Memnon, who was killed by Achilles, seems to have received a similar fate. Achilles, after being killed, was snatched from his funeral pyre by his divine mother Thetis and resurrected, brought to an immortal existence in either Leuce, the Elysian plains or the Islands of the Blessed. Asclepius was killed by Zeus, only to be resurrected and transformed into a major deity. In ancient Greek religion a number of men and women became physically immortal as they were resurrected from the dead. Taking a more positive position, Tryggve Mettinger argues in his recent book that the category of rise and return to life is significant for Ugaritic Baal, Melqart, Adonis, Eshmun, Osiris and Dumuzi. Sir James Frazer in his book The Golden Bough relates to these dying and rising gods, but many of his examples, according to various scholars, distort the sources. A few extant Egyptian and Canaanite writings allude to dying and rising gods such as Osiris and Baal. The concept of resurrection is found in the writings of some ancient non-Abrahamic religions in the Middle East. Like the Abrahamic religions, Hinduism also has a core belief in resurrection and reincarnation. While most Christians believe Jesus' resurrection from the dead and ascension to Heaven was in a material body, some believe it was spiritual.

Christian theological debate ensues with regard to what kind of resurrection is factual – either a spiritual resurrection with a spirit body into Heaven, or a material resurrection with a restored human body. The death and resurrection of Jesus is a central focus of Christianity. Some believe the soul is the actual vehicle by which people are resurrected. As a religious concept, it is used in two distinct respects: a belief in the resurrection of individual souls that is current and ongoing ( Christian idealism, realized eschatology), or else a belief in a singular resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The resurrection of the dead is a standard eschatological belief in the Abrahamic religions. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which involves the same person or deity coming back to live in a different body, rather than the same one. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected.

Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death.

People coming back to life