The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-04-12

his text. IF Christ
llPASIC@R RuSSEll)I be not risen, then
is our preaching
vain, and your faith also vain: yea.
and we are found false witnesses of
God. Then they also which
are fallen asleep in Christ are perish
ed q Corinthians XIV. ID, 10. 49, He
said ..
The faith once delivered to the saints
by Jesus and the Apostles in respect TO
the resurrection of the dead has been
very generally lost Christian people
profess belief in the resurrection. be.
cause they find it stated in the Bible.
vet they are continually in difficulty
in their endeavor to make the Scrip
tural teaching on the subject square
with some Of the unscriptural theories
received into the Church. and incOr-
porated into many Of the creeds during
the Dark Ages"
st. Paul warned the Church against
these human PHILOSOPHERS. and called
them science. falsely SO called" which
makes void the Word Of God. These
errors have been instrumental in divid-
ing the faith Of Gods people into six
hundred denominations. with six hun
dred different professions. If Gods
people could all come back to the SIM
plicity Of the Bibles teaching in re-
spect to the resurrection of the dead.
all Of these differences would speedily
disappear. Gods Word would be seen
to be beautiful and harmonious. salts
factory to the consecrated intellect, as
none Of our sectarian creeds are.
Really the doctrine Of the resurrec-
ton Of the dead has been repudiated
by all denomiDat tons. not willingly. not
Intentionally, but perforce, as it were.
An opposite theory received and in
trenched In the minds gives no place
for the doctrine of the resurrection. as
the Bible presents it. Consequently
we have twisted the doctrine of the
resurrection and recite. 81 believe in
the resurrection of the body"
Yet even this perverted view Of the
resurrection is not satisfactory to those
who hold it. They wish many a time
that the doctrine Of the resurrection
were not in the Bible. so much diff
ference does it cause. For instance.
how inconsistent it seems that they
should say. 81 believe in the resurrec-
ton of the body" and then say. as
many do. Dying is but going home. get
ting rid Of the mortal flesh. and being
freed from it's limitations If it is
blessing to die and get free from the
limitations of the body. how could it
be blessing to be reincarcerated in
the body, and be obliged to keep it
through all eternity? Such is the in
consistency of the resurrection. how
ever, from the general view. .......
The Bible Resurrection Reasonable.
There is nothing inconsistent in the
Bible presentation of the resurrection.
Not from the Bible, but from men,
comes the suggestion of the resurrec-
ton Of the body. The Bible Invariably
refers to the resurrection Of the soul.
1t is the soul that dies; as we read,
1.-The soul that sinneth, it shall die"
Adam was created living soul, but
his living soul came under the death
sentence because he disobeyed God.
1t was his soul that was redeemed
from death, not his body. 81 will re-
deem thy life Qook up the word life to
see il it is from the Hebrew word
meaning soul, and if so, add the word
soul after the word life, in parenthesis)
from destruction" Psalm CHI, 4.
To accomplish this redemption we
read that Christ Jesus poured out His
soul unto DEATH HE made His soul
an offering for SIM" Moreover. we are
particularly told that it was the soul
Of Jesus that was raised from the
dead: "Thou wilt not leave My soul in
sheol." st. Peter quotes this statement
as prophetical Of the resurrection OF
Jesus. that His soul was not left in
hades; God raised Jesus from the dead
on the third day. With what body do
they come? is totally different ques-
ton. Some of the dead souls. in the
resurrection. will come forth with spir-
it bodies. and others with human bod.
les, according to the Bible. But the
important point Is. that 1t is the soul.
the being. that comes forth. that is res
urrected-not the body. If The soul
dies. as the Bible declares, then mani
testify the soul should be resurrected.
The difficulty with us has been that
we ''have made void the Word of
God by our traditions" We receiv-
ed from the Grecian philosophers a ira
dition which Socrates and Plato both
advocated. namely. that when a hui
man being dies he does not really die.