THE RESURRECTION AND THE JUDGMENT

The resurrection which follows as an immediate effect of the Second Advent must be considered as at once a distinctive and an elementary truth of the Christian system. The doctrine of the resurrection, however, must be clearly distinguished from that of the immortality of the soul. It is possible to believe in the continuous existence of the soui after death without believing in the resurrection of the body. Frequently the two are identified, and belief in one made to stand or fall with the other. This was the case of the Sadducees who identified the two and denied both. Thus our Lord in reasoning with them said, As touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? (Mark 12: 26). Here Christ meets the real objection without meeting it verbally. However, since He refers only to the continuance of the soul after death, some have inferred that He meant to teach only a spiritual resurrection, that is, that the soul does not die with the body but rises to a new and higher life. St. Paul in the elaborate argument found in his epistle to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 15: 12-58) seems to regard the denial of the resurrection as tantamount to a denial of immortality. Here again, this has been suggested as a basis for belief, that the only resurrection which the Bible teaches is the resurrection of the soul when the body dies. It becomes necessary, therefore, to first of all examine the Scriptures as to their teaching concerning the resurrection of the body.

The Scriptures Teach the Resurrection of the Body. The term resurrection signifies a rising again, that is, a rising of that which was buried. It signifies also a restoration to life of that which was dead. Now since the soul does not die with the body, it cannot therefore be the subject of a resurrection, except in an antithetical sense as opposed to spiritual death, which is not now the question. This definition sets at nought also, the doctrine of those who, like the Swedenborgians, hold that man in this life has two bodies—an external or material body, and an internal or psychical body. The former dies and remains in the grave, the other does not die, but in union with the soul enters in upon a future state of existence. It is to the Scriptures, however, that we must turn for any authoritative teaching upon the subject. We, therefore, call attention to (1) The Idea of the Resurrection as found in the Old Testament; and (2) The New Testament teaching concerning the Resurrection.

1.   The Old Testament makes a distinction between the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the body. We may believe on the authority of our Lord himself, that the resurrection was everywhere presupposed in the economy of the Old Testament. “As the children of God, so called in the Savior’s new terminology, are the children of the resurrection (Luke 20:36), so the ancient fathers were, and are, and will ever be His in their integrity: His now in their spirit, hereafter in spirit and body. The key thus put into our hands by the Master, His apostles have instructed us to use freely” (POPE, Compend. Chr. Th., III, p. 402). The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews states that Abraham offered up Isaac, accounting that God was able to raise him up . . . from whence also he received him in a figure (Heb. 11: 19); and again, that the patriarchs desired a better country, that is, an heavenly (Heb. 11:16). There are passages in the Psalms which rise to the hope of a redemption from Hades, as God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me (Psalm 49: 15). Here the context shows that the object of this hope is the psychical soul animating a body as well as the spiritual soul delivered from imprisonment. While the prophecies found in Isaiah 25: 8 and Hosea 13: 14 refer to the state of the Church as a whole, that found in Isaiah 26: 19 can refer only to the resurrection of the individual, or the resumption by the soul of bodily existence. It is to the Church, however, that this wonderful prophecy is addressed. Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust:

for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead (Isa. 26: 19). Here the dead are called “my” because they sleep in Him, their disembodied souls existing safely in His keeping. It may be admitted also, that the future restoration of the Church as vividly portrayed in Ezekiel’s well known vision of the “valley of dry bones,” could not have been presented under the symbolism of a dead body raised to life, had not the idea of the resurrection been familiar, both to the prophetic and the common mind (Cf. Ezekiel 37: 1-15). The fact that the prophets nowhere use language which would imply that the idea of the resurrection was new to the people, together with the fact that belief in this doctrine by the Pharisees must have been an inheritance and not the outgrowth of inspired teaching, furnishes a strong argument for the Old Testament belief in a bodily resurrection. The doctrine of the resurrection, however, is explicitly taught in the Book of Daniel. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt (Daniel 12: 2). Here “the many” is the great company of the dead as contrasted with those who are alive at the time of the end; and “the dust of the earth” indicates that the reference is to the body. Doubtless it is to this that Jesus refers when He speaks of the resurrection of life and the resurrection of damnation (John 5: 29). Taken in connection with the verse which follows, Daniel gives us a long range vision of the resurrection, of both the just and the unjust, the general judgment and the eternity which follows. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever (Daniel 12:3).

2.   The New Testament is permeated with the truth of the resurrection, but here it is presented on a far higher level. St. Paul speaks of the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel (2 Tim. 1: 10). We must understand, therefore, that only through the gospel does the Christian conception of the resurrection and the complete destruction of death find its highest expression. Here is to be found the proclamation which counteracts death in all its manifestations. The basic testimony of the New Testament is found in the words of our Lord himself. Referring evidently to the prediction of Daniel, He says, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live (John 5: 25). This refers, of course, to a spiritual resurrection, or the making alive of souls that are dead in trespasses and sins (Cf. Eph. 2: 1). Immediately following this in the same discourse, He says, Marvel not at this:

for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation (John 5: 28, 29). The gospel announcement, therefore, includes the idea of a resurrection of the whole man, and of the whole race of men to an endless existence. Again, the resurrection is associated immediately with our Lord’s Person and work. He says, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die (John 11: 25, 26). The I am as here used must be taken in connection with John 5: 26, which indicates that there is in the Son a life and power deeper than the purely mediatorial function, For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself. Hence it is God’s appointment that man must pass through a resurrection in order to the future life, that is, he must know both the power of the spiritual resurrection for the soul, and then the resurrection of the body. For this reason, the resurrection of Christ is the first fruits, or pledge of the resurrection of His people.

Further still, Christ’s resurrection is the~ Pattern after which the bodies of the saints will be raised. This St. Paul indicates in the words, Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body (Phil. 3: 21). It is union with the risen Christ as the source of life for both soul and body, that is the secret ground and condition of the resurrection of believers. The resurrection of Christ, however, is never represented as standing in the same relation to the unbeliever. The bodies which unbelieving souls inhabit after the intermediate state will indeed be immortal, but in this respect only are they like those of the saints, Hence the resurrection of the just is unto everlasting life; that of the wicked unto shame and everlasting contempt. St. Paul in answering before Felix the accusation of the Jews, speaks of his hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust (Acts 24: 15). Other scriptures bearing immediately upon this subject are the following: But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you (Rom. 8: 11): For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him (1 Thess. 4: 14); and, I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. . . . And the

Dr. Pope in commenting on Phil. 3:20, 21 says, “There are two words here of great importance: the et~upopçbov suggests the same idea as “conformable unto his death’; the body is to be subject to the blessed law of our predestination to be “conformed to the image of his Son (Rom. 8:29). This word ‘change’ is not the same as in the Corinthian chapter: here it is ,L€TaeXThLLaT&e~ which refers only to the new fashion of the risen body; there it is aXXwy~eó~€Oa, ‘we shall be changed,’ which refers to the entire transformation of the already existing bodies. Now it is of this latter only that our Savior was the pattern. He ‘saw no corruption’; and consequently could not be a perfect example at all points of our restoration from death, any more than He is the pattern at all points of our redemption from the final penalty of sin. There is an analogy here with His example of holiness: }le leads not the way in the process of attainment; but is the consummate exemplar only of what we are to attain. We shall live in glorified bodies like His; but in our redemption from the dust He has no part with us.—Pope, Compend. Chr. Th., III, p. 405.

sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works (Rev. 20:12, 13).

The Nature of the Resurrection Body. It is to divine revelation that we must turn for an understanding of this important subject. St. Paul in his Corinthian discourse tells us that It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body (1 Cor. 15: 42-44). Two distinct questions are involved in this statement: (1) What is the principle of identity which links the future body to the present one? and (2) What is the nature of the perfected body in its resurrected state?

1.   It is evident that identity is involved in the very nature of the resurrection itself. The church has always held that the bodies, whether of the righteous or the wicked, will be identical with the bodies which they occupy in this world. “It is sown a natural body,” says

In former times it was commonly thought necessary to affirm a material identity between the future body and that of the present. But Paul, while he intimates that there is some bond of connection between the one and the other, is far from affirming a material identity (I Cor. 15:35-38). The only ground for inferring this identity is the association of the resurrection with the grave, and this is by no means of compelling force. The earth is the common grave of the race. In death men universally give back their bodies to the mass of physical nature. Suppose, then, that one should wish to express in vivid rhetorical phrase the fact that Out of the mass of physical nature the constituents of new bodies will be taken through the marvelous working of God’s power; what better could he do than to 8peak of the grave as yielding up its dead? This is the fitting equivalent in popular discourse for the declaration of the physical nature which receives the old body is to be the source of the new and far more perfect body which is forever to mirror the glory of the indwelling spirit. In reconstituting man’s physical being material identity is of no consequence whatever. One set of molecules is just as good as another of the same order. It is therefore enormously improbable that Cod has devised an intricate and far-reaching economy for conserving from each body the quantity of matter necessary for physical perfection, and has undertaken to gather together in the day of the resurrection the scattered particles which are comprised in this quantity. Sameness of type, resulting from the operation of the same organizing principle, provides for the proper identity of the body through the changes of earthly life; and there is no occasion to suppose any further basis of identity in the future state.— Sheldon, System of Christian Doctrine, pp. 563, 564.

St. Paul, “it is raised a spiritual body.” Here the “it” or subject, is the same in each instance; and it is this principle of identity upon which the church bases its doctrine of the resurrection. But what is this principle of identity? That identity depends upon very different conditions is generally admitted. In the inorganic realm, identity depends upon substance and form. If a stone be pulverized and scattered abroad, the substance remains but the form is destroyed, and, therefore, the identity of the object. If water be frozen or heated, the form is changed into ice or steam, but it is still water. If, however, the water be separated into its constituent elements, oxygen and hydrogen, it is no longer water. In the organic world of living substance, identity is something higher. The acorn grows into the oak, and the infant into the man, but here the principle of identity does not appear to lie in either the substance or the form, for both are constantly undergoing change. That there is a continuity between the seed and the plant, the infant and the man, cannot be doubted. So also, although it cannot be explained, it is perfectly rational to assert a continuity between our present and our future bodies, even though we admit that we do not know in what this

In our study of Anthropology (Vol. II, pp. 23, 24) we referred to “the immaterial principle” of Agassiz, which he maintained, determines the future bodily form of the organism. Agassiz says, however, that when the individual dies, this immaterial principle ceases to exist. Dr. Julius Mulleron, on the other hand, held that this vital organizing force continues in union with the soul, but is not operative between death and the resurrection. “It is not the eáp~, the mass of earthly material,” he says, “but the ui~a, the organic whole, to which the Scriptures promise a resurrection. The organism, as the living form which appropriates matter to itself, is the true body, which in its glorification becomes the ecZ~ua 7rpeu/Larucóp.

The object of the resurrection, as the active exertion of the divine-human power, is the body. But this formula must be understood in a wide latitude of meaning. It must include the perfect or undivided integrity of the man raised up; the actual sameness or unity of the body as the organ of the spirit; and the change that adapts it to its new state when raised. Hence three terms are the watchwords of our doctrine: the integrity, the identity, the glorification of the flesh raised in the last day. The main, or at least the most important teaching of Scripture is that of the return of the whole man to existence, that is, in the integrity of the nature which in the idea of the Creator was that of a spiritual being using a bodily organization. Man suffers in death the penalty of a dissolution which will then be repaired. He is perfect only as spirit, soul and body. . . . The man in his entireness is the man before his Maker, both now and hereafter,—Pope, Compend. Chr. Th., III, p. 406,

identity consists. The Church, therefore, asserts that the body will rise, and that it will be the same after the resurrection that it was before; but neither the Bible nor the Church determines wherein this sameness consists.

2.   As to the nature of the perfected resurrection body, we can of course know but little. Our Lord’s revelation of Himself to the disciples, both on the Mount of Transfiguration and after His resurrection, made a profound impression upon them. Of the first St. Peter says, We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty (2 Peter 1: 16; Cf. 1: 17, 18). It may be well to notice at this time, two negative statements which must be considered in our treatment of this subject. There is, first of all, the statement of our Lord addressed to the Sadducees: The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: but they 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; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection (Luke 20: 34-36). The second is that of St. Paul to the Corinthians, Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption (1 Cor. 15: 50). “There

Dr. Lange, whose imagination often dominates him, teaches that the soul was created to be incarnate; and therefore was endowed with forces and talents to that end. In virtue of its nature, it as certainly gathers from surrounding 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 characterized as “the Schema des Leibes,” which is included in the soul, .

or a “nisus formativus” which belongs to the human soul. 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 materials 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 universe. “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.—Hodge, Systematic Theology, III, p. 779.

seem to be plainly three things implied or asserted in these passages,” says Dr. Charles Hodge, (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. 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 resurrection, it is vain to speculate on the constitution of our future bodies. It is enough to know that the glorified people of God will not be encumbered with useless organs, or trammeled by the limitations which are imposed by our present state of existence (HODGE, Systematic Theology, III, p. 780).

St. Paul broadly outlines the nature of the resurrection body in the following series of contrasts: (1) It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. Here the word incorruption signifies, not merely that the body will never decay, but that it is not susceptible to corruption in any form. Consequently, it will not only be free from dissolution and death, but free from every-

John Wesley in his sermon on the “Resurrection of the Dead” (Vol. II, p. 507) says, “The plain notion of a resurrection requires that the self-same body that died should rise again. Nothing can be said to be raised again but that very body that died, If God give to our souls at the last day a new body, this cannot be called the resurrection of our body; because that word plainly implies the fresh production of what was before.”

Dr. Miley points out that the difficulties concerning the resurrection of the body center in two points: (I) the wide dispersion of the particles which composed the living body, and (2) the possibility that in the course of time some may belong to different bodies. To this he replies, “The apparent magnitude of these difficulties is far greater than the real, especially if we view them, as we should, in the light of the divine providence. The dispersion of the particles is real only in our own view, However widely scattered or deeply mingled with other matter, they remain as near to the omniscient eye and omnipotent hand of God as if placed in an imperishable urn at the foot of His throne, Nor is there any probability, even on natural grounds, that in any case so much matter could become common to two bodies as would be necessary to a proper identity of either, When we place the subject in the light of God’s providence, whose purpose it is to raise the dead, all difficulties vanquish.”—Miley, Systematic Theology, II, p. 455.

thing that tends toward that end—disease, pain and suffering. (2) It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in

The following particulars, however, may be inferred with more or less confidence from what the Bible has revealed on this subject: (I) 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 constitution, . . . (2) It is probable that the future body will not only retain the human form, but that it will also be a glorified likeness of what it was on earth. We know that every man has here his individual character—peculiarities mental and emotional which distinguish him from every other man, We know that his body by its expression, air and carriage more or less clearly reveals his character. This revelation of the inward by the outward will probably be far more exact and informing in heaven than it can be here on earth. How should we know Peter or John in heaven, if there were not something in their appearance and bearing corresponding to the image of themselves impressed by their writings on the minds of all their readers? (3) This leads to the further remark that we shall not only recognize our friends in heaven, but also know, without introduction, prophets, apostles, confessors and martyrs, of whom we have read or heard while here on earth. (a) This is altogether probable from the nature of the case, If the future body is to be the same with the present, why should not that sameness, whatever else it may include, include a certain sameness of appearance. (b) When Moses and Elias appeared on the mount with Christ, they were at once known by the disciples. Their appearance corresponded so exactly with the conceptions formed from the Old Testament account of their character and conduct, that no doubt was entertained on the subject, (c) It is said that we are to sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, This implies that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will be known; and if they are known surely others will be known also. (d) It is promised that our cup of happiness will then be full; but it could not be full, unless we met in heaven those whom we loved on earth. Man is a social being with a soul full of social affections, and as he is to be a man in heaven, is it not likely that he will retain all his ~ocm¹ affections there? (e) The Bible clearly teaches that man is to retain all his faculties in the future life. One of the most important of these faculties is memory. If this were not retained there would be a chasm in our experience. The past for us would cease to exist. We could hardly, if at all, be conscious of our identity. We should enter heaven, as creatures newly created, who had no history. Then all the songs of heaven would cease. There could be no thanksgiving for redemption; no recognition of all God’s dealings with us in this world. Memory, however, is not only to continue, but will doubtless with all our faculties be greatly exalted, so that the records of the past may be as legible to us as the events of the present. If this be so, if men are to retain in heaven the knowledge of their earthly life; this of course involves the recollection of all social relations, of all the ties of respect, love and gratitude which bind men in the family and in society. (f) The doctrine that in a future life we shall recognize those whom we knew and loved on earth, has entered into the faith of all mankind. It is taken for granted in the Bible, both in the Old Testament and in the New. The patriarchs always spoke of going to their fathers when they died. The Apostle exhorts believers not to mourn for the departed as those having no hope; giving them the assurance that they shall be reunited with all those who die in the Lord.—Hodge, Systematic Theology, Ill, pp. 781, 782.

glory. The new body will be immortal. While incorruption is a negative term signifying immunity from decay, the word immortality has more of a positive content, and implies the perpetuity of life, forever redeemed from the empire of death. But the word glory carries the thought still farther, as that which excites wonder and delight. The disciples were overwhelmed with Christ’s glory at the transfiguration; the keepers of the tomb became as dead men at the resurrection of our Lord; St. Paul beheld His glory as a light above the brightness of the sun at midday; and St. John declares that His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. St. John also declares that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is (1 John 3: 2). It was for this reason that the apostle exhorted true believers not to mourn unduly for their pious dead, for they were to see them again, arrayed in beauty and glory beyond the power of human comprehension. (3) It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. The present body is vitiated by the presence of sin, and its senses are weakened both in quality and extent. Perhaps in the perfected resurrection body, new and exalted capabilities will be discovered, and most certainly those now in use will be immensely increased. However high our expectations may be, they will doubtless fall far short of the full reality of this glorious change. (4) It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. The words natural and spiritual as here used, are most commonly interpreted to mean the adaptation of the body to its environment. Thus a natural body is that by means of

The specific resurrection of the flesh; and the express revelation of Scripture is, that the same bodies shall rise from the graves. But the identity of the body is not the identity of the man: nor is the identity of the body dependent upon the continuation of the particles in their union which were deposited in the grave. A brief reference to Scripture examples and testimonies is sufficient to obviate misconception on this point. If appeal is made to our Lord’s resurrection body, it must be remembered that there is no analogy. We have seen that death never finished its work of dissolution on Him: His bodily organization was inviolate. The only permissible argument is that, as His glorification took place upon a physical frame, so also will ours. But it is not said that we shall be raised as He was, in order to be afterward glorified: “it is raised a spiritual body”; raised immediately as such.—Pope, Compend. Chr. Th., III, p. 407.

which the soul adjusts itself to the present state of existence; while a spiritual body is that which the soul will use to adapt itself to the new conditions of the future life. “It is a remark which must occur to every person,” says Dr. Wakefield, “that a spiritual body is an apparent contradiction; and we are therefore under the necessity of taking the word spiritual in an unusual sense. The apostle does not mean that the resurrection body, like the immortal spirit, will be immaterial; for then it could not be the same body that dies. Nor does he mean that it will be so sublimated or etherealized as not to be a body in the proper sense of the word. It will be ‘a body’ (o-~/La), but it will be so far spiritual as to be without the mere animal functions which are essential to the natural body. The meaning of the apostle seems to be this: As the soul has an existence indep~n~en~L of animal functions, living without nourishment, and incapable of decay, sickness or death, so will be the body in the resurrection. It will be destitute of the peculiar physical organization of flesh and blood; for flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15: 50). It must therefore undergo a new modification in consequence of which, though still material, it will be very different from what it now is. It will be a body without the vital functions of the animal economy,

When Paul asserts that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,” he means only to deny that a corrupt and mortal body can thus inherit, and not to assert that such inheritance is not true of a glorified body of material substance, from which all corruption and mortal elements have been removed. We consequently see what he means by the spiritual body in vs. 44-46, where he contrasts it with the “natural,” and declares the resurrection body to be “spiritual.” It is not spiritual in the sense that it is not material; for it is composed of matter. But it is spiritual, as being fitted for the spiritual life hereafter, as it had previously been natural, as fitted for the animal life of this world. This is the pneumatic body as opposed to the psychical. As the first body had been suited to the present life, and could not be used in the life to come without change; so the resurrection body is suited to the life to come, and not to the present stage of being. Hence it is that the change, with or without death, does not take place until the time of reunion in which the pneumatic life is to begin.—Boyce, Abstract of Systematic Theology, p. 457.

For as spirit that serves the flesh is called carnal, so flesh that serves the spirit is called spiritual; not because it is converted into spirit, but because it is subject to spirit with a supreme and marvelous facility of obeying, having no sense of weariness, no liability to decay, and no tardiness of motion.—Augustine, De Civitate Dci, XIII, 20, 22.

living in the manner in which we conceive spirits to live, and sustaining and exercising its powers without waste, weariness, decay, or the necessity of having them recruited by food and sleep” (WAKEFIELD, Christian Theology, pp. 620, 621). While there are a few writers who regard the resurrection body as a purely spiritual and in no sense material, the commonly accepted view is that which we have just stated.

The General Resurrection. The term “general resurrectioñ” refers to the belief commonly held in the Church, that at the Second Coming of Christ, all the dead, both the righteous and the wicked, shall be raised simultaneously and immediately brought to judgment. It is in this sense also, that the creeds are commonly interpreted. Thus the Apostle’s Creed has the simple statement, “I believe in . . . the resurrection of the body.” The Nicene Creed has it, “I look for the

While the body shall be marvelously changed in the resurrection, it shall still be material in substance. The terms “natural body” and “spiritual body” mean simply different states, not any distinction of essence. In a word, the resurrection is a transformation, not a transubstantiation. The latter would mean a future body of the same essence as the spirit of which it shall be a corporeal investment. The incongruity of such a state of things disproves it. The materiality of the resurrection body is entirely consistent with its immortality. The common tendency of material things to dissolution or death is wholly from their interior constitution or exterior condition, or from both. The constitution and condition may be such that both interior forces and exterior agencies shall be efficaciously operative toward the dissolution or death of the body; but just the opposite is also possible with respect to both. Surely God can so constitute and condition the resurrection body that all interior forces and external influences shall work together for its immortality. So far the resurrection bodies of the righteous and the wicked will be without distinction, the immortality of the body being no more determinative of future destiny than the immortality of the soul.—Miley, Systematic Theology, II, p. 453.                                                                                            -

It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. When words are thus used antithetically, the meaning of the one enables us to determine the meaning of the other, we can, therefore, in this case learn what the word “spiritual” means, from what we know of the meaning of the word “natural.” The word ~IJUX~K6V translated “natural,” is derived from ~L~vy~ which means sometimes life; sometimes the principle of animal life which men have in common with the brutes; and sometimes the soul in the ordinary and comprehensive sense of the term; the rational and immortal principle of our nature; that in which our personality resides. . . . Such being the signification of the ~vy~5, it is plain that the r~a ~uX1K6v, the psychical, or natural body, cannot by possibility mean a body made out of the ~t~uin~. In like manner it is no less plain that the o~a 7rv€u/UZTLK6P cannot by possibility mean a body made of spirit. That indeed would be such a contradiction in terms, as to speak of a spirit made out of matter.—Hodge, Systematic The. ology. III, pp. 783, 784.

resurrection ot the dead”; while the Athanasian Creed declares, “At whose coming all men shall rise again in their bodies, and shall give an account for their works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting, and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.” Neither the Thirty-nine Articles of the Anglican Church, nor the Twenty-five Articles of Methodism has a statement concerning the resurrection, other than that which refers to Christ. Our own creed is as follows: “We believe in the resurrection of the dead, that the bodies of both the just and the unjust shall be raised to life and united with their spirits—’they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation’” (Article XII, Section 1). That the resurrection of the righteous and the wicked is simultaneous, is the general opinion of both Reformed and Arminian theologians. Dr. Wakefield, who interprets the Wesleyan theology of Richard Watson, makes the following statement: Under the head of the resurrection as general or universal, he says, “On this subject the language of our Lord is very express. For the hour is coming, in the which all that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation (John 5: 28, 29). So St. John tells us that he saw the dead, small and great, stand before God (Rev. 20: 12). So also St. Paul, in contrasting the benefits of redemption with the evils brought upon man by the sin of Adam, bears witness to the doctrine of a general resurrection. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive (1 Cor. 15: 21, 22)” (WAKEFIELD, Christian Theology, p. 614).

It will appear evident, however, even to the casual reader, that with the exception of the Athanasian statement, the creeds may be interpreted as teaching a general or universal resurrection, that is, a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked, without regarding the two events as simultaneous. This may be urged on the ground (1) that the distinction in the statement itself seems to imply a distinction in the resurrection, both as to character and time. If it is an arbitrary interpretation to separate the two, it is no less so to combine them. (2) The statement in Revelation 20: 3-7, even if regarded as figurative, as it is by most of the interpreters who identify in point of time the two phases of the resurrection, yet nevertheless, reveals the fact that its author regarded a distinction in time as permissible to proper interpretation of Daniel 12: 2; Mark 12: 25; Luke 20: 35, 36 and in harmony with his own statement in John 5: 28, 29. The Emphatic Diaglot gives the literal translation of John 5: 29 as follows: “Those having done good things to a resurrection of life (dc apao-racrw ~a~c); and those having done evil things, to a resurrection of Judgment (eic apacrracrui Kpw-€wc) .“

(3) A study of the phrase ~K V€KpCiV, out of, or from the dead, and its characteristic use in connection with the resurrection of the righteous, strongly indicates a distinction in time. The phrase ~K V€KpCJV denotes that the individuals or the groups (rciypara, or bands) are chosen out from the many who yet remain in the realm of the dead.

This last statement concerning the use of the phrase €K V€K~OJJ) deserves further treatment. We are told that the phrase occurs forty-nine times in the New Testament, and not once is it applicable to the resurrection of the wicked, or to the resurrection when considered as embracing both the righteous and the wicked. (1) It is used thirty-four times in connection with Christ’s resurrection, which certainly was out from among the dead (Cf. Notes). (2) It is used three times concerning John the Baptist, who as Herod thought, had been raised out of the dead (Mark 6: 14, 16; Luke 9: 7). (3) Three times the phrase is used in connection with Lazarus, who likewise was raised out from among the dead (John 12: 1, 9, 17). (4) Three times it is used in a figurative sense to indicate spiritual life out of the death of sin (Rom. 6: 13; 11: 15; Eph. 5: 14). (5) Once it is used in the discourse concerning Dives and Lazarus (Luke 16:

31); and (6) It is used once concerning Abraham’s faith (Heb. 11: 19). There are four passages remaining to be considered, Mark 12: 25; Luke 20: 35, 36; Acts 4: 1, 2, and Philippians 3: 11. These require brief mention. (1) In Mark 12: 25, Jesus says When they shall rise from the dead [E vEKpcov], they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven; and in Luke 20: 35, 36, They which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead ~c dvao-rdo-€wc r~c €K 1~’EKpowJ , neither marry, nor are given in marriage; neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. Here Jesus holds out to His disciples as the hope of the righteous, that they shall be resurrected out from among the dead, which in itself necessarily implies a distinction in the time order. It is further evident, that it is to this St. John refers when he says, But the rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power (Rev. 20: 5, 6). (2) In Acts 4: 1, 2, it is stated that the Sadducees were grieved because the apostles Peter and John preached through Jesus the resurrection from [E~c v€Kp&v] the dead. If now we take into account the statement in Mark 9: 10, that the disciples were perplexed as to what the rising from the dead should mean, we have a clue to the disturbing doctrine. Jesus had spoken of His own resurrection as out from among the dead. When this had become an established

The thirty-four texts referring to Christ’s resurrection out from the

dead are as follows: Matt. 17:9; Mark 9:9, 10; Luke 24:46; John 2:22;

20:9; 21:14; Acts 3:15; 4:10; 10:41; 13:30; 13:34; 17:3; 26:23;

Rom. 1:4; 4:24; 6:4-9; 7:4; 8:11; 10:7, 9; I Cor. 15:12, 20; Gal. 1:1;

Eph. 1:20; C₀I. 1:18; 2:12; I Thess. 1:10; 2 Tim. 2:8; Heb. 13:20;

I Peter 1:3, 21.

Compare also, the following references where the “ek” or out of, is not used. Matt. 22:31; Acts 17:32; 23:6; 24:15, 21; 1 Cor. 15:12, 13, 21, 42, and especially John 5:28, 29 (R.V.), “Marvel not at this:

for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of condemnation.~’

fact in history, the disciples understood that there was to be an order in the resurrection. This order, St. Paul says, is Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming (1 Cor. 15: 23). The resurrection which the disciples preached, therefore, was out from among the dead, and for those only who were accounted worthy through Christ. The Jews believed in a resurrection of the dead at “the last day”; but that there should be a resurrection out from among the dead, for either Jesus or His anointed ones, was a doctrine obnoxious to them, especially to the Sadducees who questioned the fact of any bodily resurrection. (3) In Philippians 3: 11, St. Paul emphasized that phase of Christ’s teaching which regarded the resurrection out from the dead, as a goal to be attained by those only who were accounted worthy. He therefore sought by every possible means to attain unto the resurrection of the dead, that is T’~)I~’ €‘~ava’o-rao-tu ripi v€~pwv or the out-resurrection of the dead. Tischendorf’s text includes the preposition ~K making it, the out-resurrection from the dead. It was for this reason that the apostle said, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3: 14). It must be evident to all, that this question is vital to the whole millennial theory. Those who fail to make a distinction between the two resurrections are shut up either to post or nil millennialism. The position taken in our discussion of the Second Advent necessarily determines and is determined by, this view of the resurrection.

The Development of the Doctrine in the Church. The questions which arose in the apostolic church were carried over into the subapostolic period. In his first apology Justin Martyr (c. 138-166) says, “We put up prayers that we may have a resurrection to incorruptibility through our faith in Him.” This incorruptibility, however, was not merely a spiritual body, for “in the resurrection the flesh shall arise perfect and entire.” Origen (185-254) writes, “Differences of opinion obtain, but the true opinion is that which has been transmitted in orderly succession from the apostles. This teaching is clearly that there is to be a resurrection, when this body, now sown in corruption, shall rise in incorruption. . . . What rises at the resurrection is a spiritual body. . . . We are not to think that bodies of flesh and blood, with passions of the senses, but rather that incorruptible bodies will be given.” There developed very early a conflict between the literalistic and spiritualistic views of the resurrection, the former being held primarily in the West, the latter in the East. Irenaeus (c. 202), Tertullian (c. 220), and Cyprian (c. 258) all followed Justin in the literal interpretation, as did also at a later period Methodius (c. 312), Epiphanius (c. 403), Theophylus of Alexandria (c. 404), Prudentius (c. 405) and Jerome (c. 419). In the East, Origen led the way and was followed by Basil (c. 375), Gregory Nazianzen (c. 376), Gregory Nyssa (c. 395) and Chrysostom (c. 407). These alternating views continued until the time of Augustine (353-430), who succeeded in laying down a middle course, which in a large measure determined the position of later thought. His position was stated in these words: “Spiritual bodies will yet be bodies, not spirits; having the substance, but not the unwieldiness and corruption of the flesh; being animated, not by the living soul but by the quickening spirit. This body is now worn by Christ in anticipation of what we shall wear.” During the Middle Ages the schoolmen took opposite sides and dogmatized after their manner concerning the resurrection body. Erigena seems to have been inclined toward the Origenistic views, and Thomas Aquinas followed Augustine. The Protestant theologians were faithful to the ancient creeds. The Lutherans. with their peculiar Christological doctrines and strongly sacramental emphasis, taught that “our bodies were framed in Adam for immortality; by the incarnation of the Son of God they were taken into affinity with Him; in His resurrection they began to be glorified; they were washed from sin in the layer of regeneration; by faith they became members of His mystical body, the temple of the Spirit; and fed and sanctified by the body and blood of Christ unto eternal life.” Dr. Charles lodge sums up the doctrine of the Reformers as follows: “(1) That the resurrection body is to be numerical~y1 and in substance, one with the presentbody. (2) That it is to have the same organs of sight, hearing, and so forth, as in this life. (3) Many held that all the peculiarities of the present body as to size, stature and appearance, are to be restored. (4) As the bodies of the righteous are to be refined and glorified, those of the wicked, it was assumed, would be proportionately repulsive. The later Protestant theologians, as well Lutherans as Reformed, confine themselves more strictly within the limits of Scripture (lODGE, Systematic Theology, III, p. 789). This brings us to the next important subject of Eschatology, the Final Judgment.

THE FINAL JUDGMENT

By the final judgment, we understand a~general judgment of all the righteous and all the wicked in one vast public assembly. This has been denied by some who think that the judgment of each man occurs at death; and by others who think that only the wicked will be judged at the last day. But the general judgment is very different from the individual or particular judgment which is passed upon each man, or which he passes upon himself at death. There are many scriptures which substantiate the latter, but which do not go to the extent of establishing the former. However, it is also true that the Scriptures make frequent mention of a day of judgment; and a comparison of these passages makes it clear that they do not refer to death, but to a specific period or day which is to synchronize with the conflagration at the end of the world. The heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men (2 Peter 3: 7). It is expressly declared that he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17: 31). It is also referred to as the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God (Rom. 2: 5); the day when God shall judge the secrets of men

by Jesus Christ (Rom. 2: 16); the day of judgment (2 Peter 2: 9); the great day (Jude 6); and the great day of his wrath (Rev. 6: 17). These scriptures clearly prove three things: (1) there is to be a general judgment; (2) this is to take place at a fixed time; and (3) this great and terrible day is in the future.

As to the duration of the judgment, the indefinite use of the term “day” forbids any statement of even its probable length. This has already been discussed in connection with the Second Advent. Mr. Wesley says that “the time, termed by the prophet, ‘the great and terrible day,’ is usually, in Scripture, styled the day of the Lord. The space from the creation of man upon the earth to the end of all things, is the day of the sons of men: the time that is now passing over us is properly our day; when this is ended, the day of the Lord will begin. But who can say how long it will continue? ‘One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day’ (2 Peter 3: 8). And from this very expression, some of the ancient fathers drew the inference, that, what is commonly called the day of judgment would be indeed a thousand years: and it seems they did not go beyond the truth; nay, probably they did not come up to it. For, if we consider the number of persons who are to be judged, and of actions which are to be inquired into, it does not appear that a thousand years will suffice for the transaction of that day; so that it may not improbably comprise several thousand years. But God shall reveal this also in its season.” (WESLEY, Sermon: The Great Assize). At the other extreme is the opinion of Dr. Pond who says, “The process of judgment will continue long enough to answer all the purposes for which it was instituted;

The judgment is emphatically the final revelation of the Judge: as such the consummation of a judicial work that has ever been going on in the world. It will be executed by Christ as God-man, in strict connection with His coming to raise the dead; and its range will be universal and individual. The principles of the judgment will be the application of sundry and just tests, which will reveal the characters of all, to be followed by a final and eternal judgment distinction or severance. In the case of the ungodly this judgment will be condemnation in various degrees but eternal; and in the case of the godly their everlasting confirmation in glory and the rewards of heaven.—Pope, Compend. Chr. Th., III, p. 412.

but I see no necessity for supposing that it will continue for a very long period, perhaps no longer than a literal day. At the sound of the last trumpet the dead are to be raised, ‘in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.’ In a very little time the thrones can be set, and the books opened, and the worlds assembled before their final Judge. An unerring separation can be made. And by some mysterious process, there may be such a general unfolding of character, that ‘every work shall be brought into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil.’ We know not, at present, how such an exhibition of character is to be made; but who will say that it cannot be made, and made suddenly; so that the whole process of the judgment may pass away in comparatively a little time?” (POND, Christian Theology, pp. 571, 572).

Pc~rticular and General Judgment. The Scriptures make a distinction between particular or private judgment which takes place at death, and a general or pub-lie judgment which takes place at the last day. (1) That there is a particular judgment is shown by the following scri~ptpres: Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it (Eccl. 12: 7). Here it is implied that the soul is self-conscious in the presence of God, and hence, of necessity, has a knowledge of its own moral state. St. Paul affirms this position in the words, Now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known (1 Cor. 13: 12). We must believe, then, that every man at death has such a self-knowledge as to know accurately his own moral character. In another statement of St. P~iFW ii implied that what takes place in the day of judgment, takes place also in every man’s consciousness at death, Their conscience also bearing witness,

Dr. Boyce says, “It has been argued that, from the vast numbers to be judged, and the many events connected with the life of every man, it will comprise a long period of time. But the rapidity with which, in some conditions, the mind will run over the course of a long life, in a moment of time, shows that a period of even exceeding brevity may suffice for a full revelation and judgment of all persons and events. The indefiniteness of the word should, however, caution us against the assumption that the day must be of only a few hours’ duration.”—Boyce, Abstract of Syst. Th., p. 462.

and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another (Rom. 2: 15). In the Epistle to the Hebrews there is this specific text, It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment (KpicrL~). Here the word “judgment” is anarthous, and hence no article being employed it should read, after this, judgment, or a judgment. It is not the judgment, in the sense of the general judgment that follows immediately after death, but a judgment—a particular, private judgment. (2) There is also a general or public judgment, as we have defined it above, clearly taught in the Scriptures. In the Old Testament, we may note the foIT6~wing: But know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment (Eccl. 11: 9); For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil (Ecci. 12: 14); the judgment was set, and the books were opened (Cf. Daniel 7: 9, 10); And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt (Dan. 12: 2). The New Testament distinctly teaches a day of public judgment. Our Lord frequently made mention of it in words that cannot be misunderstood. It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you (Matt. 11: 22, cf. v. 24); The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it (Matt. 12: 41). The scene of judgment is vividly portrayed by Christ at the close of His parable on the talents (Matt. 25: 31-46). St. Paul in his address on Mars’ Hill declared that God hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; (Acts 17: 31); and again, In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel (Rom. 2: 16). So also St. Jude says, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all (Jude 14, 15). In the Apocalypse, after the account of the millennium and the great defection at its close, the writer says, I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose

face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God: and the books were opened:

and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. . . . And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20: 11-13, 15). Here is a plain and uncontestable prediction of a general judgment, at which all the dead and all the living are to be assembled. That both the righteous and the wicked will be present is evident from the fact that those whose names are written in the book of life will be saved, and those whose names are not found there, will be cast into the lake of fire.

The Person of the Judge. God alone is competent to perform the office of Judge in the last great assize. He, only, is all-wise and to Him alone are known the innermost secrets of men’s lives. He understands not only their actions, but their inward thoughts and hidden

But at the judgment seat of Christ will be assembled all men, to be judged according to the deeds done in the body; from Adam, the first of the human race, down to the very last one of his numerous posterity. All, all will be there. In that vast multitude ranks and distinctions, such as now exist, will be unknown. Those whom birth, or office, or wealth, or talents placed at a distance from one another, will then stand upon the same level. The great will he without their ensigns of dignity, and the poor without their marks of abasement; for then moral distinctions alone will be regarded. The oppressor and the oppressed will be there; the former that his violence may be returned upon his own head, and the latter that his wrongs may be redressed. Jews and Gentiles, Mohammedans and Christians, the learned and the illiterate, the bond and the free, the high and the low will be there, to render an account to Him who is no respecter of persons, and whose omniscient eye will distinguish each individual in the immense throng as easily as if he were alone. Not one of the righteous will there be forgotten, and not one of the wicked shall find a hiding-place from the eye of the Judge.—Wakefield, Chr. Th., pp. 625, 626.

Every man, every woman, every infant of days, that ever breathed the vital air, will then hear the voice of the Son of God, and start into life, and appear before Him. And this seems to be the natural import of that expression, ‘the dead, small and great:’ all universally, all without exception, all of every age, sex or degree; all that ever lived and died, or underwent such a change as will be equivalent with death.—John Wesley, The Great Assize.

motives—even their natures and the possibilities of those natures. But this judgment is not by God as God, For the Father judgeth no man, but hathcom’mitted all ju~g~en~t unto th~Son: that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father (John 5: 22, 23). The reason for this is, that the Son is not only divine but human, and his relation to humanity peculiarly qualifies Him for this office. Indeed it seems evident that the judgment is to be exercised peculiarly by Christ as man, for St. Peter declares that he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead (Acts 10: 42). Specific utterances to this effect are found in Matt. 16: 27, 28 and 25: 3 1-34. St. Paul preached to the Athenians that God would judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained (Acts 17: 31); and in his epistle to the Corinthians declares that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad (2 Cor. 5: 10). The judgment of the world is represented as the last mediatorial act of Christ, After the execution of the final sentence, when the rewards of the righteous are bestowed, and the penalties of the wicked determined, He will deliver up the mediatorial kingdom to the Father, that God may be all in all (1 Cor.

15:24-28).

It is manifestly proper that He who is the Savior of men should be their final judge. It is fit that the promises which He has made and the threatenings which He has uttered should be carried into effect by Himself; that from His hand those who have submitted to His law should receive their reward, and those who have been disobedient their punishment. It is fit that He should bring to a close the remedial dispensation which He established by His own personal interposition. But in addition to this, as the general judgment is intended to be a public manifestation of the righteousness of the divine administration, it will be necessary that there should be a visible judge, whose proceedings all shall see, and whose voice all shall hear. The proper person, therefore, is Jesus Christ, who, being both God and man, will appear as our visible judge in His glorified humanity—Wakefield, Christian Theology, p. 625.

Christ is the most proper person to judge. (I) He is in favor of the prisoners. (2) He is righteous, not to be bribed. (3) He is omniscient, not to be deceived. (4) He is almighty; none can escape the sentence dire.—Potts.

Development of the Doctrine in the Church. There is very little of detail in the teachings of the earliest fathers concerning the judgment. They were generally content with insisting upon its certainty. Justin (c. 165) says that “Plato used to say that Rhadamanthus and Minos would punish the wicked who came before them; and we say the same thing will be done, but at the hand of Christ; and upon the wicked, in the same bodies united again to their spirits, which are now to undergo everlasting punishment.” The fathers built their doctrine chiefly upon the imagery of the Scriptures, and their writings were often lurid paraphrases or poetic descriptions. This is especially true of those commonly but perhaps improperly attributed to Tertullian (c. 220) and Hippolytus (c. 239). Origen (c. 254) explains Romans 2: 13-16 as follows: “When the soul has gathered together a multitude of evil works, and abundance of sins against itself, at a fitting time all that assembly of evil boils up to punishment. The mind . . . will see a kind of history of all the foul, shameful and unholy deeds which it has done exposed before its eyes. Then the conscience. . . pierced by its own goads, becomes an accuser against itself.” Here it will be noted, the emphasis is placed upon the particular or individual judgment. Augustine sought to reduce the truth found in the scripture imagery to dogmatic statement. His summary of the doctrine is this: “The whole Church confesses that Christ will come from heaven to judge the living and the dead; this we call the last day of divine judgment. But how many days this judgment will be held is uncertain, for that it is the manner of Holy Scripture to put ‘day’ for time, no one who has read the Scripture, however carelessly, can be ignorant. And,

The later fathers indulged in rhetorical descriptions of the coming of Christ to judgment. Lactantius (c. 325) said that “Christ, before He descends, will give this sign, there shall suddenly fall from heaven a sword.” According to Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 386), the sign of His coming will be the appearance of a cross in the sky. The descriptions of the judgment found in Basil (c. 375) and Gregory Nazianzen (c. 376) are more or less ornate. Augustine in the Enchiridion held that the fire that is to try every man’s work (I Cor, 3:13) takes place in this probationary life, but afterward thought that it might in some sense take place after this life. This is the hint out of which the Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory developed, as we have previously indicated.

therefore, when we speak of the day of judgment, we add ‘the last’; for He judges now, and has judged since the human race began. . . and even if no one had sinned, not without a good and right judgment would He retain every rational creature, perseveringly cleaving to its good, in eternal blessedness. He judges not only of the race of men and demons as a whole, that they should suffer according to the merits of their former sins, but also of each one’s own work, which he has done by his own will.” During the Middle Ages, opinions varied greatly, but generally the judgment was interpreted on the principle of the grossest literalism—an example of which is found in the account of Thomas Aquinas (c. 1274). The theologians of the Reformation simply affirmed the scriptural doctrine, but were careful to distinguish between the final judgment (judicium universale et manifestum), which takes place at the end of the world, and the individual judgment (judicium particulare et occultum), which is passed upon each one at death. The purpose of the former was understood in the sense of a public vindication of the divine justice, in the final awards and punishments.

The Principles of Judgment. St. Paul enumerates the principles of judgment as follows: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: but unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile: but glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: for there is no respect of persons with God (Rom. 2: 7-11). Dr. Wakefield in referring to the statement “the books were opened” (Rev. 20: 12) supposes that these are the different dispensaThomas Aquinas says, “How will the Lord come to judgment? Like

an emperor entering his city, wearing his crown and other insignia, whereby his coming may be known; thus Christ will come to judgment, in the same form in which He ascended, with all the orders of angels. Angels, bearing His crown, will go before Him; with voice and trumpet they will awaken the dead to meet Him. All the elements will be disturbed, a tempest of mingled fire and frost everywhere raging.”

tions under which men have been placed, and according to which justice requires that they should be tried. That portion of the divine will which men know, or might know, will therefore be the standard of trial. (1) The heathen will be judged by the law of nature, or the law originally given to man as the rule of his conduct. Some portion of this law has been preserved among them, partly by tradition and partly by reason; and though the traces of it are in some instances obliterated, and in others greatly obscured, yet enough remains to render them accountable beings, and to be the foundation of a judicial trial. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, that is, the written law as the Jews had it, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves; which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another (Rom. 2: 14, 15). (2) The Jews will be judged by the law of Moses and the teaching of the prophets. Our Lord’s own words will be the standard for His own generation—the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day (John 12: 48). (3) Christians in general will be judged by the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments—especially the gospel as it confers on men superior privileges. If the Gentile who sins against the light of nature is justly punishable; if he who despised the law of Moses “died without mercy,” Of

Only faith in Christ can justify a sinner, but his works must justify him before men. And this faith is not an inoperative principle, an intellectual recognition of the fact that divine justice requires an atonement, but it is such a heart-appreciation of this divine verity as makes a complete change in the whole state and character of the man, as well as his condition before God, which will not only clothe him with the righteousness of Christ, but will infuse into him the holy principles of the Lord of glory.—Prentiss.

Dr. Boyce points out that in the wonderful combination by which the created spirit, and even created matter, were, through the making flesh of the divine Word (John 1:14) enabled to do that work which neither man nor God could do separately. Where, but on the throne of judgment, could this personage be seen by any except those who are made partakers of His glory? How fit is His appearance to fill with anguish those who have rejected Him, and with exultation and praise all those who have trusted in Him. . . . The judgment day will clearly exhibit these perfections, and their harmony, to all the intelligences of God.—Boyce, Abstract of Systematic Theology, p. 467.

how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? (Heb. 10: 29). We may say, then, that the measure of revealed truth igranted to men will be the standard by which they are judged in the last day. To this also, we may add the words of our Lord—For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required (Luke 12: 48).

In connection with these principles, we call attention also, to the fact that the judgment is the third or executive department of the moral law—the first being the legislative, and the second, the judicial. As to the origin of moral law, we may say that it issues from the absolute holiness of God, and is exactly suited to the moral nature of man. This is important; for if moral

Dr. Pope states the principles of the judgment as follows: “The principles of the judgment may be exhibited and summed up in the following five watchwords: The test applied according to various measures of probationary privilege; the revelation of character; the separation of classes; the execution of the condemning sentence; and the tonfirmation or ratification of the acceptance of the saved. All these will be combined in one result. The omniscient Lord will justly apply His unerring tests.

The foregoing principles are amplified as follows: (I) Self-revelation. In both the Old and New Testaments the day of judgment is represented as the final manifestation of all secrets, whether as such unknown fully to man, or as known only to himself, or as designedly kept hidden by him and known only to God. (2) Separation. The idea of separation or discrimination inheres in the Greek term Kp&~S, and in all the disclosures of judgment. It will be the final separation or sifting of the world. This separation will be in two senses twofold: a broad separation between two classes: and also a discrimination within those classes themselves. Everywhere this division into two vast masses is maintained: acceptance or rejection of Christ being the alternative. But within these great masses the same process of sifting discrimination goes on. For every man there will be a distinct judgment, succeeding or included in the former, by which his position and degree either in salvation or perdition will be determined. (3) Condemnation. There can be no doubt that the term judgment is most frequently connected with condemnation: this, in fact, is the more common meaning of ,cpie~. Judgment determining the sentence, condemnation pronouncing it, and execution administering it, are almost synonymous terms in regard to the wicked: in Scripture, as in the common language of human justice. It is ,car&,cpLou. (4) Confirmation. It is part of the dignity of the saints that the judgment in their case will be only a ratification of a previous decree in their favor and already known to themselves. Though judged, in the more general sense of that administrative, they shall not come into condemnation. But their place and order in the state of salvation has yet to be determined (Cf. Pope, Compend. Chr. Th., III, pp. 4 16-423).

law be in any wise unsuited to the probationary period of man, then its judicial application and its final execution must of necessity, be unjust. If, however, the law is “good” as St. Paul affirms that it is, then in its judicial aspect it is applicable to every transgression. Only on this basis can the execution of the sentence be conducted on the plane of absolute holiness. This execution is now delayed under, and because of, the sway of prevenient or restraining grace. But the wrath of God is constant in the Divine Being, and will move with all its terribleness in the executive department of moral law, when at last grace is finally spurned and no longer mitigates the sentence. The matter of moral law can be understood, therefore, only in relation to the holiness and righteousness of God. Thus the whole question of future punishment is saved from the fallacy of unconditional election, and the “true and righteous judgments” of God fully vindicated.

The Purpose of the General Judgment. In order to understated the purpose of the general judgment, it must be considered (1) in relation to God; (2) in relation to Christ; and (3) in relation to man. First, the judgment will furnish a worthy arena for the display of the divine attributes. In the presence of the assembled universe, it will be seen that “the judge of all the earth will do right”; and the sentence, whether of acquittal or condemnation, will be sanctioned by countless myriads of angels and men. “Then will appear,” says Dr. Boyce, “the wisdom of His purpose, the truth and faithfulness

We have thus presented the rational argument for the most severe and unwelcome of all the tenets of the Christian religion. It must have a foothold in the human reason, or it could not have maintained itself against all the recoil and opposition which it elicits from the human heart. Founded in ethics, in law, and in judicial reason, as well as unquestionably taught by the Author of Christianity, it is no wonder that the doctrine of eternal retribution, in spite of selfish prejudices and appeals to human sentiment, has always been a belief of Christendom. From theology and philosophy it has passed into human literature, and is wrought into its finest structures. It makes the solemn substance of the Iliad and the Greek Drama, It pours a somber light into the brightness and grace of the Aeneid. It is the theme of the inferno, and is presupposed by both of the other parts of the Divine Comedy. The epic of Milton derives from it, its awful grandeur. And the greatest of the Shakespearean tragedies sound and stir the depths of the human soul, by their delineation of guilt intrinsic and eternal.—Shedd, Dogmatic Theology, II, pp. 747, 748.

of His promise, His power to accomplish His will, His universal benevolence, His sacrificing love, His unbounded mercy, His delivering power, His conquering grace, and, not to attempt to enumerate further, everything that can be imagined as constituting that holiness which, in one word, embraces all moral perfection.” (BOYCE, Abstract of Systematic Theology, p. 466.) Second, the glory of Christ’s work will then appear— not only as Judge, but as Lord and King. As Lord, His dominion is now seen to be universal, and as King who has reigned in the hearts of His people, He now welcomes them into His joy, and invites them to participate in His glory. Third, as it concerns man, the judgment is necessary for the following reasons: (1) It is the testimony of conscience in both Christian and pagan lands, that final judgment awaits the deeds of men. How can this be accounted for, except to say that it is “the

The general judgment is not so much an investigative judgment for the determination of character, as it is the summing up and manifestation of man’s total moral history. It will (1) reveal every man’s true character to all; and (2) vindicate the righteous judgment of God in the final rewards and punishments,

“But will the sins of the redeemed be remembered in that day, and made known in the great congregation? Some suppose they will not, as they are all forgiven in Christ, and as the Scriptures represent them as being blotted out, covered, cast into the depths of the sea, and remembered no more. Others suppose that they will be published to the assembled universe, that all may know from what a depth of sin and misery the grace of God has delivered them. Of this much, however, we may be sure, that the righteous will be far from feeling any painful sorrow or shame for past transgressions. It will be enough for them to know that these were all washed away in the blood of the Lamb, and that they shall be remembered against them no more,”—Wakefield, Christian Theology, p. 627,

Mr. Wesley holds that not only the good deeds of the righteous, but their evil deeds also before their justification will be remembered in that day. He says, “It is apparently and absolutely necessary, for the full display of the glory of God—for the clear and perfect manifestation of His wisdom, justice, power and mercy toward the heirs of salvation—that all the circumstances of their life should be placed in open view, together with all their tempers, and all the desires, thoughts, and intents of their hearts: otherwise, how would it appear out of what depth of sin and misery the grace of God had delivered them? . . . And in the discovery of the divine perfections, the righteous will rejoice with joy unspeakable; far from feeling any painful sorrow or shame, for any of those transgressions which were long since blotted out as a cloud, washed away by the blood of the Lamb. It will be abundantly sufficient for them, that all the transgressions which they had committed shall not once be mentioned unto them to their disadvantage; that their sins and transgressions, and iniquities shall be remembered no more to their condemnation.—Wesley, Sermon, The Great Assize.

voice of God in man.” God does not mock His creatures, and as conscience points to a day of future reckoning, so most certainly that day will come. (2) The condition of the righteous in this world is frequently such, that without the awards of the future, the justice and equity of God cannot be vindicated. (3) But we are not to understand that the general judgment is concerned solely with the acts of men. Men are not only individuals responsible for their own acts, they are also social creatures responsible for others. They exert an influence either for good or evil, and this influence lives on after the present life of the individual. His work, therefore, is not done when he dies. His deeds live after him, and will continue to do so, until history is brought to a close. Only in the final judgment, can the total influence of his life be summed up—either for good or evil. Hereditary and solidarity forces must be reckoned with in the general judgment. (4) The supreme purpose of the general judgment is, therefore, not so much the discovery of character, as it is its manifestation. St. Paul

WAKEFIELD ON THE GENERAL JUDGMENT

That men enter upon a state of retribution immediately after death is evident from our Lord’s declaration to the penitent thief, the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, and St. Paul’s “desire to depart and to be with Christ.” This fact, however, does not set aside the necessity of a general judgment at the end of time; for, though we do not pretend fully to understand why God has appointed a day in which he will judge the world, yet there are obvious reasons which seem to justify such an appointment.

(I)   Man, in his present state, is composed of soul and body. In this compound state he forms his moral character; and hence it is fitting that his whole nature should be the subject of future retribution. But this it cannot be, until the body is raised from the dead, which involves the necessity of a general resurrection in order to a final judgment.

(2)  We must not suppose that when a man dies his entire moral history is concluded. The influence of his actions may continue to operate, either for good or evil, long after his earthly career is closed. Thus men, though dead, may continue to speak, even to the end of time; and as retribution cannot precede the moral conduct to which it has respect, and on which it is based, it is proper that a general judgment should close the earthly history of the human race.

(3)  The circumstances of a general judgment will be declarative of the glory of God. “The Judge of all the earth,” clothed in the habiliments of heavenly light, and seated upon “the throne of his glory,” will summon before him the multiplied millions of our race to receive their final allotments. In the decision of that tremendous day His wisdom, justice, goodness, and truth will shine out in sunlight brilliancy, and be acknowledged by every moral creature.—Wakefield, Christian Theology, pp. 627, 628.

says, We must all appear [Eav€poi9~vat or be made manifest] before the judgment seat of Christ; that each may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad (2 Cor. 5: 10). In the judgment, God discriminates between the righteous and the unrighteous, and separates them from each other, that He may uncover or make manifest their true character. Men are saved by faith, but they are rewarded according to their works, and these works spring out of the true nature of faith. As we are justified now by faith without works in the sense of merit, but by a faith that is always evidenced in works; so will it be in the final judgment, when the righteousness which is by faith will be vindicated by the works which flow from it.

The Circumstances Attending the General Judgment.

The Scriptures describe the final judgment as a scene of awful solemnity and grandeur. The circumstances attending it, witness to the solemnity of the occasion. What these circumstances are, the Scriptures alone reveal. Mr. Wesley gives us the following summary of the events connected with this great and terrible day. He says, “(1) Let us, in the first place, consider the chief circumstances which precede our standing before God will not be mocked and cannot be deceived; the character of every man will be clearly revealed. (1) In the sight of God. (2) In the sight of man himself. All deception will be banished. Every man will see himself as he appears in the sight of God. His memory will probably prove an indelible register of all his sinful acts and thoughts and feelings. His conscience will be so enlightened as to recognize the justice of the sentence which the righteous judge shall pronounce upon him. All whom Christ condemns will be self-condemned. (3) There will be such a revelation of the character of every man to all around him, or to all who know him, as shall render the justice of the sentence of condemnation or acquittal apparent. Beyond th~₈ the representations of Scripture do not go.—Hodge, Systematic Theology, Ill, p. 849.

That the works are, throughout the New Testament, made so prominent as the judicial test has many reasons. It is the standing and most solemn rebuke of all Antinomianism. It has also reference to that final and full manifestation of the divine righteousness, against all who might impugn it, which is made so prominent everywhere. And, finally, as will be seen hereafter, the works will be the standard by which the various degrees of reward will be determined. Gradations will be as manifold then as now: these will not be decided by faith but by works. “My reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be” (Rev. 22:12); this is our Lord’s last testimony on the subject.— Pope, Compend. Chr. Th,, Ill, p. 418.

the judgment seat of Christ, And, first, God will show ‘signs in the earth beneath’; (Acts 2: 19) particularly he will ‘arise to shake terribly the earth.’ ‘The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage’ (Isa. 24: 20). There shall be earthquakes, i~ari v⁶i~-ovc (not in divers only, but) in all places; not in one only, or a few, but in every part of the habitable world (Luke 21: 11); even ‘such as were not since men were upon the earth, so mighty earthquakes and so great.’ In one of these, every island shall flee away and the mountains will not be found (Rev. 16: 20). Meantime all the waters of the terraqueous globe will feel the violence of these concussions; ‘the sea and the waves roaring’ (Luke 21: 25) with such an agitation as had never been known before, since the hour that ‘the fountains of the great deep were broken up,’ to destroy the earth, which then ‘stood out of the water and in the water.’ The air will be all storm and tempest, full of dark vapors and pillars of smoke (Joel 2: 30); resounding with thunder from pole to pole, and torn with ten thousand lightnings. But the commotion will not stop in the region of the air; ‘the powers of heaven also shall be shaken. And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars’ (Luke 21: 25, 26); those fixed, as well as those that move round them. ‘The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come’ (Joel 2: 31). ‘The stars shall withdraw their shining’ (Joel 3: 15), yea, and fall ‘unto the earth’ (Rev. 6: 13), being thrown out of their orbits. And then shall be heard the universal shout, from all the companies of heaven, followed by the ‘voice of the archangel,’ proclaiming the approach of the Son of God and man, ‘and the trumpet of God’ sounding an alarm to all that sleep in the dust of the earth (1 Thess. 4: 16), In consequence of this, all the graves shall open, and the bodies of men arise. The sea also shall give up the dead which are therein (Rev. 20: 13) and every one shall rise with ‘his own body’: his own in substance, although so changed in its properties as we cannot now conceive.

‘For this corruptible’ will then ‘put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality’ (1 Cor. 15: 53). Yea, ‘death and hades,’ the invisible world, shall deliver up the dead that are in them (Rev. 20: 13). So that all who ever lived and died, since God created man, shall be raised incorruptible and immortal, (2) At the same time, the Son of man ‘shall send his angels’ over all the earth; and they shall ‘gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other’ (Matt. 24: 31), And the Lord himself shall come with clouds in his own glory, and the glory of his Father, with ten thousand of his saints, even myriads of angels, and shall sit upon the throne of his glory. ‘And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another . . . and he shall set the sheep,