Thanks for that info--- I hadn't known that about Dr. Mohler and am glad to hear of it.
I've been in FR since 1997, first under my husband's name, and then my own, and I had never before run into Christians who explicitly denied the resurrection of the body. It threw me for a loop when some FReepers on this thread started taking that POV.
There are a couple of FReepers, not on this thread, who do take a reincarnation view (the soul is granted a new body to live in) - they are dualists and self-described non-Christians or post-Christians.
Since you are undoubtedly more familiar with the range of non-Catholic Christianity than I am, I have a question for you: is the denial/reintepretation of "the resurrection of the body" a very widespread thing out there amongst Evangelicals or Reformed or Pentecostals or what-have-you? (I wouldn't think so, but I assume you would know more than I do.)
Incidentally, I always read Dr. Mohler's stuff when it gets posted on FR. Deeply educated, very smart, a good guy:I respect him highly.
It's hard to pin down the term Evangelical. You can look at the Southern Baptist wing of the Evangelical church and have a pretty good idea what they believe on most topics. When you move into the megachurch or independent churches it is much harder to figure out. Same goes for Pentecostals. In Reformed and Lutheran circles we hear about the resurrection of the body when we affirm the Apostle's Creed, but no telling how many people actually think about what they are actually saying they believe.
The Westminster Shorter Catechism says this:
Q. 37. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?
A. The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies, being still united in Christ, do rest in their graves, till the resurrection.
Q. 38. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection?
A. At the resurrection, believers, being raised up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity.
And yes, Al Mohler is awesome. Most of his material is well thought out. He is certainly the type of leader churches in the US need today.
I have seen members of the masonic lodges that do.