rection.*

And thus he fhewed, by these feveral Tokens, that it was in his Power to

* Clem. Alexand. Strom. 6. p. 649. Epayev yo & dia' to oua, &c. For he eat not for the fake of his Body, which was fuftain'd by divine Virtue, but left thofe he appeared to fhould entertain falfe Notions of him, as we find afterwards that fome actually did, fuppofing him to have been no more than a Ghoft or Apparition. Origen apud Hierom. in Præm. ad 1. xviii. in Ifa. He eat after his Refurrection, and drank, and appeared cloathed, and offer'd himself to be felt, to convince his doubting Difciples of the Reality of his Refurrection; but yet he plainly difcovers the Nature of his aerial and fpiritual Body, by entering into the Room while the Doors were fhut, and by his vanishing out of Sight at the Breaking of Bread.

Damafcene likewife fays, that he did this roue pÚJEWS, c. not by the Law of his Nature, but by way of Proof of the Truth of his Refurrection, De Orthod. Fid. 1. 4.

c. I.

There are befides quoted, as of the fame Opinion, Theophil. in cap. xxiv. Luc. and Bede in cap. xx. Joban. in Gerard. zom. 9. p. 672. med. Chryfoft. Hom. 87. Cod. Gr. in Job. ἄξιον δὲ διαπορῆσαι, πῶς, κ. τ. λ. But it may be doubted how an incorruptible Body could receive the Impreffion of the Nails, and be touch'd by mortal Hands. But let not this fhock thee; for this was by Permiffion only, (ovyxaтaba'σews, by way of Condefcenfion :) For a Body fo thin and fine as to come in when the Doors were fhut, must be void of all grofs Subftance. But he fhewed himself in that Manner for the Proof of the Refurrection. St. Auguft. de Civ. Dei, 1. xxii. c. 19. We muft believe, that the Brightness of the Body of Christ at his Refurrection, was rather hid from the Eyes of the Difciples, than really wanting in itself: For the weak Sight of Man could not have been able to have beheld fo glorious a Form with that Stedfaftness as was neceffary for him to be known by. He would not be touch'd (John xx. 17.) because he was not in a tangible State, being then return'd from the Dead, and upon his Afcenfion to the Father.

15.

refolve his Body into the thin and the volatile, and to reduce it at his Pleafure into a Body folid, and of adherent Parts.

LASTLY, When he afcended into Heaven, with the Swiftness of a winged Angel, mounting to his native Seat, what was his Body? what was his Vehicle? It was light and rapid, as the fiery Chariot, in which Elias was formerly carried, when he afcended alive into Heaven. In like manner, when Chrift was feen by St. John in the Isle of Rev. i. 14, Patmos, His Eyes were as a Flame of Fire, and bis Feet like to fine Brass, as if they burned. in a Furnace; as the Son of Man was seen Dan. x. 5, by the Prophet Daniel before. And lastly, he is at length to return in the fame glorious, refulgent, flaming Form; otherwise he would hardly be vifible both Night and Day aloft in the fublime Sky, to thofe who inhabit the Earth: Nay, even the Glory of the Father, with which 'tis faid he is to appear, is this very refulgent Form, as the Father, or the Antient of Days, is defcrib'd by the fame Dan. vii. Prophet, with a luminous and flaming Majefty.

6.

9, 10.

AND to come to a Conclufion of this Point, I only défire to add, that the Glory of God, which is call'd by the Hebrews Shechinah, and which is the majestical Prefence of God, has always the Appearance of Light, or Flame, or of a refplendent Cloud; as in the Journeying out of Egypt, and in the Holy of Holies; and the fame Thing which

is called the Glory of God, is term'd likewise a Cloud, or a lucid Cloud, Num. xii. 5. & xvi. 19, 42. Matt. xvii. 5. & 2 Pet. i. 17. and in many other Places in both Teftaments, it appears, that the Glory of God, or his glorious Prefence, is always fhewn in fome lucid, flaming, or fiery Matter; but the Body of Chrift was the most excellent RefidingPlace of this Shechinah, of this divine Glory, and, as it were, the Sanctum Sanctorum in which it fhone out moft brightly; to which alfo the facred Authors are often wont to allude, Job. i. 14. Heb. ix. 11. Rev. xxi. 3. These Things being thus explain'd, it seems to be determin'd, that the glorious Body of Chrift which he has in the Heavens, is like Flames, like Æther, or like liquid Light, and that confequently our celeftial Body will be of no diffimilar Matter, fince 'tis to be conformable to his. And indeed, if we confult Reason and Philosophy,* any other Kind of Matter can fcarce fubfift or fuftain itfelf in the Heavens, and the Ætherial Regions, where all Things are ferene and pure, every Thing most fine and subtle. Laftly, fince in the Rank and Order of Bodies, or in material Nature, we know nothing more excellent than Light or Flame, 'tis but just that we determine, that the glorious Body of Chrift, and ours in Proportion,

* See Origen. cont. Celf. 1. iii. m. p. 136.

portion, must confift of these till we find fomething that is more excellent and furpalfing.

PERHAPS, it may be here objected, that thus to explain the Glory of the Body of Christ in the Heavens would be foreign neither to Reason nor the facred Writings, if it were not an Obftacle to the received Doctrine of the Flesh and Blood of Chrift that are still remaining in his celeftial Body: To which I anfwer, that the Fathers either had different Sentiments, or remain'd doubtful concerning this Point of the Flesh and Blood of the celeftial Body of Chrift. 'Tis very well known that all the Disciples of Origen deny it, and philofophize quite after another Manner. Befides, with the Fathers of the fecond Nicene Synod, among the Definitions and the Heads of the Conftantinopolitan Council, (which is called the Council of the Iconoclaftes, or the Image-Breakers,) which upon hearing them read over again, they approv'd of † this was

one:

* Ει τις εχ ὁμολογεῖ τὸν Κύριον, κ. τ. λ. Whoever does not confefs that our Lord Jefus Chrift, after his affuming the rational Nature and intellectual Flefh, is fet down with God the Father, and that he will fo likewife return, with paternal Majefty, to judge the Quick and Dead, not indeed with Flefh, but neither incorporeal; fo that he may be feen of thofe by whom he was pierc'd; and that he remains God without the Groffnefs of Flefh, let him be accurfed.

† Μέχρι τέτων αγνωμονῖσι, κ. τ. λ. So far they think right, and fpeak agreeably to the Traditions of the Fathers;

or

one: That Chrift was fet down at the Right Hand of his Father, and that he would at length hither return, ἐκ ἔτι μὲν σάρκα, ἐκ ἀσως Maτov; but that he would not return in the Flesh, and yet not without a Body, that is, a fubtle rarified Body: For it follows, that he may be feen by thofe who pierced him, and may remain God without the Groffness of the Flesh. Can any Thing be more plain than this? For it must be obferv'd, that these Words, & rs μὲν σάρκα, ἐκ ἀσώματον 3, which chiefly regard the Point of which we are treating, are the very Words of Gregory Nazianzen, speaking of the fame Matter, viz. in his Fortieth Oration, towards the End, he fays this concerning Chrift; και αναςάντα τριήμερον ανεληλυθέναι, &c. That the third Day he returned to Life, and afcended into Heaven; from whence be will return illuftrious and glorious, to judge the Quick and the Dead: ἐκ ἔτι μὲν σάρκα, ἐκ ἀσώμatov d'è, viz. no longer incarnated, and yet not wanting a Body, but having a Body more auguft and more divine, and fuch a Body as none but the Son of God can have; that he might both be seen by those who pierced him, and might -remain a God without any corporeal Mafs, or any carnal Groffness.

IN

or rather, by afferting thefe Doctrines as their own, they do themselves Credit and Honour. L'Abbé Conc. Nic. 2. A. 6. tom. 6. p. 541.