III. The Resurrection
out as a kingdom of peace and righteousness. This was the early form of Postas distinguished from Premillennialism.
During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the doctrine of the millennium again met with great favor in some circles. It was advocated by the school of Bengel and more recently by that of Erlangen, and numbered among its adherents such men as Hofmann, Delitzsch, Auberlen, Rothe, Elliott, Cumming, Bickersteth, the Bonars, Alford, Zahn, and others. There is great diversity of opinion among these Premillenarians as to the order of the final events and the actual condition of things during the millennium.
Repeated attempts have been made to fix the time of Christ's return, which is with great assurance declared to be imminent, but up to the present all these calculations have failed. Though there is a widespread belief to-day, especially in our country, that the return of Christ will be followed by a temporary visible reign of Christ on earth, yet the weight of theological opinion is against it. In liberal circles a new form of Post-millennialism has made its appearance.
The expected kingdom will consist of a new social order "in which the law of Christ shall prevail, and in which its prevalence shall result in peace, justice and a glorious blossoming of present spiritual forces." This is what Rauschenbusch has in mind when he says, "We need a restoration of the millennial hope." A Theology for the Social
Gospel, p. 224. Up to the present time, however, the doctrine of the millennium has never yet been embodied in a single Confession, and therefore cannot be regarded as a dogma of the Church.
III. The Resurrection Most of the early Church Fathers believed in the resurrection of the body, that is, in the identity of the future body with that of the present. The views of Clement of Alexandria are somewhat uncertain, but it is clear that Origen, while defending the doctrine of the Church against Celsus, rejected the idea that the identical body
would be raised up. He described the resurrection body as a refined and spiritualized body. Some of the Church Fathers shared his view, but the majority of them held that the resurrection body would be in every respect identical with the body formed in the present life.
Augustine was in agreement with Origen at first, but finally accepted the prevalent view, though he did not consider it necessary to assume that the present differences of size and stature would continue in the life to come. In fact, he believed that at the resurrection all would have the stature of the full-grown man. Jerome, however, insisted on the identity of the very hairs and teeth. On the whole it may be said that the East manifested a tendency to adopt a more spiritual view of the resurrection than the West. The two Gregories, Chrysostom, and Synesius, were in general agreement with Origen. John of Damascus did affirm the restitution of the same body, but was satisfied with that view of identity which is suggested by the analogy of the seed and the plant. They who believed in a future millennium spoke of a double resurrection, that of the pious at the beginning, and that of the wicked at the termination, of the millennial reign.
The Scholastics speculated in their usual way about the body of the resurrection. Their speculations were rather fanciful and had little permanent value. Thomas Aquinas seemed to have special information on the subject. He informs us that they who are alive at the coming of Christ will first die, and then be raised again with the rest of the dead. The resurrection will take place towards evening.
That substance will arise which existed at the moment of death. All will be in the bloom of youth. The body will be tangible, but fine and light, and not subject to growth. In obedience to the impulse of the soul it will move swiftly and easily. The bodies of the wicked, on the other hand, will be ugly and deformed and capable of much suffering, though incorruptible.
The theologians of the Reformation period were quite agreed that the resurrection body would be identical with the present body. This doctrine is also embodied in the confessional standards of the Churches of the Reformation. With the advance of the physical