T[ Should it be the case that the soul had become so perfectly embodied that its covering is now its character, then the moment of death would be the moment of judgment, for the soul would carry with it, as it were, its whole history, and show the deeds done in the body. We have, indeed, I think, a hint and prophecy of this correspondence between body and soul when before our eyes a face of perfect shape grows unsightly through pride and
1 J. E. A. Brown.
430 THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY
lust, and a countenance that once was repulsive becomes attractive through the beauty of the soul. If the soul in her sin or in her loveliness can so far mould to her will this stubborn matter, what may she not do with a finer material ? And so we may be writing our own books of judgment, recording every high endeavour and every base passion upon the sensitive and eternal body of the soul.1
(3) Third, emphasis is particularly placed on the idea that the resurrection body is not subject to the perpetual flux which we think of as characterizing matter. That it is incorruptible is many times reiterated. Christian teaching, except in figure of speech, does not mention the nourishing of the resurrection bodies of the redeemed by eating and drinking. Jesus expressly says that there is no marrying in the resurrection. Note the contrast with the teachings of Muhammad and others. And as if other expressions were not explicit enough, Paul expressly tells us that " flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God " (1 Cor. xv. 50), that is, that the resurrection body is not a body of flesh and blood.
T{ Science suggests that as the seen universe is composed of matter, the unseen is composed of ether, and at every point of investigation we "are led from the visible and tangible to the invisible and intangible " ; and science also concludes that the visible universe will in the end be swallowed up by the invisible, and this world disappear as a "species of matter out of date." The body of the future cannot therefore be material, but is likely to be ethereal, a body to which matter could offer no obstacle, and whose mobility would be incalculable. It is evident that a body of this substance would be much more akin to the soul, a more flexible instrument and a more transparent veil, so that while the body of matter hides the inner self, the body of ether would be its revelation.1
Tj As life wears on, and the physical freshness and beauty of the body fade, a new expression often comes out which reveals the body of the soul. In disease I have often seen faces trans- figured, as though the husk of earthy matter became for a moment transparent, and an inner body, wearing the soul's likeness, shone through. Death often completes this purging away of the mere fleshly carcase, and gives a truer picture than the living face of the body of the spiritual world. I have seen
1 J. Watson.
ROMANS vm. ii 431
faces of noble Christian combatants, which wore but a common expression in this life, look grand and heroic in death.
As sometimes in a dead man's face, To those that watch it more and more, A likeness, hardly seen before,
Comes out — to some one of his race:
So, dearest, now thy brows are cold, I see thee what thou art, and know Thy likeness to the wise below,
Thy kindred with the great of old.
But there is more than I can see, And what I see I leave unsaid, Nor speak it, knowing Death has made
His darkness beautiful with thee.
Yes, and death to those who have lived Christianly is a kind of transfiguration. " He who raised up Christ from the dead, doth quicken the mortal body " — and in death we see how perfectly — " by his spirit who dwelleth within." x
3. The subject of the resurrection of the body is not devoid of practical interest. It really lies at the bottom of the ideal of a Christian State. Throughout the Epistles of the New Testament the duties of the Christian life are based upon the fact of our Lord's Eesurrection. Before that event polygamy, concubinage, private divorce, and even slavery, had the sanction of religion. But the Christian was required to "put off" all these practices; and the " newness of life " which distinguished him from the rest of mankind was conceived as resulting directly from the fact that " Christ was raised from the dead."
TJ Other religions may teach that there is a magical charm in asceticism; but none of them condemns as sinful the free indulgence of any natural appetite, provided it be not coupled with imprudence, or with disregard of the acknowledged rights of others. And St. Paul was apparently of the same opinion — if so be that Christ is not risen. In a world where the guiding principle is common sense, he could conceive of only one alternative to life in union with a risen Lord : " If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." 2
Tj And, therefore, let no difficult speculations, no haunting