would have been no such wonder that he
should have returned with it; but that the flesh of our flesh and
bone of our bone should be seated at the right hand of God is
worthy of the greatest admiration." 15 That is to say, Christ was
from eternity God, the Infinite Spirit, in

13 The Glory of Christ, vol. ii. p. 237.

14 De Civ. Dei, lib. xxii. cap. 5.

15 Pearson on the Creed, 12th ed., pp. 272-275.

heaven; he came to earth and lived in a human body; on returning
to heaven, instead of resuming his proper form, he bears with him,
and will eternally retain, the body of flesh he had worn on earth!
Paul says, "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God."
The Church, hastily following the senses, led by a carnal,
illogical philosophy, has deeply misinterpreted and violently
abused the significance of Christ's ascension. The drama of his
resurrection, with all its connected parts, was not meant
throughout as a strict representation of our destiny. It was a
seal upon his commission and teachings, not an exemplification of
what should happen to others. It was outwardly a miracle, not a
type, an exceptional instance of super natural power, not a
significant exhibition of the regular course of things. The same
logic which says, "Christ rose and ascended with his fleshly body:
therefore we shall," must also say, "Christ rose visibly on the
third day: therefore we shall." Christ's resurrection was a
miracle; and therefore we cannot reason from it to ourselves. The
common conception of a miracle is that it is the suspension, not
the manifestation, of ordinary laws. We have just as much logical
right to say that the physical appearance in Christ's resurrection
was merely an accommodation to the senses of the witnesses, and
that on his ascension the body was annihilated, and only his soul
entered heaven, as we have to surmise that the theory embodied in
the common belief is true. The record is according to mere
sensible appearances. The reality is beyond our knowledge. The
record gives no explanation. It is wiser in this dilemma to follow
the light of reason than to follow the blind spirit of tradition.
The point in our reasoning is this. If Christ, on rising from the
world of the dead, assumed again his former body, he assumed it by
a miracle, and for some special purpose of revealing himself to
his disciples and of finishing his earthly work; and it does not
follow either that he bore that body into heaven, or that a