38 On the Ascension of Our Saviour. 
of the ancient prophecies in his pas- 
sion and resurrection, and the future 
circumstances of the Christian church. 
The mention of his first appearance 
among them is in these words, in the 
last chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel :— 
‘And as they thus spake, Jesus stood 
in the midst of them, and saith unto 
them, ‘ Peace be unto you.’ But they 
were terrified and affrighted, and sup. 
posed that they had seen a spirit. And 
he saith unto them, ‘ Why are ye trou- 
bled, and why do thoughts arise in 
your hearts? Behold my hands and my 
feet, that it is I myself: handle me, 
and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and 
bones, as ye see me have.’ And, when 
he had thus spoken, he showed them 
his hands and his feet ; and while they 
yet believed not for joy, and wonder- 
ed, he said unto them, ‘ Have ye here 
any meat?’ And they gave him apiece 
of a broiled fish and of an honey-comb; 
and he did eat before them.” The con- 
cluding account given in this place is 
that, “‘while he blessed ihem, he was 
parted from them, and taken up into 
heaven.” 
In St. John’s account of the same 
transactions there is no variation, ex- 
cept what is occasioned by the intro- 
duction of Thomas’s incredulity, which 
is removed by the evidence of his sense 
of feeling ; and, in the first chapter of 
the Acts of the Apostles, these events 
are recorded in the words following :— 
“He showed himself alive after his 
passion by many infallible proofs, be- 
ing seen of them forty days, and speak- 
ing of the things pertaining to the 
kingdom of God. And when he had 
spoken these things, while they beheld, 
he was taken up, and a cloud received him 
out of their sight. And while they 
looked stedfastly toward heaven, as he 
went up, behold two men stood by 
them in white apparel, which also: said, 
“Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye 
gazing up into heaven? This same Je- 
sus, which is taken up from you into 
heaven, shall so come in like manner as 
ye have seen him go into heaven.’” 
Now the incontrovertible result from 
these and the other apostolical autho- 
rities on the subject of our Saviour’s 
ascension, must be, that it was Christ 
in the flesh, Christ in his human form 
and with his human appendages, in his 
own words, “ with his flesh and bones,” 
that appeared to his disciples after his 
crucifixion and resurrection ; and was 
from the midst of them, in the act of 
conversing with them and. convincing 
2 
[Aug. I, 
them of his identity, taken up inte 
heaven ; and further, that in the same 
form and substance he shall, at the last 
day, return from heaven, and come to 
judge the earth, in like manner as the 
disciples saw him gointo heaven. Now, 
not to insist on the numerous authori- 
ties for the universal belief, that the 
inhabitants of heaven are spiritual 
beings, and not, like ourselves, crea- 
tures consisting of corrupt flesh, and 
blood, and bones,—let us only advert 
to that of St. Paul, in that beautifal 
portion of his Epistle to the Corin- 
thians, which has been adopted by the 
Christian church, as a part of the ser- 
vice dedicated to the last rites of mor- 
tality, those of sepulture. ‘‘'There are 
celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial ; 
but the glory of the celestial is one, 
and the glory of the terrestrial is ano- 
ther. One star differeth from another 
star in glory. So also is the resurrec- 
lion of the dead. It is sown in corrup- 
tion, it is raised in incorruption. It is 
sown a natural body, it is raised a 
Spiritual body. There is a natural 
body, and there is a spiritual body.— 
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and 
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God ; 
neither doth corruption inherit incor- 
ruption.” 
Now, sir, to explain this apparent 
contradiction between the history of 
our Saviour’s ascension, as related by 
the Evangelists, and this positive de- 
claration of St. Paul; or rather to 
reconcile their account with all our 
notions of that spiritualization (if I 
may be allowed the expression,) which 
must take place previous to the admis- 
sion of any bodies into that region of 
spirits, commonly designated with us 
by the term heaven, as we collect both 
from reason and revelation, is what 1 
earnestly solicit some of yourtheological 
correspondents to take the trouble of 
attempting. Ihave not made this call 
lightly, or unadvisedly : I have looked 
into every commentator within my 
reach, upon the different parts of the 
sacred volume which bear upon this 
subject, but without the least satisfac- 
tion. Indeed most of them seem in- 
dustriously to avoid the consideration, 
and endeavour to attract our attention 
to other parts of the general topic, 
about which either no doubt has been 
entertained, or which do not imme- 
diately relate to this difficulty. 
Indeed,:among the annotations and. 
commentaries’ which I have had to 
wade through, from an expectation of 
meeting 
