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.

It is sown as dead matter and raised as living matter in motion. At His death, Jesus’ body was genuinely dead. At His resurrection, that body was made alive—matter no longer merely at rest, but embodied, transformed, and living.

Even today, in the age of re-enchantment, many religious and philosophical systems have difficulty giving matter a positive ultimate status. For example:

• Platonic/Gnostic tendencies: view the material world as inferior to the spiritual realm; salvation involves escape from the material.
• Hindu traditions: ultimate liberation is generally understood in terms of release from the cycle of embodied existence (moksha) rather than the resurrection of the individual physical body. “The physical body is but a temporary vessel, and what truly matters is the soul’s journey through multiple lifetimes—a journey of growth, self-realization, and eventual liberation.”¹“What Is Our Point Of Arrival And Departure In This World” – Hinduism Answers
• Buddhism: there is no Christian equivalent of the resurrection of the same individual embodied person; the goal is liberation from the cycle of suffering and rebirth.
• Secular materialism: matter is fundamental, but consciousness and personal identity ultimately have no transcendent guarantee. Death is, in the final analysis, the cessation of the person.

Islam also affirms bodily resurrection and judgment, but its account is historically and theologically indebted to earlier Jewish and Christian traditions while differing profoundly from the Christian gospel concerning Christ’s identity, death, resurrection, and the nature of salvation.

When we look at the various worldviews in the area of re-enchantment, we find that the original material body, matter, is quite unimportant. For example:

• Animism: The person’s spirit/life-force generally continues in a spirit or ancestral realm; beliefs vary widely, and reincarnation only occurs in some traditions.
• New Age: Reincarnation is very common. The soul repeatedly enters physical life, but not in its original body. It is often understood as a process of spiritual advancement and learning. Each incarnation is a result of karma, good or bad. It is spiritual evolution toward “higher consciousness.”
• Wicca: Reincarnation is common, though Wiccan beliefs aren’t completely uniform since their fundamental belief is that truth itself is not absolute but relative and personal. Many believe the soul passes through multiple lives, sometimes associated with the “Summerland” between incarnations.
• Contemporary Witchcraft: Highly diverse. Many practitioners accept reincarnation, while others hold beliefs involving an afterlife, spirit realms, ancestors, or simply continuation of spiritual energy.

Christianity makes the rather remarkable claim that matter itself belongs within God’s good creation and will ultimately be redeemed. We might say that according to Scripture, Matter Matters to God. It is real and should matter to us. Christianity doesn’t promise escape from the body—but instead promises the redemption of the body. It is such an important truth that, according to the Apostle Paul, our very salvation hinges on whether it is true or not:

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Corinthians 15:12-19)

The Apostle Paul was not “a velvet-mouthed preacher.” He wrote of real things as if they were real things. Imagine that! The totality of our being at our resurrection is not simply our spirit, but our spirit united with our physical bodies.

In “Two-Thirds of Americans Believe Jesus Physically Rose from the Dead: Survey,” Michael Foust notes that 66 percent of Americans hold the “biblical accounts of the physical (bodily) resurrection of Jesus are completely accurate.” We would suggest, however,  that merely assenting to what one is supposed to believe is not the same as actually believing it as a reality. Why would we suggest that? Simple, less than half, or a “total of 47 percent of Americans, say they “strongly” agree with the statement.” They are committing to believing it is really true, not just imagining or hoping it is true.

Jeremiah Johnston, pastor of apologetics and cultural engagement at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, was interviewed for the article. His comments are instructive:

“For the early church, Johnston says a belief in the resurrection ‘was no mere footnote but rather a focal point. Every Sunday was resurrection Sunday,’” the Lifeway story said. “Flowing out from this, he notes, ‘Jesus’ resurrection is a central focus of our New Testament Scripture, with over 300 verses referencing this truth. When we study what the Bible teaches about the resurrection of Jesus, we are struck by the power this singular historical event had on the early followers of Jesus.’”

Too often, Johnston says, the resurrection is “under-lived because it is under-preached and under-studied by most pastors.”

One of the oldest and most enduring traditions in Christian greetings and worship is rooted directly in the resurrection accounts of the New Testament. The common statement “He is risen” was in use early on in Christian history, and met with the response “He is risen indeed!” We find this echoing response to the common greeting in Luke 24:34, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” and Matthew 28:6, “He is not here, for he has risen, as he said.” It is a direct echo of the resurrection narratives and a liturgical tradition that has been passed down for nearly two thousand years and is a cornerstone of the faith of the early believers. They were affirming and reminding one another of what was really real about the faith they proclaimed. It is a reminder to Christians today that Matter Matters to God: Christianity does not promise escape from our body—but rather the Redemption of the Body.  That is very Good News indeed!Ω

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