Article 10.—We believe ... That the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.
RENEWAL OF THE EARTH.
1. The Earth Under the Curse.—The blessed conditions, under which the earth shall exist and man shall live during the millennial era, are almost beyond human powers of comprehension, so different are they from all to which history testifies and which experience confirms. A reign of righteousness throughout the earth has never yet been known to the fallen race of man. So marked has been the universal curse, so great the power of the tempter; so bitter the selfish and ungodly strife betwixt man and man, and between nation and nation; so general has been the enmity of the animal creation, among its own members, and toward the being who, though in a degraded state, yet holds the Divine commission to the authority of dominion; so prolific has been the soil in bringing forth thorns, briers, and noxious weeds, that the description of Eden is to us as the story of another world, an orb of a higher order of existence, wholly unlike this dreary sphere. Yet, we learn that Eden was truly a feature of our planet, and that the earth is destined to become a celestialized body,—fit for the abode of the most exalted intelligences. The millennium, with all its splendor, is but a more advanced stage of preparation, by which the earth and its inhabitants will approach the fore-ordained perfection.
2. Regeneration of the Earth.—The term regeneration (translated from the Greek palingenesia, and signifying a new birth, or, more literally, one who is born again) occurs twice[1126] in the New Testament; while other expressions of equivalent meaning are used in many places. However, the terms are usually applied to the renewal of the soul of man through the spiritual birth, by which salvation is made obtainable; though our Lord's use of the term, in the promise of future glory which He confirmed upon the apostles, has probable reference to the rejuvenation of the earth, its inhabitants and their institutions, in connection with the millennial era:—"I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."[1127]
3. A time of restitution is foretold. Consider the words of Peter, spoken to the people who had come together in Solomon's porch, marveling over the miraculous healing of the lame beggar at the gate Beautiful:—"Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heavens must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began."[1128]
4. That the change to a state more nearly approaching perfection is to affect both nature and man is evident from the teachings of Paul, as recorded in his letter to the Romans:—"Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body."[1129]
5. This work of regeneration has already begun. As a necessary preliminary, whereby the curse that would otherwise afflict the earth might be averted, Elijah the prophet was to visit the earth, bringing with him the keys and authority of a great work; concerning which event, while yet future, the Lord said:—"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."[1130]
6. The Latter-day Saints solemnly declare that this prophecy has had a literal fulfillment, in that on the third day of April, A.D. 1836, Elijah visited the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, in the newly dedicated temple at Kirtland, Ohio, announced his mission as that spoken of by the mouth of Malachi, declared that the day for the fulfillment of the prediction had come, and committed the keys of this work of the last dispensation to the Church, that the labor of restoration might be carried on; and moreover, as a sign "that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors."[1131] Throughout the Millennium, this process of regeneration will be continued. Society shall be purified; nations shall exist in peace; wars shall cease; the ferocity of beasts shall be subdued; the earth, escaping in a great measure the curse of the Fall, shall yield bounteously to the husbandman; and the planet shall be redeemed.
7. The final stages of this regeneration of nature will not be reached until the Millennium has run its blessed course. Describing the events to take place after the completion of the thousand years, John the Revelator says:—"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.... And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."[1132] A similar prediction was made by Ether the Jaredite, six hundred years before Christ was born:—"And there shall be a new heaven, and a new earth: and they shall be like unto the old, save the old have passed away, and all things have become new."[1133] This event is to follow the scenes of the Millennium, as the context makes plain.
8. In the year 1830 of our present era, the Lord said:—"When the thousand years are ended, and men again begin to deny their God, then will I spare the earth but for a little season; and the end shall come, and the heaven and the earth shall be consumed and pass away, and there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, for all old things shall pass away, and all things shall become new, even the heaven and the earth, and all the fulness thereof, both men and beasts, the fowls of the air and the fishes of the sea: and not one hair, neither mote, shall be lost, for it is the workmanship of mine hand."[1134]
9. According to the scriptures, the earth has to undergo a change analogous to death, and to be regenerated in a manner comparable to a resurrection. References to the elements melting with heat, and to the earth being consumed and passing away, such as occur in many scriptures already cited, are suggestive of death; and the new earth, really the renewed or regenerated planet, which is to result, may be compared with a resurrected organism. The change has been likened unto a transfiguration.[1135] Every created thing has been made for a purpose; and everything that fills the measure of its creation is to be advanced in the scale of progression, be it an atom or a world, an animalcule, or man—the direct and literal offspring of Deity. In speaking of the degrees of glory provided for His creations, and of the laws of regeneration and sanctification, the Lord, in a revelation dated 1832, speaks plainly of the approaching death and subsequent quickening of the earth. These are His words:—"And again, verily, I say unto you, the earth abideth the law of a celestial kingdom, for it filleth the measure of its creation, and transgresseth not the law. Wherefore it shall be sanctified; yea, notwithstanding it shall die, it shall be quickened again, and shall abide the power by which it is quickened, and the righteous shall inherit it."[1136]
10. During the Millennium, the earth, while preparing for the final change, will be tenanted by both mortal and immortal beings; but after the regeneration is complete, death will no longer be known among its inhabitants. Then the Redeemer of earth "shall deliver up the kingdom, and present it unto the Father spotless, saying, I have overcome."[1137] Before victory is thus achieved and triumph won, the enemies of righteousness must be subdued; the last foe to be vanquished is death. Thus saith Paul the Apostle:—"Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith, All things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all."[1138]
11. The following partial description of the earth in its immortalized condition has been given by the Prophet Joseph Smith in this dispensation:—"This earth, in its sanctified and immortal state, will be made like unto crystal, and will be a Urim and Thummim[1139] to the inhabitants who dwell thereon, whereby all things pertaining to an inferior kingdom, or all kingdoms of a lower order, will be manifest to those who dwell on it; and this earth will be Christ's."[1140]
12. Absence of Evidence from Science.—Attempts have been made to demonstrate an agreement between the teachings of science concerning the destiny of the earth, and the scriptural predictions regarding the ordained regeneration of our planet, by which it is to be made fit for the abode of immortal souls. Without considering the details of the alleged evidence of mutual support between science and the revealed word in this matter, it may suffice to say that the so-called evidence is unsatisfactory, and that science is practically silent on the subject. The geologist views the earth as a body in process of continual change, its surface a heterogeneous mass of fragmental material; he reads, in the record inscribed on its stony pages, the story of past development through many successive stages of progress, each making the globe more fit for habitation by man; he witnesses the work of constructive and destructive agencies now in operation, land masses yielding to the lowering action of air and water, and by their destruction furnishing material for other formations now in process of construction;—the general effect of all such being to level the surface by degrading the hills and raising the valleys. On the other hand, he observes volcanic agencies operating to increase the inequality of level by violent eruption and crustal elevation. He confesses inability, from his observations of the present, and his deductions concerning the past of the earth, to predict even a probable future. So futile have been his efforts to ascertain the origin or determine the destiny of the globe, that he has generally abandoned the attempt. The epoch-making declaration of an acknowledged leader in the science has now become proverbial:—Geology furnishes "no traces of a beginning, no prospect of an end."[1141]
13. The astronomer, studying the varied conditions of other worlds, may seek by analogy to learn of the probable fate of our own. Gazing into space with greatly augmented vision, he sees, within the system to which the earth belongs, spheres exhibiting a great range of development,—some in their formative stage, seemingly unfit for the abode of beings constituted as are we; others in a state more nearly resembling that of the earth: and yet others seemingly old and lifeless. Of the mighty systems beyond the comparatively small company under control of our own sun, he knows nothing but the existence of these central orbs. But, nowhere has he discovered a celestialized world. Think you that mortal eye could discern such even if it were within the limits of vision as determined by distance alone?
14. The poet has written:—
If this thought be founded on truth, and the Christian soul will hardly doubt it, we may as readily believe in the existence of other worlds than those of structure so gross as to be visible to our dull eyes. I repeat, that in regard to the revealed word concerning the regeneration of earth, and the acquirement of a celestial glory by our planet, science has nothing to offer, either by way of support or contradiction. Let us not because of this, disparage science, or decry the labors of its votaries. No one realizes more fully than does the truly scientific man how much we do not know.
RESURRECTION OF THE BODY.
15. The Resurrection from the Dead.—Closely associated with, and analogous to, the ordained rejuvenation of earth, whereby our planet is to pass from its present dreary and broken state to a condition of glorified perfection, is the resurrection of the bodies of all beings who have had an existence upon its surface. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches the doctrine of a literal resurrection; an actual re-union of departed spirits and the tabernacles with which they were clothed during mortal probation; and a transition from mortality to immortality in the case of some who will be in the flesh at the time of the great change, and who, because of individual righteousness, are to be spared the sleep of the grave. But in such teachings, the Church is not essentially different from most Christian sects, except perhaps in the literalness of the bodily resurrection as taught by it, and in the belief concerning the nature of the resurrected state. The Bible is replete with evidence regarding the quickening of the dead. Human knowledge of the resurrection rests wholly upon revelation. Pagan peoples have therefore no conception of an actual coming forth of the dead unto life.[1142]
16. In accepting the doctrine of a resurrection, we are to be guided by faith; which, however, is supported by abundant revelation, given in a manner unequivocal and sure. Science, the result of human research, fails to afford us any indication of such an event in the history of living things, and men have sought in vain for an analogy in external nature. True, comparisons have been made, metaphors have been employed, and similes pressed into service, to show in nature some counterpart or semblance of the immortalizing change to which the Christian soul looks forward with unwavering confidence; but all such figures of speech are defective in the application, and untrue in their professed analogies.
17. The return of spring after the death-like sleep of winter; the passing of the crawling caterpillar into the corpse-like chrysalis, and the subsequent emergence of the winged butterfly; the coming forth of a living bird from the tomb-like recess of the egg; these and other natural processes of development have been used as illustrative of the resurrection. Each of them is defective, for in no instance of such awakening has there been an actual death. If the tree die, it will not resume its leafage with the return of the sun; if the pupa within the chrysalis, or the life-germ within the egg be killed, no butterfly or bird will emerge. When we indulge such figurative illustrations without most thorough caution, we are apt to conceive the thought that the body predestined to resurrection is not truly dead; and that therefore the quickening which is to follow, is not what the revealed word declares it to be. Observation proves that the separation of the spirit from the body leaves the latter an inanimate mass, no longer able to resist the processes of physical and chemical dissolution. The body, deserted by its immortal tenant, is literally dead; it resolves itself into its natural components, and its substance enters again upon the round of universal circulation of matter. Yet the resurrection from the dead is assured; the faith of those who trust in the word of revealed truth will be vindicated,[1143] and the Divine decree will be carried into full effect.
18. Predictions concerning the Resurrection.—The prophets in the past dispensations of the world's history have foreseen and foretold the final conquest of death. Some of them testified specifically of Christ's victory over the tomb; others have dwelt upon the resurrection in a general way. Job, the man of patience under tribulation, sang joyously even in his agony:—"For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God."[1144] Enoch, to whom the Lord revealed His plan for the redemption of mankind, foresaw the resurrection of Christ, the coming forth of the righteous dead with Him, and the eventual resurrection of all men.[1145]
19. Nephi testified to his brethren that the Redeemer's death was a fore-ordained necessity, provided in order that resurrection from the dead might be given to man. These are his words:—"For as death hath passed upon all men, to fulfil the merciful plan of the great Creator there must needs be a power of resurrection, and the resurrection must needs come unto man by reason of the fall; and the fall came by reason of transgression; and because man became fallen they were cut off from the presence of the Lord; ... And this death of which I have spoken, which is the spiritual death, shall deliver up its dead; which spiritual death is hell; wherefore, death and hell must deliver up their dead, and hell must deliver up its captive spirits, and the grave must deliver up its captive bodies, and the bodies and the spirits of men will be restored one to the other; and it is by the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel. O how great the plan of our God! For on the other hand, the paradise of God must deliver up the spirits of the righteous, and the grave deliver up the body of the righteous; and the spirit and the body is restored to itself again, and all men become incorruptible, and immortal, and they are living souls, having a perfect knowledge like unto us in the flesh; save it be that our knowledge shall be perfect."[1146]
20. Samuel, the Lamanite prophet, predicted the Savior's birth, ministry, death, and resurrection, and explained the resulting resurrection of mankind:—"For behold, he surely must die, that salvation may come; yea, it behoveth him, and becometh expedient that he dieth, to bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, that thereby men may be brought into the presence of the Lord; Yea, behold this death bringeth to pass the resurrection, and redeemeth all mankind from the first death—that spiritual death; for all mankind, by the fall of Adam, being cut off from the presence of the Lord, are considered as dead, both as to things temporal and to things spiritual. But, behold, the resurrection of Christ redeemeth mankind, yea, even all mankind, and bringeth them back into the presence of the Lord."[1147]
21. The New Testament furnishes abundant evidence that the doctrine of the resurrection was very generally understood during the time of Christ's earthly mission, and in the succeeding apostolic era.[1148] The Master Himself proclaimed these teachings. In reply to the hypercritical Sadducees,[1149] He said:—"But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."[1150] the Jews who sought His life because of His deeds and doctrine He spoke in this way:—"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live."[1151]
22. That Christ fully comprehended the purpose of His approaching martyrdom, and the resurrection which was to follow, is abundantly proved by His own utterances while yet in the flesh. To Nicodemus He said:—"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."[1152] And to Martha, who was bewailing the death of her brother Lazarus, he declared: "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."[1153] Of His own resurrection He prophesied freely; specifying the time during which His body would be entombed.[1154]
23. Two General Resurrections are mentioned in the scriptures: these may be specified as first and final, or as the resurrection of the just and the resurrection of the unjust. The first was inaugurated by the resurrection of Jesus Christ; immediately following which, many of the departed Saints came forth from their graves; a continuation of this, the resurrection of the just, has been in operation,[1155] and will be brought to pass in a general way in connection with the coming of Christ in His glory, and will be incident therefore to the beginning of the Millennium. The final resurrection will be deferred until the end of the thousand years of peace, and will be in connection with the last judgment.
24. The First Resurrection.—Christ's Resurrection, and that immediately following.—The facts of Christ's resurrection from the dead are attested by such an array of scriptural proofs that no doubt of the reality finds place in the mind of any believer in the inspired records. To the women who came early to the sepulchre, the angel, who had rolled the stone from the door of the tomb, spoke, saying:—"He is not here, for he is risen, as he said."[1156] Afterward the resurrected Lord showed Himself to many[1157] during the forty days' interval between His resurrection and ascension.[1158] Subsequent to the ascension He manifested Himself to the Nephites on the western hemisphere, as already noted in another connection.[1159] The apostles, as we shall see, ceased not to testify of the genuineness of their Lord's resurrection, nor did they fail to proclaim the resurrections of the future.
25. Christ, "the first-fruits of them that slept,"[1160] was the first among men to come forth from the grave in an immortalized body; but we read that, soon after His resurrection, many of the Saints were brought from their tombs:—"And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many."[1161]
26. Alma, the Nephite prophet, whose writings antedate by nearly a century the birth of Christ, clearly understood that there would be no resurrection prior to that of the Redeemer, for he said:—"Behold I say unto you, that there is no resurrection; or, I would say, in other words, that this mortal does not put on immortality; this corruption does not put on incorruption, until after the coming of Christ."[1162] And furthermore, he foresaw a general resurrection in connection with Christ's coming forth from the dead, as the context of the foregoing quotation clearly proves.[1163] Inspired men among the Nephites spoke of the death and resurrection of Christ[1164] even during the time of His actual ministry in the flesh; and their teachings were speedily confirmed by the appearance of the risen Lord among them,[1165] as had been foretold by their earlier prophets.[1166]
27. In the latter-days, the Lord has again manifested Himself, declaring the facts of His death and resurrection:—"For behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him. And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him on conditions of repentance."[1167]
28. Resurrection at the Time of Christ's Second Coming.—Immediately, after the departure of Christ from the earth, the apostles, upon whom then devolved the direct responsibility of the Church, were found preaching the doctrine of a future and universal resurrection. This teaching appears to have formed a very prominent feature of their instructions; for it was made a special cause of complaint by the Sadducees, who assailed the apostles, even within the sacred confines of the temple, the accusers "being grieved that they [the apostles] taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead."[1168] Paul gave offense by the zeal with which he preached the resurrection which was to come; as witness his contention with certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoics; in the course of which some said:—"What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection."[1169] The discussion was continued at Areopagus, or Mars' Hill, where Paul preached the gospel of the true and living God, including the tenets of the resurrection. "And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter."[1170] He declared the same truth to Felix, the governor of Judea;[1171] and when brought in bonds before Agrippa, the king, he asked, as if dealing with one of the principal accusations against him, "Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?"[1172]
29. The resurrection appears to have been a favorite theme with Paul; in his epistles to the Saints, he gives it a prominent place.[1173] From him, also, we learn that an order of precedence is to be observed in the resurrection:—"But now is Christ 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, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming."[1174]
30. It is expressly declared that many graves shall yield up their dead at the time of Christ's advent in glory, and the just who have slept, together with many who have not died, will be caught up to meet the Lord. Paul thus wrote to the Saints in Thessalonica:—"Even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.... For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air."[1175]
31. To the three Nephite disciples, who had asked the blessing of John the beloved apostle, Christ said:—"And ye shall never endure the pains of death; but when I shall come in my glory, ye shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye from mortality to immortality."[1176]
32. Through the medium of latter-day revelation, the Lord has said:—"Behold I will come, and they shall see me in the clouds of heaven, clothed with power and great glory, with all the holy angels; and he that watches not for me shall be cut off. But before the arm of the Lord shall fall, an angel shall sound his trump, and the Saints that have slept shall come forth to meet me in the cloud."[1177] Of the many signs and wonders which shall attend the Lord's glorious coming we have this partial description:—"And the face of the Lord shall be unveiled: and the saints that are upon the earth, who are alive, shall be quickened, and be caught up to meet him. And they who have slept in their graves shall come forth; for their graves shall be opened, and they also shall be caught up to meet him in the midst of the pillar of heaven. They are Christ's, the first-fruits; they who shall descend with him first, and they who are on the earth and in their graves, who are first caught up to meet him."[1178]
33. Such are some of the glories to attend the first resurrection; in which only the righteous are to have part. But the company of the righteous will include all who have faithfully lived according to the laws of God as made known to them; children who have died in their innocence; and even the just among the heathen nations who have lived in comparative darkness while groping for light, and who have died in ignorance.[1179] This doctrine is made plain by modern revelation:—"And then shall the heathen nations be redeemed, and they that knew no law shall have part in the first resurrection."[1180] The Millennium then is to be inaugurated by a glorious deliverance of the just from the power of death; and of this company of the redeemed it is written:—"Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years."[1181]
34. The Final Resurrection.—"But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished."[1182] So said the Revelator after having described the glorious blessings of the just, who are given part in the first resurrection. The unworthy will be called to the judgment of condemnation, when the regenerated world is ready to be presented to the Father.[1183]
35. The contrast between those whose part in the first resurrection is assured, and those whose doom it is to wait until the time of final judgment, is a strong one, and in no case do the scriptures lighten it. We are told that it is proper for us to weep over bereavement by death, "and more especially for those that have not hope of a glorious resurrection."[1184] In the present day, the voice of the Mighty One is heard in solemn warning:—"Hearken ye, for, behold, the great day of the Lord is nigh at hand. For the day cometh that the Lord shall utter his voice out of heaven; the heavens shall shake, and the earth shall tremble, and the trump of God shall sound both long and loud, and shall say to the sleeping nations, Ye saints arise and live; ye sinners stay and sleep until I shall call again."[1185]
36. The vision of the final scene is thus described by John:—"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works."[1186] This stage marks the completion of the work of resurrection. As the scriptures conclusively prove, the resurrection will be universal; while it is true that the dead will be brought forth in order, each as he is prepared for the first or the final stage, yet everyone who has tabernacled in the flesh will again assume his body and with such be judged.
37. The Book of Mormon is explicit in the description of the literal and universal resurrection:—"Now, there is a death which is called a temporal death; and the death of Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death, that all shall be raised from this temporal death; The spirit and the body shall be re-united again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time, and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt. Now this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but all things shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil. Now, behold, I have spoken unto you, concerning the death of the mortal body, and also concerning the resurrection of the mortal body. I say unto you that this mortal body is raised to an immortal body; that is from death; even from the first death unto life."[1187]
38. Consider also the following:—"The death of Christ bringeth to pass the resurrection, which bringeth to pass a redemption from an endless sleep, from which sleep all men shall be awoke by the power of God when the trump shall sound; and they shall come forth, both small and great, and all shall stand before his bar, being redeemed and loosed from this eternal band of death, which death is a temporal death; And then cometh the judgment of the Holy One upon them, and then cometh the time that he that is filthy shall be filthy still; and he that is righteous shall be righteous still; he that is happy shall be happy still; and he that is unhappy shall be unhappy still."[1188]
39. So far has the word of revealed truth extended our knowledge regarding the destiny of the children of God. Beyond the regeneration of the earth, and the final judgment of the just and the wicked, we know little except that a plan of eternal progression has been provided.
NOTES.
1. Pagan Ignorance Concerning the Resurrection.—In connection with the statement that human knowledge of the resurrection is based on revelation, the following is of interest:—"Whatever heathen philosophers may have guessed as to the immortality of the soul, even admitting that this was really the result of their own speculations, and not at all due to the relics of tradition, it is certain that they never reached so far as the doctrine of a bodily resurrection. Pliny, when enumerating the things which it was not even in the power of God to do, specified these two—the endowment of mortals with an eternal existence, and the recalling of the departed from the grave (ii, c, vii). A similar opinion is enunciated by Æschylus in the 'Eumenides' (647, 648). The utmost to which they attained in their ethical speculations was a conception of the possible continuance of life, in some new forms and conditions, beyond the grave; but this was all. A resurrection in the scripture sense of the word they never imagined."—Cassell's Bible Dictionary, p. 936.
2. General Belief in a Resurrection.—"This great event of the future, like the doctrine of the resurrection of Christ, is so entirely a cardinal truth, that there never has been a time in which it has not been an article of the Christian creed, the only difference between the ancient creeds and our own, being that the latter has the phrase 'resurrection of the body' whereas the former invariably uses the form 'resurrection of the flesh.' The reason for the ancient mode of expression is stated by Jerome to be, that since there are spiritual bodies, some might readily accept a resurrection of the body in that sense, who would deny the actual resurrection of the flesh."—Cassell's Bible Dictionary, p. 935.
3. The Sadducees, when mentioned in the New Testament, are usually represented as being in opposition to the Pharisees, the two classes constituting the most influential of the sects existing among the Jews at the time of Christ. The two differed on many fundamental matters of belief and practice, including pre-existence of spirits; the reality of spiritual punishment and future retribution for sin; the necessity of self-denial in individual life; the immortality of the soul; and the resurrection from the dead; in all of which the Pharisees stood for the affirmative, while the Sadducees denied. Josephus says:—"The doctrine of the Sadducees is that the soul and body perish together; the law is all that they are concerned to observe" (Ant. xviii, 1, 4). The sect consisted mainly of members of the aristocracy. Special mention of the Sadducees here is suggested by their determined opposition to the doctrine of the resurrection, which they sought to assail by arrogant assumption or to belittle by ridicule. Cassell's Bible Dictionary gives place to the following:—"The Sadducees are never mentioned in John's Gospel. The only occasion on which they are spoken of in the Gospels of Mark and Luke is that referred to also by St. Matthew, on which they attempted to ridicule the doctrine of the resurrection, by asking our Lord's opinion as to whose wife a woman would be in the future world, who had been married to several in this world (Matt. xxii, 23-32; Mark xii, 18-27; Luke xx, 27-38). Their question proceeded on the assumption that the levirate law, as promulgated by Moses (Deut. xxv, 5-6), implied that the Jewish law-giver had no resurrection of the dead in view. Our Lord's answer explained the difficulty, affirmed the resurrection of the dead, and asserted the existence of angels, which the Sadducees also denied (Matt. xxii, 30; Mark xii, 25; Luke xx, 35, 36; compare with Acts xxiii, 8). He also quoted the divine announcement,—'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob' (Exod. iii, 6, 15, 16), and founded thereon by inference an argument not only for immortality, but also for the resurrection. The words quoted must have been regarded by our Lord as implying that the patriarchs, as parties to the covenant, were still in a state of conscious relation to God."
4. Heathen in the First Resurrection.—The statement that the heathen dead will have place in the first resurrection is sustained by the word of scripture, and by a consideration of the principles of true justice according to which humanity is to be judged. Man will be accounted blameless or guilty, according to his deeds as interpreted in the light of the law under which he is required to live. It is inconsistent with our conception of a just God, to believe Him capable of inflicting condemnation upon any one for noncompliance with a requirement of which the person had no knowledge. Nevertheless, the laws of the Church will not be suspended even in the case of those who have sinned in darkness and ignorance; but it is reasonable to believe that the plan of redemption will afford such benighted ones an opportunity of learning the laws of God; and surely, as fast as they so learn, will obedience be required on pain of the penalty. Note the following passages in addition to the citations in the text:
"And if there was no law given if men sinned, what could justice do, or mercy either; for they would have no claim upon the creature?"—Alma xlii, 21.
"Wherefore he has given a law; and where there is no law given, there is no punishment; and where there is no punishment, there is no condemnation; and where there is no condemnation, the mercies of the Holy One of Israel have claim upon them, because of the atonement; for they are delivered by the power of him."—II Nephi ix, 25.
"And moreover, I say unto you, that the time shall come, when the knowledge of a Savior shall spread throughout every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. And behold, when that time cometh, none shall be found blameless before God, except it be little children, only through repentance and faith on the name of the Lord God Omnipotent."—Mos. iii, 20-21. See also Helaman xv, 14-15.
5. The Intermediate State of the Soul; Paradise.—The condition of the spirits of men between death and the resurrection is a subject of great interest, and one concerning which much dispute has arisen. The scriptures prove, that at the time of man's final judgment he will stand before the bar of God, clothed in his resurrected body, and this, irrespective of his condition of purity or guilt. While awaiting the time of their coming forth, disembodied spirits exist in an intermediate state, of happiness and rest or of suffering and suspense, according to their works in mortality. The prophet Alma said:—"Now concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection. Behold, it has been made known unto me, by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body; yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life. And then shall it come to pass that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise; a state of rest; a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow, etc. And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil; for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than good; therefore the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take possession of their house; and these shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth; and this because of their own iniquity; being led captive by the will of the devil. Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked; yea, in darkness, and a state of awful, fearful looking, for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this state, as well as the righteous in paradise until the time of their resurrection."—Alma xl, 11-14.
Reference to paradise, as a place prepared for righteous spirits while awaiting the resurrection, is made also by the first Nephi (II Nephi ix, 13), by a later prophet of the same name (IV Nephi 14), and by Moroni (Moroni x, 34). New Testament mention supports the same (Luke xxiii, 43; II Cor. xii, 4; Rev. ii, 7). Paradise, then, is not the place of final glory; for such the thief who died with Christ was assuredly not prepared, yet we cannot doubt the fulfillment of our Lord's promise that the penitent malefactor should be with Him in paradise that day; and, moreover, the declaration of the risen Savior to Mary Magdalene, three days later, that He had not at that time ascended to His Father, is proof of His having spent the intermediate time in paradise.
The word "paradise," by its derivation through the Greek from the Persian, signifies a pleasure ground.
