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bade them handle him and see that he was not a spectre, showed the mark 
of the spear in his side, and the prints of the nails in his feet and hands. 
Besides thus appearing to his disciples, he was seen by more than five 
hundred brethren at one time; all of whom, as well as his disciples, must 
necessarily have known him previous to his suffering, and could therefore 
attest that he was the person who was once dead, but was then alive. Yet 
for strangers in general, who had not seen him previous to his death, and 
could not therefore identify his person after he arose, our Lord reserved 
many other proofs that were equally convincing. Before his ascension, 
he bade his disciples wait till they received power, by the Holy Ghost 
descending upon them: that then they should be witnesses with him, both 
in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost 
ends of the earth; in order that the people of all these nations, observing 
the miracles wrought in his name, might themselves become ocular witnesses 
that those who preached his resurrection were warranted to do so by his 
authority; and that this authority, on which so numerous miracles attended, 
must be divine. 
We next find the apostle Paul teaching the resurrection of the dead. 
“ If, after the manner of men, 1 have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what 
advantageth it me, if the dead rise not?—Let us eat and drink, for to¬ 
morrow we die. Be not deceived. Evil communications corrupt good 
manners. Awake to righteousness, and sin not. Another will say, * How 
can the dead be raised?’ and a third, ‘ With what body can it rise?’ Thou 
fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die,—and that 
which thou sowest is not that body which ariseth, for each seed hath its own 
peculiar body, perchance of wheat, or some other grain. For God hath 
given it a body, as it hath pleased him, and to every seed its own body. So 
all flesh is not the same flesh; for there is one flesh of men, another of 
beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial 
bodies, and bodies terrestrial; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the 
glory of the terrestrial another. There is one glory of the sun, another 
glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth 
from another star in glory. So also is the Resurrection of the Dead . The 
body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dis» 
honour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in strength; 
it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. Flesh and blood 
cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven; nor can corruption inherit incorruption. 
