ARTICLE
XI
"
The Resurrection Of The Body "
Importance
Of This Article
That
this Article supplies a convincing proof of the truth of our faith appears
chiefly from the fact that not only is it proposed in the Sacred Scriptures to the
belief of the faithful, but is also confirmed by numerous arguments. This we scarcely find to be the case with
regard to the other Articles, which justifies the inference that on this
doctrine, as on its most solid basis, rests our hope and salvation; for
according to the reasoning of the Apostle, If there be no resurrection of
the dead, then Christ is not risen again; and if Christ be not risen again,
then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. 1
The
diligence and zeal, therefore, of the pastor in the explanation of this dogma
should not be less than the labor which the impiety of many has expended in
efforts to overthrow it. That eminently
important advantages flow to the faithful from the knowledge of this Article
will be shown further on.
"
THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY "
That
in this Article the resurrection of mankind is called the resurrection of
the body, is a circumstance which deserves special attention. It was not, indeed, so named without a
reason; for the Apostles intended thus to convey a necessary truth, the
immortality of the soul. {a} Lest anyone, despite the fact that many
passages of Scripture plainly teach that the soul is immortal, might imagine
that it dies with the body, and that both are to be restored to life, the Creed
speaks only of the resurrection of the body.
Although in Sacred Scripture the word flesh
often signifies the whole man, as in Isaias, All flesh is grass, 2 and in St.
John, The word was made flesh; 3 yet in this place it is used to express
the body only, thus given us to understand that of the two constituent parts of
man, soul and body, one only, that is, the body, is corrupted and returns to
its original dust, while the soul remains incorrupt and immortal. As then, a man cannot be said to return to
life unless he has previously died, so the soul could not with propriety be
said to rise again.
The word body is also mentioned, in
order to confute the heresy of Hymeneus and Philetus, who, during the lifetime
of the Apostle, asserted that whenever the Scriptures speak of resurrection
they are to be understood to mean not the resurrection of the body, but that of
a soul, by which it rises from the death of sin to the life of grace. 4 The words
of this Article, therefore, as is clear, exclude that error, and establish a
real resurrection of the body.
Examples and Proofs
Derived From Scripture
It
will be the duty of the pastor to illustrate this truth by examples taken from the
Old and New Testaments, and from all ecclesiastical history. In the Old
Testament, some were restored to life by Elias 5
and Eliseus; 6 and, besides those who were
raised to life by our Lord, 7 many were raised by the Holy Apostles and
by many others. 8 These many resurrections confirm the doctrine taught by this
Article; for believing that many were recalled from death to life, we are also
naturally led to believe the general resurrection of all. In fact the principal fruit which we should
derive from these miracles is to yield to this Article our most unhesitating
belief.
To
pastors ordinarily conversant with the Sacred Volumes many Scripture proofs of
this Article will at once present themselves.
In the Old Testament the most conspicuous are those afforded by Job,
when he says that in his flesh he shall see his God, 9 and by Daniel when, speaking of those who
sleep in the dust of the earth, he says, some shall awake to eternal life,
others to eternal reproach. 10 in the New Testament the (principal
passages are) those of St. Matthew, which record the disputation of our Lord
held with the Sadducees, 11 and those in which the Evangelist speak
concerning the Last Judgment. 12 To these we may also add the accurate
reasoning of the Apostle on the subject in his Epistles to the Corinthians 13 and Theologians. 14
Analogies From Nature
But
although the resurrection is most certainly established by faith, it will,
notwithstanding, be of material advantage to show from analogy and reason that
what faith proposes is not at variance with nature or human reason.
To
one asking how of the dead should rise again, the Apostle answers: Foolish
man! That which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die first; and that
which thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that shall be, but bare grain, as
of wheat, or of some of the rest; but God giveth it a body as he will; and a
little after, it is sown in corruption, it shall rise in incorruption. 15
St.
Gregory calls our attention to many other arguments of analogy tending to the
same effect. The sun, he says,
is every day withdrawn from our eyes, as it were, by dying, and is again
recalled, as it were, by rising again; trees lose, and again, as it were, by a
resurrection, resume their verdure; seeds die by putrefaction, and rise again
by germination. 16
Arguments
Drawn From Reason
The
reasons also adduced by ecclesiastical writers seem well calculated to
establish this truth. {b}
In the first place, as the soul is immortal, and has, as
part of man, a natural propensity to be united to the body, it's perpetual
separation from it must be considered as unnatural. But as that which is contrary to nature and in a state of
violence, cannot be permanent, it appears fitting that the soul should be
reunited to the body, and consequently that the body should rise again. This argument our Savior himself employed,
when in His disputation with the Sadducees He deduced the resurrection of the
body from the immortality of the soul. 17
In
the next place, as an all-just God holds out punishments to the wicked and
rewards to the good, and as very many of the former depart this life unpunished
for their crimes and many of the latter unrewarded for their virtues, the soul
should be reunited to the body, in order, as the partner of her crimes, or the
companion of her virtues, to become a sharer in her punishments or rewards
. This argument has been admirably
treated by St. Chrysostom in his homily to the people of Antioch. 18
To
this affect also, the Apostle speaking of the resurrection, says: If
in this life only, we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most
miserable. 19 These words of St. Paul cannot be
supposed to refer to the misery of the soul; for since the soul is immortal, it
is capable of enjoying happiness in a future life, even though the body did not
rise again. His words, then, must refer
to the whole man; for, unless the body receive the due rewards of its labors,
those who, like the Apostles, endured so many afflictions and calamities in
this life, would necessarily be the most miserable of men. On this subject the Apostle is much more
explicit in his Epistle to the Thessalonians: We glory in the churches of God, for your patience and
faith, in all your persecutions and tribulations which you endure-for an example of the just judgment
of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which also
you suffer; seeing it is a just thing with God to repay tribulation to them
that trouble you; and to you who are troubled, rest with us when the Lord Jesus
shall be revealed from heaven with the Angels of his power, in a flame of fire,
yielding vengeance to them who know not God, and who obey not the gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ. 20
Again,
while the soul is separated from the body, man cannot enjoy that full happiness
which is replete with every good. For
as a part separated from the whole is imperfect, the soul separated from the
body must be imperfect. Therefore, that
nothing may be wanting to fill up the measure of its happiness, the
resurrection of the body is necessary.
By these, and similar arguments, the pastor
will be able to instruct the faithful in this Article. {c}
He
should also carefully explain from the Apostle who are to be raised to
life. Writing to the Corinthians, he
(St. Paul) says: As in Adam all
die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. 21 Good and bad then, without distinction,
shall all rise from the dead, although the condition of all will not be the same. Those who have done good, shall rise to the
resurrection of life; and those who have done evil to the resurrection of
judgment. 22
When
we say all we mean those who will have died before the day of judgment, as well
as those who will then die. {d} That The Church acquiesces in the opinion
that all, without distinction, shall die, and that this opinion is more
consonant with truth, is the teaching of St. Jerome 23 and of St. Augustine. 24
Nor
does the Apostle in his Epistle to the Thessalonians dissent from this
doctrine, when he says: The dead who
are in Christ shall rise first, then we who are alive, who are left, shall be
taking up together with them in the clouds to meet Christ, into the air. 25 St.
Ambrose explaining these words says: In
that very taking up, death shall take place, as it were, in a deep sleep, and
the soul, having gone forth from the body, shall instantly return. For those who are alive shall die when they
are taking up that, coming to the Lord, they may receive their souls from His
presence; because in His presence they cannot be dead. 26 This
opinion is supported by the authority of St. Augustine in his book, On the
city of God. 27 {e}
But
as it is of vital importance to be fully convinced that the identical body,
which belongs to each one of us during life, shall, through corrupt and
dissolved into its original dust, be raised up again to life, this too is a
subject which demands accurate explanation on the part of the pastor.
It
is a truth conveyed by the Apostle when he says: This corruptible must put on incorruption, 28 evidently designating by the word this, his own
body. It is also clearly expressed in
the prophecy of Job: In my flesh I
shall see my God, whom I myself shall see, and mine eyes behold, and not
another. 29
Further,
this same truth is inferred from the very definition of resurrection; for
resurrection, as Damascene defines it, is a return to the state from which
one has fallen. 30
Finally,
if we bear in mind the arguments by which we have just established a future
resurrection, every doubt on the subject must at once disappear.
We
have said that the body is to rise again, that everyone may receive the
proper things of the body, according as he hath done, whether it be good or
evil. 31
Man is, therefore, to rise again in the same body with which he served
God, or was a slave to the devil; that in the same body he may experience
rewards and a crown of victory, or endure the severest punishments and
torments.
Restoration of All
That Pertains To The Nature And Adornment Of The Body
Not
only will the body rise, but whatever belongs to the reality of its nature, and
adorns and ornaments man will be restored.
For this we have the admirable words of St. Augustine: There shall then be no deformity of
body; if some have been overburdened with flesh, they shall not resume its
entire weight. All that exceeds the
proper proportion shall be deemed superfluous.
On the other hand, should the body be wasted by disease or old age, or
be emaciated from any other cause, it shall be repaired by the divine power of
Christ, who will not only restore the body unto us, but will repair whatever it
shall have lost through the wretchedness of this life. 32 In another
place he says: Man shall not resume
his former hair, but shall be adorned with such as will become him, according
to the words: " The very hairs of
your head are all numbered." 33 God will restore them according to His
wisdom. 34
Restoration Of All
That Pertains To The Integrity Of The Body
But
the members especially, because they belong to the integrity of human nature,
shall all be restored at once. The
blind from nature or disease, the lame, the maimed and the paralyzed in any
other of their members shall rise again with entire and perfect bodies. Otherwise the desires of the soul, which so
strongly incline it to a union with the body, would be far from satisfied; but
we are convinced that in the resurrection these desires will be fully realized.
Besides,
the resurrection, like the creation, is clearly to be numbered among the
principal works of God. As, therefore,
at the creation all things came perfect from the hand of God, we must admit
that it will be the same in the resurrection.
These
observations are not to be restricted to the bodies of the martyrs, all whom
St. Augustine says: As the
mutilation which they suffered would approve a deformity, they shall rise with
all their members; otherwise those who were beheaded would rise without a
head. The scars, however, which they
received shall remain, shining like the wounds of Christ, with a brilliancy far
more resplendent than that of gold and of precious stones. 35
The wicked, too, shall rise with all their
members, even with those lost through their own fault. The greater the number of members which they
shall have, the greater will be their torments; and therefore this restoration
of members will serve to increase not their happiness but their sorrow in
misery; for merit or demerit is ascribed not to the members, but to the person
to whose body they are united. To
those, therefore, who shall have done penance, they shall be restored as
sources of reward; and to those who shall have contemned it, as instruments of
punishment.
If
the pastor gives attentive consideration to these things, he can never lack
words or ideas to move the hearts of the faithful, and enkindle in them the flame
of piety; so that having before their minds the troubles and calamities of this
life, they may look forward with eager expectations to that Blessed glory of
the resurrection which awaits the just.
{f}
It
now remains for the faithful to understand how the body, when raised from the
dead, although substantially the same body that had been dead, shall be vastly
different and changed in its condition.
Immortality
To
omit other points, the chief difference between the state of all bodies when
risen from the dead and what they had previously been is that before the
resurrection they were subject to dissolution, but when reanimated they shall
all, without distinction of good and bad, be invested with immortality. {g}
This admirable restoration of nature, as the
Scriptures testify, is the result of the glorious victory of Christ over
death. For it is written: He shall cast death down headlong for ever,
36 and,
O death! I will be thy death. 37
Explaining these words the Apostle says: And the enemy death shall be destroyed last; 38 and St.
John also says: Death shall be no
more. 39
It
was most fitting that the sin of Adam should be far exceeded by the merit of
Christ the Lord, who overthrew the empire of death. It was also in keeping with divine justice, that the good should
enjoy endless felicity, while the wicked, condemned to ever lasting torments, shall
seek death, and shall not find it, shall desire to die, and death shall fly
from them. 40 Immortality, therefore, will be common to the good and to the
bad.
The Qualities Of A
Glorified Body
In
addition to this, the bodies of the risen Saints will be distinguished by
certain transcendent endowments, which will ennoble them far beyond their
former condition. Among these
endowments four are specially mentioned by the Fathers, which they infer from
the doctrine of St. Paul, and which are called gifts.
Impassibility
The
first endowment for gift is impassibility, which shall place them beyond
the reach of suffering anything disagreeable or of being affected by pain or
inconvenience of any sort. Neither the
piercing severity of cold, nor the glowing intensity of heat, nor the
impetuosity of waters can hurt them. It
is sown, says the Apostle, in corruption, it shall rise in incorruption.
41
This quality the Schoolmen call impassibility, not incorruption,
in order to distinguish it as a property peculiar to a glorified body. The bodies of the damned, though
incorruptible, will not be impassible; they will be capable of experiencing
heat and cold and of suffering various afflictions.
Brightness
The
next quality is brightness, by which the bodies of the Saints shall
shine like the sun, according to the words of our Lord recorded in the gospel
of St. Matthew: The just shall shine
as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father. 42 To remove the possibility of doubt on the
subject, He exemplifies this in His
transfiguration. 43 This quality the Apostle
sometimes calls glory, sometimes brightness: He will reform the body of our lowness,
made like to the body of his glory; 44 and again, It is sown in dishonour, it
shall rise in glory. 45 Of this glory the Israelites beheld some
image in the desert, when the face of Moses, after he had enjoyed the presence
and conversation of God shone with such lustre that they could not look on it. 46
This
brightness is a sort of radiance reflected on the body from the supreme
happiness of the soul. It is a
participation in that bliss which the soul enjoys, just as the soul itself is
rendered happy by a participation in the happiness of God.
Unlike
the gift of impassibility, this quality is not common to all in the same
degree. All the bodies of the Saints
will be equally impassible; but the brightness of all will not be the same,
for, according to the Apostle, One is the glory of the sun, another the
glory of the moon, and another the glory of the stars, for star differeth from
star in glory: so also is the resurrection of the dead. 47
Agility
To
the preceding quality is united that which is called agility, by which
the body will be freed from the heaviness that now presses it down, and will take
on a capability of moving with the utmost ease and swiftness, wherever the soul
pleases, as St. Augustine teaches in his book On the City of God, 48 and St. Jerome on Isaias. 49 Hence these words of the Apostle: It is sown in weakness, it shall rise in
power. 50
Subtility
Another
quality is that of subtility, which subjects the body to the dominion of
the soul, so that the body shall be subject to the soul and ever ready to
follow her desires. This quality we
learn from these words of the Apostle:
It is sown a natural body, it shall rise a spiritual body. 51
These
are the principal points which should be dwelt on in the exposition of this
article. {h}
Advantages of Deep Meditation on this Article
But
in order that the faithful may appreciate the fruit they derive from a
knowledge of so many and such exalted mysteries, it is necessary, first of all,
to point out that to God, who has hidden these things from the wise and made
them known to little ones, we owe a debt of boundless gratitude. How many men, eminent for wisdom or endowed
with singular learning, whoever remained blind to this most certain truth! The
fact, then, that He has made known to us these truths, although we could never
have aspired to such knowledge, obliges us to pour forth our gratitude in
unceasing praises of His Supreme goodness and clemency.
Another important advantage to be derived from
reflection on this Article is that in it we shall find consolation both for
ourselves and others when we mourn the death of those who were endeared to us
by relationship or friendship. Such was
the consolation which the Apostle himself gave the Thessalonians when writing
to them concerning those who are asleep. 52
Again,
in all our afflictions and calamities the thought of a future resurrection must
bring the greatest relief to the troubled heart, as we learn from the example
of holy Job, who supported his afflicted and sorrowing soul by this one hope
that the day would come when, in the resurrection, he would behold the Lord is
God. 53
The
same thought must also prove a powerful incentive to the faithful to use every
exertion to lead lives of rectitude and integrity, unsullied by the defilement
of sin. For if they reflect that those
boundless riches which will follow after the resurrection are now offered to
them as rewards, they will be easily attracted to the pursuit of virtue and
piety.
On
the other hand, nothing will have greater effect in subduing the passions and
withdrawing souls from sin, then frequently to remind the sinner of the
miseries and torments with which the reprobate will be visited, who on the last
day will come forth unto the resurrection of judgment. 54
Endnotes Article XI
1.> Cor.
xv. 13, 14. 29.> Job xix. 26.
2.> Isaias
xl. 6. 30.> De Fide Orthod., lib. iv. 27.
3.> John
i. 14. 31.> 2 Cor. v. 10.
4.> 2
Tim. ii. 17. 32.> De Civit. Dei, lib. xxii. c. 19-21; Ench. c.
89
5.> 3
Kings xvii. 21, 22. The substance, not the words of
this passage
6.> 4
Kings iv. 34. are found in St. Augustine.
7.> Matt.
ix. 25; Luke vii. 14, 15; John xi. 43, 44. 33.> Luke xii. 7.
8.> Acts
ix. 40; xx. 10. 34.> Aug. l. c.
9.> Job
xix. 26. 35.> De Civ. Dei, lib. xxii. c. 20.
10.> Dan.
xii. 2. 36.> Isa. xxv. 8.
11.> Matt.
xxii. 23. 37.> Osee xiii. 14.
12.> Matt.
xxv. 31. 38.> 1 Cor. xv. 26.
13.> 1 Cor.
xv. 12. 39.> Apoc. xxi. 4.
14.> 1
Thess. iv. 13. 40.> Apoc. ix. 6.
15.> 1 Cor.
xv. 36, 37, 42. 41.> 1 Cor. xv. 42.
16.> Moral.
xiv. 55. 42.> Matt. xiii. 43.
17.> Matt.
xxii. 23. 43.> Matt. xvii. 2.
18.> Hom.
i. 9. 44.> Phil. iii. 21.
19.> 1 Cor.
xv. 19. 45.> 1 Cor. xv. 43.
20.> 2
Thess. i. 4. 46.> Exod. xxxiv. 29; 2 Cor. iii. 7.
21.> 1 Cor.
xv. 22. 47.> 1 Cor. xv. 41, 42.
22.> John
v. 29. 48.> De Civ. Dei, lib. xiii., c. 18, 20.
23.> Epist.
cxix. 49.> In Isaiam, cap. 40.
24.> De
Civit. Dei, lib. xx. c. 20. 50.> 1 Cor. xv. 43.
25.> 1
Thess. iv. 15, 16. 51.> 1 Cor. xv. 44.
26.>
Pseudo-Amb. on 1 Thess. iv. 16. 52.> 1 Thess. iv. 13.
27.> Lib.
xx. c. 20. 53.> Job xix. 25.
28.> 1 Cor.
xv. 53. 54.> John v. 29.
{a} On the
immortality of the soul see Summa Theol. 1a. lxxv. 6; Wis. ii. 23; iii. 4; Matt. x. 28; xxii. 31, 32.
{b} On the
congruity of the resurrection see Summa Theol., Suppl. lxxv. 3.
{c} On the
Resurrection of the body see Summa Theol. Suppl. lxxv. 1.
{d} On this
subject see Callan, " The Epistles of St. Paul, " vol. 1. pp 420,
421.
{e} On the
universality of the resurrection see Summa Theol., Suppl. lxxv. 2.
{f} On the
identity and integrity of the risen body see Summa Theol. Suppl. lxxix; lxxx.
{g} On the
bodies of the damned see Summa Theol. Suppl. lxxxvi.
{h} On the
endowments of the glorified body see Summa Theol. Suppl. lxxxii-lxxxv