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REV. JAMES GOSSET-TANNER, M.A., OX 



Phil, i, 23, that to depart and be with Christ is very far better 

 than abiding in the flesh, unless the Saviour's presence were * 

 realized and enjoyed. 



Isaac Taylor had the idea that this state was a preparation for 

 a sight of the Glory which mortals cannot bear now, and for 

 hearing the unspeakable words, which it is not possible to utter 

 now (2 Cor. xii, 4). But this cannot be proved. 



The old dichotomy is at fault here, which would simply divide 

 man into soul and body. The emotional and intellectual parts 

 ■of man, which make up the soul, are very dependent on the health 

 and strength of the body. As bodily strength diminishes, and 

 death draws near, these faculties weaken. Then it is that the 

 spiritual nature asserts itself more brightly than before. We 

 have heard of the dying saint, who had lost all recognition of his 

 nearest and dearest in this world. But when the name of the 

 Lord Jesus Christ was mentioned, he at once brightened up and 

 said, " I know Him, He is infinitely precious to me. He is 

 coming for me." 



This threefold division bears closely on the nature of the 

 resurrection-body. In 1 Cor. xv, 44-46 we read, " So also is the 

 resurrection of the dead. It is sown a natural (or psychic, 

 or soulish) body ; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural 

 (or psychic) body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is 

 written, the first man Adam was made a living soul." And 

 this explains the natural or psychic body. " The last Adam 

 was made a quickening Spirit," and this explains the nature of 

 the new spiritual body. So our present body is dominated by 

 the psyche or soul ; and the resurrection-body will be dominated 

 by the Spirit. Here we may quote Kom. viii, 11 : " But if the 

 Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you. 

 He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your 

 mortal bodies by His Spirit which dwelleth in you." 



St. Paul distinctly tells us in 1 Cor. xv, 37, 38, that the spiritual 

 body will not be identical with the old. And that which thou 

 so west, thou so west not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it 

 may chance of wheat, or of some other grain. But God giveth it 

 a body as it hath pleased Him, and to every seed His own body." 

 We might almost gather from this, that, as the seed-corn dies, 

 but yet produced a new plant, there will be a germ of the old 

 body in the new spiritual one. We may be sure that there will 

 be no blood in the spiritual body, for " flesh and blood cannot 

 inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Cor. xv, 50). However, in our 



