live forever body and soul, according to the words of St. Paul: “And we will not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that are asleep, that you be not sorrowful, even as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them who have slept through Jesus will God bring with Him.”[1] “For the Lord Himself shall come down from heaven with commandment,, and with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God: and the dead who are in Christ, shall rise first…We shall be taken up together with them in the clouds to meet Christ, into the air, and so shall we be always with the Lord. Wherefore comfort ye one another with these words.”[2]
It was announced by the prophets in the Old Law. And who could doubt of this truth who has once believed in the resurrection of Christ, by which He proved Himself to be the God of infallible truth; especially since He has so often taught it by His own word and by the testimony of His prophets? God showed the Prophet Ezechiel in a vision a vast field filled with bones scattered in all directions: “The hand of the Lord.…brought me forth in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of a plain, that was full of bones.…Now they were very many upon the face of the plain, and they were exceeding dry. Son of man,” said the Lord to him, “dost thou think these bones shall live?” But that you may know who the Lord is, only say in My name: “Ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will send spirit into you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to grow over you, and will cover you with skin: and I will give you spirit, and you shall live.” Hardly had the Prophet spoken these words at the command of God, when he saw the bones moving of their own accord, coining together covered with flesh and skin, and standing up a great army. “And as I prophesied there was a noise, and behold a commotion: and the bones came together, each one to its joint,…and the spirit came into them, and they lived: and they stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army.” Do you know what this signifies? asked the Lord. “All these bones are the house of Israel: They say: Our bones are dried up,
- ↑ Nolumus autem vos ignorare, fratres, de dormientibus, ut non contristemini, slcut et ceteri qui spem non habent. Si enim credimus quod Jesus mortuus est et resurrexit, ita et Deus eos qui dormierunt per Jesum adducet cum eo.—I. Thess. iv. 12, 13.
- ↑ Quouiam ipse Dominus in jussu, et in voce archangeli, et in tuba Dei descendet de cœlo, et mortui qui in Christo sunt resurgent primi.…Rapiemur cum illis in nubibus obviam Christo in æra; et sic semper cum Domino erimus. Itaque consolamini invicem in verbis istis.—Ibid. 15, 16, 17.
