Wesley's Argument

wesley’s argument for a resurrection and
not a creation

This he Paul calls the manifestation of the sons of God, alluding to children’s being brought forth to the light when they are born. This was to have its highest fulfillment at the resurrection, when they shall be born from the grave. They themselves, therefore, join with the creation around them, groaning within themselves, waiting for the most glorious, the ultimate and perfect manifestation of the sons of God when they shall be born of the grave. — Rev. Jonathan Edwards.

Then John Wesley shows the change between the qualities of the mortal and glorified bodies of God’s saints. He says:

The change which shall be made in our bodies at the resurrection, according to the Scripture account, will consist chiefly in these four things: ( i ) That our bodies shall be raised immortal and incorruptible. (2) That they shall be raised in glory. (3) That they shall be raised in power. (4) That they shall be raised spiritual bodies.

1. The body that we shall have at the resurrection shall be immortal and incorruptible: “For

IOI this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” Now these words “immortal” and “incorruptible” not only signify that we shall die no more (for in that sense the damned are immortal and incorruptible), but that we shall be perfectly free from all the bodily evils which sin brought into the world. That our bodies shall not be subject to sickness or pain or any other inconveniences we are daily exposed to. This the Scripture calls “the redemption of our bodies,” the freeing them from all their maladies. Were we to receive them again, subject to all the frailties and miseries which we are forced to wrestle with, I much doubt whether a wise man, were he left to his choice, would willingly take his again — whether he would not choose to let his still lie rotting in the grave rather than to be again chained to such a cumbersome clod of earth. Such a resurrection would be, as a wise heathen calls it, “a resurrection to another sleep.” It would look more like a redemption to death again than a resurrection to life.

The best thing we can say of this house of earth is, That it is a ruinous building, and will not be long before it tumbles into dust; that it is not our home (we look for another house eternal in the heavens); that we shall not always be confined here, but that in a little time we shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, from this burden of flesh, into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. What frail things these bodies of ours are! How soon are they disordered! To what a troop of diseases, pains, and other infirmities are they constantly subject! And how does the least distemper disturb our minds and make life itself a burden! Of how many parts do our bodies consist! And if one of these be disordered, the whole man suffers. If but one of these slender threads whereof our flesh is made up be stretched beyond its due proportion, or fretted by any sharp humor, or broken, what torment does it create! Nay, when our bodies are at the best, what pains do we take to answer their necessities, to provide for their sustenance, to preserve them in health, and to keep them tenantable, in some tolerable fitness for our soul’s use. And what time we can spare from our labor is taken up in rest and refreshing our jaded bodies and fitting them for work again. How are we forced, even naturally, into the confines of death; even to cease to be; at least to pass so many hours without any useful or reasonable thoughts, merely to keep them in repair! But our hope and comfort are that we shall shortly be delivered from this burden of flesh, when “God shall wipe away all tears from our 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.” O when shall we arrive at that happy land where no complaints were ever heard, where we shall all enjoy uninterrupted health both of body and mind, and nevermore be exposed to any of those inconveniences that disturb our present pilgrimage? When we shall have once passed from death unto life, we shall be eased of all the troublesome care of our bodies, which now takes up so much of our time and thoughts. We shall be set free from all those mean and tiresome labors which we must now undergo to support our lives. Yon robes of light, with which we shall be clothed at the resurrection of the just, will not stand in need of those careful provisions which it is so troublesome to us here either to procure or to be without. But then, as our Lord tells us, those who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world neither marry nor are given in marriage, neither can they die any more, but they are equal to the angels. Their bodies are neither subject to disease, nor want that daily sustenance which these mortal bodies cannot be without. “Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats; but God will destroy both it and them.” This is that perfect happiness which all good men shall enjoy in the other world: a mind free from all trouble and guilt in a body free from all pains and diseases. Thus our mortal bodies shall be raised immortal. They shall not only be always preserved from death (for so these might be, if God pleased), but the nature of them shall be wholly changed so that they shall not retain the same seeds of mortality: they cannot die any more.

2. Our bodies shall be raised in glory. “Then shall the righteous shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” A resemblance of this we have in the luster of Moses’s face when he had conversed with God on the mount. His face shone so bright that the children of Israel were afraid to come near him till he threw a veil over it. And that extraordinary majesty of Stephen’s face seemed to be an earnest of his glory. “All that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.” How then, if it shone so gloriously even on earth, will it shine in the other world, when his and the bodies of all the saints are made like unto Christ’s glorious body! How glorious the body of Christ is, we may guess from his transfiguration. St Peter, when he saw this, when our Lord’s face shone as the sun and his raiment became shining and white as snow, was so transported with joy and admiration that he knew not what he said. When our Saviour discovered but a little of that glory which he now possesses, and which in due time he will impart to his followers, yet that little of it made the place seem a paradise; and the disciples thought that they could wish for nothing better than always to live in such pure light and enjoy so beautiful a sight. “It is good for us to be here: let us make three tabernacles.” Here let us fix our abode forever. And if they thought it so happy only to be present with such heavenly bodies and to behold them with their eyes, how much happier must it be to dwell in such glorious mansions and to be themselves clothed with so much brightness!

This excellency of our heavenly bodies will probably arise in a great measure from the happiness of our souls. The unspeakable joy that we then shall feel will break through our bodies and shine forth in our countenances. As the joy of the soul even in this life has some influence upon the countenance, by rendering it more open and cheerful, so Solomon tells us: “A man’s wisdom makes his face to shine.” Virtue, as it refines a man’s heart, so it makes his very looks more cheerful and lively.

3. Our bodies shall be raised in power. This expresses the sprightliness of our heavenly bodies, the nimbleness of their motion, by which they shall be obedient and able instruments of the soul. In this state our bodies are no better than clogs and fetters, which confine and restrain the freedom of the soul. The corruptible body presses down the soul, and the earthly tabernacle weighs down the mind. Our dull, sluggish, inactive bodies are often unable, or backward, to obey the commands of the soul. But in the other life “they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” Or, as another expresses it: “They shall run to and fro like sparks among the stubble.” The speed of their motion shall be like that of devouring fire in stubble, and the height of it above the towering of an eagle; for they shall meet the Lord in the air, when he comes to judgment, and mount up with him into the highest heaven. This earthly body is slow and heavy in all its motions, listless, and soon tired with action. But our heavenly bodies shall be as fire, as active and as nimble as our thoughts are.

4. Our bodies shall be raised spiritual bodies. Our spirits are now forced to serve our bodies and to attend their leisure, and do greatly depend upon them for most of their actions. But our bodies shall then wholly serve our spirits and minister to them and depend upon them. So that as by a natural body we understand one fitted for this lower, sensible world, for this earthly estate, so a spiritual body is one that is suited to a spiritual state, to an invisible world, to the life of angels. And, indeed, this is the principal difference between a mortal and a glorified body. This flesh is the most dangerous enemy we have: we therefore deny and renounce it in our baptism. It constantly tempts us to evil. Every sense is a snare to us. All its lusts and appetites are inordinate. It is ungovernable, and often rebels against reason. The law in our members wars against the law of our mind. When the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak; so that the best of men are forced to keep it under and use it hardly lest it should betray them into folly and misery. And how does it hinder us in all our devotions 1 How soon does it jade our minds when employed on holy things! How easily by its enchanting pleasures does it divert them from those noble exercises! But when we have obtanied the resurrection unto life, our bodies will be spiritualized, purified, and refined from their earthly grossness. Then they will be fit instruments for the soul in all its divine and heavenly employment; we shall not be weary of singing praises to God through infinite ages.

Thus after what little we have been able to conceive of it, it sufficiently appears that a glorified body is infinitely more excellent and desirable than this vile body.