sible to reject this wholesome doctrine, but we must at the ssme time abjure the Christian religion, and give the lie to the Holy Ghost. That our faith might be the better settled, God has been pleased not only to publish the resurrection from the dead by his prophets and apostles; he hath not only discovered to us many excellent and delightful types and figures of this truth: but to give us a more experimental testimony of his power, he hath raised several from the dead. In the Old Testament, God raised up two children, one at the prayers of the prophet Elijah, the other at the request of Elisha, his successor, 1 Kings xvii. And when the dead body had been laid in Elisha's grave, and touched his bones, it returned to life again, 2 Kings xiii. And, during our Saviour's abode on earth, he raised to life the daughter of Jairus that was dead; the widow's son of Nain, who was carried out of the gate to be buried; and Lazarus, who had been four days lying in his grave, whose body began to stink, Matt. ix. Luke vii. When this merciful Saviour gave up the ghost upon the cross, the graves were opened, and many bodies of saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves, after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many, Matt.xxvii. After his ascension he raised from the dead Dorcas, a charitable widow, at the prayers of St. Peter, to comfort the poor widows that wept for her; and a young man, named Eutychus, was restored to life by the means of St. Paul, that the congregation of believers might be comforted, who were trou bled at his unexpected fall and sudden death. But chiefly we have the example of our Lord, who hath raised himself up by a divine power. This glorious instance is able not only to excite our admiration, but also to settle our faith, and nourish our hopes. For the resurrection of other persons shews what God can do, but the resurrection of Christ declares declares to us what God will do, and is an earnest to assure us of our future resurrection. It is not possible to believe, as we ought, that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, but we must also, by a necessary consequence, believe that he will raise us likewise. This St. Paul endeavours to teach us, “ If we believe that Jesus Christ is dead and risen; even so them also which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him," 1 Thes. iv. As the head is, so shall the members be. As the firstfruits are, so shall the rest of the harvest be. The same apostle labours to persuade this truth in these excellent words, "Christ is risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept; for since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead; for as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order, Christ the first-fruits, afterwards they that are Christ's at his coming." Against this holy and divine doctrine, some object, That there are bodies consumed by fire, and burnt to ashes But what follows from hence? for, whether the bodies be reduced to dust or ashes, it matters not; God is able to restore them, and render to them their primitive forms. Since cer tain herbs, consumed to ashes, rise again out of the ground by a natural inclination, as we have already observed; and since art is so industrious to make them transparent bodies (of an extraordinary beauty) of melted ashes; shall not God, who is so infinitely above all abilities of nature created by him, and of all arts and sciences which proceed from his direction, be able of ashes to compose a beautiful and perfect body? Others pretend next, That a great many bodies have been drowned in the seas, and swallowed up in the waters. I acknowledge that to be true. But I affirm, that God is alto gether as able to draw a body out of the depth of the sea, as out of the bowels of the earth. He who hath prescribed bounds 7 bounds to this great sea, who drives up its vast concavities, and lays open its immense bottom, hath not he a command. over this sea? Cannot he oblige it to restore those bodies that have been committed to its keeping, as when he commanded the whale to bring again to land the prophet Jonas, whom it had swallowed up alive? Some object, That there are bodies devoured by the beasts, which have been their food, and have been turned into their substance. But this objection is not to be valued; for when a human body shall have passed through the bowels of the beasts, and been changed a thousand and a thousand times into their substance, there is nothing that can hinder Ged from restoring them again at the day of the resurrection. For those animals shall never rise again; 'tis therefore no thing to the purpose to inquire after them, when the body shall re-assume that which they shall have devoured, and turned into their own substance. The strongest and most plausible objection concerns the Anthropophagi (the eaters of men.). For 'tis very well known, that in the Indies there are some savages so barbarous as to feed upon human flesh, and to esteem it as their greatest dainties. Some answer to this, That such kind of inhumanities are not ordinary, and that such wretched Indians never practise such heinous things. but in urgent necessity, or when they purpose to revenge themselves upon their enemies. But such as have given an account of the new-found America, relate, That in some provinces there have been such cruel and inhuman savages, as not only devour the flesh of their enemies, whom they sacrificed to their idols, but also of their dearest friends, whom they cut in pieces in their shambles. The same historians tellus, That some of the barbarous people are so impiously mistaken, as to reckon it an act of piety and duty to their parents and friends, to give them a sepulchre in their own stomachs. Again, they say, That there are some who, : 14. 3 H like yourer. like so many mad dogs, feed upon infants, and hunt after men as we do after wild beasts in the field.-In case all these relations should be true, I must desire my reader to take no tice, there are two kinds of parts that compose the human body, the one solid, as the bones and nerves, and so essential to it, that without them it would cease from being any longer an human body; the other parts are adventitious, accidental, and changeable; they serve to maintain it almost as the food and nourishment. Now this I affirm, as an undoubted truth, that when it happens that men feed upon their own kind, God takes care, by his wonderful providence, that the essential and solid parts of the man devoured never enter into the substance or composition of the solid parts of the deAt the great day of the resurrection, the bodies will re-assume all their essential and solid parts, without which they cannot be true bodies; but they shall not need the accidental and fluid parts, as are the humours and blood; for then they shall have no more inward heat to consume them, and no more hunger and thirst. Therefore they shall never have any need of meat or drink, or of any other things whatsoever, to serve them instead of nourishment. Let the metals be never so much mingled, the goldsmith separates them with ease. Thus, let our human bodies be never so much altered and shuffled together, God will be able enough to separate and distinguish the one from another. When the goldsmith will separate the metals, he casts them into the melting-pot, and causeth them to pass through the fire; but God, who can do all things without means, hath no need of the fire, or the melting-pot; for by his word, at the twinkJing of an eye, he can cause this separation to be made; and render to every body that which necessarily belongs to its composition. In a word, if the difficulty should be far greater than it is, and if the resolution of this objection were not so easy to be made, it should not lessen our faith, or cause us to doubt of the resurrection of our bodies. When When it concerns things that the holy scripture doth not expressly declare and decide, or that cannot be drawn from it by necessary consequence, it is lawful to dispute either for or against such things; but if it concerns such as this sacred writ, inspired of God, plainly set forth, our faith must learn her duty, to submit to Almighty God, and believe that there is nothing impossible with him. Now this doctrine of the resurrection of the dead is so expressly and plainly found in this holy scripture, that it seems as visible as the beams of the noon sun. Many questions are made upon this subject; some are of that importance, that an answer will give satisfaction upon this excellent subject. First, They inquire by whom,and by whose power, shall the resurrection be effected? The scripture gives an occasion to make this inquiry; for it ascribes it sometimes to the Father, as in John v. "The Father raises the dead, and quickens them;" sometimes to the Son, as in Phil. iii. "Jesus Christ shall change our vile bodies, according to his mighty working, whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself;" and sometimes to the Holy Ghost, as in Rom. viii. " If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead, dwell in you; he that hath raised up Christ from the dead, shall also quicken your mortal bcdies, by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." This difficulty may be thus resolved; all the outward works of God, that concern the creatures, are common to the three Persons of the most holy, most glorious, and most wonderful TRINITY. So that we shall rise again by the infinite power of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Nevertheless, the resurrection is especially ascribed to the Son, as he is the Judge of the quick and the dead. In order to the discharge of that glorious employment, all power hath been committed to him in heaven, and in the earth, and in the seas. 2. Some inquire farther, When shall this resurrection be? I answer, |