How Will the Resurrection Occur?


Silhouette
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I always thought that upon the resurrection, we would be called by name and literally come forth whole from our graves. Now I am given to understand that this is not correct. So what DOES happen at the resurrection? I have been told that once we die, we are "done with" our bodies and that we will never use them again. If this is the case, what are our spirits rejoined to, and where does this matter come from? What does the Church teach about this? I had no idea that I had been rolling along merrily all these years with incorrect doctrine. Thanks in advance.

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Isaiah seemed to have the most descriptive version of it, but also the most terrifying ("rattling of bones"). Isaiah also spoke poetically and metaphorically. So, in short, I think Blackmarch has the answer: no idea.

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I always thought that upon the resurrection, we would be called by name and literally come forth whole from our graves. Now I am given to understand that this is not correct. So what DOES happen at the resurrection? I have been told that once we die, we are "done with" our bodies and that we will never use them again. If this is the case, what are our spirits rejoined to, and where does this matter come from? What does the Church teach about this? I had no idea that I had been rolling along merrily all these years with incorrect doctrine. Thanks in advance.

I can see where you are coming from, I have had similar questions.  All of the elements of the Earth will be done away with and all that was old will be made new.  Coarse matter will be turned to fine matter.  Some may argue that that only entails changing a few atoms here and there but in reality we do not know if coarse matter exists in the same realm and system as fine matter.  We don't know if one converts to another.  We know that a mortal and corrupt body has no ability to become eternal on its own.  We always speak of that change as a transformation. So, there is no need to have the actual corrupt, mortal material come back to life, it will turn to dust from which it came.  Elder Bednar said; "The very elements out of which our bodies were created are by nature fallen and ever subject to the pull of sin, corruption, and death."

 

The other thing to consider is that when a body decays in the ground the atoms and molecules are reused.  What if a person dies under an apple tree and years latter a person comes by and eats an apple incorporating some of the atoms that used to be a part of another person's body.  Now who gets the material?  Is it going to be ripped from one to give to another? What about all the hamurgers, steaks, fillets etc one eats during one's lifetime.  Does all that material have to pulled out from the body to form the bodies of all the animals they came from to reform them?  It seems to me that the actual material forming the body that one dies with does not need to be used to resurrect.  I think rising from the grave is a metaphor that simply means to bring back to life.  The actual mechanics of how it is done seems less likely to involve using corrupt and recycled elements.

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The one imperial example we have is Jesus and the evidence that the tomb, according to eye witnesses, was empty. I do not believe that G-d leaves deceptive evidence to confuse the truth. We are left to believe, from scriptural imperial evidence, that Jesus was resurrected with the same body and elements of natter that were laid to rest in the tomb.

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I've never heard that when we die we are done with our bodies.

I had never heard of such a thing either, and personally found it difficult to wrap my head around this idea.

I first heard of this several years ago, and was told that it comes from information in the Pearl of Great Price, but specific Scripture was not provided. I sort of brushed it off at the time, but I heard someone mention it again recently.

I am in agreement with Traveler that Christ set the example for how things would be in His own resurrection, in that His body was not in the tomb, hence my confusion about this new idea.

I will study this further and see if I can find any reference to such an idea in Scripture. I haven't so far, but it clearly requires deeper study on my part.

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The one imperial example we have is Jesus and the evidence that the tomb, according to eye witnesses, was empty. I do not believe that G-d leaves deceptive evidence to confuse the truth. We are left to believe, from scriptural imperial evidence, that Jesus was resurrected with the same body and elements of natter that were laid to rest in the tomb.

But recall that He was the Only Begotten.  His body was at least slightly different than ours to begin with.  It was one that was prepared to be able to resurrect.  His resurrection was separate from His assencion.  He ascended 40 days after His resurrection.  Will that be the same for us?

 

That still doesn't say for sure that it was the same elements with which He ascended.  They could have been taken and then transformed into the elements needed for a resurrected body to ascend. Or at least there was a change between Mary's encounter and the rest of his post-resurrection mission.  Even then, He was not yet taken up until 40 days.  What happned in those 40 days to the body?  We don't know.  Recall what He said to Mary, touch me not for I have not yet ascended.

 

Then, after resurrection He walked with two disciples who did not recognize Him despite walking with Him for some length until He broke bread with them.  Many of the Apostles had to feel the prints in His hands and side to know it was Him.  Even John and Peter along with 6 apostles did not know who He was until He told them to cast their nets again and they recalled earlier miracles and then recognized that it was Jesus.  If it was the same body you think they would have so easily forgotten what He looked like?

 

In other words, "rising whole from the grave" to me sounds like the assencion part not just the resurrection. 

 

From 'Jesus the Christ' Chapter 37; "Though the resurrected Christ manifested the same friendly and intimate regard as He had shown in the mortal state toward those with whom He had been closely associated, He was no longer one of them in the literal sense. There was about Him a divine dignity that forbade close personal familiarity. To Mary Magdalene Christ had said: “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father.” If the second clause was spoken in explanation of the first, we have to infer that no human hand was to be permitted to touch the Lord’s resurrected and immortalized body until after He had presented Himself to the Father. It appears reasonable and probable that between Mary’s impulsive attempt to touch the Lord, and the action of the other women who held Him by the feet as they bowed in worshipful reverence, Christ did ascend to the Father, and that later He returned to earth to continue His ministry in the resurrected state."

Edited by Seminarysnoozer
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More scripture about the resurrection and where the resurrected bodies will come from:

 

Matt 27:52

 

And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

 

Helaman 14:25

 

And many graves shall be opened, and shall yield up many of their dead; and many saints shall appear unto many.

 

D&C 133:56

 

And the graves of the saints shall be opened; and they shall come forth and stand on the right hand of the Lamb, when he shall stand upon Mount Zion, and upon the holy city, the New Jerusalem; and they shall sing the song of the Lamb, day and night forever and ever.

 

 

This all looks very simple to me - that physical body that was dead will be made alive and it looks like the physical stuff that was in the graves will be gone.  That is the doctrine as I understand these scriptures.   The resurrection of Christ was not unique and different from the saints as I understand scripture. 

 

Mosiah 16:10

 

Even this mortal shall put on immortality, and this corruption shall put on incorruption, and shall be brought to stand before the bar of God, to be judged of him according to their works whether they be good or whether they be evil—

 

It would appear that this physical stuff is going to be made into something quite wonderful.  But again - it looks like the stuff we die with will be the stuff we are resurrected with.  As a side note - I also believe it is very important to take care of this physical stuff that is our body and not horde so much more than we need.

Edited by Traveler
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I am in full agreement and always have been. This is why this weird new idea is so confusing to me. I wish I could track down the people that I heard this stuff from and ask what their sources for their statements are, but current circumstances make that option impossible. I think I'll just have faith in Christ's example and the Scriptures such as the ones cited. If it comes up again, I'll ask my Bishop about it.

Thanks so much for all the comments and the Scriptures. This just reinforces what I have understood about the resurrection all along.

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More scripture about the resurrection and where the resurrected bodies will come from:

 

Matt 27:52

 

Helaman 14:25

 

D&C 133:56

 

 

This all looks very simple to me - that physical body that was dead will be made alive and it looks like the physical stuff that was in the graves will be gone.  That is the doctrine as I understand these scriptures.   The resurrection of Christ was not unique and different from the saints as I understand scripture. 

 

Mosiah 16:10

 

It would appear that this physical stuff is going to be made into something quite wonderful.  But again - it looks like the stuff we die with will be the stuff we are resurrected with.  As a side note - I also believe it is very important to take care of this physical stuff that is our body and not horde so much more than we need.

You are so easily swayed that the Garden of Eden story is mostly metaphoric but this you can't say is also ?   This is literal?

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Because we are taught that the Adam represents all of us in the Garden of Eden.

It seems to me that the scriptures use "rise from the grave" interchangeable with "rise from the dead", meaning resurrection.  Obviously, we do not think the body alone could "rise", the body of the individual is not the individual nor is it an animate object by itself.  So when the dead rise they are not in the grave, they are in the spirit world.  Their spirits are not hanging out in the grave.  If anything the metaphor would be better said that the spirits descend to the grave to gather up their body if that truly is the method by which it happens. 

In either case, it doesn't really affect my understanding of the doctrine that we resurrect, so how it is done is not affecting my testimony of the act. The only thing that could suggest some importance to the issue is that people give way too much affinity to earthly things in my mind, the body being one of them.  The church does not suggest that a cremated body or that the body that has dissintigrated into dust over the thousands of years or the molecules from which are absorbed into other beings don't also "rise".

 

Is the resurrected body made anew or is it simply transformed?  Is the Earth made anew or is it transformed? 

 

I think the scriptures describe it fairly clearly; D&C; "23 And the end shall come, and the heaven and the earth shall be consumed and pass away, and there shall be a new heaven and a new earth.

 24 For all old things shall pass away, and all things shall become new, even the heaven and the earth, and all the fulness thereof, both men and beasts, the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea;"

 

Why would the heavens need to be made anew if it is simply a transformation of material?   Likely because course matter cannot be turned into fine matter without changing all matter around it.  There has to be a complete consumption of the material to make it into something else. i.e. - the big bang.

 

Another related question to ponder, did Jesus body transform in the sepulcher or did it get taken somewhere else to be changed and then come back outside the sepulcher in a resurrected state? 

 

To believe that a dead body would "rise" would also mean a person would have to believe that the spirit of the person enters into a dead mass of material first and then transforms it.   One would have to believe that the spirit could reside in the pile of ashes of one that has been cremated and scattered all over the ocean waters first to make it "rise" and then transform into a live resurrected body.  Unless one believes that a dead mass of material can become alive and "rise" without the spirit attached to it.   In other words, "rise from the grave" seems like it would have to mean that organic material could be alive to made rise before the spirit enters it.   ... just some things to ponder.

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It seems to me that the scriptures use "rise from the grave" interchangeable with "rise from the dead", meaning resurrection.  Obviously, we do not think the body alone could "rise", the body of the individual is not the individual nor is it an animate object by itself.  So when the dead rise they are not in the grave, they are in the spirit world.  Their spirits are not hanging out in the grave.  If anything the metaphor would be better said that the spirits descend to the grave to gather up their body if that truly is the method by which it happens. 

In either case, it doesn't really affect my understanding of the doctrine that we resurrect, so how it is done is not affecting my testimony of the act. The only thing that could suggest some importance to the issue is that people give way too much affinity to earthly things in my mind, the body being one of them.  The church does not suggest that a cremated body or that the body that has dissintigrated into dust over the thousands of years or the molecules from which are absorbed into other beings don't also "rise".

 

Is the resurrected body made anew or is it simply transformed?  Is the Earth made anew or is it transformed? 

 

I think the scriptures describe it fairly clearly; D&C; "23 And the end shall come, and the heaven and the earth shall be consumed and pass away, and there shall be a new heaven and a new earth.

 24 For all old things shall pass away, and all things shall become new, even the heaven and the earth, and all the fulness thereof, both men and beasts, the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea;"

 

Why would the heavens need to be made anew if it is simply a transformation of material?   Likely because course matter cannot be turned into fine matter without changing all matter around it.  There has to be a complete consumption of the material to make it into something else. i.e. - the big bang.

 

Another related question to ponder, did Jesus body transform in the sepulcher or did it get taken somewhere else to be changed and then come back outside the sepulcher in a resurrected state? 

 

To believe that a dead body would "rise" would also mean a person would have to believe that the spirit of the person enters into a dead mass of material first and then transforms it.   One would have to believe that the spirit could reside in the pile of ashes of one that has been cremated and scattered all over the ocean waters first to make it "rise" and then transform into a live resurrected body.  Unless one believes that a dead mass of material can become alive and "rise" without the spirit attached to it.   In other words, "rise from the grave" seems like it would have to mean that organic material could be alive to made rise before the spirit enters it.   ... just some things to ponder.

 

Enoch - in the ancient Book of Enoch wrote that elements are, of necessity, corrupted over time in our universe but are cycled constantly to be renewed and purified inside stars in order to maintain their eternal purpose.  The ancient Egyptians believed the secret of things eternal is that they continually pass through cycles like the seasons. 

 

The idea of cycles is strongly embedded in the scripture notion of types and shadows.  (see for example - Ecclesiastes 1:9-10)

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Enoch - in the ancient Book of Enoch wrote that elements are, of necessity, corrupted over time in our universe but are cycled constantly to be renewed and purified inside stars in order to maintain their eternal purpose.  The ancient Egyptians believed the secret of things eternal is that they continually pass through cycles like the seasons. 

 

The idea of cycles is strongly embedded in the scripture notion of types and shadows.  (see for example - Ecclesiastes 1:9-10)

Is something that is recycled really eternal?  If it is recycled then we could say there is a beginning and an end.  Just like the world coming to an end, "shall be consumed and pass away" and "all things shall become new".

 

We know the material always existed and yet we call this world a temporary one, a transitory state, a "time" to prepare to meet God.  So, the cycling to me indicates a beginning and an end.  We are told the body will never separate from the spirit again after resurrection.  It is eternal because it never has to go away and be brought back again.

 

Even though the work that God does is one eternal round, that doesn't necesarily mean the conditions revert to start over again on the same material and same individuals.  For example, a tire going round and round doesn't have to hit he same pavement over and over again every time it rotates, it is a new piece of pavement hit each time and yet it goes round and round.

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Is something that is recycled really eternal?  If it is recycled then we could say there is a beginning and an end.  Just like the world coming to an end, "shall be consumed and pass away" and "all things shall become new".

 

We know the material always existed and yet we call this world a temporary one, a transitory state, a "time" to prepare to meet God.  So, the cycling to me indicates a beginning and an end.  We are told the body will never separate from the spirit again after resurrection.  It is eternal because it never has to go away and be brought back again.

 

Even though the work that God does is one eternal round, that doesn't necesarily mean the conditions revert to start over again on the same material and same individuals.  For example, a tire going round and round doesn't have to hit he same pavement over and over again every time it rotates, it is a new piece of pavement hit each time and yet it goes round and round.

 

Not really as an answer to everything - but I saw a little clip of an elderly couple celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary.  They were asked what was the secret of their long marriage.  They looked at each other and responded - "When we grew up.  if something was broke - you fixed it". 

 

I know it is hard for you to fathom - but I really like the idea of repairing the worn and weary as a concept of eternity.  Not only does it explain how eternity can go on forever but it also gives realistic opportunity to contribute something meaningful for eternity as well.  The one exception for me is yard work - I hate yard work.  If not for my wife and neighbors I would just let weeds and what would grow - grow.  I would much rather be tuning and riding my bicycle or skying every day.

Edited by Traveler
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Haven't read through the whole post...so if this has been said...sorry...

 

The scriptures seem pretty clear that we will take up our bodies again, that it is a reuniting of body and spirit, etc... We are taught that the graves opened and bodies came forth, and thus will the resurrection be.

 

Moreover, the church has long held a variety of traditions and practices that very clearly respect the idea that the body we die with will be taken up again.

 

I dunno. Seems to me that whoever gave you the idea that we are done with our bodies upon death may not have been very well versed in these things...respectfully...bless their hearts. :)

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Haven't read through the whole post...so if this has been said...sorry...

The scriptures seem pretty clear that we will take up our bodies again, that it is a reuniting of body and spirit, etc... We are taught that the graves opened and bodies came forth, and thus will the resurrection be.

Moreover, the church has long held a variety of traditions and practices that very clearly respect the idea that the body we die with will be taken up again.

I dunno. Seems to me that whoever gave you the idea that we are done with our bodies upon death may not have been very well versed in these things...respectfully...bless their hearts. :)

I just always pictured it that my husband would stand at the foot of my grave and say, "So and So, come forth," and then the grave would burst open and I would just step out. Someone I believe mentioned that our spirit would not rejoin with our body while our body was in the grave, but I have always pictured it that way when the time has come for us to come out. Where I got that idea from I don't know...it just made sense to me that it would happen that way.

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I just always pictured it that my husband would stand at the foot of my grave and say, "So and So, come forth," and then the grave would burst open and I would just step out. Someone I believe mentioned that our spirit would not rejoin with our body while our body was in the grave, but I have always pictured it that way when the time has come for us to come out. Where I got that idea from I don't know...it just made sense to me that it would happen that way.

 

By inverse implication, the body would have to raise out of the grave and zombie around a bit if the spirit were not joined beforehand. :D

 

I know there are some details of how it will work that are entirely traditional speculation. I'm not sure on the standing over the grave and calling "come forth", etc... We really don't have that information.

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I always thought that upon the resurrection, we would be called by name and literally come forth whole from our graves. Now I am given to understand that this is not correct. So what DOES happen at the resurrection? I have been told that once we die, we are "done with" our bodies and that we will never use them again. If this is the case, what are our spirits rejoined to, and where does this matter come from? What does the Church teach about this? I had no idea that I had been rolling along merrily all these years with incorrect doctrine. Thanks in advance.

Our bodies come forth in perfection...sadly as I have gotten older, I wonder about those whose DNA, has ceased to exist, such as in 9/ 11, and others. All I can do now is have faith that a merciful God knows how he will bring this to pass. In this life all will never be known, but in the next all will be revealed. :)
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Not really as an answer to everything - but I saw a little clip of an elderly couple celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary.  They were asked what was the secret of their long marriage.  They looked at each other and responded - "When we grew up.  if something was broke - you fixed it". 

 

I know it is hard for you to fathom - but I really like the idea of repairing the worn and weary as a concept of eternity.  Not only does it explain how eternity can go on forever but it also gives realistic opportunity to contribute something meaningful for eternity as well.  The one exception for me is yard work - I hate yard work.  If not for my wife and neighbors I would just let weeds and what would grow - grow.  I would much rather be tuning and riding my bicycle or skying every day.

I think this life is a probationary state that has similarities to the eternal state but not the same.  I think a metaphor would be thinking of the difference between a flight simulator and a plane.  I would never hope to turn the flight simulator into a plane but it certainly is a good place to start ones training in eventually flying.

 

An unnatural change has to take place to turn the Earth into its paradisiacal glory along with every other element in the Universe.  It doesn't receive its Celestial glory by itself or by its own natural progression.

 

Likewise, passing the first estate test (the test that qualifies one for eventually receiving a resurrected body) does not mean that it will just happen on its own without any outside help. 

 

The resurrection is the reversing or the "repairing" of what was done in with the Fall to the paradisiacal type bodies that were given to Adam and Eve.  If one thinks the "change" that took place from the Garden of Eden to the fallen world was just 'breaking' something here or there then I suppose one might look at the resurrection the same way, repairing the few things that were broken.  This is not how I see the Fall.  The Fall resulted in Adam and Eve receiving transformed bodies that could not go back to the paradisiacal state without eating of the Tree of Life.  Those fallen bodies could never be "repaired" to go back to that state because they weren't that kind of body any more.  A new type of body, not just a new one, is needed to become an eternal being.

 

The fallen body is in the same image as the eternal type, just like a flight simulator's images resemble the flying of a plane but it has no inherent potential to ever become one on its own.  The fallen body is only designed to be a probationary type of body, to return to dust in the end.

 

Genesis 3; "14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:   ....

 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

 

Will we be "dust" when we have a resurrected body?  Could God say "for dust thou art" at that point?

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Our bodies come forth in perfection...sadly as I have gotten older, I wonder about those whose DNA, has ceased to exist, such as in 9/ 11, and others. All I can do now is have faith that a merciful God knows how he will bring this to pass. In this life all will never be known, but in the next all will be revealed. :)

We would you want fallen, corrupted DNA to be known? 

 

All of us have fallen, corrupted DNA right now.

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This is one of those that Satan uses to trouble believers and it's used by skeptics.  When I was on my mission in France, atheists would often try to establish a straw-man argument with a scenario like: "What if you get eaten by a shark, and then the shark dies, and its remains get eaten by crabs, and then I eat the shark, then I die."  Their argument was that the literal matter of my body goes through nature and gets re-used, so that nothing can be lost.  So how is it possible for me to get my body back?

 

Those kinds of arguments never troubled me. Unlike any other existing religion, latter-day saints have had experience with resurrected beings.  Joseph Smith saw and interacted with several of them.  Moroni, John the Baptist, Peter, James, (John was translated, so I won't count him), Moses, Elias, Elijah, and others appeared to him to confer keys.  

 

Moroni was a physical being who gave him physical gold plates.  The three witnesses of the BOM saw and angel and he turned the pages on the plates.  Physical hands were laid on the head of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery when the various keys were conferred by heavenly messengers.  The reality of the resurrection has been witnessed by individuals in this dispensation.  We have no doubt of the physical nature of the resurrection.  

 

Of course, there is the testimony of the four gospels and the Book of Mormon, which relate the accounts of those who saw the risen Christ, but that is from an ancient record.  I don't mean to discount that, but our critics would.  It is hard to sweep away the testimony of modern witnesses who left their experiences for us to consider.  

 

I don't worry about the how.  I just know that God has promised that he will resurrect all of us and that Jesus' resurrection is the template for that.  How it will occur, I don't know.  I just know that it has and that real people have witnessed the results.

 

On a more spiritual or "metaphysical" level, I would throw this out for consideration.  All of us pass through a veil into mortality.  To me, the veil is symbolic.  The veil for each of us is a woman.  Motherhood is the "veil" between premortal life and eternity.  When we pass through the veil to get back into eternity, there is another veil through which we must pass.  That veil is the priesthood.  Motherhood and fatherhood are linked in this manner.  The resurrection is a priesthood ordinance that will be taught to us later.  The temple foreshadows this.  How will we be resurrected?  The fathers to whom we are sealed will resurrect us.

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This is one of those that Satan uses to trouble believers and it's used by skeptics.  When I was on my mission in France, atheists would often try to establish a straw-man argument with a scenario like: "What if you get eaten by a shark, and then the shark dies, and its remains get eaten by crabs, and then I eat the shark, then I die."  Their argument was that the literal matter of my body goes through nature and gets re-used, so that nothing can be lost.  So how is it possible for me to get my body back?

 

Those kinds of arguments never troubled me. Unlike any other existing religion, latter-day saints have had experience with resurrected beings.  Joseph Smith saw and interacted with several of them.  Moroni, John the Baptist, Peter, James, (John was translated, so I won't count him), Moses, Elias, Elijah, and others appeared to him to confer keys.  

 

Moroni was a physical being who gave him physical gold plates.  The three witnesses of the BOM saw and angel and he turned the pages on the plates.  Physical hands were laid on the head of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery when the various keys were conferred by heavenly messengers.  The reality of the resurrection has been witnessed by individuals in this dispensation.  We have no doubt of the physical nature of the resurrection.  

 

Of course, there is the testimony of the four gospels and the Book of Mormon, which relate the accounts of those who saw the risen Christ, but that is from an ancient record.  I don't mean to discount that, but our critics would.  It is hard to sweep away the testimony of modern witnesses who left their experiences for us to consider.  

 

I don't worry about the how.  I just know that God has promised that he will resurrect all of us and that Jesus' resurrection is the template for that.  How it will occur, I don't know.  I just know that it has and that real people have witnessed the results.

 

On a more spiritual or "metaphysical" level, I would throw this out for consideration.  All of us pass through a veil into mortality.  To me, the veil is symbolic.  The veil for each of us is a woman.  Motherhood is the "veil" between premortal life and eternity.  When we pass through the veil to get back into eternity, there is another veil through which we must pass.  That veil is the priesthood.  Motherhood and fatherhood are linked in this manner.  The resurrection is a priesthood ordinance that will be taught to us later.  The temple foreshadows this.  How will we be resurrected?  The fathers to whom we are sealed will resurrect us.

Just to say that it is all matter doesn't speak of whether it is of a different type.  D&C suggests they are different, "

 There is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but it is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned by purer eyes;

 We cannot see it; but when our bodies are purified we shall see that it is all matter."

 

In other words, when the body is changed from a type that can't see fine matter to one that can then we will see that it is all matter but realize there are different types, one of which is fine and can only be discerned by the purified body. 

 

When we say "physical" we realize there is more than one type of "physical", it is not all one in the same.  Otherwise a physical body would not have to be transfigured to withstand the presence of God.

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The bodies we have now here on earth are the bodies we will have after the resurrection, they will simply be perfected. In chapter 37 of the "Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young" manual, the resurrection is described in a fair amount of detail. A link to the chapter can be found here https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-brigham-young/chapter-37?lang=eng

 

All of these quotes were originally printed in the Discourses of Brigham Young, and then reprinted in the manual referenced above. Pertaining specifically to the subject of the resurrection of our bodies, President Young said: 

 

 "We understand that when we are unclothed in this present state, then we are prepared to be clothed upon with immortality—that when we put off these bodies we put on immortality [see Alma 11:43–44]. These bodies will return to dust, but our hope and faith are that we will receive these bodies again from the elements—that we will receive the very organization that we have here, and that, if we are faithful to the principles of [gospel] freedom, we shall then be prepared to endure eternally.

After the spirit leaves the body, it remains without a tabernacle in the spirit world until the Lord, by his law that he has ordained, brings to pass the resurrection of the dead [see D&C 93:33–34]. When the angel who holds the keys of the resurrection shall sound his trumpet, then the peculiar fundamental particles that organized our bodies here, if we do honor to them, though they be deposited in the depths of the sea, and though one particle is in the north, another in the south, another in the east, and another in the west, will be brought together again in the twinkling of an eye, and our spirits will take possession of them.

After the body and spirit are separated by death, what, pertaining to this earth, shall we receive first? The body; that is the first object of a divine affection beyond the grave. We first come in possession of the body. The spirit [of a righteous man or woman] has overcome the body, and the body is made subject in every respect to that divine principle God has planted in the person. The spirit within is pure and holy, and goes back pure and holy to God, dwells in the spirit world pure and holy, and, by and by, will have the privilege of coming and taking the body again. [Jesus Christ,] holding the keys of the resurrection, having previously passed through that ordeal, will be delegated to resurrect our bodies, and our spirits will be there and prepared to enter into [our] bodies. Then, when we are prepared to receive our bodies, they are the first earthly objects that bear divinity personified in the capacity of the man. Only the body dies; the spirit is looking forth

We are here in circumstances to bury our dead according to the order of the Priesthood. But some of our brethren die upon the ocean; they cannot be buried in a burying ground, but they are sewed up in canvas and cast into the sea, and perhaps in two minutes after they are in the bowels of the shark, yet those persons will come forth in the resurrection, and receive all the glory of which they are worthy, and be clothed upon with all the beauty of resurrected Saints, as much so as if they had been laid away in a gold or silver coffin, and in a place expressly for burying the dead."

(bold added)

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