CHAPTER V.

THE BIRTH OF THE SPIRIT.

All Subjects Important-"Ye must be born again"— Nicodemus' Quandary-A Minister's Opinion- Author's Objection- Jesus' Tests-Must be born out of Flesh - Birth of the Spirit a Resurrection-Not of Flesh and BloodBible against it (1 Cor. xv.)-Natural and Spiritual Body-Opinion of the Woman of Tekoah-Of Job-Of Jesus-Objections answered-Mortal Bodies quickened-Must eat Christ's Flesh-Job and the Worms-Job re fers to his Recovery-He did see God-Scientific Arguments-Change of Matter Interesting Dialogue-Is the Mind an Entity-Abraham in the Resurrection-Dust returning to Dust- Resurrection a Birth-Jesus born of the Spirit-Seen by Clairvoyants - He goes and comes like the WindHis Flesh and Bones Owasso, the Boots and the Hand - His ExplanationJesus appears to Paul-Others do not see him-Test from Ananias - Jesus, in showing himself, demonstrated Immortality-Practical ConclusionsBorn into the Other World of this-Future Happiness and Misery made by Life here-Alexander Campbell-The Good shall shine- Spirits and Tobacco-Appetites may be our Hell hereafter - Admonition.

THOUGH very popular, it is hardly just to say

of any

question, "This is important," as such language implies that there are questions of no importance; which is not the case. Every truth has its bearing on every other truth; every truth received is a light by which we may be enabled to discover kindred truths; every truth rejected is a light extinguished; and darkness is the result.

"Ye must be born again," is the language of Jesus to Nicodemus: and every one who believes his Bible indorses it; the only question being, What is meant by being born again? There is a difference, "wide as the

world," between our views and those of our Christian neighbors, as to what constitutes the birth of the spirit.

Jesus, in his conference with a member of the Jewish senate, said, "Except a man be born again, he can not see the kingdom of God." This astonished Nicodemus, who could not see how it would be possible for him, under the circumstances, to get into the kingdom; for he was already an old man: and how could an old man be born? Jesus answers,

"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” — John iii. 5–7.

Sawyer renders this, "That which is born of the Spirit is a spirit."

Here the matter is explained. It is the birth of the Spirit that Jesus is speaking of, as much as to say, "You got your fleshly existence, got into this fleshly kingdom, by a birth of the flesh; now, in order to enter upon your spiritual existence, that is, your existence where there is no flesh and blood, you must be born of the Spirit. Don't wonder that I told you you must be born again."

"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." John iii. 8.

When but a boy, we once asked a minister for an explanation of this verse. He kindly consented to give us the needed light. "The birth of the Spirit," said he, "is nothing more nor less than conversion. All who

are converted are born again. The Spirit is like the wind; it comes and goes, and you can not tell whence it comes, or whither it goes. You can not see the wind; you see its effects, and feel it: so you can not see the Spirit; but you do see and feel its operations on the heart."

This is substantially the theory of the orthodox world: it may do as a hypothesis; but it will not do as an explanation of this text. The text does not say, "The Spirit comes and goes like the wind," as this theory would have it, but "The wind bloweth where it listeth [pleaseth], and you can not tell where it comes from, or whither it goes so is every one that is born of the Spirit." Thus it is the individual born of the Spirit who goes and comes, and you can not tell where he goes to or comes from. Is it so with churchmen? Can they go and come without being detected, more than sinners, who never belonged to a church? They can not. Then we must decide that they have not experienced the birth spoken of in this text.

We do not deny that Christians may have experienced a change: no doubt they have; but we do deny that they have been born again. Jesus gives another test by which to try those professing to be born of the Spirit. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (is a spirit.· Sawyer). Are not churchmen flesh and blood in the same sense as sinners who do not belong to the church? But those born of the Spirit are no longer flesh.

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Except a man be born again, he can not see the kingdom of God." We might ask, Why? Paul an

vers

"Now, this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood can not inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption."-1 Cor. xv. 50.

This whole chapter is an argument showing the necessity of a resurrection in order to get into the kingdom of God, as Jesus shows the necessity of a spiritual birth in order to get into the kingdom. The verse above quoted tells why a resurrection is necessary: it is because "flesh and blood can not inherit the kingdom." A resurrection, then, delivers us from flesh and blood: the birth of the Spirit does the same. For this and other reasons, we claim that the birth of the Spirit is the resurrection from the dead.

Here, before arguing this point, we must tell what we mean by the term "resurrection." We do not, by this term, mean, as many others do, the re-collecting of the particles of matter, and converting them once more into flesh, blood, and bone, and making them live again. That can not be done, as we will show. By the term "resurrection," we mean just what the Greeks meant by the term anastasis, an elevation. Sometimes they used the term ex-anastasis. This will be found in Phil. iii. 11, where Paul says, "If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." The Greek is, ex-anastasin ton nekron, which literally signifies, "resurrection out of the dead." How plain! The body dies, and man is born out of it. This is the resurrection.

Before attempting to prove that the birth of the Spirit and resurrection of the dead are the same, we will show that the body never will be raised to life.

No one contends that there are any scientific argu

ments for the resuscitation of the flesh. All science is confessedly against it: yet some say, "The Bible says so; and, though we can not comprehend it, we believe God has power to bring it about." Now, we emphatically deny that the Bible, when rightly interpreted, teaches any such doctrine: on the other hand, it is squarely against it.

The text above quoted is pointed and emphatic. If the kingdom of God is the state to be obtained at the resurrection, and "flesh and blood can not inherit the kingdom," then, whatever inference may be drawn from Paul's argument in other places, he has here positively committed himself as an unbeliever in the resurrection of the flesh. This whole chapter is worthy of attention it is all devoted to this resurrection question. Any one who will read this chapter with the idea that Paul is arguing with Epicureans, who did not believe in any future life for man, will discover that he was simply arguing an existence for man beyond this mundane life, and not urging any particular form of resurrection, or definition of the term anastasis.

Paul bases the whole argument on certain phenomena, which he, and about five hundred others, had witnessed. Christ, he argued, had been seen after his assassination; therefore he was not dead. Christ lived after he was killed; therefore others would live after the event called death. He urges that there is life for man, as evinced by Christ being seen alive after his death, unless the witnesses who testified to having seen him were false; but he was seen on so many occasions, and by so many, that it could not have been falsehood or deception. He urges, further, that the witnesses were honest, as was