The Doctrines of the New Church Briefly Explained/Chapter28
XXVIII.—The Resurrection.
The church in Swedenborg's day believed in the soul's immortality, yet had no clear conception of the soul as a substantial entity, or as existing in any definite form. The prevailing belief was, that it is something ethereal, subtle, shadowy,—a kind of breath or vapor which would, at some distant day, be re-united with its cast-off material body, and thereby reach its perfected state, regain its human form and attain a substantial existence.
And this resuscitation of the material body, or its re-union with the soul, is what Christians of that day understood by the Resurrection which the Bible speaks of. It was a purely materialistic doctrine, but in complete harmony with the sensuous philosophy and carnal conceptions prevalent at that period. And although this doctrine is still to be found in the creeds, and is often taught from the pulpit and in religious books, it is beginning to be rejected by the more thoughtful and intelligent classes in nearly all the denominations. It is openly denied by not a few religious journals and teaching ministers of the "evangelical" school.
To one who allows himself to think or reason at all on the subject, this old doctrine of the resurrection cannot but seem most unreasonable, and wholly inconsistent with all that is known of the laws of divine order, as well as with all that is suggested by the analogies of the material universe. There is nothing throughout the domains of nature, that bears the slightest resemblance to it. The crawling worm passes through successive states in the progress of its development, and finally emerges from its chrysalis, a beautiful butterfly, sporting among flowers and buoyant as the breeze it sails upon; but it never resumes the exuviæ that clothed it while a worm; for, useful as that covering was while it crawled upon the earth, it needs it no longer now that it is able to fly in the air.
And the doctrine is fully as unscriptural as it is unreasonable. Not one of the texts cited in proof of it, when carefully examined and rightly understood, lends this doctrine the least shadow of support. This has been repeatedly and conclusively shown in works where this subject has been treated at greater length than it accords with the design of the present work to treat it.[1]
The New Doctrine.
We turn now to the new doctrine of the resurrection.—According to the teachings of the New Church, man never dies. The material body dies, but this is not the man; this does not think, will, reason, or love. These and other human capabilities belong to the soul or spirit. And when the spirit is withdrawn from the body, all the bodily functions cease, and there supervenes what we call death. But the spirit which is the real man, still continues to live, but in the spiritual world where all things are homogeneous with itself—that is, are spiritual. The spirit is in the human form and is a spiritual and substantial organism. It has feet, hands and other bodily organs, and senses far more acute than those of the body; and these senses are opened as soon as the body dies, so that the spirit sees and hears other spirits as men see and hear one another,—and has sensible perception of the things in the spiritual world as men have sensible perception of the things in this world. This agrees with Paul's teaching; for he says: "There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body;" and in the same verse he declares that it is the spiritual body which experiences the resurrection. "A natural body is sown, a spiritual body is raised"—according to the correct translation of the original Greek; and he calls the man a "fool" who imagines that it is the material body—this outer garment of flesh which envelops us in this our earth-life—that is to attain unto the resurrection (1 Cor. xv. 36, 44).
The material body has no life of its own. It lives by virtue of the indwelling spirit. The spiritual body is within the natural during our life on earth, filling and animating every minutest part of it. But when the latter dies, the spiritual body, released from its clay tenement, enters upon a conscious state of existence in its own congenial realm;—still lives, with its senses all awake or opened, in its own world, and never resumes its material vestment. And the separation of the spirit from the incumbrance of gross matter, which takes place immediately after the death of the body, is what is meant, according to the belief and teaching of the New Church, by the resurrection. It is the anastasis or resuscitation of the real person, not the reconstructing and reanimation of the outer garment of flesh which had served him in this rudimental sphere.
That this is the true Scripture doctrine, appears plain from our Lord's own argument when proving to the unbelieving Sadducees the resurrection of the dead. For He declares to them that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were still living—and had, consequently, attained unto the resurrection—since their God is not the God of the dead, but of the living " (Matt. xxii. 32). Also from his words to the penitent thief: "To-day thou shalt be with me in Paradise;" and from the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the former of whom is represented as being in hell shortly after his decease, for he speaks of having five brethren still living in the natural world (Luke xvi. 28). And that we shall continue in the human form after the body dies, is proved by the appearance of Moses and Elias in that form on the mount of Transfiguration, long after they had left the natural world, but long before the general resurrection day according to the old theory. For they were seen by the apostles when they were in vision (Matt, xvii. 9), that is, when their spiritual eyes were opened, and of course were seen in the spiritual world. Furthermore, whenever angels have been seen by men (as in the case of those seen by Abraham, Gideon, Manoah and John), they have always appeared in the human form; and sometimes they are called "men" (Luke xxiv. 4).
And it accords with the dictate of reason as well as with the teaching of Scripture, that the human spirit, after its separation from the material body, should retain its human form. For we know that the form of every living creature is and must be in exact correspondence with that creature's essential nature or peculiar characteristics. We cannot conceive of the peculiar and distinguishing qualities of the fox, lion, horse or sheep, existing in any other forms than these animals have. And it is equally impossible to conceive of a being endowed with the human characteristics and capabilities, existing in any other than the human form. If the human faculties, therefore, which constitute the essential man or woman, continue to exist after the body dies (and if these do not exist, the individual does not), then people must be in the human form after death. And their bodies must be spiritual (as Paul plainly teaches), else they would not be adapted to a realm where all things else are spiritual; just as our present bodies must be material, to be fitted for service in a world of matter.
There is another kind of resurrection of which the Scriptures speak, that must not be (though it sometimes is) confounded with that which we are here considering. It is a spiritual resurrection which takes place with all the humble followers of the Lord, on this side of the grave. It is the resurrection from a natural to a spiritual state of life;—from a state of sin or moral death, to a state of holiness; from the old, carnal, selfish life, to the new life of disinterested neighborly love which is the Lord's own life and the very essence of heaven. As the old man with his affections and lusts dies or is put off, and our inner man is renewed after the image of Jesus Christ, we rise to a new and higher life—to that which is meant by "the life eternal." This is the kind of resurrection to which the Lord referred when He said: "I am the resurrection and the life;" and again: "The hour cometh and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live." When those who are entombed in selfishness and sin, hear (that is, obey) the voice of the Lord, they rise from their tombs to newness of life. This is salvation—"the first" or primary resurrection. Hence we read: "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection" (Rev. xx. 6).
- ↑ The reader is referred to "The World Beyond," by John Doughty (No. 1, of this series), pp. 24 to 40: "Noble's Appeal" pp. 43 to 100: Barrett's "Lectures on the New Dispensation," pp. 246 to 272:—for a critical examination of the texts of Scripture commonly cited or referred to in support of the old doctrine.