[Doctrina foederum, sive systema theologica didacticae et elencticae (Amstelodami , 1691)]

Johannes Braunius (1628–1708), a venerable divine of the Dutch Reformed tradition, was born at Kaiserslautern in the year of our Lord 1628, and was trained in sacred learning at the illustrious University of Leiden, where he sat under the eminent Johannes Coccejus. Nurtured in the federal and covenantal theology of the Reformation, Braunius gave himself to the laborious study of the Hebrew tongue and the Levitical institutions of the Old Testament, wherein he discerned types and shadows of gospel mysteries. He ministered as a faithful pastor and was later appointed to the chair of theology at the University of Groningen in 1681, a post he held unto his death nearly three decades thereafter. His life was adorned not only with erudition, but with devotion, uniting the careful exposition of Scripture with reverence for the covenant mercies of God. Among his chief works stands Vestitus Sacerdotum Hebraeorum, a deep and learned commentary upon the vestments and ordinances of the Aaronic priesthood, drawn from the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth chapters of Exodus and the sixteenth of Leviticus, showing forth the typological beauty of the ceremonial law as fulfilled in Christ. Likewise, his Doctrina Foedorum offered a comprehensive system of didactic and elenctic theology, built upon the foundation of federal theology, expounding the covenant of works and grace with scholastic clarity. In all his writings, Braunius exhibited that rare balance of penetrating intellect and humble piety, ever seeking the edification of the church and the glory of the Redeemer, whose garments of righteousness he found prefigured in those of the ancient priesthood. He fell asleep in the Lord in the year 1708, full of days and full of faith.

Johannes Braunius (1628–1708), a venerable divine of the Dutch Reformed tradition, was born at Kaiserslautern in the year of our Lord 1628, and was trained in sacred learning at the illustrious University of Leiden, where he sat under the eminent Johannes Coccejus. Nurtured in the federal and covenantal theology of the Reformation, Braunius gave himself to the laborious study of the Hebrew tongue and the Levitical institutions of the Old Testament, wherein he discerned types and shadows of gospel mysteries. He ministered as a faithful pastor and was later appointed to the chair of theology at the University of Groningen in 1681, a post he held unto his death nearly three decades thereafter. His life was adorned not only with erudition, but with devotion, uniting the careful exposition of Scripture with reverence for the covenant mercies of God. Among his chief works stands Vestitus Sacerdotum Hebraeorum, a deep and learned commentary upon the vestments and ordinances of the Aaronic priesthood, drawn from the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth chapters of Exodus and the sixteenth of Leviticus, showing forth the typological beauty of the ceremonial law as fulfilled in Christ. Likewise, his Doctrina Foedorum offered a comprehensive system of didactic and elenctic theology, built upon the foundation of federal theology, expounding the covenant of works and grace with scholastic clarity. In all his writings, Braunius exhibited that rare balance of penetrating intellect and humble piety, ever seeking the edification of the church and the glory of the Redeemer, whose garments of righteousness he found prefigured in those of the ancient priesthood. He fell asleep in the Lord in the year 1708, full of days and full of faith.

Table of Contents:

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Chapter XXXIV: Of the Resurrection

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I. The Glorious Kingdom and the Resurrection

The glorious kingdom of Christ in this earth shall usher in the Resurrection, which is the fifth and final degree of the abolition of the covenant of works, when no punishment of sin, because of the broken covenant of works, can any longer have place. By Resurrection, Holy Scripture sometimes understandeth any restoration to a former state. In this sense, Job hopeth that he shall rise again from the misery wherein he groaned (Job 19), though we deny not that he also had respect at the same time to the resurrection of the flesh.

II. The Resurrection of Soul and Body

The resurrection is one of the soul, another of the body, which is also called the resurrection of the flesh. The resurrection of the soul is spiritual, as it consisteth more in the spirit than in the flesh, and is twofold:

  1. Regeneration. It signifieth either regeneration itself, when a man taketh a new life, and, as it were, riseth from spiritual death. In this sense, the Apostle exhorteth the faithful to rise from the dead (Ephesians 5:14). And thus we are said to rise with Christ and to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4-5). This is the same that Christ meaneth by being born again and becoming a new creature (John 3:3-4). In this sense, before regeneration, or before this spiritual life, men are said to be dead in their sins (Colossians 2:13; Ephesians 2:1).
  2. Separation from Error. The resurrection is also taken for the secession from error and false doctrine and divers impieties, after the truth is acknowledged. And this resurrection is twofold: the First and the Second.

III. The First and Second Resurrections

[There are Two Resurrections in mentioned by Apostle John:]

  1. The First Resurrection. The First Resurrection is that conversion of men to Christ after His advent, through which even the faithful and already regenerate among the Jews departed from Judaism to Christ. So also the notable conversion of the Gentiles, who, in the time of Constantine the Great, departed from Gentilism to the Christian Church, is called the First Resurrection (Revelation 20:5-6; John 5).
  2. The Second Resurrection. The Second Resurrection is the separation of the faithful from Antichrist, when, acknowledging his frauds and false doctrine, they go out from Babylon, as from the most foul sepulcher of superstition, idolatry, and other errors, to the truth and simplicity of Christianity. See Revelation 20:5-6. Of this also speaketh Daniel (12:2).

IV. The Resurrection of the Flesh

But the Resurrection of the Flesh, which is here treated, is that which shall be on the last day of judgment, and through which the human body, by the singular power of Jesus Christ, whereby He subdueth all things to Himself, is, as it were, born again from the dust and animated, that it may be reunited to the soul to which it was joined in this life, and in that union live forever.

V. Resurrection Not Provable by Reason Alone

The Resurrection of the Flesh cannot be proved by reason alone. For that some think this doctrine may be proved because the soul hath some natural inclination to be always united with the body, and that it cannot anywhere enjoy perfect blessedness except in this body, this is to err with certain Scholastics: for the soul can be blessed outside the body, no less than in the body itself, and is truly blessed. For as the body contributeth nothing to the essence of the soul, so also it doth nothing to its happiness. If indeed we experience in our mind a desire to preserve the body in life, this is only from the natural bond between the mind and the body, and from the special will of God, who hath implanted such a desire in the soul, so long as He willeth to preserve us in this life. Otherwise, the very nature of an angel, nor the body by its nature, contributeth aught to the happiness of the soul.

VI. Resurrection Not Contrary to Nature

We confess, however, that this doctrine is not contrary to nature, and that obscure traces of it are found in nature:

  1. If from corrupted grain another riseth from the earth, why could not the body also, as it were, rise again from the earth? Such a comparison doth Paul institute (1 Corinthians 15).
  2. Take trees, shrubs, and herbs, burn them all and reduce them to ashes, and scatter them over a field, yet trees, shrubs, and herbs shall rise again.
  3. The human body is generated as it were from nothing; there is therefore no reason why the human body cannot rise again through resurrection from the earth into which it was reduced.

VII. Resurrection Not Contrary to God’s Omnipotence