Whether the resurrection will happen suddenly or by degrees?

❌ Objection 1 : It would seem that the resurrection will not happen suddenly but by degrees. For the resurrection of the dead is foretold (Ezech. 37:7,8) where it is written: "The bones came together . . . and I saw and behold the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin was stretched out over them, but there was no spirit in them." Therefore the restoration of the bodies will precede in time their reunion with the souls, and thus the resurrection will not be sudden.

❌ Objection 2 : Further, a thing does not happen suddenly if it require several actions following one another. Now the resurrection requires several actions following one another, namely the gathering of the ashes, the refashioning of the body, the infusion of the soul. Therefore the resurrection will not be sudden.

❌ Objection 3 : Further, all sound is measured by time. Now the sound of the trumpet will be the cause of the resurrection, as stated above (Question [76], Article [2]). Therefore the resurrection will take time and will not happen suddenly. The same would seem to apply to that sound as to the forms of the sacraments, namely that the sound will produce its effect in its last instant.

❌ Objection 4 : Further, no local movement can be sudden as stated in De Sensu et Sensato vii. Now the resurrection requires local movement in the gathering of the ashes. Therefore it will not happen suddenly.