RESURRECTION OF THE BODY.
This expression is used to denote the revivifica tion of the human body after it has been forsaken by the soul, or the reunion of the soul hereafter to the body which it had occupied in the present world.
(1) Not Taught in Earliest Works. It is ad mitted that there are no traces of such a doctrine in the earlier Hebrew Scripture.. It is not to be found in the Pentateuch, in the historical books, or in the Psalms; for Ps xlix :15 does not relate to this subject; neither does Ps. civ: 29, 30, al though so cited by Theodoret and others. The celebrated passage of Job xix :25 sq., has, indeed, been strongly insisted upon in proof of the early belief in this doctrine; but the most learned com mentators are agreed, and scarcely any one at the present day disputes, that such a view of the text arises either from mistranslation or mis apprehension, and that Job means no more than to express a confident conviction that his then dis eased and dreadfully corrupted body should be restored to its former soundness; that he should rise from the depressed state in which he lay to his former prosperity; and that God would manifestly appear (as was the case) to vindicate his up rightness. That no meaning more recondite is to be found in the text is agreed by Calvin, Mercier, Grotius, Le Clcrc, Patrick, \Varhurton, Durell, Heath, Kennicott, Doderlcin, Dathe, Eichhorn, Jahn, Dc \Vette, and a host of others. That it alludes to a resurrection is disproved thus: (I) The supposition is inconsistent with the design of the poem and the course of the argument, since the belief which it has been supposed to express as connected with a future state of retribution, would in a great degree have solved the difficulty on which the whole dispute turns, and could not but have been often alluded to by the speakers. (2) it is inconsistent with the connection of the dis course the reply of 7_ophar agreeing, not with the popular interpretation but with the other. (3) It is inconsistent with many passages in which the same person (Job) longs for death as the end of his miseries, and not as the introduction to a better life (iii.; vii :7, 8; x:20-22; xiv; xvit:lt-t6). (a) It is not proposed as a topic of consolation by any of the friends of Job; nor by Elihu, who acts as a sort of umpire; nor by the Almighty himself in the decision of the controversy. (5) The later Jews, who eagerly sought for every intimation bearing on a future life which their Scriptures might contain, never regarded this as such; nor is it once referred to by Christ or his apostles.
(2) The Doctrine of Isaiah and Daniel. Isa iah may be regarded as the first Scripture writer in whom such an allusion can be traced. He com pares the restoration of the Jewish people and state to a resurrection from the dead (ch. xxvi: 19, 20) ; and in this he is followed by Ezekiel at the time of the Exile (ch. xxxvii). From these which are, however, not very clear in their intimations, it may seem that in this, as in other matters, the twilight of spiritual manifesta tions brightened as the day-spring from on high approached; and in Dan. xii :2, we at length arrive
at a clear and unequivocal declaration, that 'those who lie sleeping under the earth shall awake, some to eternal life, and others to everlasting shame and contempt.' (3) In the Time of Christ. In the time of Christ, the belief of a resurrection, in connection with a state of future retribution, was held by the Pharisees and the great body of the Jewish people, and was only disputed by the Sadducees.
(4) Emphasized by Christ. But although the doctrine of the resurrection \vas thus prevalent among the Jews in the time of Christ, it might still have been doubtful and obscure to us, had not Christ given to it the sanction of his authority, and declared it a constituent part of his religion (e. g. Matt. xxii; John v, viii, xi).
(5) New Testament Teaching. The principal points which can be collected from the New Testament on this subject are the following: (I) The raising of the dead is everywhere ascribed to Christ, and is represented as the last work to be undertaken by him for the salvation of man (John v :21 ; xi :25 ; I Cor. xv :22, sq.; I Thess. iv :is; Rev. i:18). (2) All the dead will be raised, without respect to age, rank, or character in this world (John v:28, 29; Acts xxiv:l5; I Cor. xv: 22). (3) This event is to take place not before the end of the world, or the general juclgnnent (Jahn v:21 ; vi :39, 40; Xi 24 1 Cor. xv :22-28; 1 Thess. iv :is; Rev. xx :I 1). (4) The manner in which this marvelous change shall be accom plished is necessarily beyond our present compre hension; and, therefore, the Scripture is content to illustrate it by figurative representations, or by proving the possibility and intelligibility of the leading facts. Sonic of the figurative descriptions occur in John v; Matt. xxiv; I Cor. xv :a; I Thess. iv :i6; Phil. iii :21. The image of a trum pet-call, which is repeated in sonic of these texts, is derived from the Jewish custom of convening assemblies by sound of trumpet. (5) The possi bility of a resurrection is powerfully argued by Paul in 1 Cor. xv :32 sq., by comparing it with events of common occurrence in the natural world. (See also ver. 12-14, and compare Acts iv :2.) But although this body shall be so raised as to preserve its identity, it must yet undergo certain purifying changes to fit it for the kingdom of heaven, and to render it capable of immortality (1 Cor. xv:35, sq.), so that it shall become a glorified body like that of Christ (ver. 49; Rom. vi :9; Phil. iii :21) ; and the bodies of those whom the last day finds alive, will undergo a similar change without tasting death (s Cor. xv :51, 53; 2 Cor. v:4; I Thess. iv:15, sq.; Phil. iii :20. (See Knapp, Christian Theology, translated by Leonard Woods, D. D., sec. 151-153 ; Hody, On the Resur rection; Drew, Essay on the Resurrection of the Human Body; Burnet, State of the Dcad; Hodge, Syst. Theol.; Raymond, Syst. Theol.; Edersheim, Life of Jesus.)