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from the dead ? Let lis look around us . The analogies of nature certainly offer no contradiction to the doctrine ; but , on the contrary , present some strong arguments in its favour . Let us suppose our knowledge limited to an observance of the phenomena which are present with us , without any knowledge of the past or the future .
The seed we place in the earth literally dies . Is it likely it will live again ? That rusty-looking stem , recently covered with verdant beauty , and blooming in the sunshine ,-has now cast its leaves and lost all trace of its vital sap . Can it live again ? That caterpillarworm , which has bound its shrivelled carcase up in silken folds till it can neither eat nor breathe , but lies from month to month a dead
and motionless chrysalis , can it live again ? In yonder eagle s egg , to appearance nothing but a hollow calcareous receptacle of a glutinous fluid , is it possible that there rests , from week to week , the germ of a winged creature which shall one day soar aloft and become the terror , not only of the feathered trjbe , but of defenceless animals , or even of man himself ? All this would seem impossible , did we not
know by experience it would be so . We need not pursue the analogy . Every living thing , without exception , displays the power of the Almighty , in effectuating a wonderful change in the condition of apparently lifeless beings ; for this and other kinds of transformation pervade in some degree the whole of the animal and vegetable
creation . It is evidently the rule , not the exception , that the dead or dying shall be endowed with powers of life and enjoyment which appear to be lost for ever , and this without changing the identity of the being . The egg becomes a worm , the worm a chrysalis , dead and coffined ; yet in due time the chrysalis becomes a butterfly . The young frog has a tail , but no feet , and breathes through gills ; but the adult
frog has feet , and no tail , and breathes by lungs ; yet the tadpole and the frog are one . In what consists the identity ? Eor many years naturalists did not recognise in the diminutive ourang-outang the young animal destined to grow into the enormous pongo . Their identity was not suspected : much less that of the three species ( Buffon ) of the pithek , the cyno cephalus , and the baboon : but
Elourens identified them all as the baboon—young , middle-aged , and mature . We say , then , that these analogies , and many others , are in favour of the resurrection of man from the dead . They show that mutation , transformation , resuscitation , is a law of life . Then look at man as a rational being . Everything around us points to the frailty and temporary character of these tenements of flesh , and suggests the propriety and the probability of another and a better
state of existence , more suited to the intellectual powers and moral capabilities of human nature . In all ages men have hankered after immortality . Even the souls of animals were supposed to transmigrate by a process called metempsychosis from one body to another ; and , except under a strange perversion of the human mind , as in the case of the Sadducees , it was never thought a thing unreasonable or impossible that God should raise the dead . 2 . Let us now address ourselves to the consideration of the diffi-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
from the dead ? Let lis look around us . The analogies of nature certainly offer no contradiction to the doctrine ; but , on the contrary , present some strong arguments in its favour . Let us suppose our knowledge limited to an observance of the phenomena which are present with us , without any knowledge of the past or the future .
The seed we place in the earth literally dies . Is it likely it will live again ? That rusty-looking stem , recently covered with verdant beauty , and blooming in the sunshine ,-has now cast its leaves and lost all trace of its vital sap . Can it live again ? That caterpillarworm , which has bound its shrivelled carcase up in silken folds till it can neither eat nor breathe , but lies from month to month a dead
and motionless chrysalis , can it live again ? In yonder eagle s egg , to appearance nothing but a hollow calcareous receptacle of a glutinous fluid , is it possible that there rests , from week to week , the germ of a winged creature which shall one day soar aloft and become the terror , not only of the feathered trjbe , but of defenceless animals , or even of man himself ? All this would seem impossible , did we not
know by experience it would be so . We need not pursue the analogy . Every living thing , without exception , displays the power of the Almighty , in effectuating a wonderful change in the condition of apparently lifeless beings ; for this and other kinds of transformation pervade in some degree the whole of the animal and vegetable
creation . It is evidently the rule , not the exception , that the dead or dying shall be endowed with powers of life and enjoyment which appear to be lost for ever , and this without changing the identity of the being . The egg becomes a worm , the worm a chrysalis , dead and coffined ; yet in due time the chrysalis becomes a butterfly . The young frog has a tail , but no feet , and breathes through gills ; but the adult
frog has feet , and no tail , and breathes by lungs ; yet the tadpole and the frog are one . In what consists the identity ? Eor many years naturalists did not recognise in the diminutive ourang-outang the young animal destined to grow into the enormous pongo . Their identity was not suspected : much less that of the three species ( Buffon ) of the pithek , the cyno cephalus , and the baboon : but
Elourens identified them all as the baboon—young , middle-aged , and mature . We say , then , that these analogies , and many others , are in favour of the resurrection of man from the dead . They show that mutation , transformation , resuscitation , is a law of life . Then look at man as a rational being . Everything around us points to the frailty and temporary character of these tenements of flesh , and suggests the propriety and the probability of another and a better
state of existence , more suited to the intellectual powers and moral capabilities of human nature . In all ages men have hankered after immortality . Even the souls of animals were supposed to transmigrate by a process called metempsychosis from one body to another ; and , except under a strange perversion of the human mind , as in the case of the Sadducees , it was never thought a thing unreasonable or impossible that God should raise the dead . 2 . Let us now address ourselves to the consideration of the diffi-