The christian doctrine of the resurrection of the body is philosophically vexing. Considering that philosophers have no trouble describing scenarios in which it is problematic whether some person in the near future is me, it is no wonder that the problem of whether I will exist in the far distant future taxes our imaginative and conceptual resources beyond the limit. Nonetheless, many of us like to test the limit. The following story is set in the Middle Ages and freely uses some of the philosophical resources of the time, particularly the work of Aquinas, but most of the arguments and conclusions are not those of any actual medieval philosopher. The scientific knowledge of the protagonists is also premodern (although small bits of matter are called molecules in the narrative). The story can be read as an extended thought experiment describing something that could happen compatible with the following rules: (1) In the story, the bodies of the deceased must come back to life long after death. (2) The story may make no reference to an omnipotent deity or to a supernatural realm or to souls that can exist detached from bodies. (3) The story must alter what we know about the laws of nature as little as possible compatible with the above.

A MEDIEVAL TALE

At the christening of Princess Aurora, a wicked fairy appears and puts a curse on the baby in a fit of pique over not being invited to the festivities.