ABSTRACT
Belief in resurrection arose fairly late in Jewish history. Reasons for this belief are to be found in the Jewish view of the way humans are constituted. We find resonances of this faith in the resurrection of the dead, in the liturgy as well. Celebration of death in the Christian church, in the Roman church particularly, is always done in that great ritual which is supposed to have as its purpose the constitution of the human community. But the liturgy also expresses a belief in the resurrection in yet another way. The coffin is sprinkled with water, recalling the baptism of the dead person. And if God had raised this Jew, Jesus, then Paul would go even further back in Jewish history to try to make sense of the proclamation of the resurrection.
