The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-04-17

body, and passed over to the new
body in the resurrection. Whereas,
on the contrary, neither of these
terms refer to the stuff out of which
either body is made, but both refer
to the relation to its animating prin-
ciple in which each body exists. The
natural" or, as Paul actually said,
the "psychical" body, is the body
whose life principle is in the psyche,
the "living soul" Verse 45), which is
common to man and the lower ami
mals-in all essentially similar as
semblage of sentiment, appetitive,
and intelligent faculties. On the
other hand, the spiritual body is
the body whose life-principle is in
the paeumo the esprit, which is pc
culiar to man. Instead, therefore, of
referring to some highly sublimated
material, which, in ignorance of it's ma
ture, may be called spirit" the cpl
tibet spiritual" denotes the resur-
rection body, not as body formed
out of spirit, but, rather, formed
for the spirit-perhaps we may find
cause to say, formed by the spirit,
the plastic organ of it's self-expres-
sion, the obedient instrument of it's
will.
What is raised then? Can we any
longer use with propriety the veneer
able phrase of the Apostles Creed,
Il believe in the resurrection of the
body" if the buried body has no part
in the resurrection?
We may, on one condition, still pro-
perly use this time-hallowed phrase
remembering, however, that it comes
to us from outside of the New Tesla
ment, which speaks of "the resurrec-
ton of the Dead" not of the dead
body. We may intelligently class it
with those numerous phrases which
are understood to speak the language
of appearance, not the language of
reality.
We visit the grave of friend. We
point to the mound, and say, He
lies there" No, he does not; it only
appears as though he did. The body
in which he always appeared to us
lies below the ground, and a sign of
it appears in the hillock of turf
above it. Common speech is full of
this language of appearance. We
sail out to sea, and say, "The land
sinks below the horizon" That is, it
appears to sink. In reality, the cur
vature of the earth intervenes and
hides the land from our view. Sowe
say, "The sun rises" He appears to
rise, but really the earth rolls round
and brings him into view. The same
law of language justifies us in speak
ing Of "the resurrection of the body"
provided we use it intelligently as
the language of appearance only. A
body has disappeared in the grave;
''the earthly house of this tabernacle
is dissolved" Instead of it another
body appears, "a building of God"
eternal in the heavens" 1t belongs
to the same person, and is recogniz-
able as his. Though the change is
the substitution of an entirely differ
ent body, the appearance is as if the
body that was put into the grave had
been raised out of the grave.
Yet it is significant, that the Bible,
elsewhere using 80 much of the Ian
guage of appearance, should strictly
avoid it here, and speak only of "the
resurrection of the dead" as if to
keep us out of the Jewish way of
thinking about the resurrection of the
body.
The popular belief on this subject
in Christ's time was such as to pro
woke the skepticism of the Sadducees.
Even bodily blemishes and defects
were to reappear in the resurrection
body, so that personal identity might
be recognized. The same way of
thinking continues. 1t is not long
since some improvement in the city
of Marseilles made it desirable to re-
move part of the Jews burying-
ground. The authorities promised
the greatest care in the removal of
the bones to another spot. But the
Jews still feared that portions of diff
ferent bodies might be mixed or lost.
They accordingly refused consent ON
the ground that it would "embarrass
the resurrection
The notion of the actual resurrec-
ton of the buried body, or any parti-
Gle of it, is indeed so embarrassed"
by such difficulties in the way of ra-
tional and Christian thought. that it
is no longer supported by any reason
except the very vague and inappro-
pirate one, that God can doanything.
When we consider the fugitive ma
ture of the elements which compose