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| Concerning the Resurrection.
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Chapter XXVII.—Concerning the
Resurrection.
We believe also in the resurrection of the
dead. For there will be in truth, there will be, a resurrection
of the dead, and by resurrection we mean resurrection of
bodies2727
. For
resurrection is the second state of that which has fallen. For
the souls are immortal, and hence how can they rise again? For if
they define death as the separation of soul and body, resurrection
surely is the re-union of soul and body, and the second state of the
living creature that has suffered dissolution and downfall2728
| 2728 Epist. in
Ancor. n. 89; Method., Contr. Orig. | . It is, then, this very body,
which is corruptible and liable to dissolution, that will rise again
incorruptible. For He, who made it in the beginning of the sand
of the earth, does not lack the power to raise it up again after it has
been dissolved again and returned to the earth from which it was taken,
in accordance with the reversal of the Creator’s
judgment.
For if there is no resurrection, let us eat and
drink2729
: let us pursue a life of pleasure
and enjoyment. If there is no resurrection, wherein do we differ
from the irrational brutes? If there is no resurrection, let us
hold the wild beasts of the field happy who have a life free from
sorrow. If there is no resurrection, neither is there any God nor
Providence, but all things are driven and borne along of
themselves. For observe how we see most righteous men suffering
hunger and injustice and receiving no help in the present life, while
sinners and unrighteous men abound in riches and every delight.
And who in his senses would take this for the work of a righteous
judgment or a wise providence? There must be, therefore, there
must be, a resurrection. For God is just and is the rewarder of
those who submit patiently to Him. Wherefore if it is the soul
alone that engages in the contests of virtue, it is also the soul alone
that will receive the crown. And if it were the soul alone that
revels in pleasures, it would also be the soul alone that would be
justly punished. But since the soul does not pursue either virtue
or vice separate from the body, both together will obtain that which is
their just due.
Nay, the divine Scripture bears witness that there
will be a resurrection of the body. God in truth says to Moses
after the flood, Even as the green herb have I given you all
things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood
thereof, shall ye not eat. And surely your blood of your lives
will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at
the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of
man. Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, for his blood his own
shall be shed, for in the image of God made I man2730
. How will He require the blood of
man at the hand of every beast, unless because the bodies of dead men
will rise again? For not for man will the beasts die.
And again to Moses, I am the God of
Abraham, the God of
Isaac and the God of Jacob: God is not the God of the dead
(that is, those who are dead and will be no more), but of the
living2731
, whose souls
indeed live in His hand2732
, but whose
bodies will again come to life through the resurrection. And
David, sire of the Divine, says to God, Thou takest away their
breath, they die and return to their dust2733
. See how he speaks about
bodies. Then he subjoins this, Thou sendest forth Thy Spirit,
they are created: and Thou renewest the face of the
earth2734
.
Further Isaiah says: The dead shall rise
again, and they that are in the graves shall awake2735
. And it is clear that the souls
do not lie in the graves, but the bodies.
And again, the blessed Ezekiel says: And
it was as I prophesied, and behold a shaking and the bones came
together, bone to his bone, each to its own joint: and when I
beheld, lo, the sinews came up upon them and the flesh grew and rose up
on them and the skin covered them above2736
. And later he teaches how the
spirits came back when they were bidden.
And divine Daniel also says: And at that
time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the
children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble,
such trouble as never was since there was a nation on the earth even to
that same time. And at that time thy people shall be delivered,
every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of
them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake: some to
everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And
they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and
out of the multitude of the just shall shine like stars into the ages
and beyond2737
. The
words, many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall
awake, clearly shew that there will be a resurrection of
bodies. For no one surely would say that the souls sleep in the
dust of the earth.
Moreover, even the Lord in the holy Gospels
clearly allows that there is a resurrection of the bodies. For
they that are in the graves, He says, shall hear His voice and shall
come forth: they that have done good unto the resurrection of
life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of
damnation2738
. Now no
one in his senses would ever say that the souls are in the
graves.
But it was not only by word, but also by deed,
that the Lord revealed the resurrection of the bodies. First He
raised up Lazarus, even after he had been dead four days, and was
stinking2739
. For He
did not raise the soul without the body, but the body along with the
soul: and not another body but the very one that was
corrupt. For how could the resurrection of the dead man have been
known or believed if it had not been established by his characteristic
properties? But it was in fact to make the divinity of His own
nature manifest and to confirm the belief in His own and our
resurrection, that He raised up Lazarus who was destined once more to
die. And the Lord became Himself the first-fruits of the perfect
resurrection that is no longer subject to death. Wherefore also
the divine Apostle Paul said: If the dead rise not, then is
not Christ raised. And if Christ be not raised, our faith is
vain: we are yet in our sins2740
. And, Now is Christ risen from
the dead and become the first-fruits of them that slept2741
, and the first-born from the
dead2742
; and again,
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also
which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him2743
. Even so, he said, as
Christ rose again. Moreover, that the resurrection of the
Lord was the union of uncorrupted body and soul (for it was these that
had been divided) is manifest: for He said, Destroy this
temple, and in three days I will raise it up2744
. And the holy Gospel is a
trustworthy witness that He spoke of His own body. Handle Me
and see, the Lord said to His own disciples when they were thinking
that they saw a spirit, that it is I Myself, and that I am not
changed2745
: for
a spirit hath not flesh or bones, as ye see Me have2746
. And when He had said this He
shewed them His hands and His side, and stretched them forward for
Thomas to touch2747
. Is
not this sufficient to establish belief in the resurrection of
bodies?
Again the divine apostle says, For this
corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on
immortality2748
. And
again: It is sown in corruption, it is raised in
incorruption: it is sown in weakness, it is raised in
power: it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory: it
is sown a natural body (that is to say, crass and mortal), it is
raised a spiritual body2749
, such as was our
Lord’s body after the resurrection which passed through closed
doors, was unwearying, had no need of food, or sleep, or drink.
For they will be, saith the Lord, as the angels of
God2750
: there
will no longer be marriage nor procreation of children. The
divine apostle, in truth, says, For our conversation is in heaven,
from whence also we
look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus, Who shall change our vile body
that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body2751
: not meaning change into
another form (God forbid!), but rather the change from corruption into
incorruption2752
| 2752 Nyss., loc.
citat.; Epiph., Hæres. vi. 4. | .
But some one will say, How are the dead raised
up? Oh, what disbelief! Oh, what folly! Will He,
Who at His solitary will changed earth into body, Who commanded the
little drop of seed to grow in the mother’s womb and become in
the end this varied and manifold organ of the body, not the rather
raise up again at His solitary will that which was and is
dissolved? And with what body do they come2753
? Thou fool, if thy hardness
will not permit you to believe the words of God, at least believe His
works2754
| 2754 Epiph., Ancor.,
n. 93. | . For that which thou sowest is
not quickened except it die2755
.
And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be,
but bare grain, it may chance of wheat or of some other grain.
But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him, and to every seed his
own body2756
. Behold,
therefore, how the seed is buried in the furrows as in tombs. Who
is it that giveth them roots and stalk and leaves and ears and the most
delicate beards? Is it not the Maker of the universe? Is it
not at the bidding of Him Who hath contrived all things? Believe,
therefore, in this wise, even that the resurrection of the dead will
come to pass at the divine will and sign. For He has power that
is able to keep pace with His will.
We shall therefore rise again, our souls being
once more united with our bodies, now made incorruptible and having put
off corruption, and we shall stand beside the awful judgment-seat of
Christ: and the devil and his demons and the man that is his,
that is the Antichrist and the impious and the sinful, will be given
over to everlasting fire: not material fire2757
| 2757 See
Migne’s Preface to John’s Dial., Contr.
Manichæos. | like our fire, but such fire as God
would know. But those who have done good will shine forth as the
sun with the angels into life eternal, with our Lord Jesus Christ, ever
seeing Him and being in His sight and deriving unceasing joy from Him,
praising Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit throughout the
limitless ages of ages2758
| 2758 In R. 2924 is
read: ἐν τῷ Κυρί&
251· ἡμῶν, ᾧ
πρέπει πάσα
δόξα, τιμὴ,
καὶ
προσκύνησις,
νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ,
καὶ εἰς τοὺς
αἰ& 242·νας τῶν
αἰ& 240·νων.
᾽Αμήν. In 2928: ὅτι
αὐτῷ πρέπει
δόξα, τιμὴ
καὶ
προσκύνησις,
νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ,
&c. | .
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