16 DEATH AND RESURRECTION. 



of the world in connection with a cos- 

 mic catastrophe out of which new 

 heavens and a new earth with an en- 

 nobled humanity will emerge. 



The bodily resurrection on the day of 

 judgment is a doctrine also in the 

 Christian faith, as it is interpreted by 

 the orthodox creeds. But this dogma 

 has entirely lost its former authority. 

 It is repeated at each Church burial, 

 but the reading has now become a 

 mere formality. We do not believe an}' 

 more in a resurrection in the old sense. 



What factor in our time has been 

 sufficiently powerful to overturn con- 

 ceptions so deeply rooted in human 

 nature? It is the scientific spirit as 

 acknowledged even by faithful theo- 

 logians. Science has shown that man's 

 body is renewed several times during 

 life and that even the bones, placed in 

 the grave, soon "arise" through na- 

 ture's forces themselves and take part 

 again in the universal circulation of 

 matter. In face of all the evidence for 

 this truth, it is impossible to believe 



