The last post in this week’s series on zombies is over at another blog I’m a part of called The Corner Booth. I have the privilege of writing there along side friends about all kinds of things. Head here to read today’s post and be sure to check out The Corner Booth and join in on the conversation.
This is the first series in a brand new category of posts on Reclaimer! The Sci-Fi and Scripture series will explore the connections between sci-fi/fantasy elements and Biblical stories and concepts. This first series will look at the various possible occurrences of zombies in the Bible. This post will look exclusively at Jesus, his death, and his post-death time on earth.
In the previous post we saw how Jesus’ death was so monumental that it caused the dead to literally walk the earth. His sacrifice blurred the line between life and death, and we’ll see this again in another example:
The Soldiers at Jesus’ Tomb
After Jesus was placed in his tomb, his followers went to visit him, only to find an unexpected scene. When Jesus’ followers showed up, Matthew 28 says that an angel had rolled the stone away from in front of the tomb. Jesus’ tomb had been guarded to ensure no one stole his body to claim that he had risen. The guards who witnessed this were said to have “trembled and became like dead men” at the sight of the angel who was only there to tell them about Jesus. As we’ve seen previously, when heavenly forces get involved, crazy things happen.
So what exactly does it meant that they became “like dead men.” This could be an interesting way of saying they died, or it could simply mean that they fainted from fright. But the scripture doesn’t say either of those things. It seems that what happened to them caused them to still live, but appear dead. Almost as if they convulsed violently and suddenly became catatonic. One might even say they became zombified by what they saw. But this was just a precursor to some of the crazy things that Jesus did during his post-death time
Night of the Conquered Death
Coming back from death is no small feat, but previous stories in this series have clearly shown how it occurred. God was ultimately the one providing the power over death, but the examples we’ve looked at so far involved a third party that God worked through to bring about a miracle. Not so with Jesus. Jesus rose from death only through God’s power. Since Jesus is God, he basically raised himself. It’s one thing to bring someone else back from death, but it’s something else entirely to be dead and bring yourself back. This powerfully illustrates that Jesus’ death and return from death means that he has conquered death for all of us. 1 Corinthians says, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” When Peter is preaching about Jesus’ death in Acts 2, he says that Jesus was so powerful that death could not hold him.
What seems to have happened is that Jesus resurrected himself, unwrapped himself from his dressings, folded them neatly, and then…..just left? The above passage at Jesus’ tomb shows that the angels removed the stone and that Jesus wasn’t in there. Since they witnessed the stone being removed for the first time, his body could not have previously been stolen, so how did he get out? Well as it turns out, Jesus came back with a new, glorified body. A body with superpowers.
Jesus, 2.0
If you look again at the above 1 Corinthians passage, it has a key phrase important to understanding Jesus in the time between his death and ascension- “When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written…” Jesus’ body after his resurrection was in what has been called a “glorified state” since it has put on immortality. This means that his body was different from before, and much better. He picked up some new skills which we will now take a look at.
Teleportation/walking through walls: This explains that “exiting the tomb without moving the stone” problem mentioned above. But that’s just one example. Luke 24:36-37 describes how Jesus’ followers were all hanging out and talking about what had happened when suddenly…Jesus! He just suddenly appears and starts talking with them. Of course they’re freaked out because they kinda just got punked by Jesus, who they thought was both dead and somewhere else. Perhaps he sneaked in the back door and they hadn’t noticed him yet, you say? Well if we look at the same story in John, it specifically says that they had locked the doors when suddenly Jesus was there. Clearly, Jesus is the original Nightcrawler.
I'd like to think Jesus was less blue and creepy.
Hiding in plain sight: After news of Jesus’ missing body began to spread, Jesus confirmed this by appearing to various people, although not at first. There are at least two instances in scripture (Luke 24:13-35 and John 20:14-15) where Jesus openly converses with people who knew him without them even being able to recognize him. He was able to look them straight in the face and somehow prevent them from seeing who he was. Jesus could have easily joined the Assassin ranks with the likes of Ezio Auditore…
One of these things is not like the other...
…except he wouldn’t need to fool with that tedious wall climbing and roof-hopping because of another ability…
Flight: When Jesus chose to leave this earth, he did it in the coolest way possible, he just flew up and away. You can call it levitation, telekinesis, or just straight up flight, but either way it’s a pretty cool ability that most of us have fantasized about at some point. Again, this was done by God’s hand, but Jesus must have had the power to determine when and how to do it. Luke 24:50-53 describes it as him being carried up into heaven. Even more curious is Acts 1:9 which says that he was lifted up and then a cloud took him away. I’m sure that seeing Jesus go up in a cloud was awesome, but with the cloud involved, I just can’t help but picture this guy:
I'm quite certain that Jesus did NOT throw spiked shells at his followers on the way up.
Jesus, the Good Zombie
What does all of this Jesus talk have to do with zombies? Well, the whole zombie phenomena says something quite telling about our cultural view of death. When we tell a fictional story about what might happen to us after our death, our view is that we become a mindless, decaying monster intent only on eating brains. Zombies reflect our deepest fears related to the unknown time after death. Jesus’ conquering of death and display of his physical state on earth shows that there is something good that can come after we die. Jesus shows us that through him, death can be the beginning of an existence much greater than what we settle for now. In that sense, Jesus and ourselves will be more like the Type H zombie in that our forms will be changed after the process of death.
So while our culture continues to fixate on the zombie hordes and the various means of killing them, God’s truth continues to speak to us about an alternative after death that promises redemption, renewal, and a new body.
This is the first series in a brand new category of posts on Reclaimer! The Sci-Fi and Scripture series will explore the connections between sci-fi/fantasy elements and Biblical stories and concepts. This first series will look at the various possible occurrences of zombies in the Bible. Today we’re looking at some unique Biblical stories and discussing how they compare with zombie lore.
Lazarus
“38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”” John 11:38-44
This is a fairly popular Bible story. Like Tabitha in the previous post, this guy had been dead for a while. His body was prepared, wrapped, and sealed in a tomb. There are two reasons this story is reminiscent of zombies. One is that I’m sure this guy looked like a mummy walking out of that tomb. Mummies are very much like Reanimated zombies in that they are long-dead bodies brought back by a supernatural force. He may not have had his arms raised, but he was likely moaning and stumbling around like a mummy after having been straight up dead for four days.
Second, the Bible explicitly stated that he stank. This is a trademark zombie trait I’m sure (hard to tell since movies don’t have smell-o-vision….yet). There’s no doubt that God can heal decayed flesh, and perhaps Lazarus was “back to normal” so to speak. However, it’s interesting to wonder if his body still carried any marks of decay or death. It brings to mind scenes in The Mummy or of Wolverine in the X-Men movies where there’s some cool CGI effect that allows you to instantaneously see damaged, rotted flesh slowly healing back into it’s intended, healthy state.
The Valley of Dry Bones
“7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling,[a] and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.” Ezekiel 37:7-10
Speaking of CGI, here’s another great opportunity for Hollywood to recreate a Bible story. This little anecdote occurred because God was trying to illustrate a point to Ezekiel and by extension, God’s people. That point being that God has control over life and death and the formation of physical bodies. The Bible doesn’t clarify, but presumably after this conversation, the army just disintegrated back into bones. But even during that short time they were Reanimated, what were they like? God has Ezekiel command breath to enter them, breath being symbolic of the life that God originally breathed into Adam when man was created. So did this army completely resurrect- mind, soul, and spirit? That seems unlikely since there’s no other mention of these people anywhere else after this event. Perhaps the “breath” described here was just a means of having them move around and appear living, without any real identity or mind. That would definitely make these zombies. So yes, God can raise a zombie army if he so chooses.
Kinda like this
The Appearing of the Dead
“51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. 54 When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”” Matthew 27:51-54
This one is by far the most mind boggling. The passage nearly skips right over the most crazy part. “The curtain ripped in half from top to bottom, there was a big random earthquake, the dead walked the earth, and this was right after Jesus died and it was all very crazy!!” What was that about the dead walking the earth? Come again?
This one is a bit tough to categorize. They are Reanimated in that they are human bodies having come back from death through supernatural means. However, they could be considered “Infected” in that their resurrection occurs at the same time as an earthquake, which is a natural event. Obviously these walking dead (or formerly dead) are not literally infected with a virus, but their departure from the tomb is connected to a natural occurrence.
Here’s one (uneducated) theory about this story: Before Jesus died, he was greeted in Jerusalem by much rejoicing. When some said that those celebrating should calm it down, Jesus told them, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” Since Jesus is God and God created everything, there is a strong connection between Jesus being praised and the very fabric of creation. I think that the appearing of the dead after Jesus death is an indication that the “natural” order of things were profoundly affected by this colossal event.
From a spiritual perspective, this occurred to emphasize the gravity of what happened as a result of Jesus’ death, but what about after their testimony? Did they just say “Hey” to their buddies in town and then return to their dirt naps in the tombs? Did they live a few more years? Did they turn to dust on the spot? It’s strange to think about, but Jesus’ death was so important that it temporarily blurred the lines between life and death and the dead walked the earth. But we’ll talk more about Jesus next time…
This is the first in a brand new category of posts on Reclaimer! The Sci-Fi and Scripture series will explore the connections between sci-fi/fantasy elements and Biblical stories and concepts. This first series will look at the various possible occurrences of zombies in the Bible. Today we’re looking at loose zombie examples, mostly those Biblical stories dealing with resurrection.
We’ll start our exploration of zombies in the Bible by looking at some stories that depict resurrection from death, a primary component of the zombie life cycle.
Elijah and the Widow’s Son
“17 After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18 And she said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!” 19 And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed. 20 And he cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” 21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s lifecome into him again.” 22 And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived.” I Kings 17:17-24
Here we have a miraculous resurrection story, but what’s interesting is the method by which the prophet Elijah helps bring about the miracle. I don’t exactly know what it looked like for Elijah to “stretch himself upon” this kid, but it was probably awkward for everybody. What really matters in this miracle as well as all miracles is the work of God. These resurrection stories may illustrate various methods by which people are raised from death which indicates an inconsistency as to how to bring it about. But the point is not learning some magic incantation to resurrect someone, but rather the work of God. A prayer or calling on God in some way is the common thread in these stories. This story would be an approximate example of Reanimation since the boy was brought back through supernatural means. However, the boy’s original spirit was returned to him and he came back into a living body, not one that will continue to rot. This one could possibly just be seen as a near-death experience.
Tabitha and Eutychus
The early church’s growth as told in Acts was a crazy turning point for the people of God. Jesus had just ascended into heaven, the Holy Spirit began a massive work amongst Jews and Gentiles, baptisms were rampant, and God’s work through miracles seem to be in every other story. Here are two examples:
“36 Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of charity. 37 In those days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. 38 Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Please come to us without delay.” 39 So Peter rose and went with them. And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them. 40 But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. 41 And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive.” Acts 9:36-41
What’s interesting in this story is that she was clearly dead. The “washing” referenced is a ceremonial washing for a dead body. These days we would likely say that she was dead and embalmed. So unlike the previous story, this is not a near-death experience. Again, the emphasis here is on the prayer and God’s response to his people. This is also similar to the Reanimated type, but again not a true example of a zombie. The next one may also not be a zombie, but is definitely freaky…
“7 On the first day of the week, we gathered with the local believers to share in the Lord’s Supper.[a] Paul was preaching to them, and since he was leaving the next day, he kept talking until midnight. 8 The upstairs room where we met was lighted with many flickering lamps. 9 As Paul spoke on and on, a young man named Eutychus, sitting on the windowsill, became very drowsy. Finally, he fell sound asleep and dropped three stories to his death below. 10 Paul went down, bent over him, and took him into his arms. “Don’t worry,” he said, “he’s alive!” 11 Then they all went back upstairs, shared in the Lord’s Supper,[b] and ate together. Paul continued talking to them until dawn, and then he left. 12 Meanwhile, the young man was taken home unhurt, and everyone was greatly relieved.” Acts 20:7-12
The moral of this story is: Don’t fall asleep at church because you might die. Credit is due to Paul here because not only was he preaching for a ridiculously long time, but it was so epic that people actually stuck around until he was finished. This poor guy Eutychus was probably really into it, but just hadn’t gotten enough sleep the night before. This story kind of reminds of trying to go to a midnight movie premiere after having worked all day. You’re really excited about the movie, but you just can’t seem to keep your eyes open.
Speaking of movies, this scene reminds of a typical horror movie device, particularly common in zombie movies. Some crazed creature attacks a main character and is beaten down and as they walk away they hear a moaning as the person who should be dead slowly gets back up. This story is like that, but positive and less terrifying. Eutychus makes a three-story faceplant into the ground, likely producing some horrendous spine-crunching sounds when he lands. (I doubt there was sufficient therapy in the ancient world for those who saw this firsthand.) But Paul just calmly walks over and by the grace and power of God declares, “It’s all good folks, he’s okay!” and then Eutychus stands up triumphantly and walks it off like a football player who seemingly just took a really bad hit. So while this story is reminiscent of a scene from a zombie flick, Eutycus still doesn’t fit the bill for a true zombie.
We’ve danced around a some half-examples that mostly don’t qualify as zombies, but next time we’ll look at some other examples that are much closer.
Reclaimer will be doing something new this week. This post is to lay some groundwork for things to come. Enjoy.
Zombies are all the rage these days. They’re in movies, comic books, video games, and now even on TV. Most conversations about zombies lead to one of two places: 1) Discussing the proper strategy for fighting and surviving zombies in the case of a zombpocalypse, or 2) Arguing over which kind of zombie is “best” or “right” in their various depictions. This post will focus on the latter.
There are many aspects of zombie-ism that people will argue about. Fast or slow? Smart or dumb? Flesh-eating or just the brains? Super-human or regular dead human? These are all valid questions, but rather than answering them with my opinion, the following is an attempt to broadly categorize the various zombies. This is by no means intended to be an authoritative or comprehensive treatment of zombie lore, just a brief overview. The various incarnations don’t have to be seen as wrong or right, just different. So here are three types of zombies that we encounter in fiction:
Reanimated
The reanimated zombie is a dead human body that moves and behaves in a way as if it is alive. The body is stripped of emotional or cognitive capabilities and functions only on base instincts. These zombies may be dangerous in large swarms, but do not possess any capabilities outside of what is common for a normal human body.
Examples: Night of the Living Dead, Frankenstein, The Serpent and the Rainbow, The Mummy
Significance: This is perhaps the oldest and least popular modern interpretation of the zombie. This version seems to have roots in various cultures, one being African or Haitian witchcraft where a person’s body (sometimes not even dead) is hypnotized or otherwise controlled through magic or some supernatural means to do the will of whoever cast the spell. Another possible interpretation of the reanimated zombie could be traced back to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The monster in that story was a body pieced together using parts from other bodies, then reanimated through electricity. This particular kind of zombie brings up all kind of metaphysical questions pertaining to the body, the soul, and the mind. If a dead body is reanimated, will it have a consciousness and unique identity? In the case of Frankenstein’s monster, he did seem to have a personal identity. On the other decaying hand, the classic zombies in Night of the Living Dead seem to be just mindless husks. All zombies in our current pop culture seem to agree that zombies don’t have souls or personal identities.
Horror factor: These zombies are not quite as terrifying to encounter in small groups, but there is a psychological component that increases the horror. The lack of clarity on what exactly is going on with this type leaves open the possibility that maybe you’re still somewhat in your dead body, but without actual control. Or at the very least, your dead body is being used to do something terrible without your permission post-death.
Infected
A human body is infected by a mysterious and deadly virus/toxin, dies, and then is brought back as a zombie by that same substance, the order of this sequence is up for debate. Since the change occurs due to an organism, the body of this zombie may or may not be imbued with physical capabilities beyond what a normal human would have.
Examples: Left 4 Dead games, 28 Days Later, Shaun of the Dead, Resident Evil games, The Walking Dead
Significance: As you can see, this type is much more prevalent these days, and that’s only a small sampling of the list. Perhaps people couldn’t handle the metaphysical and philosophical difficulties of the Reanimated and opted more for something that’s just fun to slaughter.
Horror factor: The thought of being an infected is not quite as terrible as actually having to fight them off. Since this type is all-dead, getting infected means being dead and not really knowing or caring what happens with your body. But if you’re still alive, you’re going to experience a lot of anxiety trying to figure out how to survive an assault from super-powered infected zombies.
Type H
This is a new category and I have created for the purpose of this list. The Type H zombie is a hollow body that has been hijacked by a hive mind. A simpler description of this kind is the space zombie. This version is a dead body that has been taken over and drastically altered to serve the will of a greater collective consciousness. These zombies almost always have extra parts and powers beyond what a typical human body would possess. Type H can also take many different forms for the various purposes of the intelligence that is in control.
Examples: The Flood (Halo), Necromorphs (Dead Space), Geth Husks (Mass Effect)
Significance: Newer games have taken the zombie concept and made this innovative new type of creature. The examples given above all share the characteristics of using dead bodies as organic tissue that can be rearranged and then reorganized as an cooperative force to accomplish a task (typically that task is to kill you). This zombie is less about being an individual mindless killer and more about being a mindless collection of biomass being manipulated to serve a purpose.
Horror factor: This type plays into our fears of becoming something horrible. Since the base is a human body, it makes one think that we could be metaphorically as terrifying as this zombie is physically. On top of that, this type always has some kind of extra strength, or set of limbs, or abilities that make them that much harder to kill. Perhaps the one good thing about this type is that while they are your fallen comrades, they at least they don’t so much look like them anymore, so it’s easier to dole out the shotgun spray.
Questions:
How would you critique this classification?
Are there any more good examples not mentioned?
Now that we have that settled, come back soon for a new type of segment on Reclaimer 105.
