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On the Resurrection of the Flesh

Tertullian · c. 206–212 AD

2h 9m read
Ante-Nicene

A comprehensive defense of bodily resurrection against Gnostic spiritualizing interpretations, arguing from Scripture, reason, and the dignity of the body.

Table of Contents

1The Doctrine of the Resurrection of the Body Brought to Light by the Gospel. The Faintest Glimpses of Something Like It Occasionally Met with in Heathenism. Inconsistencies of Pagan Teaching2The Jewish Sadducees a Link Between the Pagan Philosophers and the Heretics on This Doctrine. Its Fundamental Importance Asserted. The Soul Fares Better Than the Body, in Heretical Estimation, as to Its Future State. Its Extinction, However, Was Held by One Lucan3Some Truths Held Even by the Heathen. They Were, However, More Often Wrong Both in Religious Opinions and in Moral Practice. The Heathen Not to Be Followed in Their Ignorance of the Christian Mystery. The Heretics Perversely Prone to Follow Them4Heathens and Heretics Alike in Their Vilification of the Flesh and Its Functions, the Ordinary Cavils Against the Final Restitution of So Weak and Ignoble a Substance5Some Considerations in Reply Eulogistic of the Flesh. It Was Created by God. The Body of Man Was, in Fact, Previous to His Soul6Not the Lowliness of the Material, But the Dignity and Skill of the Maker, Must Be Remembered, in Gauging the Excellence of the Flesh. Christ Partook of Our Flesh7The Earthy Material of Which Flesh is Created Wonderfully Improved by God's Manipulation. By the Addition of the Soul in Man's Constitution It Became the Chief Work in the Creation8Christianity, by Its Provision for the Flesh, Has Put on It the Greatest Honour. The Privileges of Our Religion in Closest Connection with Our Flesh. Which Also Bears a Large Share in the Duties and Sacrifices of Religion9God's Love for the Flesh of Man, as Developed in the Grace of Christ Towards It. The Flesh the Best Means of Displaying the Bounty and Power of God10Holy Scripture Magnifies the Flesh, as to Its Nature and Its Prospects11The Power of God Fully Competent to Effect the Resurrection of the Flesh12Some Analogies in Nature Which Corroborate the Resurrection of the Flesh13From Our Author's View of a Verse in the Ninety-Second Psalm, the Phœnix is Made a Symbol of the Resurrection of Our Bodies14A Sufficient Cause for the Resurrection of the Flesh Occurs in the Future Judgment of Man. It Will Take Cognisance of the Works of the Body No Less Than of the Soul15As the Flesh is a Partaker with the Soul in All Human Conduct, So Will It Be in the Recompense of Eternity16The Heretics Called the Flesh “The Vessel of the Soul,” In Order to Destroy the Responsibility of the Body. Their Cavil Turns Upon Themselves and Shows the Flesh to Be a Sharer in Human Actions17The Flesh Will Be Associated with the Soul in Enduring the Penal Sentences of the Final Judgment18Scripture Phrases and Passages Clearly Assert “The Resurrection of the Dead.” The Force of This Very Phrase Explained as Indicating the Prominent Place of the Flesh in the General Resurrection19The Sophistical Sense Put by Heretics on the Phrase “Resurrection of the Dead,” As If It Meant the Moral Change of a New Life20Figurative Senses Have Their Foundation in Literal Fact. Besides, the Allegorical Style is by No Means the Only One Found in the Prophetic Scriptures, as Alleged by the Heretics21No Mere Metaphor in the Phrase Resurrection of the Dead. In Proportion to the Importance of Eternal Truths, is the Clearness of Their Scriptural Enunciation22The Scriptures Forbid Our Supposing Either that the Resurrection is Already Past, or that It Takes Place Immediately at Death. Our Hopes and Prayers Point to the Last Great Day as the Period of Its Accomplishment23Sundry Passages of St. Paul, Which Speak of a Spiritual Resurrection, Compatible with the Future Resurrection of the Body, Which is Even Assumed in Them24Other Passages Quoted from St. Paul, Which Categorically Assert the Resurrection of the Flesh at the Final Judgment25St. John, in the Apocalypse, Equally Explicit in Asserting the Same Great Doctrine26Even the Metaphorical Descriptions of This Subject in the Scriptures Point to the Bodily Resurrection, the Only Sense Which Secures Their Consistency and Dignity27Certain Metaphorical Terms Explained of the Resurrection of the Flesh28Prophetic Things and Actions, as Well as Words, Attest This Great Doctrine29Ezekiel's Vision of the Dry Bones Quoted30This Vision Interpreted by Tertullian of the Resurrection of the Bodies of the Dead. A Chronological Error of Our Author, Who Supposes that Ezekiel in His Ch. XXXI. Prophesied Before the Captivity31Other Passages Out of the Prophets Applied to the Resurrection of the Flesh32Even Unburied Bodies Will Be Raised Again. Whatever Befalls Them God Will Restore Them Again. Jonah's Case Quoted in Illustration of God's Power33So Much for the Prophetic Scriptures. In the Gospels, Christ's Parables, as Explained by Himself, Have a Clear Reference to the Resurrection of the Flesh34Christ Plainly Testifies to the Resurrection of the Entire Man. Not in His Soul Only, Without the Body35Explanation of What is Meant by the Body, Which is to Be Raised Again. Not the Corporeality of the Soul36Christ's Refutation of the Sadducees, and Affirmation of Catholic Doctrine37Christ's Assertion About the Unprofitableness of the Flesh Explained Consistently with Our Doctrine38Christ, by Raising the Dead, Attested in a Practical Way the Doctrine of the Resurrection of the Flesh39Additional Evidence Afforded to Us in the Acts of the Apostles40Sundry Passages of St. Paul Which Attest Our Doctrine Rescued from the Perversions of Heresy41The Dissolution of Our Tabernacle Consistent with the Resurrection of Our Bodies42Death Changes, Without Destroying, Our Mortal Bodies. Remains of the Giants43No Disparagement of Our Doctrine in St. Paul's Phrase, Which Calls Our Residence in the Flesh Absence from the Lord44Sundry Other Passages of St. Paul Explained in a Sentence Confirmatory of Our Doctrine45The Old Man and the New Man of St. Paul Explained46It is the Works of the Flesh, Not the Substance of the Flesh, Which St. Paul Always Condemns47St. Paul, All Through, Promises Eternal Life to the Body48Sundry Passages in the Great Chapter of the Resurrection of the Dead Explained in Defence of Our Doctrine49The Same Subject Continued. What Does the Apostle Exclude from the Dead? Certainly Not the Substance of the Flesh50In What Sense Flesh and Blood are Excluded from the Kingdom of God51The Session of Jesus in His Incarnate Nature at the Right Hand of God a Guarantee of the Resurrection of Our Flesh52From St. Paul's Analogy of the Seed We Learn that the Body Which Died Will Rise Again, Garnished with the Appliances of Eternal Life53Not the Soul, But the Natural Body Which Died, is that Which is to Rise Again. The Resurrection of Lazarus Commented on. Christ's Resurrection, as the Second Adam, Guarantees Our Own54Death Swallowed Up of Life. Meaning of This Phrase in Relation to the Resurrection of the Body55The Change of a Thing's Condition is Not the Destruction of Its Substance. The Application of This Principle to Our Subject56The Procedure of the Last Judgment, and Its Awards, Only Possible on the Identity of the Risen Body with Our Present Flesh57Our Bodies, However Mutilated Before or After Death, Shall Recover Their Perfect Integrity in the Resurrection. Illustration of the Enfranchised Slave58From This Perfection of Our Restored Bodies Will Flow the Consciousness of Undisturbed Joy and Peace59Our Flesh in the Resurrection Capable, Without Losing Its Essential Identity, of Bearing the Changed Conditions of Eternal Life, or of Death Eternal60All the Characteristics of Our Bodies--Sex, Various Limbs, Etc.--Will Be Retained, Whatever Change of Functions These May Have, of Which Point, However, We are No Judges. Analogy of the Repaired Ship61The Details of Our Bodily Sex, and of the Functions of Our Various Members. Apology for the Necessity Which Heresy Imposes of Hunting Up All Its Unblushing Cavils62Our Destined Likeness to the Angels in the Glorious Life of the Resurrection63Conclusion. The Resurrection of the Flesh in Its Absolute Identity and Perfection. Belief of This Had Become Weak. Hopes for Its Refreshing Restoration Under the Influences of the Paraclete