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"ashes are given to the winds. The particles of "matter thus undergoing ceaseless changes, it is "incredible that the component atoms of the body "should be re-assembled into one whole, and re-ani"mated, after the lapse of years."

This is one objection to the doctrine of the resurrection, which unbelievers offer. They infer from such premises, that it is incredible. But wherefore incredible? Is it on account of the time which shall have elapsed between the decomposition of the body, and the re-union of its parts? Is it on account of the distance to which one part shall have been removed from another? Is it on account of the changes which the atoms undergo in a separate state? or is it rather, because, by the multitude of words, their own ideas become confused, and they attribute their own perplexity to Jehovah ?

Remember, it is God that raiseth the dead. What effect can the lapse of years have upon an understanding which is infinite, which admits of no succession of thoughts, no derangement of ideas; with whom a thousand years are as one day, and one day as a thousand years?

The extent of space over which the component particles of bodies are scattered, can present no difficulty to their re-union. What comes of the idea of space, in the view of an omnipresent spirit? God is every where. He is continually present with every atom of creation. He is infinitely acquainted with every change it undergoes. What difficulty can distance between the parts, cause to a re-union of those parts by the infinite power of an omnipresent God?

The component parts of each of our present bodies, have been already as far separated as they can be hereafter. Where have these particles been revolving for several thousand years before this day? From the air and the vapour, from the earth, and

from the deeps of the sea, from every quarter of the world, and from every element, have these atoms been collected, which constitute each of our present bodies. Did these atoms, driven by chance, enter into our organization? Is chance our creator and God? Assuredly it shall be as easy for infinite power and intelligence to re-organize these parts at the resurrection, as it has been to assemble them in the place which they now occupy. The extent of the separation which shall take place after death, cannot be an obstacle.

The change which the parts of which the human body is composed shall undergo, cannot disguise them from the divine knowledge, or render them incapable of reduction to their former relation to one another.

The various particles of matter are undergoing constant revolutions and changes in their sensible qualities. Some of these changes are obvious to man; but all are within the comprehension of omniscience. Change the parts of a human body as you will; let fancy, unbounded, lend her aid to the transmigrations; still they cannot escape the vigilance of omniscience, nor baffle the power of omnipotence, to reclaim them to their former standing. A grain of corn is cast into the earth: it rots; it undergoes decomposition; it sprouts; it grows; it ripens in the ear: it is still corn. And who enacted and executed the laws by which this seed impresses its own qualities upon the matter collected from the different elements? It is Jehovah God giveth the increase. Shall we doubt the fact because we capnot imitate it? Gold, that precious metal for which thousands sell their honour, their conscience, their souls; gold is scattered in the dust; enters into the composition of vegetables; is reduced to ashes; is dissolved in acids and alkalies; is drunk by men as was the calf of Aaron in the wilderness; is combined

with several metals: and, nevertheless, is capable of being reclaimed even by the art of man to its former lustre. And shall we deny to the eternal God the power of reclaiming the bodies of the saints, because they have entered into a variety of different combinations with other atoms of matter? No. We cannot deny it, without ascribing imperfection to the divinity-without becoming atheists. Why then, I repeat the question, "Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead ?"

2d Objection. "The human body is subject to "continual change. It is worn down by its own "vital action. It is emaciated by disease. Its par"ticles are continually expelled by the exhalent ar"teries. The absorbents remove bone, ligament,

every part of the body, even the most solid. In a "few years the whole is changed. A new body is "formed by the aliment which we daily receive. "Every ten years presents a body in every particle "distinct from the former. A man of an hundred

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years of age has accordingly had ten distinct bodies. "With which of these shall he arise? Shall he be re"stored to the possession of them all? Our bodies "moulder into dust, are transformed into soil, be"come incorporated with vegetables, and, as the "food of animals, become the flesh of other crea"tures. These are again the component parts of "other human bodies. There are also cannibals. "What has been a part of one man to-day, becomes 66 a part of another to-morrow. Whose shall these parts be at the resurrection? The same particles of matter may have been the ingredients of fifty dif"ferent bodies in the progress of time. Thus a re"surrection implies a contradiction, and is of course "not an object of divine power. We are constrain"ed by the knowledge of facts to reject the doctrine "and the system, of which it is an essential part,

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"Therefore do we think it incredible, that, God "should raise the dead."

The objectors believe, then, that the doctrine of the resurrection involves a contradiction; and therefore it is incredible. What must be their opinion of Christians? Some of them, they must acknowledge, are as well acquainted with the facts which they state, as is any unbeliever. They are as well versed in history, in medicine, in reasoning, and in every department of literature, as their opponents can pretend to be. They are, moreover, as consistent, as conscientious, as virtuous, and as much to be depended on, as any set of men. Is it supposed that such characters are all hypocrites, or that they contradict the first principles of common sense, by giving faith to palpable contradictions? Or rather, does not modesty constrain to the belief, that intelligent Christians are capable of proving, that no fact contradicts their doctrine?

Let no one think, however, that we intend to shield ourselves under the authority of names from the weapons of objectors. Objections of science, falsely so called, are never of difficult solution. The knowledge which raises the objection may, under Christian direction, with equal ease put it down.

No. We do not embrace contradictions, or give credit to impossibilities: and the objectors shall be themselves our witness to this truth.

Whatever changes the body may undergo, personal identity continues from the birth to the tomb. The body which dies, is that which shall arise. Every thing which enters at any time into the body is not essential to it; and if we should multiply a hundred fold, the race of cannibals, and the probabilities of the parts of one body becoming at some time the parts of another body, still there is matter enough in existence to fùrnish distinct bodies for all men; there is knowledge enough in Jehovah, to distinguish the portion be

longing essentially to each, and the energy of omnipotence is still sufficient to raise the dead.

The body certainly undergoes many important changes in the animal economy, from the time of its birth, until the hour of death. Matter is daily expelled from the system, and new matter is introduced into its organization. Whether any entire part, or all the parts of this delicately constructed frame, be completely renovated in the course of a certain number of years, is merely conjectural, and is of no consequence whatever in this investigation. The body is still the same, so far as we are concerned with its identity. A son, born twice ten years ago, has not ceased once to be a son: his mother still recognizes him as the child of her womb, nourished at her breast, and nursed upon her knee. A wife has been emaciated by lingering illness, and has happily recovered the bloom of health. Has the marriage covenant been annulled by the change, or need the husband apprehend that he only embraces a stranger, to whom he has never been wedded? The civil law seizes upon a murderer, who had for ten years escaped the justice which pursued him. Shall he be acquitted at the bar, on the supposition that he is not now the same person, with him that committed the atrocious deed? The veteran whose arm was shattered in the defence of his country, receives a pension for his support. Shall it be denied that he is the same person who shed his blood in the support of freedom? No. The objection is not the statement of a fact opposed to the doctrine of the resurrection. It is the introduction of a principle which, in its operaration, would totally eradicate all the social affections, derange the laws of property, and destroy public order; which would confound praise and blame, reward and punishment, and effectually annihilate the distinction between virtue and vice.

The body which dies, is that which shall arise. VOL. IV.-No. II.

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