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delivered to be believed as to come; so we are assured that it is not yet come since the doctrine of it was first delivered, and is to be believed as to come to the end of the world; because, as "Martha called it," it is the "resurrection at the last day." (John xi. 24.) Job who knew that his Redeemer lived, did not expect that he should stand upon the earth till "the latter day;" Christ hath no otherwise declared "his Father's will," than that "of all which he hath given him, he should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day." (John vi. 39.) The corn is sown and laid in the ground, and "the harvest is the end of the world." (Matt. xiii. 39.) We must not expect to rise from the dead till "the last trump." (1 Cor. xv. 52.) "The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trump of God," (1 Thess. iv. 16.) before" all that are in the graves shall hear his voice." (John v. 28.) God shall "judge the world," (Acts xvii. 31.) and therefore shall raise the world; but he will not raise them to that judgment till the end of the world.

Thus having demonstrated that the will of God hath been revealed that there should be a resurrection; that the resurrection which was revealed is the resurrection of the body; that the bodies which are to be raised are the same which are already dead or shall hereafter die; that this resurrection is not past, but that we which live shall hereafter attain unto it: I conceive I have declared all that is necessary by way of explication and confirmation of the truth of this Article.

The value of this truth, the necessity of this doctrine, will appear; first, in the illustration of the glory of God, by the most lively demonstration of his wisdom, power, justice, and mercy. God first created all things for himself, and the resurrection is as it were a new creation. The wisdom and power of God are manifested in this acknowledgment, inasmuch as without infinite knowledge he could not have an exact and distinct comprehension of all the particles and individual dusts of all the bodies of all men; and without an infinite power he could not conjoin, cement, conglutinate, and incorporate them again into the same flesh. The mercy and justice of God are declared by the same profession; the mercy, in promising life after that death which we had so justly deserved; the justice, in performing that promise unto all true believers, and in punishing the disobedient with everlasting flames. "When ye see this (saith the prophet), your hearts shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb; and the hand of the Lord shall be known towards his servants, and his indignation towards his enemies." (Isa. lxvi. 14.)

Secondly, It is necessary to profess the belief of the resurrection of the body, that we may thereby acknowledge the great and powerful work of our redemption, confessing that death could not be conquered but by death, and that we could never

have obtained another life, had not the Saviour of the world "abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel." (2 Tim. i. 10.) If Christ were not the life, the dead could never live; if he were not the resurrection, they could never rise. Were it not for him that "liveth, and was dead, and is alive for evermore," had not he "the keys of hell and of death," (Rev. i. 18.) we could never break through the bars of death, or pass the gates of hell. But he hath undertaken to vanquish our enemies, and our "last enemy to be destroyed is death:" (1 Cor. xv. 26.) that the prophecy (Hos. xiii. 14.) may be fulfilled, "Death is swallowed up in victory," and we may cry out with the apostle, "Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Cor. xv. 54. 57.)

Thirdly, The belief of this Article is necessary to strengthen us against the fear of our own death, and immoderate sorrow for the death of others. The sentence of death, passed upon us for our sins, cannot but affright and amaze us, except we look upon the suspension, relaxation, or revocation of it in the resurrection; but when we are assured of a life after death, and such a life as no death shall follow it, we may lay down our fears arising from corrupted nature, upon the comforts proceeding from our faith. The departure of our friends might overwhelm us with grief, if they were lost for ever; but the apostle will "not have us ignorant concerning those which are asleep, that we sorrow not even as others which have no hope.” (1 Thess. iv. 13.)

Fourthly, The belief of the resurrection hath a necessary reflection upon this life by way of preparation for the next, as deterring from sin, as encouraging to holiness, as comforting in afflictions. How can any man commit a deliberate sin while he thinks that he must rise and stand before the judgment-seat, and give an account, and suffer for ever the punishment due unto it? What pleasure can entice him, what inclination can betray him, for a momentary satisfaction, to incur an eternal rejection? How can we defile that body which shall never be raised to glory hereafter, except it here become the temple of the Holy Ghost? St. Paul, who hath delivered the doctrine, hath taught us by his own example what work is expected to be wrought upon our souls by it. "I have hope (saith he) towards God, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust. And herein do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offence toward God and toward men." (Acts xxiv. 15, 16.) This is the proper work of a true belief, and a full persuasion of a resurrection; and he which is really possessed with this hope, cannot choose but purify himself; "always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as he knoweth that his labour is not in vain in the Lord." (1 Cor. xv. 58.) This encourageth all drooping spirits; this sustaineth all fainting hearts; this sweeteneth all

present miseries; this lighteneth all heavy burdens; this encourageth in all dangers this supporteth in all calamities.

Having thus discovered the truth of this Article, we may easily perceive what every man is obliged to believe, and understood to profess, when he confesseth a belief of the resurrection of the body; for thereby he is conceived to declare thus much; I am fully persuaded of this as of a most necessary and infallible truth, that as it is appointed for all men once to die, so it is also determined that all men shall rise from death, that the souls separated from our bodies are in the hand of God and live, that the bodies dissolved into dust, or scattered into ashes, shall be recollected in themselves, and reunited to their souls, that the same flesh which lived before shall be revived, that the same numerical bodies which did fall shall rise, that this resuscitation shall be universal, no man excepted, no flesh left in the grave, that all the just shall be raised to a resurrection of life, and all the unjust to a resurrection of damnation; that this shall be performed at the last day when the trump shall sound and thus I believe THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY.

ARTICLE XII.

And the Life Everlasting.

THIS last Article, though not to be found in all,* yet was expressed in many ancient Creeds :+ in some by way of addition,

Not in all; for divers ended with that of the resurrection, as appeareth by Ruffinus, who not only expounded the Aquileian Creed, but collated it with the Greek and Roman, and yet makes no mention of this Article, but concludes with that of the resurrection. Sed et ultimus iste sermo qui resurrectionem carnis pronunciat, summam totius perfectionis succincta brevitate concludit.' Expos. in Symb. §. 40. And whereas he shews the custom of the Aquileian Church to make a cross upon their forehead at the naming of hujus carnis, he tells us elsewhere in his Apology against St. Jerome, that it was to conclude the Creed: 'Quo scilicet frontem, ut mos est, in fine Symboli signaculo contingentes, et ore carnis hujus, videlicet quam contingimus, resurrectionem fatentes, omnem venenatæ adversum nos linguæ calumniandi aditum præstruemus.' l. i. col. 354. In the same manner St. Jerome his contemporary: In Symbolo fidei et spei nostræ, quod ab apostolis traditum non scribitur in charta et atramento, sed in tabulis cordis carnalibus, post confessionem Trinitatis et unitatem Ecclesiæ, omne Christiani dogmatis sacramentum carnis resurrectione concluditur:' Epist. 61. al. 38. ad Pammach.

col. 323. So St. Chrysostom: Merà yàg τὴν ἀπαγγελίαν τῶν μυστικῶν ῥημάτων ἐκείνων καὶ φοβερῶν, καὶ τοὺς φρικτοὺς κανόνας τῶν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ κατενεχθέντων δογμάτων, καὶ τοῦτο πρὸς τῷ τέλει προστίθεμεν, ὅταν μέλλωμεν βαπτίζειν, κελεύοντες λέγειν ὅτι πιστεύω εἰς νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν καὶ ἐπὶ τῇ πίστει ταύτῃ βαπτιζόμεθα· μετὰ γὰρ τὸ ὁμολογῆσαι τοῦτο μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων, τότε καθιέμεθα εἰς τὴν πηγὴν τῶν ἱερῶν ναμάτων ἐκείνων. Ηom. 40. in 1 Cor. So Maximus Taurinensis, after those words carnis resurrectionem, adds: 'hic religionis nostræ finis, hæc summa credendi est.' In Expos. Symb. And Venantius Fortunatus after the same words: summa perfectionis concluditur.' l. xi. art. 1. And in the MS. set forth by the Bishop of Armagh, σαρκὸς ἀνάστασιν, and carnis resurrectionem are the last words.

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+ As Petrus Chrysologus expressly : Credimus vitam æternam; quia post resurrectionem nec bonorum finis est nec malorum. Signate vos.' Serm. 60. And again: Bene addidit, vitam æternam, ut se resurrecturum crederet, qui resurget per ipsum, qui cum Deo Patre et Spiritu S. vivit et regnat.' Serm. 62. So Etherius Uxamensis, and Eusebius Gallicanus. So we find Serm. de Temp. 131. et De Symb. ad Catech. 1. i. §. 16. 'Quomodo

and the life everlasting; in others by way of conjunction with the former, the resurrection of the body unto everlasting life. Upon this connexion with the former will follow the true interpretation of this concluding Article; for thereby we are persuaded to look upon it as containing the state of man after the resurrection in the world to come.

As therefore St. Paul hath taught us to express our belief of a "resurrection both of the just and unjust," (Acts xxiv. 15.) so after the resurrection we are to consider the condition of them both; of the one as risen to everlasting life, of the other as risen to everlasting punishment and contempt; and so those who first acknowledged this Article did interpret it.* Although therefore life everlasting, as it is used in the Scriptures, belongeth to the just alone, and is never mentioned otherwise than as a reward promised and given to them who fear and serve the Lord; yet the same words may be used to express the duration of any persons which live never to die again, whatsoever their state and condition in itself shall be. For as the resurrection of the dead is taken in the Scriptures for the happy and eternal condition which followeth after it, as when the apostle saith, "If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead;" (Phil. iii. 11.)+ which he must needs be most certain

And

carnis resurrectionem? Ne forte putet aliquis quomodo Lazari, ut scias non sic esse, additum est in vitam æternam.' And 1. 2. §. 23. Hoc sequitur etiam in sancto Symbolo, quod post resurrectionem carnis, credamus et vitam æternam.' 1. 3. et 1. 4. §. 22. Hoc sequitur in sancto Symbolo, quod omnia quæ credimus et speramus, in vita æterna percipiamus.' Carolus Magnus in his reprehension of Basilius bishop of Ancyra: 'Non eo modo præjudicat prætermissio imaginum adorationis sacræ fidei puritati, quæ interdicta potius quam instituta est; sicut præjudicant remissio peccatorum, carnis resurrectio, et vita futuri sæculi, si in confessione prætermittantur; quæ utique et in omni scripturarum serie prædicantur, et ab apostolis in Symbolo laudabili brevitate connexæ tenentur.' Capit. 1. 3. c. 6. Anonymus in Homilia sacra set forth by Elmenhorstius with Gennadius: 'Post illam ab renunciationem nos interrogati a sacerdote, Credis in Deum Patrem Omnipotentem, creatorem cœli et terræ ? unusquisque respondit, Credo. Credis et in Dominum Christum, Filium ejus unicum, Dominum natum ex Maria Virgine, passum et sepultum? et respondit, Credo. Tertia interrogatio, Credis et in Spiritum Sanctum, sanctam ecclesiam catholicam, sanctorum communionem, remissionem peccatorum, carnis resurrectionem, et vitam æternam? et respondit unusquisque nostrum, Credo.'

* As appeareth by those words of

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váoracic of itself was taken for no more than avάorasis by any of the translators. And St. Chrysostom did so understand it, as appeareth by these words: Εἴ πως καταντήσω, φησὶν, εἰς τὴν ἐξανάστα σιν τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν, (which is the reading of the Alexandrian MS.) τί γέλεις ; καὶ μὴν πάντες αὐτῆς τυγχάνουσι, καὶ οὐκ ἀνιστάσεως μόνης, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀφθαρσίας πάντες, οἱ μὲν εἰς τιμὴν, οἱ δὲ εἰς ἐφόδιον κολάσεως. Εἰ τοίνυν πάντες τῆς ἀναστάσεως τυγχάνουσι, καὶ οὐ τῆς ἀναστάσεως μόνης, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀφο θαρσίας, πῶς ὡς μέλλων ἐξαιρέτου τινὸς τυγ χάνειν ἔλεγες, Εἴ πως καταντήσω; ad loc. Hom. 11. By which it appeareth that St. Chrysostom took no notice of the word ἐξανάστασις, or of the phrase ἡ ἐκ τῶν 18xgav, but as the interpretation of the apo stle's intention addeth : Ποίαν ἐνταῦθα ἀνάστασίν φησι; τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἄγουσαν τὸν Xporov. So also Theodoret's paraphrase: Ἵνα μετάσχω καὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως. It is

to attain unto, who believed the resurrection of the just and unjust, and therefore if he had spoken of the resurrection in general, as it belongeth unto all, he needed not that expression, "If by any means," nor that which went before," the fellowship of Christ's sufferings," for without them he should certainly rise from the dead; but he meant that resurrection which followeth upon the being " made conformable unto his death," which is a resurrection in conformity to the resurrection of Christ. As, I say, the resurrection of the dead is taken in the Scripture for everlasting happiness, and yet the same language is and may be used for the general resurrection of all men, even of such as shall be everlastingly unhappy; so the life everlasting, though used for a reward given only unto the elect, may yet be taken as comprehending the condition of the reprobate also, and understood barely for the duration of persons living.

*

All those then who shall rise from the dead shall rise to life, and after the resurrection live by a true vital union of their souls unto their bodies: and because that union shall never cease, because the parts united shall never be dissolved, because "it is appointed unto men once to die," (Heb. ix. 27.) and after their reviviscency never to die again, it followeth, that the life which they shall live must be an everlasting life.

To begin then with the resurrection to condemnation; the truth included in this Article, in reference unto that, is to this effect, that those who die in their sins, and shall be raised to life, that they may appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, and shall there receive the sentence of condemnation, shall be continued in that life for ever to undergo the punishment due unto their sins; in which two particulars are contained, the duration of their persons, and of their pains. For two ways this eternity may be denied: one, by a destruction or annihilation of their persons, with which their torments must likewise cease; the other, by a suspension or relaxation of the punishment, and a preservation of the persons, never to suffer the same pains again. Both of which are repugnant to the clear revelation of the justice of God against the disobedience of man.

Our first assertion therefore is, that the wicked after the day of judgment shall not be consumed or annihilated, but shall remain alive in soul and body to endure the torments to be inflicted upon them by the justice of God, for all the sins committed by them while they were in the body. They who of late oppose the eternal subsistence and misery of the wicked, strangely maintain their opinion, not as a position to be proved by reason, as some of the heathens did, but as a truth deli

therefore, I conceive, a notion peculiar to Theophylact among the Greeks: Πάντες ἀνίστανται, οὐ μέντοι πάντες ἐξανίστανται. ad loc.

Sed sciendum est quia omnes boni et mali resurgere habent ad vitam, sed

non omnes resurgent ad gloriam.' Ruffin. ad Psal. 1.

† Μάχεται γὰρ ἀθάνατος φύσις ἀλγηδόσι καὶ βασάνοις, πείπες πᾶν τὸ ἀλγοῦν θνητόν T. Sext. Empiricus adv. Mathem. p.

321.

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