Brenham weekly banner. [volume] (Brenham, Tex.) 1877-1907, 1879-01-31
The Redemption of tho Body.

without the redemption of the
body. We speak of spirits as
seperatc from bodies; yet, when
eyer VIC think of spirit, we
ciothe il with a form. 1t seems
as If a body of some kind were
essential TO the very existence
of finite being. 1t is not said
that the soul longs to be free
from the body, but rather that
Ut groans for the redemption of
the body. 1t desires and strug-
giles TO be free from corruption,
to have a body glorious and
purified body that will be
the servant Of a pure spirit. The
same members which have been
the instruments of iniquity it
strives to make the instruments
.of righteouness.
Christianity teaches clearly
that the body itself is not sinful.
This is confirmed by the fact of
the incarnation. The Son of
God took a body in all respects
like our bodies. 1t is true His
birth was miraculous, yet it was
like all human births. His body
may have been sinless, but it
was truly a human body. 1t
was subject to hunger, and
thirst, and WEAKNESS. 1t suff-
cred pain and death. With a
body Christ rose from the dead
and assembled into heaven. A
change indeed must have passed
upon it, but in a true sense it
was the same body. One of the
greatest difficulties which the
pagan philosophers had in re-
SEWING Christianity was the in
carnation. They said it was
impossible fer God to descend
into matter. to be united with
l1esh. They said it was absurd
to speak of Jesus, who had
eaten and drunk like other men.
who had suffered and died on
the cross, as the incarnation Of
the Word or Wisdom of God.
That Word. they said, could
never come in contact with mat
ter, which was in itself the root
of evil; could never be united to
flesh, which was the source of
corruption. But Christianity
said expressly that the body
was Gods own workmanship,
that it ought to be the temple
ofthe Holy Ghost, and by the
fact of the incarnation it showed
that there was nothing in the
body necessarily sinful.
The lessons which Christian
ity teaches by this are not re-
mote. A pure body is necessa-
~ to pure soul. As the mind
or thinking faculty, suffers from
the in6rInities of the flesh, so
the soul from an INDUCED or
corrupted body. The servant
becomes the master, and the
master becomes the slave; and
having lost the sense of its own
proper enjoymentsr it is often
id a wiling bondage. The
washing prescribed by the law
OF Moses, and the rite of bap-
tism as retained in the Christian
Church, may be designed indi-
rectly to teach respect for the
body. To be clean and to take
care of our health thus become
parts. of revealed religion.
Drunkenness and other vices
that destroy the body are also
destructive of religion, for they
also corrupt the soul. 1t is i'm
possible, in the nature ofthings,
that those who make their bod
les instruments of of corruption
can enter the kingdom of God.
The festival of the Christian
religion consists in eating and
drinking the memorials of
body, and there are made typi-
cal of the spiritual strength de-
rived from Christ. The Protest
ant Churches have avoided the
liberalism which makes the body
of Christ to be eaten carnally or
as real body, but they have
held TO the truth symbolized,
that Christ is the source of spir-
itual life to all true Christians.
Long before the sacrament of
the Supper was instituted, and
SO far as fair exegesis carries US,
without at all referring to it,
Christ spoke of the spirit and
life which He gave to His dis
ciples under the figures ofeating
His flesh and drinking His
blood In our communion service
we pray that our sinful bodies
maybe made clean by His body, |
and our souls washed through |
His most precious blood. The |
washing, it reed scarcely be |
said, IS not with the literal blood |
that flowed from His veins, nor |
is the making clean by His lit |
eral body; but such is thehonor
which Christianity bestows on
the body, that it is made the |
symbol of the greatest realities. |
The Church. or the congregation |
OF true believers; IS called the |
body of Christ. The same SER
vice speaks of our being very |
incorporate in the !
body of Gods Son I
language which rests on the
strong words of ST. Paul, who
says that the true disciples are
of His body, of His
flesh, and of His bones.
1t is said of the first Chris
tiaus that they did eat their
meat with gladness and single
ness of heart. praising God"
They did not leave the world, |
nor think it uuclean to eat and
drink They did not despise
their bodies, but learned to care
for them fo reyerenre fherp