Chapter 25: Of the Last Resurrection

Although Christ the son of righteousness, having overcome death, shining by the Gospel, gives us the light of life (as Paul witnesses) whereby also it is said that by believing we have passed from death into life, being now not foreigners and strangers, but citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, who has made us to sit with the only begotten son himself in heavenly places, that nothing may be wanting to perfect felicity: yet lest it should be grievous to us to be exercised under this hard warfare, as though we had no fruit of the victory which Christ has gotten, we must hold fast that which is in another place taught of the nature of hope. For, because we hope for those things which appear not, and (as it is said in another place) faith is a demonstration of things invisible: so long as we are enclosed in the prison of the flesh, we are away from the Lord. For which reason the same Paul says in another place that we are dead, and that our life is hidden with Christ in God, and that when he who is our life shall appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory. This therefore is our condition, that with living soberly and justly and godly in this world, we look for the blessed hope, and the coming of the glory of the great God, and of our Savior Jesus Christ. Here we need a singular patience, that we be not wearied and either turn back our course, or forsake our standing. Therefore whatever has been hitherto set out concerning our salvation, requires minds lifted up to heaven, that we may love Christ whom we have not seen, and believing in him may rejoice with unspeakable and glorious joyfulness, till we receive the end of our faith, as Peter tells us. After which manner, Paul says that the faith and charity of the godly has respect to the hope which is laid up in heaven. When we thus with our eyes fastened upon Christ do hang of heaven, and nothing withholds them in earth, from carrying us to the promised blessedness: then is that truly fulfilled, Our heart is where our treasure is. From this comes that faith is so rare in the world, because nothing is more hard to our dullness than through innumerable steps to climb up above them with endeavoring forward to the prize of our heavenly calling. To the great heap of miseries with which we be almost overwhelmed, are added the mockings of ungodly men, with which our simplicity is railed at, when voluntarily forsaking the allurements of present good things, we seem to follow the blessedness hidden from us, as it were a fleeting shadow. Finally above and beneath us, before us and behind us, violent temptations besiege us, to the sustaining of the fear of which our courage should be far too weak, unless being unencumbered of earthly things they were fast bound to the heavenly life, which in seeming is far from us. Therefore only he has soundly profited in the Gospel, who is inured to a continual meditation of the blessed resurrection.

Of the sovereign end of good things, the philosophers have in old time curiously disputed, and also striven among themselves: yet none except Plato, acknowledged the sovereign good of man to be his conjoining with God. But what manner of conjoining that was, he could not perceive so much as with any small taste, and no marvel, since he had never learned of the holy bond thereof. To us the only and perfect felicity is known even in this earthly wayfaring: but, such as daily more and more enkindles our hearts with desire of it, till the full enjoyment may satisfy us. Therefore I said that none receive fruit of the benefits of Christ, but they that lift up their minds to the resurrection. For, Paul sets up this mark to the faithful, toward which he says that he endeavors, and forgets all things till he comes to it. And so much the more cheerfully ought we to travail toward it, lest if this world withholds us, we suffer grievous punishment for our slothfulness. Therefore in another place he marks the faithful with this mark, that their conversation is in heaven, from where also they look for their Savior. And that their courage should not faint in this race, he joins all creatures companions with them. For, because everywhere are seen deformed ruins, he says that all things in heaven and earth do endeavor the renewal. For since Adam by his fall dissolved the perfect order of nature to the creatures, their bondage is painful and grievous, to which they are subject by reason of the sin of man, not for that they are endued with any feeling, but for that they naturally covet the perfect estate from which they are fallen. Therefore Paul says that they groan, and are as in pain of childbirth, that we to whom are given the first fruits of the Spirit, may be ashamed to pine away in our corruption, and not at the least to follow the dead elements, which bear pain of another's sin. And the more to urge us forward, he calls the last coming of Christ our redemption. It is true indeed that all the parts of our redemption are already fulfilled: but because Christ has once been offered for sins, he shall be seen again without sin to salvation. With whatever miseries we be pressed, let this redemption sustain us even until the performance of it.

The very weight of the thing itself shall whet our endeavor. For neither does Paul without cause affirm that the whole gospel is void and deceitful, unless the dead do rise again: because our state should be more miserable than the state of all men, namely since we, lying open to the hatreds and reproaches of many, are every hour in danger, yes and are as sheep appointed to the slaughter: and therefore the authority thereof should fall away not only in one part, but also in the whole sum which both our adoption and the effect of our salvation contains. And so let us be heedfully bent to this most earnest thing of all, that no continuance of time may make us weary. For which purpose I have deferred to this place that which I had briefly to treat of it, that the readers may learn, when they have received Christ the author of their salvation, to rise up higher, and may know that he is clothed with heavenly immortality and glory, that the whole body may be made like-fashioned to the head: as also the Holy Spirit oftentimes sets forth in his person an example of the resurrection. It is a thing hard to be believed, that the bodies when they have been consumed with rottenness, shall at their appointed time rise up again. Therefore where many of the philosophers have affirmed souls to be immortal: the resurrection of the flesh has been allowed of few: wherein although there was no excuse, yet we are thereby put in mind, that it is too hard a thing to draw man's senses to believe it. That faith may overcome so great a stop, the Scripture ministers two helps: the one is in the likeness of Christ, the other is the almightiness of God. Now so often as the resurrection is thought of, let the image of Christ come into our minds: which in the nature that he took of us, so ran out the race of mortal life, that now having obtained immortality, he is to us a pledge of the resurrection to come. For in the miseries with which we are besieged, we carry about his mortifying in our flesh, that his life may be openly shown in us. And we may not sever him from us, neither can we possibly, but that he must be torn asunder. Thereupon comes that argument of Paul, If the dead do not rise again, then neither is Christ risen again: because verily he takes that principle for confessed, that Christ was not made subject to death, nor obtained victory of death by rising again, privately for himself: but, that that was begun in the head which must needs be fulfilled in all the members, according to the degree and order of every one. For it were not right that they should in all points be made equal with him. It is said in the Psalm. You shall not suffer your meek one to see corruption. Although a portion of this trust pertains to us according to the measure of gift, yet the full effect has not appeared but in Christ, which being free from all rotting has received again his body whole. Now lest the fellowship of blessed resurrection with Christ should be doubtful to us, that we may be contented with this pledge, Paul expressly affirms that he therefore sits in heaven, and shall come at the last day a judge, that he may make our base and vile body like-fashioned to his glorious body. In another place also he teaches, that God raised not up his Son from death to the intent to show a token of his power: but to stretch out the same effectual force of the Spirit toward us which are faithful: whom he therefore calls life, while he lives in us, because he was given to this end that he should make alive that which is mortal in us. I knit up in a brief abridgment those things which might both be more largely handled and are worth to be more gorgeously set out: and yet I trust that the godly readers shall in few words find matter enough which may suffice to edify their faith. Christ therefore is risen again, that he might have us companions of the life to come. He was raised up of the Father, inasmuch as he was the head of the church, from which he does in no way suffer himself to be plucked away. He was raised up by the power of the Spirit, which is common to us to the office of quickening. Finally he was raised up, that he should be resurrection and life. But as we have said that in this mirror, there is to be seen of us a lively image of the resurrection, so let it be to us a sure substance to stay our mind, so that yet we be not slothful or weary of long tarrying: because it is not our part to measure the seasons of times by our will, but patiently to rest, till God at his own fit time repairs his kingdom. To which purpose seems the exhortation of Paul. The first fruits is Christ: and then they that are Christ's, every one in his order. But that no question should be moved of the resurrection of Christ, upon which the resurrection of us all is founded, we see by how many and how diverse means he has made it approved by witness to us. Fine-nosed men will laugh at the history which the Evangelists rehearse, as at a childish mockery. For of what importance shall the message be which fearful silly women bring, and afterward the disciples confirm being in a manner astonished? Why did not Christ rather set up the triumphing ensigns of his victory in the midst of the temple and the market place? Why came he not forth terrible into the sight of Pilate? Why does he not also prove himself to the priests and to whole Jerusalem that he is risen up alive again? As for the witnesses which he chose, profane men will scarcely grant them to be sufficient. I answer that although in these beginnings the weakness thereof was contemptible, yet all this was governed by the wonderful providence of God: that partly the love of Christ and zeal of godliness, and partly their own hardness of belief should carry them in haste to the sepulchre which had lately been dismayed for fear, that they might not only be seeing witnesses of the thing, but also should hear of the Angels that which they saw with their eyes. How shall we suspect their credit, who thought it to be a fable which they had heard of the women, till they were brought to the present sight of the thing itself? As for all the people and the ruler himself, after that they had been largely convinced, it is no marvel if as well the sight of Christ, as other signs, was not granted them. The sepulchre was sealed up, the watchmen watched it, the third day the body was not found, the soldiers corrupted with money scattered a rumor that his disciples had stolen him away. As though they had had power to gather a band together, or had armor, or were practiced men to enterprise any such feat. If the soldiers had not courage enough to drive them away, why did they not pursue them, that with the help of the people they might have taken some of them? Pilate therefore with his ring truly sealed the resurrection of Christ: and the watchmen which were set at the sepulchre both in their holding their peace and in their lying, were made publishers of the same resurrection. In the meantime the voice of Angels sounded, He is risen, he is not here. The heavenly glistering plainly showed that they were not men but Angels. Afterward, if there remained any doubting, Christ himself took it away. The disciples saw him oftener than once, and also felt his feet and his hands, and their hardness of believing not a little profited to the strengthening of our faith. He disputes among them of the mysteries of the kingdom of God, and at the last in their sights beholding him, he ascended into heaven. And not only this sight was showed to the 11 Apostles, but also he was seen at once of more than five hundred brethren. Now when he sent the Holy Spirit, he showed a sure proof not only of life, but also of the sovereign power: as he had said before, It is profitable for you that I go: otherwise the Holy Spirit shall not come. But now Paul was overthrown by the way not by the strength of a dead man, but he felt him whom he persecuted to have most high power. To Stephen he appeared for another end, namely that with assuredness of life he might overcome the fear of death. To discredit so many authentic witnesses, is not only a part of distrustfulness, but also of froward and furious stubbornness.

This which we have said, that in proving the resurrection our senses must be directed to the infinite power of God, Paul briefly teaches, that he may make (says he) our vile body like fashioned to the body of his brightness, according to the working of his power, by which he may subdue all things to himself (Philippians 3:20). Therefore nothing is more unfit, than here to have respect to what may naturally be done, where an inestimable miracle is set before us, which with the greatness thereof swallows up our senses. Yet Paul by setting forth an example of nature, reproves their dullness which deny the resurrection. You fool (says he) that which you sow is not quickened unless it first die, etc. He says that in seed is seen a form of the resurrection, because out of rottenness grows corn. Neither were it so hard a thing to believe, if we were as heedful as we ought to be to the miracles which throughout all the coasts of the world do offer themselves to our eyes. But let us remember that none is truly persuaded of the resurrection to come, but he which being ravished into admiration, gives to the power of God his glory. Isaiah lifted up with this confidence, cries out, Your dead shall live, my carcass shall rise again. Awake, and praise, you dwellers of the dust (Isaiah 26:19). In a desperate case he lifts up himself to God the author of life, in whose hand are the ends of death, as it is said in the Psalm (Psalm 68). Job also being liker to a carrion than to a man, trusting upon the power of God does not hesitate as though he were whole and sound to lift up himself to that day saying, I know that my Redeemer lives: and in the last day he shall rise upon the dust (namely to show forth his power therein) and I shall again be compassed with my skin, and in my flesh I shall see God, I shall see him, and none other (Job 19:25). For although some do subtly wrest these places, as though they ought not to be understood of the resurrection, yet they strengthen that which they seek to overthrow: because the holy men in their evils seek comfort from nowhere else, than from the likeness of the resurrection. Which better appears by the place of Ezekiel. For when the Jews believed not the promise of their return, and objected that it was no more likely that a way should be made open for them, than that dead men should come out of their graves: there was a vision showed to the Prophet, a field full of dry bones: those the Lord commanded to take again flesh and sinews (Ezekiel 37:8). Although under that figure he raises up the people to hope of return: yet the matter of hoping he gathers of the resurrection: as it is to us an example of the deliverances which the faithful do feel in this world. So Christ, when he had taught that the voice of the Gospel gives life: because the Jews received not this, he by and by said further, Marvel not at this, because the hour comes in which all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and shall come forth (John 5:27). Therefore after this example of Paul, let us already cheerfully triumph in the midst of battles, because he who has promised life to come, is mighty to keep that which is left with him: and so let us glory that a crown of righteousness is laid up for us, which the just judge shall deliver to us (2 Timothy 4:8). So shall it come to pass, that whatever griefs we suffer, they shall be to us a showing of the life to come, because it agrees with the nature of God to render affliction to the wicked which afflict us: but to us which are unjustly afflicted, rest at the appearing of Christ with the Angels of his power, in a flame of fire. But that is to be held which he adds by and by afterward, that he shall come that he may be glorified in his saints, and be made wonderful in all them that have believed, because the Gospel has been believed.

But although the minds of men ought to have been continually occupied in this study: yet as though they would of set purpose destroy all remembrance of the resurrection, they have called death the uttermost bound of all things and the destruction of man. For verily Solomon speaks of the common and received opinion, when he says that a living dog is better than a dead lion. And in another place: Who knows whether the soul of a man goes upward, and the soul of a beast goes downward? But in all ages this brutish, senseless error has been common in the world, indeed and has broken into the Church itself: for the Sadducees have presumed to profess openly that there is no resurrection, indeed and that souls are mortal. But that this gross ignorance should not help to excuse any man, the infidels even by very instinct of nature have always had an image of the resurrection before their eyes. For to what purpose served that holy and inviolable manner of burying, but to be an earnest of new life? Neither may it be answered that this spring of error: because the religiousness of burial was always in use among the holy Fathers, and God willed the same manner to remain among the Gentiles, that an image of the resurrection set before them might awake their drowsiness. But although that ceremony lacked its use of profiting, yet it is profitable for us if we wisely mark the end of it, because it is no slender confutation of unbelief, that all together professed that which no man believed. But Satan has not only astonished the senses of men, so that they have buried with the bodies the remembrance of the resurrection, but also has practiced to corrupt this part of doctrine with diverse feigned inventions, that at length it might utterly die. I pass over how in Paul's time Satan began to pinch at it: but a little after there followed the Millenarians, who limited the reign of Christ to a thousand years. Their error is so childish, that it needs not, or is not worthy of any confutation. Neither does the Revelation make on their side, by which it is certain that they colored their error: forasmuch as in the place where he mentions the number of a thousand, he treats not of the eternal blessedness of the Church, but only of the diverse troubles which were to come upon the Church, while it yet traveled in earth. But the whole Scripture cries out that there shall be no end of the blessedness of the elect, nor of the punishment of the reprobate. Now of all things which both are hidden from our sight and do far pass the capacity of our mind, either we must fetch the credit out of the certain oracles of God, or we must utterly cast it away. They who assign to the children of God a thousand years to enjoy the inheritance of the life to come, do not mark how great a dishonor they do both to Christ and his kingdom. For if they shall not be clothed with immortality: then neither is Christ himself, to whose glory they shall be newly fashioned, received into the immortal glory. If their blessedness shall have any end: then the kingdom of Christ — upon the steadfastness whereof it stands — endures but for a time. Finally either they are most unskillful of all matters concerning God, or they go about with crooked maliciousness to overthrow the whole grace of God and power of Christ, the fulfilling of which is no otherwise perfect, but when sin being blotted out and death swallowed up, eternal life is fully restored. But very blind men may see how foolishly they play the fools, who fear that they should ascribe to God too great cruelty if the reprobate be condemned to everlasting pains. The Lord forsooth shall do wrong, if he denies his kingdom to them who have by their unthankfulness made themselves unworthy of it. But (say they) their sins endure but for a time. I grant: but the majesty, indeed and the righteousness of God, which they have offended by sinning, is eternal. Worthily therefore the remembrance of iniquity dies not: but so the pain exceeds the measure of the fault. This is a blasphemy not to be suffered, when the majesty of God is so little set by, when the despising thereof is esteemed at no greater value than the destruction of one soul. But let us leave these trifles lest, contrary to that which we have before said, we may seem to judge their dotages worthy of confutation.

Besides these, there have been two other doting errors brought in by men perversely curious. The one sort thought, as though the whole man died, that the souls shall rise again with the bodies. The other, for as much as they grant that the souls be immortal spirits, say that they shall be clothed with new bodies: whereby they deny the resurrection of the flesh. Of the first sort, because I have touched somewhat in speaking of the creation of man, it shall be enough for me to warn the readers again, how beastly an error it is to make of a spirit fashioned after the image of God, a vanishing blast which does nothing but quicken the body in this frail life: and to bring the temple of the Holy Ghost to nothing: finally to spoil that part of us wherein dimness chiefly shines and marks of immortality appear, to spoil it (I say) of this gift: so that the estate of the body should be better and more excellent than the estate of the soul. The Scripture teaches far otherwise, which compares the body to a cottage, out of which it says that we remove when we die, because it esteems us by that part which makes us differing from brute beasts. So Peter, [reconstructed: being led] to death, says that the time is come, when he must [reconstructed: lay aside] his tent. And Paul speaking of the faithful, after that he has said: That when our earthly house shall be dissolved, there is a building for us in heaven, adds that we are journeying from the Lord so long as we abide in the body, but do desire the presence of God in the absence of the body. If the souls do not outlive the bodies, what is it that has God present when it is severed from the body? But the Apostle takes away all doubting, when he teaches that we are joined in fellowship to the spirits of the righteous. By which words he shows, that we are joined in fellowship to the holy fathers, which even being dead do keep the same godliness with us, so that we cannot be the members of Christ unless we grow together with them. Unless also the souls being unclothed of the bodies, did keep still their substance and were able to receive blessed glory, Christ would not have said to the thief, This day you shall be with me in paradise. Having so clear testimonies, let us not doubt after the example of Christ when we are dying, to commend our souls to God, or after the example of Stephen to commit them to Christ to keep, which not unworthily is called a faithful shepherd and bishop of them. To inquire of their mean state, is neither lawful nor expedient. Many do much [reconstructed: busy] themselves with disputing what place they keep, and whether they do now enjoy the heavenly glory or no. But it is folly and rashness, to search deeper of unknown things, than God does give us leave to know. When the Scripture has said that Christ is present with them, and receives them into paradise that they may enjoy comfort, on the other side that the souls of the reprobate do suffer such pains as they have deserved: it goes no further. What teacher or master shall now open to us that which God has hidden? Of the place, the question is no less foolish and vain: for as much as we know that there is not the same dimension of the soul which is of the body. Whereas the blessed gathering together of holy spirits is called the bosom of Abraham, it is enough for us after this journeying to be received of the common father of the faithful, that he may communicate with us the fruit of his faith. In the mean time, [reconstructed: since] the Scripture everywhere bids us to hang upon the expectation of Christ's coming, and defers the crown of glory till then: let us be content with these bonds appointed us of God: namely, that the souls of the godly having ended the labor of their warfare do go into a blessed rest, where with happy joyfulness they look for the enjoying of the promised glory: and that so all things are held in suspense till Christ the redeemer appears. As for the reprobate, it is no doubt that they have the same estate which Jude assigns to the Devils, to be held bound with chains, till they be drawn to the punishment to which they are condemned.

No less monstrous is their error, who imagine that souls shall not receive again the same bodies with which they are now clothed, but shall have new and other bodies. And the reason of the Manichees was very trifling, that is, that it is not fitting that flesh which is unclean should rise again. As though there were no uncleanness of souls, which yet they debarred not from the hope of everlasting life. It was therefore all one as if they should say that that which is infected with the filth of sin cannot be cleansed by God. For I now pass over that dotage, that flesh was naturally unclean, because it was created by the Devil. Only I show that whatever is now in us unworthy of heaven, it does not hinder the resurrection. And first, whereas Paul bids the faithful to cleanse themselves from all defiling of the flesh and of the Spirit, thereupon follows the judgment which he in another place pronounces, that every man shall receive by his body either good or evil. With which agrees that which he writes to the Corinthians, that the life of Jesus Christ may be openly shown in our mortal flesh. For which reason in another place he does no less pray that God preserve the bodies whole to the day of Christ, than the souls and spirits. And no marvel, because it were a most great absurdity that the bodies which God has dedicated to be temples to himself, should fall away into rottenness without hope of rising again. What say we to this, that they are also the members of Christ? That God commands all the parts of them to be sanctified to himself? That he wills his name to be praised with tongues, pure hands to be lifted up to him, sacrifices to be offered? What madness is it therefore that that part to which the heavenly judge has vouchsafed to grant so great honor, should be brought from a mortal man into dust without any hope of restoring? Likewise when Paul exhorts us to glorify the Lord as well in body as in soul, because both belong to God, truly he does not suffer that which he challenges to God as holy, to be adjudged to eternal rottenness. Neither is there a plainer determination of the Scripture for anything, than for the rising again of this flesh which we bear. This corruptible (says Paul) must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. If God did make new bodies, where is this changing of quality? If it had been said that we must be renewed, the doubtful speech perhaps might have given occasion to their caviling. But now when pointing with his finger to the bodies with which we are clothed, he promises to them incorruption, he plainly enough denies any new bodies to be made. Indeed he could not (says Tertullian) speak more plainly, unless he had held his own skin in his hand. And they can by no caviling escape from this, that where in another place he says that Christ shall be the judge of the world, he alleges this testimony of Isaiah, I live, (says the Lord) every knee shall bow to me: inasmuch as he plainly pronounces that they to whom he speaks shall be subject to yield an account of their life: which could not agree, if new bodies should be brought before the judgment seat. Now in the words of Daniel there is no doubtfulness: And many of them that sleep in the earth of dust, shall awake, some to eternal life, and some to reproaches and to everlasting contempt: since he fetches not new matter out of the four elements to make men, but calls dead men out of their graves. And this very plain reason teaches. For if mortality which took beginning at the fall of man, be accidental: then the repairing, which Christ brought, pertains to the same body which began to be mortal. And truly, whereas the Athenians laughed when Paul affirmed the resurrection, thereupon we may gather what manner of resurrection he preached: and that same laughing not a little avails to strengthen our faith. The saying of Christ also is worthy to be noted: Fear not them which kill the body, and cannot kill the soul: but fear him which can throw both the soul and the body into hell of fire. For there is no cause to fear, unless the body which we now bear be subject to punishment. And no less plain is another saying of the same Christ, The hour comes, when all they that are in graves, shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and shall come forth: they that have done good, into the resurrection of life: but they that have done evil, into the resurrection of judgment. Shall we say that souls rest in the graves, that they lying there may hear Christ? And not rather that at his commandment the bodies shall return into the liveliness which they had lost? Moreover if we shall have new bodies given us, where is the likefashioning of the head and the members? Christ rose again: was it with forging to himself a new body? No, but as he had said before, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will build it up: he took again the same body which he had before borne mortal. For he had not much profited us, if a new body being put in place, the old body had been destroyed which was offered up for a sacrifice of satisfactory cleansing. We must also hold fast that fellowship which the Apostle preaches: That we rise again, because Christ has risen again: for nothing is less probable than that our flesh in which we bear about the mortifying of Christ, should be deprived of the resurrection of Christ. Which truly appeared by a notable example, when at the rising again of Christ, many bodies of the saints came out of the graves. For it cannot be denied that this was a foreshowing, or rather an earnest of the last resurrection which we hope for: such as was before in Enoch and Elijah, whom Tertullian calls new possessors of the resurrection: because they being in body and soul delivered from corruption, were received into the keeping of God.

I am ashamed in so clear a matter to spend so many words: but the readers shall contentedly bear this trouble with me, that no hole may be open for froward and bold wits to deceive the simple. The flying spirits with whom I now dispute bring forth a feigned invention of their own brain, that at the resurrection there shall be a creation of new bodies. What reason moves them to think so, but because it seems to them incredible, that a carcass consumed with so long rottenness should return into its ancient state? Therefore only unbelief is the mother of this opinion. But we on the other side the Spirit of God everywhere in the Scripture exhorts us to hope for the resurrection of our flesh. For this reason baptism (as Paul witnesses) is to us a seal of the resurrection to come: and likewise the holy Supper allures us to the trust thereof, when we receive with our mouth the signs of spiritual grace. And truly the whole exhortation of Paul, that we give our members to be weapons to the obedience of righteousness, should be cold unless that were joined which he adds afterward, He that has raised up Christ from the dead, shall quicken also your mortal bodies. For, what should it profit to apply our feet, hands, eyes, and tongues to the service of God, unless they were partakers of the fruit and reward? Which thing Paul plainly confirms with his own words, saying: The body not to fornication, but to the Lord: and the Lord to the body. And he that has raised up Christ, shall also raise us up by his power. More plain are those words which follow: that our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit and the members of Christ. In the meantime we see how he joins the resurrection with chastity and holiness, as a little after he says that the price of redemption pertains also to the bodies. Now it were not reasonable that the body of Paul, in which he has borne the [reconstructed: marks] of Christ, and in which he honorably glorified Christ, should lose the reward of the crown. Whereupon also came that glorying, We look for the redeemer from heaven, which shall make our vile body fashioned like to the body of his brightness. And if this be true, that we must by many afflictions enter into the kingdom of God, no reason suffers to debar the bodies from this entry, which God both exercises under the standard of the cross, and honors with the praise of victory. Therefore of this matter there arose among the saints no doubting, but that they hoped to be companions of Christ, which removes into his own person all the afflictions with which we are proved, to teach that they bring life. Indeed and under the law he exercised the holy fathers in this faith with an outward ceremony. For to what purpose served the usage of burying, as we have already showed, but that they should know that there is new life prepared for the bodies that are laid up? To this also tended the spices and other signs of immortality, with which under the law the darkness of faith was helped even as it was by the sacrifices. Neither was that manner bred by superstition, forasmuch as we see that the Spirit does no less diligently rehearse burials than the chief mysteries of faith. And Christ commends that work as a special work, truly for no other reason but because it lifts up our eyes from beholding of the grave which corrupts and destroys all, to the sight of the renewing. Moreover the so diligent observing of the ceremony which is praised in the Fathers, sufficiently proves that it was to them a rare and precious help of faith. For neither would Abraham have so carefully provided for the burying place of his wife, unless there had been set before his eyes a religion and a profit higher than the world, namely that garnishing the dead body of his wife with the signs of the resurrection he might confirm both his own faith and the faith of his household. But a clearer proof of this thing appears in the example of Jacob, which to testify to his posterity that the hope of the promised land was not even by death fallen out of his mind, commanded his bones to be carried there. I beseech you, if he was to be clothed with a new body, should he not have given a foolish commandment concerning dust that should be brought to nothing? Therefore if their authority of the Scripture be of any force with us, there can be required of no doctrine either a more clear or more certain proof. For this even children understand by the words of Resurrection, and raising up again. For neither can we call it the Resurrection of that which is now first created, neither should that saying of Christ stand fast, Whatever the Father has given me, it shall not perish, but I will raise it up in the last day. To the same purpose serves the word of Sleeping, which pertains only to the bodies. Whereupon also burying places were called Coemeterium — sleeping places. Now it remains that I speak somewhat of that manner of the resurrection. I use this word, because Paul calling it a mystery, exhorts us to sobriety, and bridles the liberty to dispute like philosophers freely and subtly of it. First we must hold, as we have said, that we shall rise again in the same flesh which we bear, as touching the substance, but the quality shall be other. As when the same flesh of Christ which had been offered for sacrifice, was raised up again, yet it excelled in other qualities as if it had been altogether another flesh. Which thing Paul declares by familiar examples. For as there is all one substance of the flesh of a man, and of a beast, but not all one quality: as all stars have like matter, but not like brightness: so he teaches that though we shall keep still the substance of our body, yet there shall be a change, that the state of it may be much more excellent. The body therefore, that we may be raised up again, shall not perish nor vanish away: but putting off corruption, it shall put on incorruption. But forasmuch as God has all the elements ready at his command, no hardness shall hinder him, but that he may command both the earth and waters and fire, to render that which seems to be consumed by them. Which also Isaiah testifies, though not without a figure, where he says, Behold, the Lord shall go forth of his place, that he may visit the iniquity of the earth: and the earth shall discover her blood, and shall no more hide her dead. But there is to be noted a difference between them that have been dead long before, and those whom that day shall find alive. For we shall not all sleep (as Paul says) but we shall all be changed: that is to say, it shall not be of necessity that there be a distance of time between death and the beginning of the second life: because in a moment of time, and in the twinkling of an eye, the sound of the trumpet shall pierce, to raise up the dead incorruptible, and with a sudden change to fashion again the living into the same glory. So in another place he comforts the faithful which must die: because they which shall then remain alive shall not go before the dead, but rather they shall first rise again which have slept in Christ. If any object that saying of the Apostle, that it is appointed to all mortal men once to die, it is easy to answer it with saying that when the state of nature is changed, it is a kind of death, and is fitly so called. And therefore these things agree well together, that all shall be renewed by death when they shall put off their mortal body: and yet that it is not necessary that there be a severing of the body and the soul where there shall be a sudden changing.

But here arises a harder question: by what right the resurrection, which is the singular benefit of Christ, is common also to the wicked and the accursed of God. We know that all were in Adam condemned to death: Christ came the resurrection and life. Did he come to give life to all mankind universally without choice? But what is more against reason, than that they should by their obstinate blindness obtain that which the godly worshippers of God obtain by only faith? Yet this remains certain, that there shall be one resurrection of judgment, and another resurrection of life, and that Christ shall come to sever the lambs from the goats. I answer, that this ought not to seem strange, the likeness of which we see in daily experience. We see that in Adam we were deprived of the inheritance of the whole world, and that we are by no less just reason debarred from common food, than from the eating of the tree of life. Where then does it come to pass, that God does not only make his sun to rise upon the good and evil, but also as touching the uses of this present life, his inestimable liberality continually flows forth to them with large plentifulness? Hereby we truly know that those things which properly belong to Christ and his members, also overflow to the wicked: not that it is their rightful possession, but that they may be made the more inexcusable. So the wicked do often find God beneficial, by more than mean proofs, indeed such as sometimes darken all the blessings of the godly, but yet do turn to their greater damnation. If any man object, that the resurrection is not fittingly compared to fading and earthly benefits: here also I answer that as soon as they were estranged from God the fountain of life, they deserved the death of the Devil, whereby they should be utterly destroyed: Yet by the marvelous counsel of God there was found a middle state that out of life they might live in death. No more absurdity ought it to seem, if the resurrection happens to the wicked, which draws them against their wills to the judgment seat of Christ, whom they now refuse to hear as their master and teacher. For it were a small pain to be consumed away with death, if they were not, to suffer punishment for their obstinacy, brought before the judge, whose vengeance they have without end and measure provoked against themselves. But although we must hold that which we have said, and which that notable confession Paul before Felix contains, that he looks for the resurrection of the righteous and wicked: yet the Scripture often sets forth election together with the heavenly glory to the only children of God: Because Christ properly came not to the destruction, but to the salvation of the world. Therefore in the Creed there is made mention of the blessed life only.

But inasmuch as the prophecy of death swallowed up by victory, shall then and not till then be fulfilled: let us always have in mind the eternal felicity, the end of the resurrection: of the excellence of which, if all things were spoken which the tongues of men were able to speak, yet scarcely the smallest parcel thereof should be expressed. For however we truly hear that the kingdom of God shall be stuffed full with brightness, joy, felicity, and glory: yet those things that are spoken of are most far removed from our sense, and remain as it were wrapped in dark speeches, until that day come when he himself shall give to us his glory to be seen face to face. We know (says John) that we are the children of God, but it has not yet appeared. But when we shall be like to him, then we shall see him such as he is. Therefore the Prophets, because they could by no words express the spiritual blessedness in itself, did in a manner grossly portray it out under bodily things. But inasmuch as the fervency of desire must with some taste of the sweetness be kindled in us, let us chiefly continue in this thought, that if God does as a certain fountain which cannot be drawn dry, contain in him the fullness of all good things, nothing is beyond him to be coveted of those who tend toward the sovereign good and the full perfection of felicity: as we are taught in many places. Abraham, I am your reward exceeding great. With which saying accords David, The Lord is my portion, the lot has very well fallen to me. Again in another place, I shall be satisfied with your countenance. But Peter pronounces that the faithful are called to this end, that they may be made partakers of the nature of God. [reconstructed: How so,] because he shall be glorified in all his saints, and shall be made wonderful in them that have believed. If the Lord will impart his glory, power, and righteousness with his elect, indeed and will give himself to them to be enjoyed, and (which is better) will after a certain manner grow into one with them: let us remember that under this benefit is contained all kind of felicity. And when we have much profited in this meditation, let us acknowledge that we yet stay beneath at the bottom of the roots, if the conceiving of our mind be compared with the highness of this mystery. Therefore in this behalf we must keep sobriety, lest with how much greater boldness we shall fly up on high being unmindful of our own small measure, so much more the brightness of the heavenly glory overwhelm us. We feel also how the immeasurable greediness to know more than is lawful, tickles us: from where both trifling and hurtful questions do spring from time to time: trifling I call those of which there can no profit be gathered. But this second kind is worse, because they which give themselves to them, do entangle themselves with pernicious speculations, and therefore I call them hurtful. That which the Scriptures do teach, ought to be out of all doubt with us: namely that as God diversely distributing his gifts to the saints in this world, does unequally enlighten them, so the measure of glory shall not be equal in heaven where God shall crown his gifts. For neither does this belong indifferently to all which Paul says, You are my glory and crown in the day of Christ: nor also that saying of Christ to the Apostles: You shall sit judging the twelve tribes of Israel. But Paul (who knew that as God enriches the holy ones with spiritual gifts on earth, so he beautifies them with glory in heaven) doubts not that there is a peculiar crown laid up for him according to the rate of his labors. And Christ, to set forth to the Apostles the dignity of the office which they did bear, tells them that the fruit thereof is laid up for them in heaven. So Daniel also says, But the wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they which justify many, as stars to the world's end and forever. And if a man heedfully consider the Scriptures, they do not only promise eternal life to the faithful, but also special reward to every one. Therefore comes that saying of Paul, The Lord render to him in that day. Which the promise of Christ confirms, You shall receive a hundredfold in the eternal life. Finally as Christ begins in this world the glory of his body with manifold diversity of gifts, and increases it by degrees: so he shall also make it perfect in heaven.

But as all the godly will receive this with one consent, because it is sufficiently testified by the word of God: so on the other side leaving crabbed questions, which they shall know to be a hindrance to them, they will not pass their appointed bounds. As for my part, I do not only privately forbear superfluous searching of unprofitable things, but I also think that I ought to beware that I do not [reconstructed: with] answering nourish the lightness of others. Men hungry of vain knowledge do ask how great shall be the distance between the Prophets and the Apostles, and again between the Apostles and the Martyrs: how many degrees Virgins differ from married folks: finally they leave no corner of heaven unsearched. Then it comes in their minds to inquire to what purpose serves the repairing of the world, since the children of God shall need nothing of all this so great and incomparable plenty: but shall be like to the Angels, whose not eating is a sign of the eternal blessedness. But I answer that in the very sight there shall be so great pleasantness, so great sweetness in the only knowledge without any use, that this felicity shall far pass all the helps with which we are now helped. Let us imagine ourselves to be set in the most wealthy coast of the world, and where we shall want no pleasure: yet who is there whom his sickness does not sometime hinder and not allow to use the benefits of God? Who is there whose course his own intemperance does not often break in sunder? Whereupon follows that a clear enjoying and pure from all fault, although there be no use of corruptible life, is the perfection of felicity. Some go further and ask whether dross and other corruptions in metals, be not far from restoring and are contrary to it. Which though in some respect I grant them, yet I look with Paul for the repairing of these faults which took their beginning at sin, toward which repairing they groan and are in travail. Yet they proceed further, and ask what better estate is prepared for man, since the blessing of issue shall then be at an end. This knot is also easy to be loosed. Whereas the Scripture so honorably sets out that kind of blessing, that is referred to the increases with which God continually draws forward the order of nature's mark: but in the perfection it is known that there is another manner. But since the unwary are easily taken with allurements, and then the maze draws them in deeper, and at length when every man's devices please himself there is no end of striving: therefore let this be a short way for us, to be contented with the glass and dark speech until we shall see face to face. For few of a great multitude care which way they may go to heaven: but all do before their time covet to know what is done there. All being commonly sluggish and slow to enter into battles, do already paint out to themselves imagined triumphs.

Now because no description can match the grievousness of the vengeance of God upon the reprobate, their torments and pains are figured to us by bodily things, namely by darkness, weeping, gnashing of teeth, unquenchable fire, and a worm endlessly gnawing the heart. For by such manners of speech it is certain that the Holy Ghost meant to trouble all our senses with horror: as when it is said that there is prepared from eternity a deep Hell, that the nourishments thereof are fire and much wood: that the blast of the Lord, as a stream of brimstone, does set it on fire. As by such things we must after a certain manner be helped to conceive the miserable state of the wicked, so we ought chiefly to fasten our thought upon this how wretched a thing it is to be estranged from the fellowship of God: and not that only, but also to feel the majesty of God so bent against you, that you cannot escape but be fast strained by it. For first his displeasure is like a most violent fire, with the touching of which all things are devoured and swallowed up. Then, all creatures so serve him to execute his judgment, that they to whom the Lord shall so show his wrath, shall feel the heaven, earth, sea, and beasts, as it were with cruel indignation inflamed against them and armed to their destruction. Therefore it is no small thing that the Apostle pronounces when he says that the unbelieving shall suffer eternal punishment by dying from the face of the Lord, and from the glory of his power. And as often as the Prophets do cast us in fear with bodily figures, although they speak nothing excessively for our dullness, yet they add foreshowings of that judgment to come, in the sun and the moon and the whole frame of the world. Therefore the unhappy consciences find no rest, from being vexed and tossed with a terrible whirlwind, from feeling themselves to be torn in pieces by God being angrily bent against them, from being pierced and lanced with deadly stings, from trembling at the lightning of God, and being bruised with the weight of his hand: so that it is much easier to enter into all bottomless depths and devouring pits, than to stand one moment in those terrors. What and how great then is this, to be pressed with everlasting and never ceasing siege of him? Of which thing the 90th Psalm contains a notable sentence: that although with only sight he scatter abroad all mortal men and bring them to nothing, yet his worshippers, how much more fearful they are in the world, so much more he enforces them and pricks them forward laden with the cross, until he be all in all.

Christ, the Sun of righteousness, has conquered death and now shines through the Gospel, giving us the light of life — as Paul testifies. Through faith we have already passed from death to life; we are no longer strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God's household. He has seated us with His only-begotten Son in the heavenly realms, so that nothing is lacking for our complete happiness. Yet so that we are not crushed under this hard warfare as though we had no share in Christ's victory, we must hold to what Scripture teaches about the nature of hope. We hope for things that do not yet appear, and faith — as Scripture says — is the evidence of things not seen. As long as we are confined in the prison of the body, we are away from the Lord. For this reason Paul says elsewhere that we are dead, and that our life is hidden with Christ in God — and that when He who is our life appears, then we also will appear with Him in glory. This, then, is our calling: to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. This waiting requires a singular patience so we do not grow weary and turn back from our course or abandon our post. Everything taught so far about our salvation calls for minds lifted toward heaven — that we may love Christ whom we have not seen, and rejoice in Him with a joy too great for words as we press on toward the end of our faith, as Peter describes. In the same way, Paul says that the faith and love of the godly are anchored to the hope laid up in heaven. When our eyes are fixed on Christ and our hearts stretched toward heaven, no earthly pull is strong enough to keep us from moving toward the promised blessedness — and then the saying is truly fulfilled: 'Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.' This is why genuine faith is so rare in the world — nothing is harder for our sluggish hearts than to press upward through countless steps toward the prize of our heavenly calling. On top of the great heap of troubles that nearly overwhelm us, we face the ridicule of ungodly people who mock our simplicity. They scoff because we voluntarily turn away from the pleasures of this life to chase after a blessedness we cannot yet see — as if we were chasing a vanishing shadow. From every direction — above, below, before, and behind — violent temptations surround us. Our courage would utterly fail against them unless it were freed from earthly entanglements and securely anchored to the heavenly life that seems, for now, so far away. Only the person who has cultivated a continual meditation on the blessed resurrection has truly grown in the Gospel.

The ancient philosophers debated at length about the highest good, and argued fiercely among themselves. Yet none but Plato acknowledged that humanity's highest good consists in being joined to God. But what that union actually meant, he could not grasp even in the smallest measure — which is no surprise, since he never knew the holy bond that makes it possible. We, however, know our one and perfect happiness even in this earthly pilgrimage — a happiness that daily kindles greater desire in our hearts until its full enjoyment satisfies us completely. This is why I said that no one receives the benefits of Christ unless they lift their minds to the resurrection. Paul himself holds this out as the goal toward which he strains, forgetting everything else until he reaches it. All the more eagerly should we press on toward it — for if this world holds us back, we will suffer the bitter cost of our own laziness. Paul marks out the faithful with this defining trait: their citizenship is in heaven, from which they also look for their Savior. And to keep their courage from failing in this race, he gives them companions: all of creation. Since visible decay is everywhere, he says that all things in heaven and earth are groaning for renewal. When Adam fell, he shattered the perfect order of nature. All creation has been brought under bondage ever since — a painful subjection it bears not because it has feelings, but because it naturally longs for the perfect state from which it has fallen. Paul says creation groans and labors as though in childbirth — so that we, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, should be ashamed to waste away in our corruption and should at the very least follow the lead of the dead elements, which bear the pain of another's sin. To press us further, Paul calls the final coming of Christ our redemption. Every part of our redemption is already accomplished — yet because Christ was once offered for sins, He will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to bring salvation. Whatever miseries press upon us, let this coming redemption sustain us until its full arrival.

The weight of the matter itself should sharpen our eagerness. Paul does not say without reason that the entire Gospel is empty and false if the dead do not rise again. Without the resurrection, our condition would be the most miserable of all — exposed as we are to the hatred and contempt of many, in danger every hour, treated like sheep led to slaughter. Without the resurrection, not just one part of the Gospel falls apart but the whole of it — including our adoption and the full effect of our salvation. So let us give this most serious matter our complete and unflagging attention. This is why I have saved this discussion for this point — so that readers, having received Christ as the author of their salvation, might press even higher and understand that He has been clothed with heavenly immortality and glory, so that the whole body might be conformed to the Head. The Holy Spirit frequently holds up Christ's resurrection as the pattern and example. It is difficult to believe that bodies, once consumed by decay, will rise again at their appointed time. Many philosophers acknowledged the immortality of the soul, but the resurrection of the flesh was accepted by very few. There is no excuse for this rejection, but it does remind us that drawing the human mind to believe this truth is an extraordinarily hard task. Scripture provides two supports for faith to overcome this obstacle: one is the example of Christ, and the other is the almighty power of God. Whenever the resurrection comes to mind, let the image of Christ appear before us. He took on our nature, ran the full course of mortal life, and having obtained immortality is now the pledge and guarantee of the resurrection to come. In the miseries that surround us we carry His dying in our flesh so that His life may be plainly displayed in us. We cannot separate Him from ourselves — to do so would be to tear Him apart. This is the basis for Paul's argument: if the dead do not rise, then Christ has not risen either. He takes it as a settled principle that Christ did not undergo death and rise victorious for His own private benefit — but that what was begun in the Head must be completed in all the members, each in his proper rank and order. This does not mean they will be made equal with Him in every respect. The psalm says, 'You will not let Your Holy One see decay.' A portion of that confidence belongs to us according to the measure of our gift — but its full effect appeared only in Christ, who was entirely free from decay and received back His body whole. So that the fellowship of the blessed resurrection with Christ may be beyond doubt for us, and so that we may rest content with this pledge, Paul expressly states that Christ sits in heaven and will come at the last day as Judge to transform our humble and lowly bodies to be like His glorious body. Paul also teaches elsewhere that God raised His Son from the dead not merely to display His power but to extend that same powerful work of the Spirit toward those who believe. He calls Christ our life because He lives in us — and He was given precisely to make alive what is mortal in us. I have condensed into a brief summary what could be developed at much greater length and would be well worth fuller treatment. Yet I trust that godly readers will find in these few words enough to build and strengthen their faith. Christ rose so that we might be partners in the life to come. He was raised by the Father as the head of the church, from which He will never allow Himself to be separated. He was raised by the power of the Spirit, which He shares with us for the work of making us alive. Finally, He was raised so that He might be the resurrection and the life. As we have said, in this mirror we see a living image of the resurrection — and let it be solid ground for our hearts, even as we are called not to be lazy or weary in the long waiting. It is not for us to decide the timetable; we must patiently rest until God in His own proper time restores His kingdom. This is the point of Paul's encouragement: Christ is the firstfruits; then, at His coming, those who belong to Christ — each in his own order. Now, so that no question should arise about Christ's resurrection — the foundation on which all our resurrection rests — consider how many varied and compelling ways God has given us to confirm it. Skeptics will laugh at the account the Evangelists give, treating it as childish nonsense. What weight can a message carry when frightened women first bring it and then disciples confirm it in a state of shock? Why did Christ not raise His victory banner in the middle of the temple or the marketplace? Why did He not appear with terror before Pilate? Why did He not prove to the priests and all Jerusalem that He was alive? As for the witnesses He chose, those who dismiss religion will hardly consider them sufficient. But I answer: even if the beginning seemed weak and easy to mock, the whole thing was governed by God's marvelous providence. The love of Christ and zeal for godliness — along with their own initial disbelief — drove the disciples in haste to the tomb shortly after they had been paralyzed by fear. They became not only eyewitnesses of the fact but also heard from the angels what they had already seen with their own eyes. How could we doubt the credibility of witnesses who themselves dismissed the women's report as a story — until they were brought face to face with the evidence itself? As for the crowds and rulers — once they had been thoroughly confronted with the evidence, it is no wonder that seeing Christ Himself and witnessing the other signs was not granted to them. The tomb was sealed, guards were posted, and on the third day the body was gone. The soldiers were bribed to spread the rumor that the disciples had stolen it. As if those frightened men had the power to raise a force, gather weapons, or carry off a military operation. If the soldiers lacked the courage to drive them away at the time, why did they not pursue them and, with the crowd's help, capture some? Pilate's own seal authenticated the resurrection of Christ. The guards stationed at the tomb — whether by their silence or their lies — became unwitting publishers of that same resurrection. Meanwhile, the voice of the angels rang out: 'He is risen; He is not here.' Their radiant heavenly appearance made plain they were not men but angels. After that, if any doubt remained, Christ Himself removed it. The disciples saw Him more than once, touched His hands and feet, and their own stubborn disbelief served not a little to strengthen our faith. He explained the mysteries of the kingdom of God among them, and at last, as they watched, He ascended into heaven. And this was not seen only by the eleven apostles — He appeared at one time to more than five hundred brothers. When He then sent the Holy Spirit, He gave clear proof not only of His life but of His supreme power — just as He had said beforehand: 'It is good for you that I go; otherwise the Spirit will not come.' Paul was struck down on the road not by the strength of a dead man but felt for himself that the One he was persecuting held the highest power. To Stephen He appeared for another purpose — to fill him with such certainty of life that he could conquer the fear of death. To discredit witnesses of such quality is not merely skepticism — it is willful and perverse stubbornness.

What we said about directing our minds to the infinite power of God in believing the resurrection — Paul teaches this briefly when he says that Christ 'will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself' (Philippians 3:20). Therefore, nothing is more misguided than to ask what nature can do here, when an incalculable miracle is set before us — one so great it overwhelms our senses entirely. Yet Paul, drawing on an example from nature, corrects the foolishness of those who deny the resurrection. 'You fool,' he says, 'that which you sow does not come to life unless it first dies' (1 Corinthians 15:36). He says that in a seed we see a picture of the resurrection — for out of decay, grain grows. Nor would it be so difficult to believe if we paid as much attention as we should to the miracles on display throughout every corner of the world. But let us remember: no one is truly persuaded of the coming resurrection unless he is so filled with wonder that he gives glory to the power of God. Isaiah, lifted up by this confidence, cries out: 'Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and shout for joy, you who dwell in the dust' (Isaiah 26:19). In a desperate situation he lifts himself to God the author of life, in whose hand are the keys of death — as the psalm declares. Job too, who looked more like a corpse than a living man, trusted in the power of God and did not hesitate to raise himself to that coming day as though he were whole and sound: 'I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God; I myself shall behold Him, and no other' (Job 19:25-27). Although some twist these passages and argue they should not be understood as referring to the resurrection, they actually strengthen the very point they try to destroy — because these holy men in their suffering drew comfort from nothing other than the hope of the resurrection. This is even clearer in the passage from Ezekiel. When the Jews refused to believe the promise of their return from exile, arguing that a road being opened for them was as impossible as the dead rising from their graves, the prophet was shown a vision of a field full of dry bones, which the Lord commanded to be clothed again with flesh and sinew (Ezekiel 37:8). Though that vision was raising the people's hope for their physical return, the basis of that hope was rooted in the resurrection — just as the resurrection is the foundation for all the deliverances the faithful experience in this world. In the same way, when Christ had taught that the voice of the Gospel gives life, and the Jews rejected this, He pressed further: 'Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice and come forth' (John 5:28). So following Paul's example, let us triumph joyfully even in the middle of our battles — for He who has promised the life to come is able to keep what has been entrusted to Him. Let us glory that a crown of righteousness is laid up for us, which the righteous Judge will award on that day (2 Timothy 4:8). In this way, whatever griefs we suffer will become to us a foretaste of the life to come — for it is consistent with God's nature to repay with affliction those who now afflict us, and to give us who are unjustly afflicted rest when Christ appears with His mighty angels in flaming fire. And we must hold on to what Paul adds immediately after: that He comes to be glorified in His saints and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because the Gospel was believed.

Although the minds of people ought to have been constantly occupied with thinking about the resurrection, they have instead — almost as if deliberately trying to wipe out all memory of it — treated death as the final boundary of all things and the complete destruction of a person. Solomon speaks of what was the common, widely accepted view when he says that a living dog is better than a dead lion. And elsewhere: 'Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of a beast goes down to the earth?' (Ecclesiastes 3:21). This brutish, senseless error has run through every age — and has even broken into the church itself, for the Sadducees boldly taught that there is no resurrection and that souls are mortal. But so that this gross ignorance leaves no one with an excuse, even unbelievers have always had some image of the resurrection before their eyes by sheer natural instinct. What other purpose did the universal and sacred custom of burial serve, if not as a pledge of new life? Nor can anyone claim this came from a mistaken tradition — for the practice of honorable burial was always observed among the holy fathers, and God allowed the same custom to continue among the Gentiles, so that the image of the resurrection set before them might shake them out of their dullness. Though that ceremony was largely wasted on those who failed to grasp its meaning, it is still profitable for us when we reflect carefully on its purpose — and it is no small refutation of unbelief that all humanity has universally practiced something whose meaning almost no one believed. But Satan has not only numbed people's minds so that they buried the memory of the resurrection along with the body — he has also worked to corrupt this part of doctrine with various false inventions, hoping to destroy it completely. I will pass over how in Paul's time Satan was already gnawing at it. But a little later came the Millenarians, who limited the reign of Christ to a thousand years. Their error is so childish it scarcely deserves a response. The book of Revelation does not support them, even though they colored their error with it — for in the passage where that number is mentioned, the writer is not speaking of the eternal blessedness of the church but only of the various trials that would come upon the church during its earthly pilgrimage. But all of Scripture declares plainly that the blessedness of the elect and the punishment of the reprobate will have no end. For all things that lie beyond our sight and surpass the capacity of our minds, we must either accept on the certain testimony of God's Word or reject entirely. Those who assign the children of God only a thousand years to enjoy the inheritance of the life to come fail to see how great a dishonor they are doing to both Christ and His kingdom. For if they will not be clothed with immortality, then neither is Christ Himself — into whose glory they will be transformed — received into immortal glory. If their blessedness will eventually end, then the kingdom of Christ — on whose permanence it depends — is only temporary. In the end, either these people are completely ignorant of all things relating to God, or they are deliberately working with crooked malice to overthrow the entire grace of God and the power of Christ — whose fulfillment is not complete unless sin is blotted out, death is swallowed up, and eternal life is fully restored. Even the blindest person can see the foolishness of those who fear they are making God too cruel by allowing the reprobate to be condemned to everlasting punishment. As if the Lord would be doing wrong by withholding His kingdom from those who by their own ingratitude have made themselves unworthy of it. They say the sins last only for a time. Granted — but the majesty and righteousness of God, which they have offended by sinning, is eternal. The memory of their sin therefore rightly does not die. The argument that the punishment exceeds the fault is a blasphemy that must not be tolerated — for it makes God's majesty so small, treating contempt for Him as worth no more than the ruin of a single soul. But let us leave these foolish notions — lest, contrary to what we have already said, we appear to think their nonsense is worth refuting.

Beyond these, two more mistaken errors have been introduced by perversely curious people. The first group believed that the whole person dies — soul included — and that the soul will rise again together with the body. The second group, while granting that souls are immortal spirits, argued that they will be clothed with entirely new bodies at the resurrection — thereby denying the resurrection of the flesh. On the first error — I already touched on it when discussing the creation of humanity, so let me simply warn readers again what a brutish error it is to reduce a spirit made in the image of God to a vapor that does nothing more than animate the body during this brief life. It reduces the temple of the Holy Spirit to nothing. It strips that part of us where the divine image chiefly shines and where the marks of immortality appear — strips it, I say, of this gift entirely — so that the condition of the body would end up better and more excellent than the condition of the soul. Scripture teaches something entirely different. It compares the body to a tent from which we move out when we die, because it defines us by that part which sets us apart from animals. Peter, as he was being led to his death, said that the time had come for him to lay aside his tent. Paul, speaking of the faithful, says that when our earthly house is dissolved, we have a building from God in heaven — and that as long as we remain in the body we are away from the Lord, but we desire to be present with God in the absence of the body. If souls do not outlive bodies, what is it that is present with God when it is separated from the body? The apostle removes all doubt when he teaches that we share fellowship with the spirits of righteous people. By this he shows that we are in fellowship with the holy fathers who, even in death, maintain the same godliness as we do — and that we cannot be members of Christ unless we are joined together with them. And unless souls, stripped of the body, still keep their substance and are capable of receiving blessed glory — Christ would not have said to the thief: 'Today you shall be with Me in paradise' (Luke 23:43). Since we have such clear testimonies, let us not hesitate at death — following Christ's example — to commit our souls to God, or following Stephen's example, to entrust them to Christ to keep. And He is fittingly called the faithful Shepherd and Guardian of souls. To inquire too deeply into their intermediate state is neither lawful nor profitable. Many busy themselves with debating what state the souls are in, and whether they now enjoy heavenly glory. But it is foolish and rash to press deeper into unknown things than God has given us permission to know. Scripture tells us that Christ is present with them and receives them into paradise so they may enjoy comfort — and that the souls of the reprobate suffer the pains they have deserved. Beyond that, Scripture does not go. What teacher or master can open to us what God has chosen to conceal? Questions about the location of souls are equally foolish and pointless — for the soul does not occupy space the way the body does. The blessed gathering of holy spirits is called the bosom of Abraham. It is enough for us, when this journey is over, to be received by the common father of the faithful, so that he may share with us the fruit of his faith. Meanwhile, since Scripture everywhere directs us to wait for Christ's coming and defers the crown of glory until that day — let us be content with the boundaries God has set. The souls of the godly, having finished the labor of their warfare, enter into a blessed rest, where in joyful happiness they await the full enjoyment of the promised glory. Everything is held in suspension until Christ the Redeemer appears. As for the reprobate, there is no doubt that they are in the condition Jude assigns to the devils — held bound in chains until they are brought to the punishment for which they have been condemned.

Equally absurd is the error of those who imagine that souls will not receive the same bodies they now have, but will be given new and different ones. The Manicheans' reasoning was very weak: they claimed it was not fitting for flesh, which is unclean, to rise again. As though there were no uncleanness in souls! Yet they did not deny the hope of eternal life to souls. It was as if they were saying that whatever is infected with the stain of sin cannot be cleansed by God. I will pass over the foolish notion that flesh was naturally unclean because it was created by the devil. I simply want to show that whatever is now in us that is unworthy of heaven does not prevent the resurrection. First, since Paul commands the faithful to cleanse themselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, the judgment he pronounces elsewhere follows from this: that each person will receive through their body either good or evil. This agrees with what he writes to the Corinthians: that the life of Jesus Christ may be openly displayed in our mortal flesh. For this reason, in another place he prays that God would preserve their bodies whole until the day of Christ, no less than their souls and spirits. And no wonder -- it would be a great absurdity for the bodies God has dedicated as His temples to decay into dust without hope of rising again. What about the fact that they are also members of Christ? That God commands every part of them to be sanctified to Himself? That He wills His name to be praised with tongues, pure hands lifted to Him, and sacrifices offered? What madness it is, then, for the part to which the heavenly Judge has granted such great honor to be reduced to dust by a mortal without any hope of restoration! Likewise, when Paul urges us to glorify the Lord in both body and soul because both belong to God, he surely does not allow what he claims for God as holy to be condemned to eternal decay. No teaching of Scripture is plainer than the resurrection of this very flesh we carry. "This corruptible," Paul says, "must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." If God were making new bodies, where would this change of quality be? If it had said we must be renewed, the ambiguous language might have given room for their objections. But now, pointing with his finger to the bodies we wear, he promises them incorruption. He is plainly enough denying that new bodies will be made. Indeed, as Tertullian said, he could not have spoken more plainly unless he had held his own skin in his hand. They cannot escape this either: where Paul says in another place that Christ will judge the world, he cites this testimony from Isaiah: "As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to Me." He clearly declares that those he is addressing will be made to give an account of their lives. This could not hold true if new bodies were brought before the judgment seat. In Daniel's words, there is no ambiguity: "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt." He does not create new matter from the four elements to make people; he calls the dead out of their graves. Simple reason teaches this as well. If mortality, which originated from the fall, is accidental, then the restoration Christ brought applies to the same body that first became mortal. And truly, when the Athenians laughed at Paul for proclaiming the resurrection, we can gather from this what kind of resurrection he preached. Their mockery actually helps strengthen our faith. Christ's saying is also worth noting: "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell." There would be nothing to fear unless the body we now have were subject to punishment. Equally clear is another saying of Christ: "The hour is coming when all who are in the graves will hear the voice of the Son of God and come out -- those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment." Shall we say that souls rest in graves, lying there to hear Christ? Is it not rather that at His command, the bodies will return to the vitality they had lost? Furthermore, if we are given new bodies, where is the conformity between the head and the members? Christ rose again. Was it by creating a new body for Himself? No. As He had said before: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." He took back the same body He had previously borne as mortal. It would not have done us much good if a new body were substituted while the old one -- the one offered as a cleansing sacrifice -- was destroyed. We must also hold fast to the fellowship the apostle proclaims: we rise because Christ has risen. Nothing is less probable than that our flesh, in which we bear the dying of Christ, should be deprived of sharing in Christ's resurrection. This was clearly demonstrated by a notable example: at Christ's resurrection, many bodies of the saints came out of the graves. It cannot be denied that this was a foretaste -- indeed, a down payment -- of the final resurrection we hope for. It was similar to what happened earlier with Enoch and Elijah, whom Tertullian calls early possessors of the resurrection, since they were received into God's keeping, delivered from corruption in both body and soul.

I am embarrassed to spend so many words on such a clear matter. But the readers will patiently bear this trouble with me, so that no opening is left for perverse and bold minds to deceive the simple. The wild spirits with whom I am now debating invent the fanciful idea that at the resurrection, entirely new bodies will be created. What leads them to think so, except that it seems unbelievable to them that a corpse consumed by long decay could return to its original state? So unbelief alone is the mother of this opinion. But on the other hand, the Spirit of God throughout Scripture calls us to hope for the resurrection of our flesh. For this reason, baptism (as Paul says) is a seal of the resurrection to come. Likewise, the holy Supper draws us to trust in it when we receive with our mouths the signs of spiritual grace. Paul's entire exhortation -- that we dedicate our bodily members as instruments for the obedience of righteousness -- would be pointless unless joined with what he adds next: "He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies." What good would it do to apply our feet, hands, eyes, and tongues to God's service if they were not going to share in the fruit and reward? Paul explicitly confirms this in his own words: "The body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body." "He who raised up Christ will also raise us up by His power." Even more plain are the words that follow: that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and members of Christ. In the meantime, we see how he connects the resurrection with chastity and holiness. Shortly after, he says that the price of redemption also applies to our bodies. Now, it would hardly be reasonable for the body of Paul -- in which he bore the marks of Christ and in which he gloriously honored Christ -- to lose the reward of the crown. This is why he also boasts: "We await a Savior from heaven, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body." And if it is true that we must enter the kingdom of God through many afflictions, no sound reasoning would exclude the body from that entrance, since God both exercises it under the banner of the cross and honors it with the praise of victory. Therefore, on this matter there was no doubt among the saints. They hoped to be companions of Christ, who takes into His own person all the afflictions we face. He does this to teach us that afflictions lead to life. Indeed, even under the law, God trained the holy patriarchs in this faith through an outward ceremony. What was the purpose of burial, as we have already shown, except that they should know a new life is prepared for the bodies laid to rest? The spices and other signs of immortality served the same purpose, helping the dimness of faith under the law, just as the sacrifices did. This practice was not born of superstition, since we see that the Spirit carefully records burials just as He does the chief mysteries of faith. Christ commends the burial anointing as a special deed, for no other reason than that it lifts our eyes from the sight of the grave (which corrupts and destroys everything) to the vision of renewal. Furthermore, the careful attention to burial that is praised among the patriarchs shows it was for them a rare and precious support of faith. Abraham would not have been so careful to secure a burial site for his wife unless he had a religious purpose and a benefit higher than this world in view. By adorning his wife's dead body with the signs of resurrection, he strengthened his own faith and that of his household. A clearer proof appears in Jacob's example. To show his descendants that the hope of the promised land had not died from his mind even in death, he commanded his bones to be carried there. I ask you: if he were going to be clothed with a new body, would he not have given a foolish command about dust that was going to become nothing? Therefore, if the authority of Scripture means anything to us, no teaching can be more clearly or more certainly proven than this. Even children understand from the words "resurrection" and "raising up" what is meant. We cannot call it the resurrection of something newly created for the first time. Nor would Christ's words hold true: "Everything the Father has given Me will not perish, but I will raise it up on the last day." The word "sleep" serves the same purpose, applying only to bodies. This is also why burial places were called coemeterium -- sleeping places. Now it remains for me to say something about the manner of the resurrection. I use this word because Paul, calling it a mystery, urges us to be sober and restrains the freedom to speculate about it like philosophers. First, we must hold, as we have said, that we will rise in the same flesh we now carry, as far as the substance is concerned, but the quality will be different. The same flesh of Christ that had been offered as a sacrifice was raised up, yet it excelled in other qualities as if it were altogether different flesh. Paul illustrates this with familiar examples. Just as all human flesh shares one substance -- distinct from that of animals -- and all stars are made of the same matter yet differ in brightness, so he teaches that although we will keep the substance of our body, there will be a change that makes it far more excellent. The body, then, will not perish or vanish away so that we may be raised. Rather, putting off corruption, it will put on incorruption. Since God has all the elements at His command, no obstacle will prevent Him from commanding earth, water, and fire to return what seems to have been consumed by them. Isaiah also testifies to this, though with figurative language: "Behold, the Lord will come out from His place to punish the wickedness of the earth. And the earth will reveal its blood and will no longer hide its dead." But an important distinction must be noted between those who died long before and those who will be found alive on that day. "We will not all sleep," Paul says, "but we will all be changed." That is, it will not be necessary for there to be a gap between death and the beginning of the second life. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the sound of the trumpet will pierce through to raise the dead incorruptible and instantly transform the living into the same glory. In another place he comforts the faithful who must die: those remaining alive will not go before the dead. Rather, those who have fallen asleep in Christ will rise first. If someone objects with the apostle's statement that it is appointed for all people to die once, the answer is easy: when the state of nature is changed, it is a kind of death and can rightly be called that. So these things fit together well: everyone will be renewed through death when they put off their mortal body, yet it is not necessary for the body and soul to be separated where there is an instantaneous change.

But here a more difficult question arises: by what right is the resurrection, which is a unique benefit of Christ, shared with the wicked and those cursed by God? We know that in Adam all were condemned to death. Christ came as the resurrection and the life. Did He come to give life to all of humanity without distinction? What could be more unreasonable than for the stubbornly blind to receive through their obstinacy what the godly worshippers of God receive only through faith? Yet this remains certain: there will be one resurrection to judgment and another resurrection to life, and Christ will come to separate the sheep from the goats. I answer that this should not seem strange, since we see a parallel in everyday experience. We know that through Adam we were deprived of the inheritance of the whole world, and that we are excluded from ordinary food just as much as from the tree of life. How then does it come about that God makes His sun rise on both the good and the evil, and that His extraordinary generosity continues to overflow abundantly for all people in the daily provisions of this present life? From this we learn that things properly belonging to Christ and His members also overflow to the wicked -- not as their rightful possession, but so they may be made all the more without excuse. The wicked often find God generous beyond ordinary measures. His proofs of kindness to them sometimes overshadow all the blessings of the godly. Yet these blessings only serve to deepen their condemnation. If someone objects that the resurrection cannot be properly compared to temporary, earthly blessings, I also answer: when they were first cut off from God, the fountain of life, they deserved the devil's death and utter destruction. Yet by God's marvelous plan, a middle state was found: they could live in death, even while being out of life. It should be no more strange that the resurrection happens to the wicked, dragging them against their will before Christ's judgment seat -- the Christ they now refuse to hear as their master and teacher. For it would be too light a punishment simply to be consumed by death. Rather, they must be brought before the Judge to suffer punishment for their stubbornness, having endlessly and immeasurably provoked His vengeance against themselves. But although we must maintain what we have said -- and what Paul's notable confession before Felix contains, that he looks for the resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked -- yet Scripture often mentions the resurrection together with the heavenly glory as belonging only to God's children. Christ properly came not for the world's destruction but for its salvation. Therefore, in the Creed, only the blessed life is mentioned.

Since the prophecy that death will be swallowed up in victory will only then be fulfilled, let us always keep in mind the eternal happiness that is the goal of the resurrection. No matter how much human language could express about its excellence, even the smallest part would scarcely be captured. Although we truly hear that the kingdom of God will be filled with radiance, joy, happiness, and glory, these descriptions remain far removed from our understanding. They stay wrapped in obscure language until the day when Christ Himself will reveal His glory to us face to face. "We know," says John, "that we are the children of God, but it has not yet appeared what we shall be." "But when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is." Because the prophets could not express spiritual blessedness in words, they portrayed it in rough, earthly terms. But since the passion of our desire must be kindled with some taste of that sweetness, let us focus mainly on this thought: if God, as a fountain that can never be drained, contains the fullness of all good things, nothing beyond Him should be desired by those who aim at the supreme good and the full perfection of happiness. As Scripture teaches in many places. "Abraham, I am your exceedingly great reward." David agrees: "The Lord is my portion; the lot has fallen very well for me." Again in another place: "I shall be satisfied with Your presence." Peter declares that the faithful are called for this purpose: to be made partakers of the divine nature. How is this? Because God will be glorified in all His saints and made marvelous in those who have believed. If the Lord will share His glory, power, and righteousness with His chosen ones -- and indeed will give Himself to them to be enjoyed, and (which is even better) will in a certain sense become one with them -- let us remember that every kind of blessedness is contained in this benefit. And even when we have made much progress in this meditation, let us acknowledge that we are still at the very beginning, if the grasp of our mind is compared with the height of this mystery. We must therefore practice restraint in this area, so that the more boldly we try to soar upward -- forgetting our own limitations -- the more the brightness of heavenly glory will not overwhelm us. We also feel how the boundless desire to know more than is permitted tickles us. This gives rise to trivial and harmful questions. I call some trivial because no benefit can come from them. But the second kind is worse, because those who pursue them entangle themselves in dangerous speculations. What the Scriptures teach should be beyond all doubt for us: just as God distributes His gifts to the saints unequally in this world, enlightening them in different measures, so the degree of glory will not be equal in heaven. There God will crown His gifts. Paul's statement does not apply equally to all: "You are my glory and crown in the day of Christ." Nor does Christ's statement to the apostles: "You will sit judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Paul, who knew that just as God enriches the saints with spiritual gifts on earth He also adorns them with glory in heaven, had no doubt that a special crown was stored up for him in proportion to his labors. Christ, to honor the dignity of the apostolic office, tells them that its reward is stored up for them in heaven. Daniel also says: "The wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever." And if you carefully examine the Scriptures, they promise the faithful not only eternal life in general but also a special reward for each one. This is why Paul says: "May the Lord grant him mercy on that day." Christ's promise confirms it: "You will receive a hundredfold in eternal life." In short, just as Christ begins the glory of His body in this world with a rich diversity of gifts and increases it by degrees, so He will perfect it in heaven.

All the godly will gladly accept this, since it is sufficiently taught by the word of God. On the other hand, they will leave aside difficult questions, knowing they would only hold them back. As for myself, I not only privately avoid searching into useless matters, but I also think I should be careful not to encourage others' frivolity by answering them. People hungry for useless knowledge ask how great the distance will be between the prophets and the apostles, between the apostles and the martyrs, and how many levels separate virgins from married people. They leave no corner of heaven unsearched. Then it occurs to them to wonder what purpose the renewal of the world will serve, since the children of God will need nothing from such vast, incomparable abundance. Instead, they will be like the angels, whose lack of eating is a sign of eternal blessedness. I answer that there will be such great delight and sweetness simply in beholding it, in the knowledge alone without any use, that this happiness will far surpass all the helps we currently rely on. Imagine ourselves placed in the wealthiest region in the world, where we would lack no pleasure. Yet who is there whose sickness does not sometimes prevent them from enjoying God's gifts? Who is there whose own excess does not occasionally disrupt their course? From this it follows that a pure, unblemished enjoyment, free from all defect -- even without the use of corruptible things -- is the perfection of happiness. Some go further and ask whether impurities and corruptions in metals are not contrary to this restoration. I grant this to some degree, yet with Paul I look forward to the healing of the defects that originated from sin, toward which creation groans and labors. Yet they push further and ask what better condition is prepared for humanity, since the blessing of childbearing will then be at an end. This question is also easy to answer. When Scripture so honorably describes that kind of blessing, it refers to the growth by which God continually advances the order of nature toward its goal. But in perfection, there is another way entirely. Since the unwary are easily caught by such allurements, and the maze draws them deeper in, and since there is no end to the arguing when everyone likes their own ideas -- let us take this as our short rule: to be content with the mirror and dim reflection until we see face to face. Few among many care about the way to get to heaven. But everyone wants to know ahead of time what is done there. Nearly all are sluggish and slow to enter the battle, yet they already paint for themselves imaginary triumphs.

Since no description can match the severity of God's vengeance on the reprobate, their torments and pains are pictured for us through physical images: darkness, weeping, gnashing of teeth, unquenchable fire, and a worm endlessly gnawing the heart. Through such language the Holy Spirit clearly intended to strike all our senses with horror. When it says that a deep hell has been prepared from eternity, that its fuel is fire and much wood, and that the breath of the Lord, like a stream of sulfur, sets it ablaze. While such images must help us in some way to grasp the miserable state of the wicked, we should chiefly fix our thoughts on this: how wretched it is to be cut off from fellowship with God. Not only that, but to feel God's majesty so turned against you that you cannot escape it, and to be trapped by its grip. First, His displeasure is like a fierce fire that devours and swallows everything it touches. Then, all created things serve Him in executing His judgment. Those on whom the Lord displays His wrath will feel heaven, earth, and sea inflamed against them with cruel rage, as if armed for their destruction. Therefore, the apostle's statement is no small thing when he says that the unbelieving will suffer eternal punishment by being shut out from the face of the Lord and from the glory of His power. And whenever the prophets use physical imagery to put us in fear -- though their language is not excessive considering our dullness -- they add foreshadowings of the coming judgment in the sun, the moon, and the whole framework of the world. The unhappy consciences find no rest. They are tossed by a terrible whirlwind, feeling themselves torn apart by an angry God, pierced by deadly stings, trembling at God's lightning, and crushed under the weight of His hand. Going down into any bottomless pit would be far easier than standing for a single moment in those terrors. What a thing it is, then, to be pressed by His everlasting, never-ending siege! Psalm 90 contains a remarkable statement about this: although by His mere gaze He scatters all mortals and brings them to nothing, He drives His worshippers -- who are all the more fearful in this world -- loading them with the cross and pressing them forward, until He is all in all.