8
RESURRECTION
OF
THE
BODY.
physical
system,
are
not
essential
to
bodily
iden-
tity
;
but
that
the
essence
of
our
physical
being
is,
in
a
sense,
independent
of
these
and
manufac-
tured
by
them.
In
this
view,
the
objection
loses
all
its
force.
Whatever
changes
take
place
in
the
coarser
parts
of
the
bodily
system,
the
elemental
part—the
essence—yet
remains.
And
it
is
this
that
shall
rise
from
the
grave.
Does
this
appear
mysterious?
Take
that
clump
of
iron
ore
just
from
the
quarry.
Cast
it
into
the
furnace.
Behold
it
there
burning
and
seething
in
the
lambent
flames
;
its
form
changes
;
it
is
consumed;
gone.
But
descend
now,
and
behold
the
pure
metal
flowing
from
the
furnace.
Here
again
appears
the
clump
;
not,
it
13
true,
in
its
crude
state,
but
freed
from
1ts
earth
;
purged
from
its
alloy,
and
yet
preserving
its
elemental
identity.
[Its
essence
is
there.
So
shall
it
be
with
this
earthly
body
as
it
passes
through
the
furnace
of
death,
and
comes
forth
in
the
resurrec-
tion,
It
is
sown
in
corruption,
it
is
raised
in
incorruption;
it
is
sown
a
natural
body,
it
is
raised
a
spiritual
body;”
for
‘flesh
and
blood
cannot
inherit
the
kingdom
of
God.”
Therefore
“the
dead
shall
be
raised
incorruptible
and
we
shall
be
changed.”
ITI.
Ir
1s
OBJECTED
TO
THE
RESURRECTION
THAT
THE
ELEMENTS
oF
WHICH
THE
Bopy
18
COMPOSED
ARE
NOT
ONLY
DISSOLVED,
BUT
WASTED,
SCATTERED,
AND
EVEN
TRANSFORMED.
After
death
the
body
is
soon
decomposed.
The
gaseous
and
watery
elements
soon
escape
away,
and
the
more
solid
parts
soon
crumble
into
dust.
“The
body
of
a
dead
man
may
be
burnt
to
ashes,
OBJECTIONS
CONSIDERED.
and
the
ashes
may
be
blown
about
by
the
wind,
and
scattered
far
and
wide
in
the
air
and
upon
the
earth.
After
it
is
resolved
into
its
earthly
or
humid
matter,
it
may
be
taken
up
by
the
vessels
which
supply
plants
with
nutriment,
and
at
length
become
constituent
parts
of
the
substance
of
these
plants.”
By
these
and
similar
processes,
the
particles
that
constitute
a
single
human
body,
may
be
dispersed
over
half
the
globe,
may
have
passed
through
innumerable
transformations,
and
be
combined
with
other
bodies.
How
can
these
widely-scattered
elements
be
gathered
together
?
how
is
it
possible
that
they
should
be
again
so
re-
united
as
to
re-form
the
body
that
once
crumbled
and
wasted
?
This
is
indeed
mysterious.
But
is
not
the
or-
ganization
of
our
present
bodies
also
mysterious
and
inexplicable
?
May
not
each
individual
say,
“lam
fearfully
and
wonderfully
made?’
The
earth,
the
air,
the
sea
have
all
been
laid
under
contribution.
The
elements
that
constitute
our
bodies,
have
been
drawn
from
remote
parts
of
the
earth,
and
from
the
depths
of
the
sea.
Some
por-
tions
of
these
elements
of
our
bodies
have
been
drawn
from
the
vegetable
and
animal
productions
of
our
own
clime.
Other
portions
are
the
pro-
ductions
of
other
climes—the
tropical
regions
and
the
arctic,
India
and
China,
the
islands
of
the
sea
and
the
mountains
of
the
continents,
the
rivers
and
the
oceans—have
all
brought
their
contribu-
tions
to
the
erection
of
this
mysterious
temple.
A
thousand
unappreciated
and
unseen
influences
have
been
working,
under
the
all-controlling
eye
of
God,
toits
completion.
Let
us,
then,
not
stum-
ble
at
the
mysteriousness
of
the
resurrection
of
the
body
from
the
dead,
till
we
have
solved
the