Raised from the Ashes
"Offer [Isaac] there as a burnt offering."
GENESIS 22:2
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Raised from the Ashes
Even though there is a clear contradiction here—for there is nothing between death and life—Abraham nevertheless does not turn away from the promise. . .. Abraham relies on the promise and attributes to the divine Majesty this power, that He will restore his dead son to life; for just as he saw that Isaac was born of a worn-out womb and of a sterile mother, so he also believed that he was to be raised after being buried and reduced to ashes, in order that he might have descendants, as the Epistle to the Hebrews (11:19) states: "God is able to give life even to the dead." Accordingly, Abraham understood the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, and through it alone he resolved this contradiction. . .. These were his thoughts: "Today I have a son; tomorrow I shall have nothing but ashes. I do not know how long they will lie scattered; but they will be brought to life again, whether this happens while I am still alive or a thousand years after my death. For the Word declares that I shall have descendants through this Isaac, even though he has been reduced to ashes." . . . Therefore one should hold fast to this comfort, that what God has once declared, this He does not change. You were baptized, and in Baptism the kingdom of God was promised you. You should know that this is His unchangeable Word, and you should not permit yourself to be drawn away from it.
GENESIS 22:2
+
Raised from the Ashes
Even though there is a clear contradiction here—for there is nothing between death and life—Abraham nevertheless does not turn away from the promise. . .. Abraham relies on the promise and attributes to the divine Majesty this power, that He will restore his dead son to life; for just as he saw that Isaac was born of a worn-out womb and of a sterile mother, so he also believed that he was to be raised after being buried and reduced to ashes, in order that he might have descendants, as the Epistle to the Hebrews (11:19) states: "God is able to give life even to the dead." Accordingly, Abraham understood the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, and through it alone he resolved this contradiction. . .. These were his thoughts: "Today I have a son; tomorrow I shall have nothing but ashes. I do not know how long they will lie scattered; but they will be brought to life again, whether this happens while I am still alive or a thousand years after my death. For the Word declares that I shall have descendants through this Isaac, even though he has been reduced to ashes." . . . Therefore one should hold fast to this comfort, that what God has once declared, this He does not change. You were baptized, and in Baptism the kingdom of God was promised you. You should know that this is His unchangeable Word, and you should not permit yourself to be drawn away from it.
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