see beyond them into the real primary etheric substance of which they
are composed, and so by our volition shall be able to put the physical
body on or off at pleasure,--that at least is a quite logical deduction
from what we have learnt in the preceding pages.

Seen in this light the "Resurrection Body" is not the old body
resuscitated, but a new body, just as real and tangible as the old one,
only not subject to any of its disabilities,--no longer a limitation,
but the ever ready instrument for any work we may desire to do upon the
physical plane.

But perhaps you will say, "Why should we want to have anything more to
do with the physical plane? surely we have had enough of it already!"
Yes; in its old sense of limitation; but not in the new sense of a world
of glorious possibilities, a new field for our creative activities; not
the least of which is the helping of those who are still in those lower
stages which we have already passed through.

I think if we realize the position of the Fully Risen Man, we shall see
that he is not likely to turn his back upon the Earth as a rotten, old
thing. Therefore a new physical body is a necessary part of his
equipment.

If, then, we take it as a general principle, that for self-recognition
upon any plane a body in terms of that plane is a necessity, this will
throw some light on the Bible narrative of our Lord's appearances after
his Resurrection. It is noteworthy that he himself lays stress on the
body as an integral part of the individuality. When the disciples
thought they had seen an apparition he said: "Handle me and see that it
is I _myself_, and _not_ a spirit, for a spirit hath not flesh and
bones as ye see I have" (Luke xxiv, 39). This very clearly states that
the spirit without a corresponding body is not the complete "I myself";
yet from the same narrative we gather that the solid body in which he
appeared is able to pass through closed doors, and to be disintegrated
and re-integrated at will. Now on the electronic theory of the
constitution of matter which I have spoken of in the earlier part of
this book, there is nothing impossible in this; on the contrary it is
only the known Law of synchronous vibration carried into those further
ranges of wave-lengths which, though not yet produced by laboratory
experiment, are unavoidably recognized by the mathematicians.

In this way then the Resurrection of the Body appears to me to be the
legitimate termination of our p