God's justice demands the resurrection of our body. God ought to judge, to reward, or to punish the whole man. The body is the instrument of the soul for good or for evil; even the thoughts of the soul are reflected on man's face. The soul cannot experience pleasure or pain without the co-participation of the body, and the principal exercise of virtue consists in the repression of the desires of the flesh. Then it is just that the soul of the wicked be tormented, by being reunited to the same body which has been the instrument of her crimes; and that the soul of the saints be rewarded, by her eternal reunion to a body which has been the instrument of her merits.
All these reasons can be generalized thus:
Man's body has been the instrument of our soul to do good or evil. Then the justice of God requires that man's body come again to life, to share, with its soul, eternal reward, or eternal punishment.
We answer: Since man's body is but the instrument of our soul to do good or evil, his body is capable neither of merit nor of demerit. But, since man's body is capable neither of merit nor of demerit, it is capable neither of reward nor of punishment. Therefore the justice of God does not require that man's body come again to life, to share, with its soul, eternal reward or eternal punishment.
More, it is irrational that the same particles of matter be, at the same time, in many places. But the doctrine of the resurrection of the body supposes that the same particles of matter will be, at the same time, in many places. This we prove:
The cannibals live upon man's flesh; and they assimilate to their own bodies the particles of flesh which compose the bodies of the men they devour. Consequently, at the resurrection of the bodies, these particles of flesh will compose the bodies of the cannibals, and, at the same time, the bodies of the men they have devoured. Therefore, the doctrine of the resurrection of the body supposes, that the same particles of matter will be, at the same time, in many places.
Besides, when, after death, man's body putrefies, the particles of flesh, of which it is composed, dissolve into gases, which the plants convert to their own nature. Those vegetables and fruits, thousands of men eat; and thus they assimilate to themselves those same particles, which formerly composed the bodies of other men. Consequently, at the resurrection of the bodies, those particles will compose a multitude of bodies. Therefore, the doctrine of the resurrection of the body supposes, that the same particles of matter will be, at the same time, in many places.
Then the doctrine of the resurrection of the body is irrational.
Objection.—Jesus Christ came again to life with a spiritual body. Then these proofs do not demonstrate that the doctrine of the resurrection of the body is irrational.