R — Résurrection
Original French
ON conte que les Egyptiens n’avaient bâti leurs piramides que pour en faire des tombeaux, & que leurs corps embaumés par dedans & par dehors, attendaient que leurs ames vinssent les ranimer au bout de mille ans. Mais si leurs corps devaient ressusciter, pourquoi la première opération des parfumeurs était-elle de leur percer le crâne avec un crochet, & d’en tirer la cervelle? L’idée de ressusciter sans cervelle, fait soupçonner (si on peut user de ce mot) que les Egyptiens n’en avaient guères de leur vivant; mais il faut considérer que la plûpart des anciens croyaient que l’ame est dans la poitrine. Et pourquoi l’ame est-elle dans la poitrine plûtôt qu’ailleurs? C’est qu’en effet dans tous nos sentiments un peu violents, ou éprouve vers la région du cœur, une dilatation ou un resserrement, qui a fait penser que c’était là le logement de l’ame. Cette ame était quelque chose d’aérien, c’était une figure légère qui se promenait où elle pouvait, jusqu’à-ce qu’elle eût retrouvé son corps.
La croyance de la résurrection est beaucoup plus ancienne que les temps historiques. Athalide fils de Mercure pouvait mourir & ressusciter à son gré; Esculape rendit la vie à Hipolite, Hercule à Alceste; Pelops ayant été hâché en morceaux par son père, fut ressuscité par les Dieux. Platon raconte qu’Héres ressuscita pour quinze jours seulement.
Les pharisiens, chez les Juifs, n’adoptèrent le dogme de la résurrection que très long-temps après Platon.
Il y a dans les actes des Apôtres un fait bien singulier, & bien digne d’attention. St. Jaques, & plusieurs de ses compagnons conseillent à St. Paul d’aller dans le temple de Jérusalem, observer toutes les cérémonies de l’ancienne loi, tout chrêtien qu’il était, afin que tous sachent, disent-ils, que tout ce qu’on dit de vous est faux, & que vous continuez de garder la loi de Moïse.
St. Paul alla donc pendant sept jours dans le temple, mais le septiéme il fut reconnu. On l’accusa d’y être venu avec des étrangers, & de l’avoir prophané. Voici comment il se tira d’affaire.
Or Paul sachant qu’une partie de ceux qui étaient là étaient Sadducéens, & l’autre Pharisiens, il s’écria dans l’assemblée: Mes frères, je suis Pharisien & fils de pharisien; c’est à cause de l’espérance d’une autre vie, & de la résurrection des morts que l’on veut me condamner.1 Il n’avait point du tout été question de la résurrection des morts dans toute cette affaire; Paul ne le disait que pour animer les Pharisiens & les Sadducéens les uns contre les autres.
℣. 7. Paul ayant parlé de la sorte, il s’émut une dissension entre les Pharisiens & les Sadducéens; & l’assemblée fut divisée.
℣. 8. Car les Sadducéens disent qu’il n’y a ni résurrection, ni ange, ni esprit: au lieu que les Pharisiens reconnaissent & l’un & l’autre, &c.
On a prétendu que Job, qui est très ancien, connaissait le dogme de la résurrection. On cite ces paroles: Je sais que mon rédempteur est vivant, & qu’un jour sa rédemption s’élévera sur moi, ou que je me reléverai de la poussière; que ma peau reviendra, & que je verrai encor Dieu dans ma chair.
Mais plusieurs commentateurs entendent par ces paroles, que Job espère qu’il relévera bientôt de maladie, & qu’il ne demeurera pas toujours couché sur la terre, comme il l’était. La suite prouve assez que cette explication est la véritable; car il s’écrie le moment d’après à ses faux & durs amis; Pourquoi donc dites-vous, Persécutons-le, ou bien, parce que vous direz, parce que nous l’avons persécuté. Cela ne veut-il pas dire évidemment; Vous vous repentirez de m’avoir offensé, quand vous me reverrez dans mon premier état de santé & d’opulence. Un malade qui dit, Je me léverai, ne dit pas, Je ressusciterai. Donner des sens forcés à des passages clairs, c’est le sûr moyen de ne jamais s’entendre.
St. Jérôme ne place la naissance de la secte des Pharisiens que très-peu de temps avant Jésus-Christ. Le Rabin Hillel passe pour le fondateur de la secte pharisienne; & cet Hillel était contemporain de Gamaliel le maître de St. Paul.
Plusieurs de ces Pharisiens croyaient que les Juifs seuls ressusciteraient, & que le reste des hommes n’en valait pas la peine. D’autres ont soutenu qu’on ne ressusciterait que dans la Palestine, & que les corps de ceux qui auront été enterrés ailleurs, seront secrettement transportés auprès de Jérusalem pour s’y rejoindre à leur ame. Mais St. Paul écrivant aux habitans de Thessalonique, leur dit, que le second avénement de Jésus-Christ est pour eux & pour lui, qu’ils en seront témoins.
℣. 16. Car aussi-tôt que le signal aura été donné par l’archange, & par le son de la trompette de Dieu, le Seigneur lui-même descendra du Ciel, & ceux qui serons morts en Jésus-Christ ressusciteront les premiers.
℣. 17. Puis nous autres qui sommes vivans, & qui serons demeurés jusqu’alors, nous serons emportés avec eux dans les nuées pour aller au devant du Seigneur au milieu de l’air, & ainsi, nous vivrons pour jamais avec le Seigneur.2
Ce passage important ne prouve-t-il pas évidemment que les premiers chrêtiens comptaient voir la fin du monde, comme en effet elle est prédite dans St. Luc, pour le temps même que St. Luc vivait?
St. Augustin croit que les enfans, & même les enfans morts nés, ressusciteront dans l’âge de la maturité. Les Origènes, les Jérômes, les Atanases, les Basiles n’ont pas crû que les femmes dussent ressusciter avec leur sexe.
Enfin, on a toujours disputé sur ce que nous avons été, sur ce que nous sommes, & sur ce que nous serons.
1 Actes des Apôtres chap. 23. v. 6.7. 8.
2 1. Epit. aux Thess. chap. 4.
Musean translation
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation of the 73 articles in the 1764 first edition, made directly from the French and reviewed against the scan-collated French text. The author’s notes, quotations and verse are retained. Historical ethnic labels, including offensive terms, are retained from the 1764 text.
We are told that the Egyptians built their pyramids only to make tombs of them, and that their bodies, embalmed inside and out, awaited the return of their souls to revive them after a thousand years. But if their bodies were to rise again, why was the perfumers’ first operation to pierce their skulls with a hook and draw out the brain? The idea of rising again without brains makes one suspect—if the expression may be used—that the Egyptians had few while alive. But we must consider that most of the ancients believed the soul was in the chest. And why is the soul in the chest rather than elsewhere? Because in all our somewhat violent feelings we do indeed experience an expansion or contraction around the heart, which led people to think that this was the soul’s lodging. This soul was something airy, a light figure wandering wherever it could until it found its body again.
Belief in resurrection is far older than historical times. Aethalides, son of Mercury, could die and rise again at will; Aesculapius restored Hippolytus to life, Hercules Alcestis; Pelops, after being chopped to pieces by his father, was raised again by the gods. Plato relates that Er rose again for only fifteen days.
Among the Jews, the Pharisees adopted the doctrine of resurrection only long after Plato.
There is a very singular fact in the Acts of the Apostles, well worth our attention. St. James and several of his companions advise St. Paul, Christian though he was, to go into the temple in Jerusalem and observe all the ceremonies of the old law, “so that everyone may know,” they say, “that everything said about you is false, and that you continue to keep the law of Moses.”
St. Paul therefore went into the temple for seven days, but on the seventh he was recognized. He was accused of having come there with foreigners and profaned it. Here is how he got out of the difficulty.
Now Paul, knowing that some of those present were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, cried out in the assembly: “My brothers, I am a Pharisee and the son of a Pharisee; it is because of the hope of another life and the resurrection of the dead that they wish to condemn me.”1 The resurrection of the dead had not been at issue at all in this entire affair; Paul said it only to turn the Pharisees and Sadducees against each other.
Verse 7. When Paul had spoken in this way, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.
Verse 8. For the Sadducees say there is neither resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit; whereas the Pharisees acknowledge both, etc.
It has been claimed that Job, who is very ancient, knew the doctrine of resurrection. These words are quoted: “I know that my redeemer lives, and that one day his redemption will rise over me, or that I will rise from the dust; that my skin will return, and that I will see God again in my flesh.”
But several commentators understand these words to mean that Job hopes soon to recover from his illness and not remain lying on the ground forever, as he was then. What follows sufficiently proves this to be the true explanation; for a moment later he cries out to his false and harsh friends: “Why, then, do you say, ‘Let us persecute him’”—or else, “because you will say, ‘Because we persecuted him.’” Does this not clearly mean: “You will repent of having offended me when you see me restored to my former health and wealth”? A sick man who says “I will get up” does not say “I will rise from the dead.” Forcing meanings onto clear passages is the sure way never to understand one another.
St. Jerome places the birth of the Pharisees’ sect only a very short time before Jesus Christ. Rabbi Hillel is regarded as the founder of the Pharisaic sect; and this Hillel was a contemporary of Gamaliel, St. Paul’s teacher.
Several of these Pharisees believed that the Jews alone would rise again, and that the rest of humanity was not worth the trouble. Others maintained that people would rise again only in Palestine, and that the bodies of those buried elsewhere would be secretly transported near Jerusalem to rejoin their souls there. But St. Paul, writing to the inhabitants of Thessalonica, tells them “that the second coming of Jesus Christ is for them and for him; that they will witness it.”
Verse 16. For as soon as the signal has been given by the archangel and by the sound of God’s trumpet, the Lord himself will descend from heaven, and those who have died in Jesus Christ will rise first.
Verse 17. Then we who are alive and have remained until then will be carried away with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we will live forever with the Lord.2
Does this important passage not clearly prove that the first Christians expected to see the end of the world, as indeed it is foretold in St. Luke for the very time when St. Luke was living?
St. Augustine believes that children, and even stillborn children, will rise again at the age of maturity. Origen, Jerome, Athanasius, and Basil did not believe that women would rise again with their sex.
In short, people have always disputed what we have been, what we are, and what we will be.
1 Acts of the Apostles, chap. 23, v. 6, 7, 8.
2 1. Epistle to the Thessalonians, chap. 4.
Plain English translation
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Plain English translation of the same 73 articles, made directly from the French and reviewed against the scan-collated French text. The author’s notes, quotations and verse are retained. Historical ethnic labels, including offensive terms, are retained from the 1764 text.
We’re told the Egyptians built their pyramids just to serve as tombs. Their bodies, embalmed inside and out, waited for their souls to return after a thousand years and revive them. But if the bodies were going to rise again, why did embalmers start with the brain? They pierced the skull with a hook and pulled it out. Rising again without a brain makes you suspect—if that’s the word—that the Egyptians didn’t have much of one while alive. Still, most ancient peoples thought the soul lived in the chest. Why there rather than anywhere else? Any fairly strong feeling makes us sense an expanding or tightening around the heart. That’s what led people to put the soul there. It was something airy, a light figure wandering wherever it could until it found its body again.
Belief in resurrection goes back long before recorded history. Mercury’s son Aethalides could die and come back to life whenever he wanted. Aesculapius brought Hippolytus back to life, and Hercules brought back Alcestis. Pelops’s father chopped him to pieces, and the gods revived him. Plato says Er came back to life for just fifteen days.
The Jewish Pharisees didn’t accept resurrection as a doctrine until a very long time after Plato.
The Acts of the Apostles tells a very strange story that deserves attention. Saint James and several companions advise Saint Paul to go to the Jerusalem temple. Though he’s a Christian, he should follow all the ceremonies of the old law. They say, “Then everyone will know that everything said about you is false, and you’re still keeping Moses’ law.”
So Saint Paul went to the temple for seven days. On the seventh, someone recognized him. People accused him of bringing foreigners in and defiling it. Here’s how he got out of trouble.
Paul knew some of those present were Sadducees and others were Pharisees. He called out in the assembly, “Brothers, I’m a Pharisee and the son of a Pharisee. They want to condemn me for hoping for another life and the resurrection of the dead.”1 Resurrection had never come up anywhere in this affair. Paul only said that to turn the Pharisees and Sadducees against each other.
℣. 7. Paul’s words started a dispute between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly split.
℣. 8. The Sadducees say there’s no resurrection, angel, or spirit. The Pharisees acknowledge both, and so on.
Some people argue that Job, who is very ancient, knew the doctrine of resurrection. They quote these words: “I know my redeemer lives. One day his redemption will rise over me, or I’ll rise from the dust. My skin will return, and I’ll see God again in my flesh.”
But several commentators understand Job to mean he hopes to get well soon. He won’t always lie on the ground as he was doing then. What follows is proof enough that this is the right reading. A moment later he cries out to his false, harsh friends, “Why, then, do you say, ‘Let’s persecute him’?” Or else, “Because you’ll say, ‘Because we persecuted him.’” Doesn’t that plainly mean, “You’ll regret hurting me when you see me healthy and wealthy again, as I was before”? A sick man saying, “I’ll get up,” isn’t saying, “I’ll rise from the dead.” Force meanings onto clear passages, and you’ll make sure nobody ever understands anybody.
Saint Jerome puts the Pharisee sect’s beginnings only a short time before Jesus Christ. Rabbi Hillel is thought to have founded it. He lived at the same time as Gamaliel, Saint Paul’s teacher.
Several Pharisees believed only Jews would rise again. The rest of humanity wasn’t worth the trouble. Others insisted people would rise again only in Palestine. Bodies buried elsewhere would be secretly taken near Jerusalem to rejoin their souls there. But Saint Paul tells the people of Thessalonica that Jesus Christ’s second coming is for them and for him. They’ll witness it.
℣. 16. As soon as the archangel and the sound of God’s trumpet give the signal, the Lord himself will come down from heaven. Those who’ve died in Jesus Christ will rise first.
℣. 17. Then we who are alive and have remained until then will be carried up with them in the clouds. We’ll meet the Lord in the air and live with him forever.2
Doesn’t this important passage plainly prove the first Christians expected to see the world’s end? Saint Luke does in fact predict it for his own lifetime.
Saint Augustine believes children, even those born dead, will rise again as adults. Origen, Jerome, Athanasius, and Basil didn’t believe women would still be female when they rose again.
People have always argued about what we’ve been, what we are, and what we’ll be.
1 Acts of the Apostles chap. 23. v. 6.7. 8.
2 1. Epit. to the Thess. chap. 4.
About this section
R — Résurrection is part of Pocket Philosophical Dictionary by Voltaire. This page sets the French original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is article 66 of 73 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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