Resurrection (from the Latin noun
resurrectio -onis, from the verb
rego, "to make straight, rule" + preposition
sub, "under", altered to
subrigo and contracted to
surgo, surrexi, surrectum + preposition
re-, "again", thus literally "a straightening from under again") is the concept of a
living being coming back to life after
death. It is a religious concept, where it is used in two distinct respects: a belief in the resurrection of individual
souls that is current and ongoing (
Christian idealism,
realized eschatology), or else a belief in a singular
resurrection of the dead at the
end of the world. The resurrection of the dead is a standard
eschatological belief in the
Abrahamic religions. In a number of ancient religions, a
dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and resurrects. The
death and
resurrection of Jesus is an example of resurrection, and this instance is the central focus of
Christianity.
