A Body of Evidence for Bodies

Scripture tells us that at the resurrection we will all be raised as Jesus was. Jesus was in a resurrected body that did not have any scars from his flogging but did have holes from the nail prints and the sword piercing.  He was not weak or sickly in spite of all He had gone through. He looked like his former body but it was different. He could appear in a closed room without opening a door.  He could suddenly appear and disappear along a road. He could eat a fish and then disappear. Will we be like that? What do people who have been to heaven say they were like?

Some saw relatives who had lost a leg or something, but they were whole in heaven. They looked as they did in the prime of life. Richard Sigmund saw his grandparents and noted they were young like in their thirties. Colton Burpo saw his great grandfather, who died many years before he was born. When his father Todd heard this he showed Colton a photo of his grandfather, but Colton didn’t recognize him. Finally Todd asked his mother for a photo of her dad as a young man. She found one and sent it to him. Colton immediately recognized him as the great grandfather he was with in heaven. Others said the people they saw and knew were like they were in their late twenties or thirties, and none had any blemishes or infirmities. Marvin Besteman said he felt no weakness and was awake, alert, and strong and healthy as a horse (his words). He felt fantastic, better than he ever had as a young man. No one he saw there had crutches, damaged bodies, missing appendages, Down’s syndrome, or any other special need. His vision improved immeasurably beyond what his glasses had done for him. His eyes, ears, brain, and body were performing far above par. He likened it to going from a broken down old jalopy to a sleek racecar with a high performance engine! No one there was wearing glasses or hearing aids.

Crystal McVea said she had a more complete representation of her spirit and heart than was ever possible on Earth. She had a deeper self-awareness than all the hopes, fears, dreams, and scars of her earthly life. She met her real self! She marvels that the first person she met in heaven was herself!

Several witnesses said their spirit body looks just like our physical body in shape but does not have any distinct edges. Mary Neal heard her brothers ask her to breathe as they were doing CPR on her drowned body. She came back from heaven and laid down in her body, making it alive, took a breath, and then left it again. This happened again before she came back and stayed in her body. Others have also talked about coming back and getting back into their body. Oden Hetrick said our soul and body fit together like our hand fits a glove.

The spirit body appears solid, but it is translucent. A medical doctor, Dr. Richard Eby, studied his spirit body and saw that he could see through it to the flowers on the other side. He also saw he had no internal organs, no genitals, no bones, and no blood. Others described how when they hugged someone their arms went right through each other. In heaven Jesus is the same in form as everyone else except he still has the wounds of the nail prints as a permanent reminder of his sacrifice for us. Everyone else has all wounds healed and their bodies fully restored.

Beyond all this, people reported all their senses were sharpened in heaven and they even had some new ones. One person said he could see miles away as easily as ten inches away. Also hearing, smell, and taste were all much more refined than on Earth. Dale Black said his senses were all heightened above what they are on Earth. He had the same size and reach, but had some new awesome capabilities. In heaven people simultaneously communicate thoughts and emotions and understand each other perfectly even though there is no audible speech.

So what happens in the resurrection? It seems like the people there already have spirit bodies, and when I think about it why would I want my earthly body back with all of its problems, including being subject to gravity and decomposition? It is made of molecules that break down while heaven appears not to be made of atoms and molecules, but something more stable and perfect. I have not seen any testimony different from what I have given above. So any further resurrection is a complete mystery. Could it refer to our spirit bodies returning to Earth from heaven, so that it appears to those still here that we have been raised from the dead? Someday we will experience that event and then we will know.