In another thread, in which I demonstrated the value of the embryo, cryonics seemed to get the short end of the deal. I had no intention of belittling the value of the cryonically preserved body but was simply demonstrating the great value of the embryo. I have started this thread to demonstrate that the idea of cryonics, much unlike the idea of reincarnation, is actually a definite affirmation of fundamental Biblical principles.
According to the Bible, it is appointed for men to die once and then comes the judgement. However, the Bible is filled with examples of physical resurrection on the Earth. For example, in Matthew 27:52, there is a report of the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep rising from their tombs In every case, the spirit of the person returns to its original physical body. This was certainly the case in the resurrection of Lazarus who was dead for four days when his spirit returned to his physical body, its exclusive legitimate residence within nature. The only Biblical example I know of spirits going from one body to another is in the case of daemons being evicted from their residence in a man and taking up a very short lived residence in pigs.
The resurrection of Lazarus may seem to contradict the Biblical principle that men die once before the judgement. However, when he resurrected a girl, Jesus was careful to point out that she was not really dead but was sleeping. He also referred to Lazarus as sleeping. So, as long as the physical body remains, the Biblical principle regards it as the proper residence for the person’s spirit.
We need to consider the case of some martyrs who may have been so badly burned that there may not have remained any reasonable trace of a physical body. In this case, I think that there would be no future possibility of a physical resurrection on the Earth, because there would be no proper physical residence for the spirit, but there would certainly be a resurrection to a transcendent body in Heaven.
A cryonically preserved body is awaiting the return of the person’s spirit to its exclusive earthly residence. In this regard, cryonics affirms a fundamental Biblical principle. This is why I said that the cryonically preserved body deserves deep respect. However, I would apply this principle also to a body that is not so preserved.