or not much better were those who denied the Resurrection as impure and abominable such perchance of whom we may say what Origen does in this latter case See what absurdity Celsus is guilty of who mentions those as of our Religion who cannot endure to hear the Name of Jesus XVII Lucian the noted Atheist a Writer of the same Age has these Words concerning the Christians Those Wretches perswade themselves that they shall be the whole Man both Body and Soul immortal and shall live for ever And on this account they contemn Death and many of 'em offer themselves voluntarily to be put to Death XVIII Minucius Felix who lived in the beginning of the following Age Who says he is so foolish and brutish as to deny that God who first made Man can form him again as he was before 'T is harder to make that which before had no Being than to restore that which once had a Being All Bodies when dissolv'd whether crumbled to Dust or dissolv'd into Moisture or reduced to Ashes or rarefied into Vapour are lost to us but to God the keeper of the Elements they are still preserv'd He brings in his Heathen objecting against the Christians that they believ'd this Doctrine of the Resurrection with so great and firm an assurance as if they themselves had risen to Life XIX The Author of the Book entituled Concerning the Cause of the Universe against the Heathens tells the Heathens that God will raise us all up not shifting the Soul out of one Body into another but raising up the same Bodies You O ye Heathens says he because you see that these Bodies are dissolv'd do not believe that they will rise again But learn you to believe For since ye believe according to Plato that the immortal Soul was made by God you ought not to disbelieve but that God is able to raise up to Life this Body which is compounded of the Elements and to make it immortal c. The Author of this Book was either Caius the Roman Presbyter or St. Hippolytus who both flourish'd in the begining of the Third Age. St. Hippolytus wrote a Book besides with this Title Concerning the Resurrection of the flesh We are now come down to the time of Origen who left the receiv'd Traditions of the worthy Fathers his Predecessors and endeavour'd to accommodate the Doctrine of the Resurrection to the Notions of the Heathen Philosophers He himself owns that the Resurrection of the flesh was the Doctrine preach'd in the Churches But he says that by the more wise it was not understood in so gross a sense as Celsus represented it If he means that the Wiser and Learneder sort of Christians did not believe that the same Humane Body is to rise it appears from the foregoing Testimonies that that is not true We have sought for Christ not among the ignorant Common-People but among the Doctors in the Temple And the Authorities which we have produced are those of the moâ—… Wise and Learned But this was not Origen's meaning He means only thus much That the wiser sort understood that the Flesh in the Resurrection would not be just the same in quality with that which was buried but would be alter'd for the better Neither we says he in his Answer to Celsus nor the holy Scriptures say that the Dead shall rise out of the Earth with the same Flesh without any alteration for the better So firmly establish'd in the Church was the Doctrine of the Resurrection of the same Body that Origen himself tho' in some places of his Works he advances an Hypothesis not agreeable to it yet in many other places he very plainly asserts 〈◊〉 In the Proem of his Books 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where he reckons up the several Doctrines which were own'd to be certain and firmly grounded on the Tradition of the Church he lays down this for one That there shall be a time of the Resurrection of the Dead when this Body that is sown in corruption shall rise in incorruption In the Second Book of the same Work Chap. 10. where he treats professedly of this Doctrine he disputes against the Hereticks that denied the Resurrection after this manner There are some says he especially among the Hereticks that are offended at the Church's Belief of the Resurrection as if we believ'd foolishly and absurdly concerning it To whom we may answer thus If even they themselves confess that there will be a Resurrection of the Dead let 'em answer us this Question what that is which died Is it not the Body The Resurrection therefore will be of the Body Let 'em tell us besides whether they think that we shall have Bodies in the Resurrection or not I think since the Apostle St. Paul says that it is sown a natural Body and shall be rais'd up a spiritual Body they cannot deny but that the Body is to rise or that we are to have Bodies in the Resurrection Now since it is certain that we are to have Bodies in the Resurrection and the Body that fell are said to rise again for nothing but that which fell can properly be said to rise again there is no doubt but that our Bodies are therefore to rise that we may be again cloath'd with ' em For this by a natural consequence follows from that For if our Bodies rise again without all doubt they therefore rise that we may be again cloath'd with ' em And if it be necessary that we should be in Bodies we ought not to be in any other Bodies but our own Now since it is true that they rise and that they rise Spiritual Bodies there is no doubt but that they are to rise again without their Corruption and Mortality For it would be in vain for any one to rise from the Dead that he may die again In his First Book Concerning the Resurrection as his Words are produced by Pamphilus in his Apology he thus disputes for it Is it not absurd that this Body which bears the Scars of Wounds receiv'd for Christ's sake and which as well as the Soul endured cruel Torments in Persecutions and suffer'd the Punishments of Prisons and Bonds and Stripes which was burnt by Fire cut with the Sword devour'd by Wild Beasts tormented on the Cross and many other ways should be defrauded of the Rewards due to it for so great Sufferings For does it not seem contrary to all reason that the Soul which did not suffer alone should be rewarded alone and its Vessel the Body which serv'd it with great labour should obtain no Reward of its Contentions and Victory that the Flesh which resists its natural vicious Inclinations and Lusts and preserves its Virginity with a great deal of labour which labour is more the labour of the Body than of the Soul or at least full as much should be rejected as unworthy in the time of Retribution and the Soul only obtain the Crown To the same purpose are those
which I cannot undertake to defend On the contrary it must be confess'd that among the Ancient Jews there were many that did not ac-acknowledge it who were lookt upon nevertheless as true Israelites 'T will be worth our while to enquire into this matter and the love of Truth which has all along been and I hope will always be my Guide obliges me to do it I shall shew 1. That it was not always receiv'd among the Jews as a necessary Article of Faith or term of Communion and who they were that did not acknowledge it 2. That tho' there were some amongst 'em that did not acknowledge it and it was not always lookt upon as a necessary Article of Faith yet it was the common and receiv'd Opinion of that Nation about the time of our Saviour as well before as after 3. That the Doctrine of the Immortality of the Soul was not receiv'd among the Jews of those times as a necessary Article of Faith or Term of Communion From whence it follows that the Doctrine of the Resurrection is not therefore the less certain because it was not always lookt upon by the Jews as a necessary Article of Faith 4. I shall shew that the Doctrine of the Resurrection is plainly alluded to in the Prophecies of the Old Testament and by them confirm'd First That the Doctrine of the Resurrection was not always receiv'd among the Jews as a necessary Article of Faith or Term of Communion will appear from some of the following Examples of such as did not acknowledge it 1. The Essens a famous Sect among the Jews consisting of no less than about 4000 in number That they did not acknowledge a Resurrection nor the re-union of the Soul with any kind of Body may be easily gather'd from that account which Josephus gives us of their Doctrines concerning the Soul In his Second Book of the Jewish War where he speaks very largely of 'em having taken an occasion to speak of their being tormented by some of the Roman Soldiers In the midst says he of their sufferings they smil'd and laughing at them that inflicted their Torments they gave up their Souls with a great deal of Constancy and Chearfulness as Men that expected to recover 'em again This last Expression may seem to intimate that they expected that their Souls would be again united to their Bodies but from that which follows it appears that our Author's meaning was otherwise For they have says he a most certain Opinion amongst 'em that their Bodies indeed are corruptible and that their Matter shall not be perpetual but that their Souls shall always have a being that coming from out of the subtle Ether they are drawn down into their Bodies by a natural sort of Attraction and there are detain'd as it were in Prisons but when they are freed from the bonds of Flesh as it were from a long Enslavement with a great deal of Joy they â—…ee away on high And as for good Souls they agree with the Greeks that they dwell beyond the Ocean in a perfect enjoyment of Happiness in a Country free from all kind of Grievance from Showers Snows and Heats made insinitely pleasant by the Western Gales arising out of the Ocean But as for the Souls of the Wicked they are sent into certain Places expos'd to Cold and Tempests there to remain in everlasting Misery and Torment Josephus tells us that in his Youth he had made it his Business to enquire into the Doctrines of the Particular Sects the Essens the Sadduces and the Pharisees and to learn their Customs and Ways of living being conversant amongst 'em with great perseverance and application that having inform'd himself of their several Rules and Placits he might adhere to that Sect which should please him best It is therefore evident that he could not be ignorant of the true Opinion of the Essens And this we must of necessity grant that those Essens at least with whom he had Convers'd profess'd the aforesaid Opinion It is not enough to say that Josephus was a Court-Writer and likely to misrepresent their Opinions that they might seem to agree with the Greeks and Romans among whom he liv'd For that the aforesaid Opinion might be really the Opinion of the Essens will appear very probable from the next Example which is that of Philo Judaeus Secondly That Philo the famous Jew who liv'd in the Time of the Apostles and is call'd by his Country-Man Josephus a Man every way Glorious and was in his own Time so highly esteem'd by the Jews of Alexandria where he liv'd as to be sent their chief Embassador to Rome to defend their Cause against their Enemies that he did not own the Resurrection of the Body or that the Soul is hereafter to be united for ever to another Body is from many places of his Works undeniably evident It is certain that according to the Doctrine of Plato he look'd on the Body as the Prison of the Soul and he expresly asserts that the purer Sorts of Souls do fly from the Body as their Gaol and live for ever in a State of Separation If on any account it be true what was commonly said of him by the Greeks it is chiefly so in relation to the Soul Either Plato Philonizes or Philo Platonizes either Plato learn'd his Philosophy of the Jews or else Philo was a Follower of Plato The last is the truth Let us hear now what Philo says In his Book Concerning Dreams his Philosophy is this 〈◊〉 That the Air between the surface of the Earth and the Concave of the Moon is the place of the Habitation of Souls which are there innumerable Of these there are some which descend to be join'd and united to mortal Bodies as many as are nearer to the Earth and desirous of union with ' em After the time of separation assign'd by Nature and their return again up into the Air there are some still retain a desire of Life and re-union and these are again united to a Body by a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but others are weary of the vanity of Life and flee from the Body as a Grave or a Prison and nimbly flying into the upper Regions of the Ether there fix their Abode and Habitation In another place of the same Book having cited those Words which God spake to Jacob in his Dream And behold I am with thee and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest and will bring thee again into this Land For I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of On those Words And I will bring thee again into this Land according to his allegorizing way he thus Comments This Place says he is perhaps to be understood of the Immortality of the Soul for the Soul having left its Heavenly Place and Travelling into the Body the Father promises it that he will not
has now no real Deformity no Wrincle or Blemish but all is turn'd to Comeliness and Beauty At least we shall then have a truer Notion of Beauty and Deformity and that which now passes for Ugliness will then appear to be no such thing Hoec est vera resurrectionis Confessio quoe sic gloriam carni tribuit ut non auferat veritatem So †St. Jerom. And that Confession we must stand to Now how far these Bodies of ours are capable of being exalted and glorified so as still to continue truly Humane I shall not presume to determine I am not fond of walking in the Dark especially when it is to little or no purpose But because you desire to know what my Sentiments are concerning our future State and are pleas'd to ask me that Question How are the Dead rais'd up And with what Body do they come I must own my-self inclin'd to believe that our Bodies in the Resurrection will be as to their Purity Constitution and Liveliness the same with that of Adam when first it came from the Hands of its Maker with the Stamps and Characters of the Divine Goodness and Wisdom fresh upon it That was the true Exemplar and Original and Perfection of Humane Nature All the Difference I think will be this That Adam's Body after some little Time stood in need of Meat and Drink to supply its Evacuations and was fitted to make him the Father of Mankind Ours in the Resurrection will continue always the same without Perspiration or any other Evacuation The Springs will always have the same Bent the Motions will all be equally Regular the same continual Round of the same pure vigorous Spirits and the same Blood moving forever in a brisk but even Circulation The Apostles Epithets ' of Powerful and Spiritual and Celestial and Glorious and all that the Scripture says of our Transformation into the Divine likeness I take to signifie no more than this even and pure and dispassionate and incorruptible State of the Body with a perfect Refinement of all our Faculties This perhaps is much less than what some others are willing to allow to a glorified Body But I see no Reason why we should expect any higher Exaltation And if such be the State and Condition of it I know no Reason why we should desire any higher This Heavenly Frame is enough to make us truly Happy and Blessed no less than if our Bodies were Ethereal and our Souls were carried in those fine Celestial Chariots which the Heathen Philosophers talk of If Adam had not sinn'd these very same Bodies had then been Immortal and wholly exempted from Death Why then should we think it strange that the Immortal Bodies which God will bestow on us in the Resurrection should be truly Humane The Immortality of these Bodies was then intended as a Blessing and shall we not think it a Blessing worthy of the Donor to have the same Body restored to a better State than that from which it was fallen Yes This is enough and This is all I desire and This I hope to obtain Let this my Body this very same Body be made pure my Pollutions wash'd away my Passions subdu'd my Wants remov'd my Understanding clear'd my sense of true Pleasure enliven'd let this be but done and my Soul will desire no more Her old Acquaintance when blessed with these happy Transmutations will be truely welcome to her Neither She nor the Angels will ever be asham'd of his Company Let this be but done and I shall not think the grossness of it to be any Diminution of my Happiness I shall not envy the Glory of Incorporeal Beings but shall heartily thank God that I am what I am A Fourth Objection is concerning the unfitness of a Humane Body to be plac'd in Heaven on account of its Gravity How can a Humane Body that is naturally heavy be sustain'd in a pure Ethereal Heaven I answer 1. If those Regions of Heaven where the Saints are hereafter to have their Habitation be all fluid and Ethereal or even void Space yet our Bodies may without the least difficulty and without any Miracle or particular Care of Omnipotence be there supported and sustain'd There is no such thing as Gravity in Regions purely Ethereal which are above the Reach and Activity of particular Orbs. There is no High and Low in such Places Our Bodies will be there sustain'd as the Globe of the Earth and the several celestial Orbs are now sustain'd in the Air and Ether Which is not done by a Miracle for they are Naturally sustain'd there and there is not any Low to which they may encline There is nothing indeed properly speaking Heavy in its own Nature as there is not any thing Light in its own Nature And our Bodies even here in this World do not of their own Natures tend towards the Center of the Earth but they are violently haled of push'd down Had there been no external Causes of what we call Gravity contriv'd by the Creator there would have been no such Thing no High and Low in the Universe This no one can deny that considers the System of the World 2. That the place in which we are to have our Abode in the next Life is all pure Ether or Immaterial is perhaps not so true as generally suppos'd Perhaps after all our Heaven will be nothing but a Heaven upon Earth or some glorious solid Orb created on purpose for us in those immense Regions which we call Heaven It seems more natural to suppose that since we have solid and material Bodies we shall be placed as we are in this Life on some solid and material Orb. Neither is this a new Opinion but embrac'd by many of the Ancients That after the Resurrection we are to live for ever on a new Earth was as Maximus tells us the Opinion of many in his time And the same was asserted in the Third Century by St. Methodius Bishop of Tyre in his Treatise Concerning the Resurrection St. Peter himself tells us that after this World is dissolv'd there will be new Heavens and a new Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness He adds that this the Saints look for with a plain Intimation that there they are hereafter to Inhabit St. John also in his Revelations makes mention of a new Earth where the Blessed are to have their happy abode after this World is destroy'd These places the Chiliasts produce to confirm their Opinion but they ought to be understood of the everlasting Habitation of the Blessed Our Saviour tells his Disciples In my Fathers House are many Mansions I go to prepare a place for you And If I go to prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto my-self that where I am there ye may be also In the Regions of Heaven tho' before our Saviour's Ascension there were many Mansions of Angels or Immaterial Beings yet those it seems were not thought fit for the