Well according to you in previous posts of yours, they are priests in heaven now - so according to you they must be walking around swaying incense containers in heaven (or something).
What a ridiculous statement. As I said, we (believers) are priests now as well (Rev 1:5-6, 1 Peter 2:9). Does that mean we walk "around swaying incense containers"? No. So, why would it mean that for those who are in heaven? Please stop being ridiculous if you want to be taken seriously.
You need to specify what your human "priests in heaven" are doing because as you say, such claims are meaningless and prove nothing because scripture does not say much at all about the souls of the dead in Christ.
I don't know what they are doing exactly since scipture doesn't go into detail on that. But, I know they are conscious as Rev 6:9-11 makes clear. And being a priest of Christ has nothing to do with swaying incense containers, so please stop wasting your time talking about nonsense like that.
The Bible speaks for itself, I don't speak for it the way you do, as though you are the ultimate authority on it.
Another ridiculous statement. We both interpret it as we see fit. I do not speak for the Bible.
I listed all the verses talking about the resurrection and none of them are talking about a "spiritual" resurrection.
Did you even read my post? It doesn't seem so. I did not say that the first resurrection itself is a spiritual resurrection. How did you miss that? You just have just skimmed my post. I'm saying that the first resurrection itself is the bodily resurrection of Christ and we spiritually have part in that. I'm not saying we are spiritually resurrected, I'm saying we spiritually have part in His resurrection.
So what you're saying is the New Testament is a joke.
And here's yet another ridiculous statement from you. The only joke here is your apparent lack of reading comprehension skills.
Note: The New Testament never uses the Greek word záō in reference to any human who has died / fallen asleep / is not alive and living in his body.
Note: The New Testament rarely even references any human who has died (except Jesus) in terms of what they do after they die. So, this point is meaningless.
zōopoiéō is always used in reference to God’s Spirit quickening, i.e making alive again, giving or imparting (eternal) life.
That's when people are still alive, though. So, this proves nothing in relation to those who are physically dead and their souls are in heaven.
syzōopoiéō is used in reference to being quickened, i.e made alive again together with Christ, both spiritually and in reference to the quickening of the mortal body together with Christ's.
Yeah, so? Did I say otherwise? You're wasting your time here arguing with a straw man.
anástasis, égersis; anístēmi; egeírō are always and only used in reference to the bodily resurrection.
That is correct. So?
I listed all the verses. But you say that those verses are a joke (unless you were throwing an ad hominem attack at me, of course).
No, I do not say that at all. Don't speak for me. Just because you didn't bother actually reading what I said doesn't mean you can say things like this about me.
And John says they whom he saw were alive (zao) which in the New Testament always refers either to the living God, or to a human being being alive in his own body, every time it's used, without exception. Again, I listed all the verses.
Again, scripture doesn't say much at all about what people do after they physically die, so this statement proves nothing. Unless you believe in soul sleep, there is no reason to think that those who are physically dead, but spiritually alive cannot have the word zao used in reference to them.
There is a hint of anger in the tone of your reply post, as though you are angry with the facts?
No, I'm angry with your misrepresenation of what I believe and with some of the nonsense that you are saying.
(calling facts a joke betrays your anger at the facts).
I would never call facts a joke. You have decided to resort to making things up in order to try to make me look bad, but everyone can see past that. It's a sign of desperation on your part.
(Or else it's an ad hominem, attacking me for listing all the verses).
I would never attack someone for trying to use scripture to back up their claims. That is not an issue at all.
The only problem for your theory, when you use the above to support what you say about those Revelation 20:4-6 is speaking about, is the fact that kills it - the fact that the New Testament does not use the word zao except to speak about the living God, or humans who are alive in their own bodies, nor does it use the word anastasis except to speak about the bodily resurrection from the dead.
That means nothing since I am not saying it's talking about their spiritual resurrection. But, I do believe that when a believer physically dies their soul is still alive and that person can still be considered alive (zao) in that sense. But, you apparently believe in the false doctrine of soul sleep. If you didn't, then you wouldn't be saying the things that you're saying. You strongly come across as though you believe that when someone is physically dead then they are asleep and doing nothing while waiting to be bodily resurrected.
Nor does the New Testament ever use either the word zao or the word anastasis when talking about the quickening of the Spirit.
I never said that it did. Do you enjoy wasting your time making straw man arguments? You can't get that time back.
It's because we are alive in our own human bodies (zao) that we are priests on earth right now.
Why would we stop being priests when we physically die? It seems that you would only believe that if you believe in soul sleep.
Only you can explain what priestly functions those who have died / fallen asleep in Christ are performing in heaven prior to the bodily resurrection of all those who died / fell asleep in Christ. It's your theory that they are priests in heaven right now, not mine.
It's your ridiculous theory that being a priest has to involve "swaying incense containers", yet we are priests now and are not doing that. Think about it.
I don't know how human souls function as priests without having any limbs. That's your forte, apparently.
No, it isn't. I don't claim to know what goes on in heaven since I haven't been there. All I know is that scripture strongly gives the impression that people are still conscious even after physically/bodily dying. But, you don't seem to believe that.
Is the message of the Revelation of Jesus Christ to his churches a message to the living or the dead? Is it a message to those who are alive (zao) in their human bodies or to those who have died / fallen asleep in Christ? Who is the "us" John is referring to in the above verses?
This is completely irrelevant to the discussion. Are the souls of the dead in Christ conscious or not? What does it indicate about that in Rev 6:9-11?
What they are doing and your claim that they are priests in heaven (though they are not alive in their bodies (zao) requires you to specify what these priests in heaven do, not me who does not believe in any priest in heaven except our High Priest - because He alone is alive in His own body after rising from the dead, and He alone is immortal, and He alone sits on a throne in heaven.
Being priests of Christ is more of an indication of our status in Christ rather than anything specific that we are doing. We obviously don't perform the duties of the priests that we read about in the Bible or anything like that.
Why is your reply so full of meaningless statements? First you say that scripture does not say much at all about it, then you claim that they are priests in heaven. You make sense to yourself with this stuff you say, but not to me.
I draw that conclusion from my understanding of scripture as a whole. I determine the timing of Revelation 20 based on my understanding of other more straightforward scripture that speaks of the timing of things like Christ's reign, the resurrection of the dead, and the judgment.