Blogger's Question: He Rose Again?

I recently had a question asked of me by a blog follower. Here is her text:

When I was little, I learned in 2nd grade in the Apostle's Creed, …"He arose from the dead and He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God The Father Almighty. From thence He shall come… Somewhere along the line I noticed that the words have become, "He arose again from the dead…." Our Lord only arose once. Is there a theological explanation of this "again" wording in the Apostle's Creed?

I investigated the question and found the following:

In the Apostles' Creed, the following texts exist:

Apostles' (Rufinus): The third day He rose again from the dead,

Apostles' (T-version, traditional): He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead;

These texts exist in earlier versions of the Apostles' Creed as quoted by Tertullian:

De Virg. Vel., 1: on the third day brought to life from the dead,

Against Praxeas 2: brought back to life,

De Praecept., 13 and 26: He rose the third day,

Nowhere does the word "again" appear.

The Nicene Creed has the following: was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried; and the third day rose again according to the scriptures.

Answer:

The definition from New Advent is: The Resurrection is the rising again from the dead, the resumption of life."

It means a resumption of life; implicitly it is resurrection "again to life" or "to life again." It is not a repetition of a resurrection, but resurrection is the resumption of life.

A dictionary entry for the word "again" reads "a return to a previous position or condition." In this case, the resurrection implies a return to a previous condition. We believe Jesus was not resuscitated, so it is more than a return to a previous condition.