RESURRECTION, This expression denotes the revival of the human body in a future state after it has been consigned to the grave. Wa find traces of this doctrine iu other religions, and especially in later Judaism, but the doctrine is peculiarly Christian. In the earlier Hebrew Scriptures there is no mention of it. It is not to be found in the Pentateuch, in the Psalms, nor even in the earlier prophecies. It is supposed to be alluded to in Isaiah (xxvi. 19), and in Ezekiel (xxxvii.) in the well-known chapter as to the revival of dry bones in the valley of vision; and in the last chapter of Daniel (xii. 2) there is the distinct affirmation that " many that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." There is also a well known passage iu Job (six. 25-27) which has been thought by some to refer to the doc trine of the resurrection of the body. Almost all recent criticism, however, denies the validity of this reference, as unsupported by a correct rendering of the words themselves; and especially by the whole scope of the argument of the book, which confines its view of retribution to the present life. The idea of a future resurrection would have presented to the mind of the patriarch a more conspicuous solution of the enigmas of Providence which perplexed him, and could not have failed to be introduced into the argument by some of the speakers, had it formed an element of their religious knowledge: but they nowhere allude to it. It is only, therefore, in the later Judaism that the doctrine appears: In the time of our Lord it had become a formal doctrine of the Pharisees. The general body of the Jewish people seem also to have believed in it. The Sadducees alone dis puted it.(tilatt. xxii. 23, sq. ; Luke xx. 27, sq. ; Acts xxiii. 6-8). It appears, in fact, to have become bound up in the Jewish mind with the idea of a future life, so that an argu ment which proved the one proved the other; and the Saddwees not merely denied the distinctive idea of the resurrection, but further denied that there was any " angel or spirit." It remained for Christ and his apostles to reveal clearly the doctrine of the resurrec tion of the body, and to connect it with the fact of Christ's own resurrection as its special evidence and pledge. The following may be stated as the main points involved in the
doctrine as revealed in the New Testament: 1. The resurrection of the dead is ascribed to Christ himself; it will complete his work of redemption for the human race (John v. 21; 1 Cor. xv. 22, sq. ; 1 Thess. iv. 14; Rev. i. 18). 2. All the dead will be raised indis criminately to receive judgment according to their works, "they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation" (John v. 21-29; 1 Cor. xv. 22; Rev. xx. 11). 3. The resurrection will take place at the " last day,"by which seems to be meant the close of the present world (John vi. 39,40, xi. 24; 1 Thess. iv. 15). 4. The great event is represented as being ushered in by the sound of a trumpet, a representation probably borrowed from the Jewish practice of convening assemblies by sound of trumpet (1 Cor. xv. 52; 1 Thess. iv. 16). 5. As to the character of the change through which our bodies are raised after the lapse of ages, and get their identity preserved, there is nothing distinctly made known. The impossi bility of such a change was evidently a subject of argument in the primitive Christian age, and the apostle argues strongly in its favor (1 Cor. xv. 32, sq.) from occurrences which are scarcely less mysterious in the natural world. It is not professed, however, that such occurrences really explain or throw light upon the fact of the resurrection. The apostle designs rather to silence cavils, and to invigorate faith, than to render an account of the actual manner of the resurrection. Arguing from God's infinite power as displayed in the processes of creation, he would, as it were, press the question which lie asks else where: "Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead?" (Acts xxvi. S). rather than attempt any explanation of which the subject does not really admit. And this is the only becoming spirit in which this great doctrine can be contemplated by any mind. The fact of a resurrection of the,dead is clearly revealed; but the mode of the fact necessarily transcends our present intelligence.