ESSAY III.

THE RESURRECTION BODY.

THE course pursued in these Essays is one from generals to particulars. In the First was discussed the Locality of man's future inheritance; in the Second, its Condition and Character; and now we have to direct our attention to the condition of man himself, not, however, to his state generally, so much as to that of his body in particular. This is a subject of fundamental importance when viewed in reference to the leading design of these Essays as indicated by their title; and it is of the utmost consequence that we should, if possible, arrive at clear and definite views upon it. It bears, moreover, a similar relation to some of the other topics which we shall hereafter have to consider, e. g. to that of the succeeding, or Fourth Essay, as that of the First did to the Second.

It was observed in the commencement of the Second Essay that, after all that had been said in the previous one respecting the terrestrial locality of the future inheritance, it might seem like uttering a mere truism to affirm afterwards that it would be really and essentially physical. Yet to do this was proved to be necessary. I may now observe that, notwithstanding all that has been said in our past course, which had any bearing upon the point, it is quite necessary to call distinct attention to the fact, that man's resuscitated, or resurrection body will be essentially MATERIAL.

It is perfectly astonishing how slow many are to see and to acknowledge this truth; and among them there are some from whom we should have expected exactly the reverse, from the fact that they have treated kindred subjects in a way that one would suppose would have insured right views on this: but such is not the case. A striking instance of the kind is afforded in that very valuable work to which reference has been

already more than once made

The Religion of

Geology, by Dr. Hitchcock. The talented author has been at great pains to show at considerable length in one part of his work (ch. xi.), that this earth will be man's future abode. He quotes largely from several other authors in favour of this view, and among them he gives a long extract from Dr. Chalmers' discourse "On the New Heavens and the New Earth," parts of which were given in the Second of these Essays. One would have supposed, therefore, that when he came to speak of the nature and condition of man's body hereafter, he would certainly regard it as material and physical, seeing that this would appear to be necessarily called for by the nature of his habitat or abode. A material earth calls for a material body to inhabit it. The nature of the one determines the nature of the other. There must always exist between them the same or a similar relation that there is at present. But what does Dr. Hitchcock suppose may be the nature of man's body hereafter? To those who are unacquainted with it, the answer must appear extraordinary indeed, coming from such a source. He conceives that, very possibly, the resurrection body may consist of a "luminiferous ether." He should,

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however, speak for himself. After treating of the last conflagration, as described by St. Peter, and of certain imaginary difficulties which this may be supposed to place in the way of the earth being again inhabited by man, he proceeds to remark as follows: :

"But is it not possible that our difficulty of conceiving how the spiritual body can enter at once upon its residence in the new heavens and earth, while yet the globe is only a shoreless ocean of fire', results from a mistaken conception of the nature of the spiritual body? Do we not judge of it by our present bodies, and imagine that it must necessarily possess such an organization as would be destroyed by the extremes of heat and cold? And are we authorized to draw such an inference? The Scriptures have, indeed, left us very much in the dark as to the specific nature of the future glorified body, which Paul calls a spiritual

1 It may well indeed be difficult to conceive how a "spiritual body," or any other body, could do this; but it seems amazing that this talented author should not have seen the error of supposing that the earth will be inhabited at all after the conflagration, before "All things have been made new" (Rev. xxi. 5). We have here, however, a striking illustration how a mistake on one subject leads us astray on another; and how constantly it is the case, that we are found laboriously engaged in endeavouring to meet and remove difficulties, which are purely of our own creation.

body. He does not mean that it is composed of spirit, for then it would not differ from the soul itself, by which it is to be animated. He certainly means that it is composed of matter; unless, indeed, there be in the universe a third substance, distinct both from matter and spirit. But of the existence of such a substance we have no positive evidence; and therefore must conclude the spiritual body to be matter; called spiritual, probably, because eminently adapted to form the immortal residence of pure spirit.

"Yet we learn from the Apostle's description that it is not composed of flesh and blood, which, he says, cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither is it capable of decay, like our present bodies. Indeed, the illustration which he derives from the decay and germination of a kernel of wheat shows us that the future body will be as much unlike the present as a stalk of wheat is different from 'the seed whence it sprang; and in appearance scarcely any two things are more unlike. Hence we may suppose the resurrection body of the righteous to be as different from that which the soul now animates as matter can be in its most diverse forms.

"Now, the question arises, Do we know of any form