Source 3 Transcript

Extract from an article entitled 'The Religious Aspect of Cremation' by Professor Dr G Van der Leeuw, published in Pharos,

Essential to the christian creed is the belief in life eternal. This is not the conviction of an immortal soul surviving to the perishing of the body, which is Greek. But it is the belief in a resurrection of mind, body and soul: I believe the Resurrection of the Body. Throughout the Bible, Old Testament and New, man is regarded as a Whole, he does not possess a body, but he is one, just as he does not own a soul, but is a soul. But, through christian faith does not owe anything to the Platonist conception of an immortal soul and a worthless body, however, tainted with that conception some forms of christian theology may have been, neither owes it anything to those very old beliefs which seek for the incorruptibility of human life by preserving the body or parts of it, like the Eqyptian belief, which found its expression in mummification and embalming. Resurrection means

in the first place the complete acknowledgement of the fact of death. "There is no health in us," says the Anglican Confession of Sins, and this is literally true. There is nothing in man which is incorruptible, still less eternal or divine. Throughout the Bible death is admitted unconditionally.- In the second place Resurrection means

the belief in God who has power to create, not to make something out of another thing, but to create from nothing. Christian belief in God implies that His power is not limited to life and does not retire before death. He creates a new life out of death, a new body and a new spirit.

Simplified version

The belief in eternal life lies at the heart of Christianity. This is different to the Greek belief that the soul is immortal and survives after the body has died. Christians believe in the resurrection of the mind, body and soul. Throughout the Bible (both Old and New Testaments), man is seen as a whole being. He does not just possess a body, he is one, he doesn't just own a soul but is a soul. But if Christian faith doesn't owe anything to the Platonist belief in an everlasting soul and a worthless body, it doesn't owe anything to the belief that the whole body should be preserved, like the Eqyptians who mummify and embalm their dead, either.

First, resurrection means that you have to accept death. There is nothing in man which doesn't decay or that is eternal or divine. Death is accepted unconditionally throughout the Bible.

Secondly, resurrection means a belief in a God who has the power to create something out of nothing, not just something out of another thing. Christians believe that God's power is not limited to life and does not disappear at death. God can create a new life out of death, a new body and a new spirit.

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