Re: Question for Clergy

It is certainly not the case that the resurrection body is simply identical
in all respects with the body which has died. Paul's argument in I
Cor.15:35 ff is that there is both continuity and transformation. The plant
is not identical with the seed but is continuous with it. Analogously, "It
is sown a physical body (soma psychikon), it is raised a spiritual body
(soma pneumatikon)." Paul's general usage of "spirit" indicates that that
doesn't mean just an immaterial body (whatever that might be) but a body
which is completely related to God in the proper way.

To say that in some meaningful sense it is "the same body" does not require
that it be made of "the same material" or "the same atoms." In fact, I'm
not made of "the same atoms" that composed my body 30 years ago. & since in
quantum mechanics all identical particles (electrons, C-12 atoms) really are
completely indistinguishable, the whole idea of "the same atoms" breaks down
& the question of whether or not the resurrection body will have "the same
atoms" becomes meaningless. (I discussed this in an article "Quantum Theory
and Resurrection Reality," CTNS Bulletin 11, 1991, 25, and more briefly in
Chapter 10 of The Cosmos in the Light of the Cross .) The problems posed
below, as well as that of cannibalism (an argument presented against
resurrection of the body as far back as the 2d century) are really
non-problems.

But the emphasis should not just be even on the "pattern" sense of material
identity. A clone of mine grown in a vat for 63 years might be close to my
present physical composition but would not at all be the same person
because it would have an entirely different history & set of experiences (if
any). Continuity of experience & history are essential to being "the same
person."

Why did the risen Christ have the stigmata? Why does God choose to do
things the way God chooses to do them? I don't know. Perhaps they are like
trophies or medals for valor ("Those dear tokens of his passion/still his
dazzling body bears" - Charles Wesley.) The martyrs are sometimes
prortrayed bearing the marks of their execution - e.g., St. Bartholomew, who
was supposed to have been flayed alive, carrying his skin in Michelangelo's
"Last Judgment." & maybe since organ donation is an act of charity, those
who donate their organs will bear the same marks.

The pastoral issues you raise are real for some people & one has to address
the particular concerns people have. Worry about cremation can usually be
dealt with by pointing out that the martyrs whose bodies were burned are
certainly not denied the resurrection. For centuries Christians were
usually buried without embalming & were eventually reduced to dust as
thoroughly as by fire. Some may be amenable to the more sophisticated type
of argument that I sketched above.

I always tell my seminary students that it's important to address these
issues in appropriate educational settings _before_ a moment of crisis.
Organ donation should be encouraged but if people have never thought about
donating a relative's organs before the transplant team representative comes
to them in the ER waiting room then they may react negatively & in their
emotional state any reasoned theological education isn't going to be
possible. That sort of education ought to take place beforehand so that
people will be prepared when a decision is suddenly required.

Shalom
George
http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
----- Original Message -----
From: <drsyme@cablespeed.com>
To: <asa@calvin.edu>
Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2006 3:33 PM
Subject: Question for Clergy

> If the correct interpretation of the resurrection of believers is that the
> self same body will be raised out of the grave, in the same way that
> Christs body was raised, how do you counsel people regarding things such
> as cremation, donating organs, terminal illness, and amputation?
>
> I am asking this question in all seriousness. If the same body is going to
> be raised how can this ocurr if the body was cremated and scattered in the
> ocean? Surely that "body" would be incorporated into other things, even
> other people over time. If someone has a progressive illness, would they
> be better off dying quickly to avoid further deterioration; or if someone
> needs an amputation to save their life, would they be better off dying
> from gangrene but still have all their limbs for eternity? If you are a
> cadaveric organ donor and they harvest your heart, lungs, liver, etc after
> you die, what happens after you are raised? There are many other
> implications to this idea, and frankly it is foreign to me.
>
> I must have missed the class that taught that our self same bodies will be
> raised after death. I never had the understanding that the self same body
> will be raised after death, so when I came to understand the preterist
> view, I quickly went from accepting partial preterism, (after I read RC
> Sproals "The Last Days According to Jesus.") to full preterism, because
> the biggest objection the partial preterist have with preterists is the
> nature of the resurrection body. But I already was believing along the
> same lines as the preterists, long before I knew what preterism was.
>
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Received on Thu Apr 20 16:51:03 2006