Christian Mysticism by William Ralph Inge
page 83 of 389 (21%)
page 83 of 389 (21%)
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Matthew Arnold's is much the truer, even though it should be proved
that St. Paul sometimes pictures the "spiritual body" in the way described. But the key to the problem, in St. Paul as in St. John, is that pyscho-physical theory which demands that the laws of the spiritual world shall have their analogous manifestations in the world of phenomena. Death must, somehow or other, be conquered in the visible as well as in the invisible sphere. The law of life through death must be deemed to pervade every phase of existence. And as a mere prolongation of physical life under the same conditions is impossible, and, moreover, would not fulfil the law in question, we are bound to have recourse to some such symbol as "spiritual body." It will hardly be disputed that the Christian doctrine of the resurrection of the whole man has taken a far stronger hold of the religious consciousness of mankind than the Greek doctrine of the immortality of the soul, or that this doctrine is plainly taught by St. Paul. All attempts to turn his eschatology into a rationalistic (Arnold) or a materialistic (Kabisch) theory must therefore be decisively rejected.] [Footnote 86: Col. iii. 1.] [Footnote 87: Phil. ii. 6.] [Footnote 88: Col. i. 15-17.] [Footnote 89: Eph. i. 10.] [Footnote 90: Col. iii. 11.] [Footnote 91: 1 Cor. xv. 24-28.] |
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