PHENOMENA IN THE SEASONS.

THE RESURRECTIONS OF SPRING.

"But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain : But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body."-1 Corinthians xv. 35-38.

THE resurrection of the body is eminently a revealed doctrine. After its announcement in the Bible, philosophy does indeed point us to interesting examples of transformation in the natural world, which some have considered as evidence of this doctrine; but they are rather its symbols. When satisfied of its truth, on the testimony of inspiration, these natural changes afford beautiful illustrations of a doctrine so delightful to contemplate: but the analogies fail in some of the most important points, and, therefore, have little force in argument.

On the other hand, however, philosophy has ever been ready to oppose this doctrine with what it regards as insuperable difficulties. The most prominent one is referred to in the text. How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? inquires the votary of science, confident that his objection can never be answered. Men deposit the bodies of their friends in the grave; but do they remain there? The chemist know's full well that they suffer entire decomposition, and that the ultimate elements are scattered by the winds and the waves, and are taken up by other bodies, it may be by those of other men; so that the same particles may enter into the composition of a multitude of human beings. How then can the body, which is laid in the grave, be raised? since not even Omnipotence can make the same particles a part of two or more bodies at the same time.

From the time of the Mohammedan philosopher and physician,

B

Avicenna, to the recent appearance of the "Anastasis" of a distinguished American professor, this has been the leading objection to man's resurrection: and at first view it certainly seems very strong. The subject deserves careful examination by all the light which the Bible and philosophy are able to shed upon it. And the resurrections of nature around us, at this interesting season of the year, seem to turn our contemplations naturally to man's final deliverance from the power of the grave.

I shall first inquire, what is the scriptural doctrine of the Resurrection?

Secondly, inquire whether Natural Religion opposes, or illustrates and confirms, the Scripture doctrine?

And thirdly, inquire what symbolizations of the Resurrection are presented in nature at this season of the year?

1. What, then, is the Scripture doctrine of the Resurrection? In the first place, the Bible distinctly announces the fact that there will be a resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. Marvel not at this, says Christ, for the hour is coming in which all that are in their graves shall come forth, they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. But the fullest and most unequivocal evidence of a resurrection is the graphic and sublime description of it in the chapter containing the text. Now, says the Apostle, if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you, that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. And this resurrection is to take place, according to Paul, at the coming of Christ. Then cometh the end, says he, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father.

But even this clear and decided description does not convince all men that anything will be actually raised out of the grave. Some maintain that such language is used in accommodation to the notions of the ignorant, who look upon their bodies as their all, and could have no idea of a pure spirit. Others contend, that a spiritual body is eliminated at the period of death, and accompanies the soul in its unknown aerial flight. But such opinions can be made consistent with the Bible only on the rationalistic principle of exegesis, called accommodation; which means, when stated plainly, that we are to consult our philosophy as to what the Bible should mean, rather than the laws of grammatical construction to learn what it does mean. If language can teach that the dead are to be raised out of their

graves, then the Bible does teach it; and if we may regard the statement of so simple a fact as figurative, or modal, there is no other fact stated in the Bible which may not be viewed in the same light, and thus set aside.

2. The Bible represents the germ of the resurrection body as proceeding from the body that is laid in the grave.

If nothing is derived from the grave, or from the body once laid there, for what possible reason does the Bible constantly speak of a resurrection from the grave? It could serve no purpose but to mislead the reader. Nor can any reason be alleged for the use of such language. There are some subjects treated of in the Bible, so entirely removed from our knowledge, that a clear description of them cannot be given; as, for instance, Paul's account of the third heavens. But surely, it were easy enough to say whether anything laid in the grave is raised from it. If not, how can we vindicate the author of the Bible from teaching ignorant man a falsehood?

But the text settles this point, if general considerations do not. The Apostle selects a specific example from the vegetable kingdom, to answer the infidel's objection, with what body do they come? He supposes a kind of wheat placed in the earth, where it seems, for a time, to be dying; and indeed, everything does decay, except the minute germ which springs forth from, and is nourished by, the decaying cotyledon. The ascending plumule, making its way to the air, and the descending radicle, spreading in the soil, draw in nourishment from these two sources, and the expanding stalk becomes independent of the seed; and we see in it no resemblance to the seed. Yet that seed was indispensable to its germination. Just so, the Apostle would have us understand, does the resurrection body arise from that which was laid in the grave. To suppose that no such relation exists between them, and that nothing, in fact, is derived from the grave, is to do away entirely with the force of this beautiful illustration.

3. The Bible represents our present organization, as not existing in the resurrection body.

Flesh and blood, says Paul, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. They, says Christ, which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage: neither can they die any more, for they are equal unto the angels. The employments and enjoyments of heaven are also represented as wholly spiritual, although sometimes described, from the poverty of human language, by a reference to material objects and processes. Christ represented it to his disciples as sufficient proof of his being really a man,