The skeptical doubt the resurrection of the dead. Some scientific
men have denied the possibility of the actual redemption of the body
from the grave. One would think, as time goes on, with the wonderful
developments of science which reveal things that were classed among the
impossibilities of a century ago, that it is not reasonable to doubt
the possibility of anything, however remarkable, which is within the
scope of blessings to mankind. The date, in the past, is not remote
when it would have been deemed almost an indication of insanity for a
man to say that such an instrument as the X-ray would be invented, by
which a photograph of the interior of the human body could be taken.
Astounding as it may appear, such is now an accomplished fact, and this
is but one of the many remarkable and grand achievements of modern
times. If such things are possible by the intelligence given to mortal
man, is it not equally probable that the elements which enter into the
composition of the human body can be brought together and resuscitated
by an Omniscient Being? Is the resurrection any more unaccountable
from a natural and scientific view than the organization of the human
body before its birth into the world? Many things are admitted in
nature to be a fact, but why they are such, the most learned and
scientific have been unable to explain. The elements in any substance
do not become annihilated; they change from one form of organization
to another. Wheat, by a grinding and separating process, is made into
flour, bran and shorts; from flour, by another process, into bread.
Each change produces an article very different in appearance from the
one preceding it, but the same elements are there. They are eternal and
indestructible. This being true of all forms of life in the vegetable
kingdom, it must also be true of human life.
Even Christians dispute with respect to the character of the
resurrection of the body, some believing in an actual resurrection
thereof, and others denying the immortality of the body of flesh and
bones. It is our aim simply to present the statement of the Scriptures,
which, the Latter-day Saints claim, are clear in declaring the actual
resurrection of the body.
Christ is the first fruits of the resurrection and the pattern of what
is an eternal principle, applicable to all mankind. As He took up the
same body which was laid in the tomb, so will all the human family
receive a renewal, each of his own body. The change is, that the blood,
which is the life of the mortal body, will not occupy the immortal one.
"Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." (I. Cor. xv:50.)
It is evident, however, that flesh and bones can inherit, occupied by
immortal spirit; for Jesus was the type.
After His resurrection He appeared unto many. He said to His disciples,
when they were affrighted and supposed they had seen a spirit: "Behold,
my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me and see; for a
spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." (Luke xxiv:39.) He
then showed them His hands and feet, which had been pierced with spikes
in the terrible hour of His crucifixion. While He was with them He
called for food, and they gave Him broiled fish and honeycomb, which He
ate in their presence.
What could be more real, more tangible than this? When He was
resurrected, many others received the same glorious blessing and came
bodily out of their graves. "And the graves were opened; and many
bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves
after His resurrection, and went into the holy city and appeared unto
many." (Matt. xxvii:52, 53.) These undoubtedly were the bodies of the
righteous who had embraced the Gospel in the various dispensations
prior to the coming and atonement of our Lord and Savior. The
antediluvians who rejected Noah were not among this number, for Peter
informs us that the Messiah, when put to death in the flesh, was
"quickened by the spirit; by which also He went and preached unto the
spirits in prison; which sometime were disobedient, when once the long
suffering of God waited in the days of Noah." (I. Peter iii:18-20.)
Is this not a beautiful yet terrible lesson to all, that those who hear
the Gospel in the flesh and reject it shall not come forth in the first
resurrection, but remain, their bodies mingling with the dust, while
their spirits are gathered as prisoners in the pit, awaiting with awful
anxiety the judgment of the great day.
The Savior Himself said to His disciples: "Verily, verily, I say
unto you: The hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear
the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live." (St.
John v: 25.) Continuing His remarks, it would appear that He spoke
of the two resurrections, for in the first, which took place when He
came forth from the tomb, the saints were resurrected, while in the
following verses, twenty-eight and twenty-nine, He says: "Marvel not
at this; for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves
shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good,
unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection of damnation."
The reader will notice that the twenty-fifth verse reads "the
dead," and may only apply to the righteous as coming forth at His
resurrection, while the twenty-eighth verse says, "All that are in
the graves," which would make it universal and apply to the just and
the unjust, the evil and the good. This resurrection of the wicked
doubtless applies to the same event that is recorded in the book of
Revelations John first saw the resurrection of the righteous, and then
says: "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was
given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the
witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped
the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their
foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a
thousand years." (Rev. xx:4.) Glorious thought! The righteous rewarded
for all their trials and tribulations! "Who are these arrayed in white,
brighter than the noon-day sun?" "These are they which have come up
through great tribulation, washed their robes, and made them white in
the blood of the Lamb." This reward is well worth all the hardships
incidental to preaching the Gospel and living the life of a Saint. "But
the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were
finished. This is the first resurrection."
"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books
were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life;
and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the
books; * * * and they were judged every man according to their works."
(Rev. xx:12, 13.)
Nothing could be more literal, more tangible, more real than this;
nothing more just. The righteous were to come forth and enjoy a
thousand years of absolute peace and freedom from the tribulations
heaped upon them by the wicked, untrammeled with trials brought upon
them by Lucifer; free from sickness, sin and sorrow; living in the
personal presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, in full enjoyment of the
earth in all its paradisic glory; justice meted out to the wicked, who
will be denied the opportunity to revel in the lusts of the flesh or to
persecute those who "live godly in Christ Jesus."
No wonder that Job rejoiced in all his affliction, because his soul was
enlightened with the visions of the future. Notwithstanding his bodily
pains and the annoyance of friends who attributed his afflictons to his
own failings, he exclaimed from the depths of his soul: "Oh, that my
words were now written! Oh, that they were printed in a book! That they
were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock forever! For I know
that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon
the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my
flesh shall I see God." (Job xix:23-26.) Undoubtedly this great and
good man was resurrected when the Messiah was, and received a partial
fulfillment of this glorious vision, but whatever was lacking in the
full realities of this prophecy will be complete when the Son of Man
shall come, in His glory, to reign on the earth.
Paul said to the Thessalonians: "For if we believe that Jesus died and
rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with
Him. * * * For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the
dead in Christ shall rise first." (I. Thess iv:14-16.) This agrees with
the testimonies already quoted from the Savior and the apostle John in
reference to the resurrection at two different periods; one for the
just and one for the unjust.
This great subject is also portrayed by the prophet Daniel. In the
seventh chapter of his prophecy, ninth and twenty-second verses, he
speaks of the coming of the "Ancient of Days." The most ancient man of
days associated with this earth is our father Adam, and it is plain
that he has a great part to perform in placing judgment in the hands of
the Saints and subduing the wicked. It would appear by the mission to
be performed by Michael, as described in the first verse of the twelfth
chapter of Daniel, and in the twelfth chapter of Revelations, that
Michael and the Ancient of Days are the same person, and that he will
be upon the earth at the opening of the millennium and will dwell in
the midst of the people of God.
In modern revelation the Lord has said to the Prophet Joseph Smith,
"And the Lord appeared unto them, and they rose up and blessed Adam,
and called him Michael, the prince, the archangel." (Doctrine and
Covenants, Sec. 107, verse 54.) In connection with the coming of
Michael in the last days, Daniel says: "And many of them that sleep in
the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some
to shame and everlasting contempt." (Daniel xii:2.)
In Paul's address before Felix he refers to the resurrection in the
following language: "And have hope toward God, which they themselves
also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the
just and unjust." (Acts xxiv:15.) Again "Him God raised up the third
day and showed Him openly; not to all the people, but unto witnesses
chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with Him after
He rose from the dead. And He commanded us to preach unto the people,
and to testify that it is He which was ordained of God to be the Judge
of quick and dead." This was the testimony of the chief apostle, Peter,
when the Gospel was first delivered to the Gentiles.
It is evident that the burden of the teachings and testimonies of the
apostles was to establish the divinity of the mission of the Lord Jesus
Christ. This necessarily included His atonement and resurrection.
The fall of our first parents brought not only a banishment from the
presence of the Lord, which may be termed a spiritual death, but it
caused the death of the physical body. When an atonement was wrought
out as a redemption from that fall, it would be incomplete unless it
brought to pass immortality and eternal life to the body.
"The spirit and the body is the soul of man." The body is resurrected
from the grave, independent of whether the individual in this life was
good or bad, as shown by the declarations of Scripture. "For as in Adam
all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." (I. Cor. xv:22.)
Paul describes in a very definite way the different degrees of glory
in the resurrection, which vindicates the justice of God in rewarding
every man according to his works, and establishing the free agency of
man by holding him personally accountable for every act of his life.
"There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial; but the glory
of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
There is one glory of the sun, and 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." (I. Cor. xv:40-42.)
Jesus said to the apostles: "In my Father's house are many mansions:
If it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for
you * * * that where I am there ye may be also." (St. John xiv:2, 3.)
These assertions all agree that there has been a resurrection (so far
as they refer to the resurrection of Jesus and those who came forth
from their graves at the same time) and that there will yet be two more
resurrections, one of the just, one of the unjust. The only reasonable
conclusion to be reached by reading these testimonies is, that the
resurrection will be an actual reunion of the spirit and the body.
If in the mind of the reader anything seems to be deficient in the
conclusions from the statements quoted, certainly the account of the
resurrection from the inspired writings of Ezekiel should dispel every
doubt. The entire thirty-seventh chapter of Ezekiel should be read.
In this vision of the prophet he saw the resurrection of the house
of Israel, so real in its nature that bone came to bone, sinew to
sinew; flesh and skin covered the frame, and the spirit entered the
body of each. Thus a complete resurrection of the bodies was wrought
out. Ezekiel says, after the Lord commanded, "So I prophesied as I
was commanded; and as I prophesied there was a noise, and behold,
a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when
I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the
skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them. * * * Come
from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that
they may live. * * * And they lived and stood up upon their feet, an
exceeding great army." (Ezek. xxxvii:7-10.) That this is to be an
actual resurrection of the bodies of the dead is made plain by the
twelfth and thirteenth verses: "Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, O my
people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your
graves and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I
am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought
you up out of your graves." * * * "Moreover, I will make a covenant of
peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I
will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the
midst of them forevermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them; yea,
I will be their God, and they shall be my people." (Verses 26, 27. )
Thus there shall be a real, actual resurrection of the body, a complete
reunion of the spirit with the body.
After the resurrection, those whose bodies and spirits are thereby
reunited will join their living brethren, receive revelation from God,
including the everlasting covenant, be gathered to their own lands, and
continue to multiply and increase, with the sanctuary of God in their
midst, and with His divine approval forevermore.
How beautiful, how joyous to contemplate, and how real and tangible
is this, as contrasted with the poor, rambling, uncertain theories of
uninspired men, who are controlled by the systems of men rather than
guided by that "more sure word of prophecy," the revelations of God.
To the Latter-day Saints the doctrine of the resurrection is a
living, tangible reality because, added to the testimonies of the
Jewish Scriptures, the Old and the New Testaments, and the Book of
Mormon, which corroborates the Bible, they have the testimony of
men in this century, who have seen the living bodies of resurrected
beings. Joseph Smith was a man of unblemished character. His veracity
was never impeached. His honor in religion, in morality and business
transactions, attested by friend and foe, were unsullied to the end
of his mortal career, when he sealed his testimony with his innocent
blood. His testimony is that he saw God the Father and His Son Jesus
Christ, the latter on several occasions. Joseph also had a visitation
from John the Baptist, Peter, James, John, Moses, Elijah, Moroni and
other ancient prophets of God who lived on the Eastern or Western
hemispheres. He was not alone in being a witness to the existence of
resurrected beings. Others in modern times also have seen these, and
have published their testimonies to the world. Those who have received
the witness of the Holy Ghost, and who also know that there is a
resurrection and that the words of the Savior and the prophets are true
and faithful, are numbered by the thousands.
This is my testimony on the subject: I testify in the name of the
resurrected Redeemer that God has spoken from the heavens in this age
of the world; that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Redeemer of the
world; that Joseph Smith was a prophet of the Most High, and received
the revelations of God for the benefit of mankind; that angels and
ancient prophets visited him and delivered to him the keys of the
"dispensation of the fullness of times;" that Brigham Young, John
Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow, each in his time, has been the
successor of the prophet Joseph Smith, and that Joseph F. Smith is
now such successor. I also testify that all who receive this Gospel
with honest hearts shall know that the doctrine is true, and if they
are faithful unto death shall come forth in the resurrection of the
righteous, to live and reign with Christ a thousand years. Those who
reject this message, and who fight against the truth and persecute the
advocates thereof will, unless they repent, die in their sins, and will
remain unredeemed, their bodies in the earth, their spirits in bondage,
until the thousand years are finished, when death, hell and the grave
shall deliver up their dead to stand before God, living, resurrected
beings, to receive the reward of their deeds, whether they be evil or
whether they be good.