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Ver. 43.

μα ζωοποιόν, will have the Power of preferving his own Body without Meat, or Drink, or Sleep, or those other Things which the animal Body of Adam, oja Juxinov, wanted for its Support.

THIRDLY, the Celestial Body is call'd potent and affive : Σπέιρεται ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ, the Carcafe is fown in Weakness, and it is raised in Power. The Power of the Body confifts in Motion, or in the Power it has to move itfelf and other Things; that which moves itself from Place to Place eafily and fwiftly, is call'd active; and if befides it has the Force of moving other Bodies, it is on that Account thought the more powerful. But 'tis here to be observ'd, that a Body whose Parts are quiet, and adhere one to the other, hath no Power of its own of moving itself; for Motion among Bodies is produc'd only by Motion, or by a Body mov'd. There is, therefore, a Neceffity that a Body to be active muft have its Parts in Motion, as 'tis in Air, Wind, Flame, and Light. Indeed, hard and coherent Bodies, which fuffer themfelves to be bent, and are call'd elaftick, refift, and recover their former Situation, and that with a great deal of Force: But then the Power of moving does not proceed from the hard Body, but from fome other fubtle Matter in Motion inclos'd in the hard Body. Befides, in Machines which are compos'd partly of Matter which is hard and firm, and partly of that which

is fluid or volatile, the folid may be mov'd by the fpirituous Parts, and the whole Compound be moved together, or any particular Part of it, as may be seen in the Motion of our own Bodies, or of any particular Member of them. But if within the hard Bodies there is no Matter in Motion, nor moveable Matter, neither its own nor foreign, it remains motionless in itself, and can never be mov'd, unless by external Force.

Now if these Things are rightly affirm'd and determin'd by us, it follows, that the Body which we are to have in the Heavens may be active and lively, it must not confift of a sluggish and spiritlefs Matter, as is the Matter of concrete Bodies, or Bodies whofe Parts are coherent to one another, but of a Substance light, and vivid, and volatile; that fo, in Obedience to the Command of the Mind, it may be eafily carried to any Part, may pass through other Bodies, and may, at its own Pleasure, rarify or condense itself: In fine, the united Force of the Parts or Particles of which fuch a Body confists, must be exceedingly powerful; and if they are all directed the fame Way, and to the fame Object, they will penetrate or throw down every Thing that stands in their Way, like a Storm, or the Lightning of Thunder.

AND here give me leave to add, that we ought not to wonder that it should be in the Power of the Soul to guide and di

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rect the Parts of this fpirituous Body which Way foever it pleases; when even in this grofs and heavy terrestrial Body, it fends forth the Spirits and the thinner Juices every Way into the Nerves and Muscles, according to the abfolute Pleafure and Command of its own Will: And when all this fpirituous Body is nothing but a Frame of congregated Spirits, and of the nobleft Matter, 'tis but highly reasonable that we should grant to a glorified Soul a plenary Power over fuch a Body; a Power of impelling, retaining, or guiding and directing its Parts which Way foever it pleases.

THE fourth Character follows, by which the Bodies of the Bleffed are ftyl'd glorious. That Word denotes fomething more excellent than Beauty only, or than Proportion of Parts, viz. a certain Light or Refulgency; nor can Matter or Body, be it ever fo beautiful, appear glorious, unless 'tis illuftrated with Light and Radiancy. Besides, the Word ♪♫♪óşa, Glory, wherever in the facred Writings 'tis fpoke, either of natural Bodies, or of Divine or Angelick Appearances, almost always denotes fomething refplendent and illuftrious, as will immediately more fully appear. In the mean Ver. 40, while, you fee that in this very Chapter Mention is made of the Glory of the Stars, which confifts in Light, and that in order to explain to us the Glory of our celestial Bodies. Laftly, the Prophet Daniel difcour

41, 42.

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fing of the Condition of the Righteous after the Refurrection, to lay it before us, has Recourse to the fame Example of Stars, but applies that Example more ftrongly. Many of thofe, fays he, that now fleep in the Duft of Dan. xii. the Earth will awake; fome of them to Life eternal, and others to eternal Contempt and Reproach: And the Wife shall fine like the Splendor of the Firmament; and they that inStruct many to Righteoufness, like Stars to Millions of Ages. Chrift mark'd the same State, the fame Time, and the fame Glory, when he faid, Then fhall the Righteous fhine forth Mat. xiii as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father. 43. "Tis evident that the fame Glory is defcrib'd by the Prophet, by Chrift, and by the Apostle, and that that Glory is a Participation of Light and Splendor.

BUT the Question may here be ask'd, Whether this Light and this Splendor are inherent in glorified Bodies? or whether they come from abroad, and are only reflected or tranfmitted, as in Gems or polish'd Metals, or in other folid Bodies? And yet, methinks, this too might be determin'd by the Examples brought from the Sun and the Stars. However, we fhall examine this more fully in the following Character, by which our celeftial Body is faid to be form'd after the Manner of the glorious Body of Chrift. In the mean while, this remains fix'd and establish'd, that the Bodies of the Bleffed

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the Oppofition or the Comparifon are exprefs'd: As in the Saying of Chrift in St. Mark, Chap. xiv. 58. vaos elegπoint, the Temple made with Hands, is oppos'd to T αχειροποιήτω, to the Temple not made with Hands; and Chrift by both means his own Body, and calls that which he had when he was here upon Earth, xeegnorov, made with Hands, and the other deegrintov, not made with Hands; in which Comparison the forefaid Antithefis can hardly be explain'd any other Way than we have explain'd it above. And the Apostle, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, Chap. ix. confirms this Explication, where he dwells upon this Similitude of the Tabernacle, to which he tacitly here alludes. And as Christ names the Temple, the Apoftle calls the Tabernacle, or the Sanctuary, xaegTointov, (Ver. 24.) to which our terreftrial Body anfwers. Then he calls the celeftial Body of Chrift & χειροποίητον, (Ver. 11.) and adds, by Way of Expofition, TTS, 8 ταύτης τῆς κτίσεως, that is to fay, not of this Building, or this Structure, but of a different Form from this terreftrial and organick Body. But concerning this Word, and this Character, we have fufficiently fpoke.

THE only remaining Characteristical Mark is taken from the Equality upon which the Bleffed in Heaven fhall be with the Angels. Chrift fays to the Sadducees,

that