Systematic Theology, by Louis Berkhof - New Leaven

Scripture makes it perfectly evident that the body will be greatly changed. Christ’s body
was not yet fully glorified during the period of transition between the resurrection and
the ascension; yet it had already undergone a remarkable change. Paul refers to the
change that will take place, when he says that in sowing a seed we do not sow the body
that shall be; we do not intend to pick the same seed out of the ground. Yet we do
expect to reap something that is in a fundamental sense identical with the seed
deposited in the earth. While there is a certain identity between the seed sown and the
seeds that develop out of it, yet there is also a remarkable difference. We shall be
changed, says the apostle, “for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this
mortal must put on immortality.” The body “is sown in corruption; it is raised in
incorruption: it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body; it is
raised a spiritual body.” Change is not inconsistent with the retention of identity. We are
told that even now every particle in our bodies changes every seven years, but through
it all the body retains its identity. There will be a certain physical connection between
the old body and the new, but the nature of this connection is not revealed. Some
theologians speak of a remaining germ from which the new body develops; others say
that the organizing principle of the body remains. Origen had something of that kind in
mind; so did Kuyper and Milligan. If we bear all this in mind, the old objection against
the doctrine of the resurrection, namely, that it is impossible that a body could be raised
up, consisting of the same particles that constituted it at death, since these particles pass
into other forms of existence and perhaps into hundreds of other bodies, loses its force
completely.
3. IT IS A RESURRECTION OF BOTH THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED. According to
Josephus the Pharisees denied the resurrection of the wicked. 31 The doctrine of
annihilationism and that of conditional immortality, both of which, at least in some of
their forms, deny the resurrection of the ungodly and teach their annihilation, embraced
by many theologians, has also found favor in such sects as Adventism and Millennial
Dawnism. They believe in the total extinction of the wicked. The assertion is sometimes
made that Scripture does not teach the resurrection of the wicked, but this is clearly
erroneous, Dan. 12:2; John 5:28,29; Acts 24:15; Rev. 20:13-15. At the same time it must be
admitted that their resurrection does not stand out prominently in Scripture. The
soteriological aspect of the resurrection is clearly in the foreground, and this pertains to
the righteous only. They, in distinction from the wicked, are the ones that profit by the
resurrection.
31 Ant. XVIII. 1,3; Wars II. 8.14.
802