Systematic Theology, by Louis Berkhof - New Leaven

the day of the Lord, and with the end of the world, and will immediately precede the
general and final judgment. It certainly does not favor the premillennial distinctions
with respect to this doctrine. In several places it represents the resurrection of the
righteous and that of the wicked as contemporaneous, Dan. 12:2; John 5:28,29; Acts
24:15; Rev. 20:13-15. All of these passages speak of the resurrection as a single event and
do not contain the slightest indication that the resurrection of the righteous and that of
the wicked will be separated by a period of a thousand years. But this is not all that can
be said in favor of the idea that the two coincide. In John 5:21-29 Jesus combines the
thought of the resurrection, including the resurrection of the righteous, with the thought
of the judgment, including the judgment of the wicked. Moreover, II Thess. 1:7-10
clearly represents the parousia (vs. 10), the revelation (vs. 7), and the judgment of the
wicked (vs. 8,9) as coinciding. If that is not the case, language would seem to have lost
its meaning. Furthermore, the resurrection of believers is directly connected with the
second coming of the Lord in I Cor. 15:23; Phil. 3:20,21; and I Thess. 4:16, but it is also
represented as occurring at the end of the world, John 6:39,40,44,54 or at the last day.
That means that believers are raised up at the last day, and that the last day is also the
day of the coming of the Lord. Their resurrection does not precede the end by a period
of a thousand years. Happily, there are several Premillenarians who do not accept the
theory of a threefold resurrection, but who nevertheless cling to the doctrine of a double
resurrection.
3. CONSIDERATION OF THE ARGUMENTS FOR A DOUBLE RESURRECTION.
a. Great emphasis is placed on the fact that Scripture, while speaking in general of
the resurrection ton nekron, that is, “of the dead,” repeatedly refers to the resurrection of
believers as a resurrection ek nekron, that is, “out of the dead.” Premillenarians render
this expression, “from among the dead,” so that it would imply that many dead still
remain in the grave. Lightfoot also asserts that this expression refers to the resurrection
of believers, but Kennedy says, “There is absolutely no evidence for this definite
assertion.” This is also the conclusion to which Dr. Vos comes after a careful study of the
relevant passages. In general it may be said that the assumption that the expression he
anastasis ek nekron should be rendered “the resurrection from among the dead,” is
entirely gratuitous. The standard lexicons know nothing of such a rendering; and
Cremer-Koegel interprets the expression to mean “from the state of the dead,” and this
would seem to be the most natural interpretation. It should be noted that Paul uses the
terms interchangeably in I Cor. 15. Though speaking of the resurrection of believers
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