trine of the Sadducees. He maintains that the dead are raised and live unto God, and he thereby condemns the Sadducean opinion that the soul and body perish alike at death. (2) He boldly charges the Sadducees with ignorance of the Scriptures and of the power of God. He shows that they were superficial readers of the book of Moses, and discerned not the depth of meaning and the suggestiveness of the language recorded therein. A defective knowledge of the power of God hindered their spiritual insight, and naturally led to disbelief of angels and spirits. (3) He condemned their crass notion of a physical or bodily resurrection, which was evinced in the question of the Sadducees. They obviously assumed that in the resurrection the same fleshly body, with all its adaptations to the conditions of human life on earth, must needs be perpetuated without change. (4) He positively declares that in the resurrection-life these human relationships do not exist. "They neither marry, nor are given in marriage," and therefore do not beget offspring, nor continue the family relationships of this world. "They are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection." (5) He teaches, further, that the risen saints are like the angels of God in heaven. They become spiritual beings in a loftier manner than the physical conditions of this mortal life permit. Mortality is so swallowed up of life that they "cannot die any more, for they are equal unto the angels." (6) His citation and exposition of Exod. iii, 6, shows his conception of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as living and immortal. The words, "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob," could not, in his way of reading the Scriptures, allow us to suppose that those patriarchs were not at that very moment alive. "He is not the God of the dead, but of the living." Any other inference would be a great error in understanding the Scriptures. (7) The gospel of Luke contains a few statements not found in Matthew and Mark. His language concerning the matter of marriage is as follows: "The sons of this world (age) marry, and are given in marriage: but they that are accounted worthy to attain to that world (age) and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage." He also adds the words, "Neither can they die any more," "They are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection," and "all live unto him." These statements show that only the resurrection of the just is here contemplated, and nothing in any of these gospels appears to favor the doctrine of the resurrection of all men, good and bad. Not all men, but only those who are accounted worthy, attain the resurrection from the dead. What becomes of the unworthy is a question not here entertained. (8) It is obvious to the unbiased.

interpreter that there is nothing in all this teaching of Jesus which either affirms or implies a resurrection of the flesh. On the contrary, the risen ones are like the angels of God. They are incorruptible and immortal. They are deathless, and so inherit the eternal life of the world to come, of which we read in Luke xviii, 30. What sort of bodies the angels of God in heaven possess is nowhere revealed to us. (9) The citation and comment on Exod. iii, 6, would seem to be without cogency in an argument touching the resurrection if the patriarchs named were not already risen and living unto God at the time of Moses. There is no intimation that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are merely living in Sheol (Hades), waiting for a future resurrection. Some men have imported this idea into their expositions, but Jesus utters no word that clearly warrants such a thought. (10) From all these considerations it is obvious that, according to Jesus, the resurrection of the dead is no restoration of fleshly bodies, but an exaltation and glorification of the living spirit of man. The true sons of God in their resurrection become not mere resuscitated human beings, with bodily natures adapted to the marriage relations of earth, but are equal unto the angels and become possessed of spiritual powers like them. That Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had attained that age and world of life is implied in the argument of Jesus, who, in all this scripture, utters no word about the simultaneous resurrection of all the dead at any one future time. If at death, or soon after, the spiritual nature of man is exalted and glorified into heavenly life, and becomes a living spirit like the angels of God, incapable of dying any more, then the language and teaching of Jesus in reply to the Sadducees is intelligible, cogent, luminous, and full of force and comfort for the righteous.

(9) Jesus's Teaching in John's Gospel. In the gospel of John we find one passage that affirms without qualification the future resurrection both of the just and of the unjust: "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 practiced evil unto the resurrection of judgment" (v, 28, 29). This corresponds with Dan. xii, 2, in declaring a resurrection of the two classes, the good and the evil; but it differs from Daniel in making the resurrection universal "all who are in the tombs"-not merely "many from among them that sleep in the dust." This notable difference between the two texts must be fairly recognized: one teaches a partial, the other a universal resurrection of the dead. And this fact shows that the different biblical writers entertained distinct and divergent conceptions of the resurrection, or contemplated the subject

from different points of view. In John's gospel, in the immediate context of the passage just quoted, Jesus makes three distinct statements about resurrection. In verse 24 he says: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death into life." This language describes the spiritual experience of one who is awakened by the truth of God, quickened into newness of life by the Spirit, raised, so to speak, out of his deathlike bondage to sin, and made a partaker of the "eternal life" which is a present possession of Christian believers. But that which immediately follows in verse 25 adds another and distinct conception: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live." Here we observe that specific mention is made of an hour both present and yet coming, when "the dead (oi vexpoí) shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and shall live." This "hearing the voice" is not identical with "hearing my word, and believing him that sent me" in verse 24. This latter is hearing and accepting the message of salvation brought by Christ; but hearing his voice (comp. ver. 28 and xi, 43) is hearing the life-giving summons which calls one forth out of the domain of death and of the tomb, as in the case of Lazarus. We accordingly understand our Lord to refer in verse 25 to those instances of resurrection of the dead which occurred in his own time, such as the raising of Jaïrus's daughter, the son of the widow of Nain, and Lazarus. These examples belonged to that period which was well spoken of as "the hour that cometh and now is" (comp. iv, 23). But in verse 28 Jesus affirms the resurrection of "all that are in the tombs," and he speaks of it as occurring at "an hour that is coming" (pxera wpa). The phrase all that are in the tombs may be regarded as clearly connoting the idea of a resurrection of bodies from the grave; and yet a rigid literal interpretation may be seen to be inconsistent with the thought that all the dead are referred to. For the dead are not all in the tombs (Ev Tõis μvnuɛíos); thousands were never buried, and other thousands are in the depths of the sea.' And if the strict literal meaning of the word tombs cannot be insisted on, the phrase may be best understood as comprehending all the dead, and equivalent to "all that have passed out of this mortal life and are in the domain of death," and all who shall in their own times thus pass away. In John vi, 39, 40, 44, 50, 51, 54, 58, Jesus speaks repeatedly of giving eternal life to them that believe on him; he declares they

1 The word μvnuɛiov always means a sepulcher, or tomb, constructed for respectful interment of the dead, and for a memorial of them.

shall not die, but live forever; and he says again and again that he "will raise them up at the last day." But there is nothing in any of these passages to determine the nature of the resurrection, save that it obviously involves eternal life and glory. In the lips of Jesus the phrase at the last day may or may not have designated the same thought that it conveyed to the minds of others. In the lips of Martha (xi, 23), "the resurrection of the last day" probably meant a future simultaneous resurrection of all the dead, or at least of all the righteous dead; for that was a current belief among many of the Jewish people of that time. But it was not the habit of our Lord to correct or antagonize all the erroneous opinions of the common people, and when at times he did assume the delicate task, he sought to suggest a deeper and richer significance for current phrases. In John xi, 25, 26, we have a remarkable series of statements addressed to Martha, which show that with him the resurrection meant something quite different from what she had supposed. "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth on me, though he die, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never die." This, in its connection with Martha's words, is equivalent to saying: "Think not of a far-off time of general resurrection. The power to raise the dead and to make them live again is here in me. What I can do 'at the last day' I can also do at the present hour.' I am the resurrection in this deep sense, that 'whosoever believes in me and lives in me shall never die."" So far as these words correct the thoughts of Martha and others of like opinion, they suggest that the power of the resurrection is in Christ, and is an abiding, ever-present power. Accordingly, in his deeper thought, "the last day" would mean the day of ultimate glorification; not necessarily one particular day or hour in which all believers are to be simultaneously glorified. Every individual believer must come personally to his own last day.

(10) Jesus Absolutely Assures Immortality, but Offers no Theories. The passages we have now examined include all that our gospels have to say of the teaching of Jesus concerning the resurrection. One may naturally wish to have learned more than this from the Great Teacher. We cannot construct from his words a convincing argument for the resurrection of the fleshly body that returns to dust. Nor can we prove from his teaching that all the

1 It is well in this connection to observe also a similar word of Jesus to the crucified malefactor, who prayed, "Lord, remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom." Jesus replied: "Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise" (Luke xxiii, 42, 43). The supplicant thought of a distant time, a future kingdom; but Jesus emphasizes the words to-day: not at a remote period, but this very day thou shalt be with me in a blessed Paradise.

dead are to be raised simultaneously. But the things he does declare in his teaching about the resurrection, his raising up of Lazarus and others from death, and his own resurrection and ascension into heaven, taken altogether, are as absolute assurances of immortality and eternal life for the obedient children of God as we may expect in this life to receive. The manner of the resurrection is left in much uncertainty; the mode and conditions of immortality are not made manifest to us; but the truth of the doctrine is placed beyond all reasonable doubt or controversy.

6. Doctrine of the Apocalypse of John. In passing now to examine what the other New Testament books have to say about the resurrection of the dead, we turn first to a passage in the Apocalypse of John (xx, 4-15) which contains some things noticeably parallel with John v, 28, 29. There are two classes of the dead portrayed after the manner of apocalyptic symbolism, one of which is pronounced "blessed and holy," and the other is brought before "a great white throne" for judgment. The blessed ones are "the souls of them that had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as worshipped not the beast, neither his image, and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." They are said to "have part in the first resurrection," and over them "the second death has no power." They represent the glorified martyrs and those who kept themselves pure from all manner of idolatry. They are the same souls that in vi, 9-11, cry from the altar, and are given each a white robe; they belong to the same class as the two witnesses who were killed, but afterward went up to heaven in a cloud (xi, 3-12). In this blessed and holy resurrection they have fulfilled in them the promise of iii, 21: "He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne." This first resurrection is a living and reigning with Christ a thousand years. "The rest of the dead," according to the vision, belonged to a different class, and they came forth unto a resurrection of judgment. "The sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works." We may note that nothing is here said of the dust of the earth giving up its dead, but "death and Hades" are put in the same category with "the sea." And nothing is said in any part of the vision of a resurrection of fleshly bodies. No mention is made of a second resurrection, but "the second death, the lake of fire," appears to be set in contrast with "the first resurrection." This

991

1 For a fuller exposition of Rev. xx, see my Biblical Apocalyptics, pp. 450-459,