My intent in this particular post is not necessarily to discuss whether or not this exhibit should be allowed, or whether or not people should go see it. Personally, I see a lot of benefit in having such a display; but I also see a number of reasons not to attend. Instead, my intent here is to deal with an odd connection of ideas that were conveyed when the story was (briefly) aired on the nightly news. The narrating reporter said one thing:
The bodies come from the Chinese government. They're unclaimed corpses, which is a problem for the National Catholic Bioethics Center, because the mystery men and women didn't give permission to be put on display postmortem.A leading representative of the National Catholic Bioethics Center, Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, then responded with:
We believe that the body will resurrect--at the end of the world--and be reunited with our souls. And, what this means is that, that's exactly the reason why we have to show respect. . .[quote cut off]It was because of this response that my wife and I looked at each other in utter confusion. We both wondered: "what did Father what's-his-name's comment have to do with whether or not permission was given? How does the resurrection fit into that?" (I would have to hear the remainder of the quote before fully understanding the connection; but alas, I could not find the rest of the quote).
Is Father Pacholczyk suggesting that bodies have to be completely intact and in specific locations (i.e., a grave of some kind) in order to share in the resurrection? I would hope not, for two reasons: 1) it would contradict the Catholic position on the donation of organs, which it does allow; and 2) it promotes a serious theological flaw with respect to the nature of the resurrection.[1] If he is not arguing for this suggestion, then why does he even mention it?
It would seem as though he is using it to buttress the second half of the quote--i.e., the reality and nature of the resurrection is why we must show respect. I really hope he is not truly arguing for this position; but, sadly, it appears as though this is what he is arguing: "that is exactly the reason . . ." (emphasis mine). A vital question naturally emerges in response to this: Why is the resurrection the defining factor for showing respect?
To me, from a logical point of view, the only reason why such a factor is considered is if one believes that bodies have to be completely intact and in specific locations in order to take part in the resurrection. But this takes us right back to where we were before, which is never a fun place to be if we didn't want to be there in the first place. If this is in fact the reason why the issue of resurrection is raised, then Father Pacholczyk must offer an explanation for the two problems noted above.[2]
On the Catholic Bioethics website, Father Pacholczyk provides an article listing four criteria (found here) that must be met before allowing this type of exhibit. He even states that the primary focus should be on the first two criteria. For him, as long as the bodies are 1) not placed in disrespectful poses and 2) they are used solely for the purpose of education; then, by all means--display the bodies. Interestingly enough, however: the topic of resurrection is never mentioned in his article. If one were to go on the comments made during the news report, they would expect to find the topic of resurrection on the list of necessary criteria. But alas, no resurrection (on the list that is).
_________________________________________
[1] See this article, which speaks to the "misguided belief that one needs all body parts intact to be resurrected"
[2] I am waiting to hear back from Father Pacholczyk on this. I sent him an e-mail on 31-Jul and today is 5-Aug. If I ever hear from him, I'll update this post accordingly.
4 comments:
This is exactly why I am insisting that my body is not buried. I would hate for God to have to dig up some dirt and open a box to get to my body. I want it right there out in the open, waiting for Him. I mean, what if there is clay on top of the casket or the lid gets locked? God would never be able to get me body out and I would totally miss the resurrection! That would absolutely suck and I'll have none of it. You'll find my corpse sitting in my pew at church, third row just left of the center aisle, right where God can find me.
The thing I find humorous in people who call themselves "Christian" is the arguement of what to be done with our bodies after death. There are the "I want to be buried. No cremation for me. And I must have nice flowers and a really pretty coffin"...O.k. all that glam just to be in the ground where no one can see with dirt all over that crazy expensive BOX. All that expense is for those mourners to feel better not for the one who has passed on. What that whole thing about not being able to take your riches to heaven. Then you have those who want to be cremated in the "ashes to ashes, dust to dust" fame but ALSO want to be buried. I do not get this because, have we not taken up enough space on this earth while we were alive. I do not want another tree to be cut down just to make room in the ground for my dead remains. I say let the tree live so others can breathe for gosh sakes. And lastly about our remains...does it matter what shape our remains are in? Hello this is God we are talking about. The one and only "In Him all things are possible" guy. When the resurrection occurs I have not doubt that He will be able to find all my parts for He is ALL powerful! Amen?
Who thinks of these things? I was in photography in college and I remember seeing some strange exibits but this...I think I will stick to photographing living people. And can we really have a TRUE idea what muscle without skin looks like in real life when the people we are looking at are dead and can not flex the muscle for it to look truely real? I say leave somethings to the imagination.
Hope things are going well with you and yours,
A
thislife-us.blogspot.com
As I understand it, there are several sects (Catholic or Protestant) who would advocate for a physical resurrection of the body, rather than a resurrection of the spiritual body. If I were (and I'm not) coming from the perspective of the physical body resurrecting I could see where there might be some argument for this. Although if you were to really think this through, the body decomposes, is eaten by worms, and turns into dirt eventually... so the physical body might not be in much better shape than these skinless cadavers when Christ returns.
Adam,
Thank you for your comment--I really do appreciate it. If I may ask a (daring) question, though asked with complete respect: why is it that you do not come from a physical resurrection perspective? Or, better stated: what reasons led you to hold to a spiritual resurrection perspective?
Post a Comment