The Time for Thinking is Over?

At the beginning of the great documentary series of the 1970s, The World at War the narrator, Laurence Olivier, intones as we watch how the Nazi Party rose to power in Germany that "the time for thinking is over."

These words came into my mind as I read Alex Massie's article in The Spectator this week about how the SNP has replaced the Church of Scotland as the dominant voice of "being Scottish" in Scotland today. I'm not sure how correct Massie is in his "replacement theology" but he does hit on one truth – that for many people Scottish independence and the Scottish nationalism that seeks it is now a quasi-religious faith rather than a matter of rational thought for many of its followers.

Independence becomes heaven, unionists are heretics opposed to the true faith, the way to salvation is by faith in the SNP alone and they are the sole guardians of the Nation's eternal life. Outside the SNP, for many, there is no salvation. Any facts which suggest that independence may not be heavenly bliss or that there are other paths to heaven can be dismissed as lies of the devil. Any SNP speaker in any debate is automatically the winner because of who they are and what they stand for rather than what they actually say.

Now let me be clear that I am not comparing the modern SNP with the Nazis, though there were historic links between Scottish nationalists and European fascists in the 1930s and 1940s. Clearly that would be as absurd as comparing the Labour Party to the Soviet Communist Party because both are socialist parties.

What is comparable though, because I would argue it is inherent in all nationalism, is the elevation of emotion over reason, the Romantic idea of the Nation as "sacred" community, often accompanied by the idea of hidden power within the Nation which needs to be liberated from an imagined oppressor who is blame for suppressing this hidden strength, and who needs to be removed in order for the Nation to flourish.

This is why the SNP often speaks as if it is Scotland and the Scottish people and to be against the SNP is to be against Scotland. I genuinely believe it is not about arrogance; it's just the inevitable mindset of nationalism: the interests of nationalists and the Nation are indivisible and inseparable even conceptually. This is how nationalists genuinely think.

Admittedly, this is not the case for every SNP supporter. For many independence is viewed as a rational choice to achieve a better society and I totally respect that. I genuinely believe that folk in this category would support unionism if they believed it would lead to a better society (as I do). But that is far from being the case for everyone. For many (and this includes the SNP leadership), from what I have observed in the past six months, independence is a matter of faith rather than reason, a matter of the heart not the head. Such people want independence no matter what the consequences. Echoing the words of Milton's Satan in Paradise Lost, they would rather rule in hell than serve in heaven.

The opinion polls point towards the SNP gaining anywhere from 30–50 out of 59 seats at the General Election. The nationalist faith is in the ascendancy. For many Scots – too many I fear – it seems the time for thinking is over once again.

The Resurrection Body

I heard an excellent sermon yesterday on the resurrection body (based on 1 Corinthians 15:35–58) by our minister, Jonathan de Groot. You will soon be able to find it on our church's website here.

It might come as a surprise to some people that the Christian teaching on life after death is NOT that we go to heaven forever as disembodied spirits or that we end up us angels, complete with white robes, halos and dove-like wings, but that we will ultimately have bodies again. New, improved, unfailing, perfect bodies fit to live in a new, improved, unfailing and perfect world, yet still the world: a physical reality, not just a spiritual one.

While most Christians do believe that the faithful do go straight to heaven when we die and enter God's presence there, that is not our ultimate destination or state of being. As N. T. Wright has put it memorably, Christians believe in "life after life after death." The final chapter of the Christian's story is not our soul going to heaven, but the resurrection of our bodies to spend eternity in a renewed heaven and earth where there is no separation between the two places, where God and humanity live together in love and peace forever.

And it is important, I think, to note that this is not some "extreme" position nor is it the "party line" of any one tradition or denomination within the church. It is a central truth, arguably one of the defining truths of the Christian faith contra almost every other faith and world view, which is why we find it expressed in the ancient creeds, accepted by all Christians. In the Apostles' Creed, we confess "I believe in...the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting."

The passage in 1 Corinthians 15 says this is exactly what we are to believe as Christians. One day we will be raised to a new kind of life, with a new kind of body, just like Jesus Christ was raised at Easter. In that sense, he was the first fruits, the pioneer, of what will one day happen to every believer - resurrection in a new physical and spiritual body.

One thing Jonathan didn't mention in his sermon particularly was what these new resurrection bodies will be like. He did mention, following Paul's words, that they will be glorious, sinless, incorruptible, imperishable and perfect. But what will they look like and what will we be able to do with them that we cannot do in our current earthly bodies?

While much of this remains a mystery, the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus give us some idea of what our resurrection bodies will be like.

1. Recognisably the Same

The first thing to note is that whatever our new bodies will be like they will still be recognisably us. They are new but they are not completely different from what we were before. His disciples could still tell even after the resurrection that the risen Jesus was still Jesus. He still had the holes from the nails in his hands and feet. Thomas could still  touch him. He was still a physical being, who cooked meals and ate food with other people. He was still a human being of substance, not a ghost or spirit.

2. Undoubtedly Different

Yet although he was still recognisably Jesus, the risen Christ was also a very different human being. His face would seem to have been somehow different from it had been - the disciples on the Emmaus road did not recognise him when they first saw him - yet not completely different. Maybe after the resurrection Jesus became somehow "ageless"? But there were other differences as well. He was able to enter into a locked room without opening the doors. He was apparently able to move at superhuman speed between different locations. And he seems to have been able to disappear from view when he wanted to.

Taking these two aspects of the risen Jesus' body it seems reasonable to conclude that after the resurrection we too will remain ourselves, rather than becoming something completely different. We will have our own personalities and memories intact and though our physical appearance will be changed, other people will still recognise us. Yet at the same time, we will have many of the limitations that are currently part of our physicality removed. In short, we will be perfected, super versions of ourselves, the best of what we are now combined with everything we will need to be to inherit and inhabit the new earth in eternity.

It sounds unimaginable, even as I write about these things. But we have God's word assuring us it is the truth, and we have the risen Jesus showing us the truth. And what would I say to someone who claims this is all too good to be true and couldn't possibly happen? I'd say: tell that to a beautiful butterfly who was once a wriggly green hairy caterpillar.