resurrection remains unclothed. Dr. Lange, whose imagination often dominates him, teaches that the soul was created to be in- carnate ; and therefore was endowed with forces and talents to that end. In virtue of its nature, it as certainly gathers from sur- rounding matter the materials for a body, as a seed gathers from the earth and air the matter suited to its necessities. He assumes, therefore, that there is in the soul " a law or force, which secures its forming for itself a body suited to its necessities and sphere ; or more properly," he adds, " the organic identity " may be char- acterized as the " Schema des Leibes," which is included in the soul, or, as the " Incarnationstrieb des Geistes ; " a " nisus forma- tivus " which belongs to the human soul.1 The soul while on earth forms for itself a body out of earthly materials ; when it leaves the earth it fashions a habitation for itself out of the mate- rials to be found in the higher sphere to which it is translated ; and at the end of the world, when the grand palingenesia is to occur, the souls of men, according to their nature, will fashion bodies for themselves out of the elements of the dissolving uni- verse. " The righteous will clothe themselves with the refined elements of the renovated earth; they shall shine as the sun. The wicked shall be clothed with the refuse of the earth ; they shall awake to shame and everlasting contempt." 2
Leaving out of view what is fanciful in this representation, it may be readily admitted by those who adhere to the generally received doctrine that man consists of soul and body (and not of spirit, soul, and body), that the soul, besides its rational, vol- untary, and moral faculties, has in it what may be called a prin- ciple of animal life. That is, that it has not only faculties which fit it for the higher exercises of a rational creature capable of fellowship with God, but also faculties which fit it for living in organic union with a material body. It may also be admitted that the soul, in this aspect, is the animating principle of the body, that by which all its functions are carried on. And it may further be admitted that the soul, in this aspect, is that which gives identity to the human body through all the changes of sub- stance to which it is here subjected. And finally it may be ad- mitted, such being the case, that the body which the soul is to have at the resurrection, is as really and truly identical with that which it had on earth, as the body of the man of mature life is the same which he had when he was an infant. All this may pass for what it is worth. What stands sure is what the Bible
1 Beitrdge zu der Lehre von den Letzten Dingen, Meurs, 1841, p. 235. 2 Ibid. p. 251.
780 PART IV. Ch. n. — THE RESURRECTION.
teaches, that our heavenly bodies are in some high, true, and real sense, to be the same as those which we now have.
Nature of the Resurrection Body.
It is obvious that this is a subject of which we can know noth- ing, except from divine revelation. We are of necessity as pro~ foundry ignorant of this matter, as of the nature of the inhabi- tants of the planets or of the sun. The speculations of men concerning the nature of the future body have been numerous ; some merely fanciful, others, revolting.
There are two negative statements in the Bible on this subject, which imply a great deal. One is the declaration of Christ, That in the resurrection men neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God. The other is the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians xv. 50, " Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." There seem to be plainly three things implied or asserted in these passages. (1.) That the bodies of men must be specially suited to the state of existence in which they are to live and act. (2.) That our present bodies, that is, our bodies as now organized, consisting as they do of flesh and blood, are not adapted to our future state of being. And (3.) That everything in the organization or constitution of our bodies designed to meet our present necessities, will cease with the life that now is. Nothing of that kind will belong to the resurrection body. If blood be no longer our life, we shall have no need of organs of respiration and nutrition. So long as we are ignorant of the conditions of existence which await us after the resurrec- tion, it is vain to speculate on the constitution of our future bod- ies. It is enough to know that the glorified people of God will not be cumbered with useless organs, or trammeled by the limi- tations which are imposed by our present state of existence.
The following particulars, however, may be inferred with more or less confidence from what the Bible has revealed on this sub- ject,—
1. That our bodies after the resurrection will retain the human form. God, we are told, gave to all his creatures on earth each its own body adapted to its nature, and necessary to attain the end of its creation. Any essential change in the nature of the body would involve a corresponding change in its internal consti- tution. A bee in the form of a horse would cease to be a bee ; and a man in any other than a human form, would cease to be a man. His body is an essential element in his constitution. Ev-