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2 COR. V. 1.
For we know, that if the earthly house of our
tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building from
God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in
the heavens.
AGAIN he arouses their zeal because many
trials drew on. For it was likely that they,
in consequence of his absence, were weaker in
respect to this [need]. What then saith he?
One ought not to wonder that we suffer
affliction; nor to be confounded, for we even
reap many gains thereby. And some of these he
mentioned before; for instance, that we "bear
about the dying of Jesus," and present the
greatest proof of His power: for he says,
"that the exceeding greatness of the power may
be of God:" and we exhibit a clear proof of
the Resurrection, for, says he, "that the
life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal
flesh." But since along with these things he
said that our inward man is thus made better
also; for "though our outward man is
decaying," saith he, "yet the inward man is
renewed day by day;" showing again that this
being scourged and persecuted is proportionately
useful, he adds, that when this is done
thoroughly, then the countless good things will
spring up for those who have endured these
things. For lest when thou hearest that thy
outward man perishes, thou shouldest grieve; he
says, that when this is completely effected,
then most of all shalt thou rejoice and shalt
come unto a better inheritance. So that not
only ought not one to grieve at its perishing now
in part, but even earnestly to seek for the
completion of that destruction, for this most
conducts thee to immortality. Wherefore also he
added, "For we know, that if the earthly
house of our tabernacle be dissolved: we have a
building from God, a house not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens." For since he
is urging again the doctrine of the Resurrection
in respect to which they were particularly
unsound; he calls; in aid the judgment of his
hearers also, and so establishes it; not
however in the same way as before, but, as it
were, arriving at it out of another subject:
(for they had been already corrected:) and
says, "We know that if the earthly house of
our tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building
from God, a house not made with hands, eternal
in the heavens." Some indeed say that the
'earthly house' is this world; But I should
maintain that he alludes rather to the body.
But observe, I pray, how by the terms [he
uses,] he shows the superiority of the future
things to the present. For having said
"earthly" he hath opposed to it "the
heavenly;" having said, "house of
tabernacle," thereby declaring both that it is
easily taken to pieces and is temporary, he hath
opposed to it the "eternal," for the name
"tabernacle" often times denotes
temporariness. Wherefore He saith, "In My
Father's house are many abiding places."
(John xiv. 2.) But if He anywhere also
calls the resting places of the saints
tabernacles; He calls them not tabernacles
simply, but adds an epithet; for he said not,
that "they may receive you" into their
tabernacles, but "into the eternal
tabernacles." (Luke xvi. 9.) Moreover
also in that he said, "not made with hands,"
he alluded to that which was made with hands.
What then? Is the body made with hands? By
no means; but he either alludes to the houses
here that are made with hands, or if not this,
then he called the body which is not made with
hands, 'a house of tabernacle.' For he has
not used the term in antithesis and
contradistinctions to this, but to heighten
those eulogies and swell those commendations.
Ver. 2 "For verily in this we groan,
longing to be clothed upon with our habitation
which is from heaven."
What habitation? tell me. The incorruptible
body. And why do we groan now? Because that
is far better. And "from heaven" he calls it
because of its incorruptibleness. For it is not
surely that a body will come down to us from
above: but by this expression he signifies the
grace which is sent from thence. So far then
ought we to be from grieving at these trials
which are in part that we ought to seek even for
their fulness, as if he had said: Groanest
thou, that thou art persecuted, that this thy
man is decaying? Groan that this is not done
unto excess and that it perishes not entirely.
Seest thou how he hath turned round what was
said unto the contrary; having proved that they
ought to groan that those things were not done
fully; for which because they were done
partially; they groaned. Therefore he
henceforth calls it not a tabernacle, but a
house, and with great reason. For a tabernacle
indeed is easily taken to pieces; but a house
abideth continually.
Ver. 3. "If so be that being unclothed we
shall not be found naked."
That is, even if we have put off the body, we
shall not be presented there without a body, but
even with the same one made incorruptible. But
some read, and it deserves very much to be
adopted, "If so be that being clothed we shall
not be found naked." For lest all should be
confident because of the Resurrection, he
says, "If so be that being clothed," that
is, having obtained incorruption and an
incorruptible body, "we shall not be found
naked" of glory and safety. As he also said in
the former Epistle; "We shall all be raised;
but each in his own order." And, "There are
celestial bodies, and bodies terrestial." (1
Cor. xv. 22, 23.) (ib. 40.) For
the Resurrection indeed is common to all, but
the glory is not common; but some shall rise in
honor and others in dishonor, and some to a
kingdom but others to punishment. This surely
he signified here also, when he said; "If so
be that being clothed we shall not be found
naked."
Ver. 4. "For indeed we that are in this
tabernacle do groan, not for that we would be
unclothed, but that we would be clothed upon."
Here again he hath utterly and manifestly
stopped the mouths of the heretics, showing that
he is not speaking absolutely of a body differing
in identity, but of corruption and
incorruption: 'For we do not therefore
groan,' saith he, 'that we may be delivered
from the body: for of this we do not wish to be
unclothed; but we hasten to be delivered from
the corruption that is in it. Wherefore he
saith, 'we wish not to be unclothed of the
body, but that it should be clothed upon with
incorruption.' Then he also interprets it
[thus,] "That what is mortal may be
swallowed up of life." For since putting off
the body appeared to many a grievous thing; and
he was contradicting the judgments of all, when
he said, "we groan," not wishing to be set
free from it; ('for if,' says one, 'the
soul in being separated from it so suffers and
laments, how sayest thou that we groan because
we are not separated from it?') lest then this
should be urged against him, he says,
'Neither do I assert that we therefore groan,
that we may put it off; (for no one putteth it
off without pain, seeing that Christ says even
of Peter, 'They shall "carry thee," and
lead thee "whither thou wouldest
not;"--John xxi. 18.) but that we may
have it clothed upon with incorruption.' For
it is in this respect that we are burdened by the
body; not because it is a body, but because we
are encompassed with a corruptible body and
liable to suffering, for it is this that also
causes us pain. But the life when it arriveth
destroyeth and useth up the corruption; the
corruption, I say, not the body. 'And how
cometh this to pass?' saith one. Inquire
not; God doeth it; be not too curious.
Wherefore also he added, Ver. 5. "Now he
that hath wrought us for this very thing is
God."! Hereby he shows that these things
were prefigured from the first. For not now was
this decreed: but when at the first He
fashioned us from earth and created Adam; for
not for this created He him, that he should
die, but that He might make him even immortal.
Then as showing the credibility of this and
furnishing the proof of it, he added, "Who
also gave the earnest of the Spirit." For
even then He fashioned us for this; and now He
hath wrought unto this by baptism, and hath
furnished us with no light security thereof, the
Holy Spirit. And he continually calls It an
earnest, wishing to prove God to be a debtor of
the whole, and thereby also to make what he says
more credible unto the grosser sort.
Ver. 6. "Being therefore always of good
courage, and knowing."
The word "of good courage" is used with
reference to the persecutions, the plottings,
and the continual deaths: as if he had said,
'Doth any vex and persecute and slay thee? Be
not cast down, for thy good all is done. Be
not afraid: but of good courage. For that
which thou groanest and grievest for, that thou
art in bondage to corruption, he removes from
hence-forward out of the way, and frees thee
the sooner from this bondage.' Wherefore also
he saith, "Being therefore always of good
courage," not in the seasons of rest only, but
also in those of tribulation; "and knowing,"
Ver. 7, 8. "That whilst we are at home in
the body, we are absent from the Lord (for we
walk by faith, not by sight); we are of good
courage, I say, and are willing to be absent
from the body, and to be at home with the
Lord."
That which is greater than all he has put last,
for to be with Christ is better, than receiving
an incorruptible [body.] But what he means is
this: 'He quencheth not our life that warreth
against and killeth us; be not afraid; be of
good courage even when hewn in pieces. For not
only doth he set thee free from corruption and a
burden, but he also sendeth thee quickly to the
Lord.'
Wherefore neither did he say, "whilst we
'are' in the body:" as of those who are in a
foreign and strange land. "Knowing therefore
that whilst we are at home in the body, we are
absent from the Lord: we are of good courage,
I say, and willing to be absent from the body,
and to be at home with the Lord."
Seest thou how keeping back what was painful,
the names of death and the end, he has employed
instead of them such as excite great longing,
calling them presence with God; and passing
over those things which are accounted to be
sweet, the things of life, he hath expressed
them by painful names, calling the life here an
absence from the Lord? Now this he did, both
that no one might fondly linger amongst present
things, but rather be aweary of them; and that
none when about to die might be disquieted, but
might even rejoice as departing unto greater
goods. Then that none might say on hearing that
we are absent from the Lord, 'Why speakest
thou thus? Are we then estranged from Him
whilst we are here?' he in anticipation
corrected such a thought, saying, "For we
walk by faith, not by sight." Even here
indeed we know Him, but not so clearly. As he
says also elsewhere, (1 Cor. xiii. 12.)
"in a mirror," and "darkly."
"We are of good courage, I say, and
willing." Wonderful! to what hath he brought
round the discourse? To an extreme desire of
death, having shown the grievous to be
pleasurable, and the pleasurable grievous. For
by the term, "we are willing" he means, 'we
are desirous.' Of what are we desirous? Of
being "absent from the body, and at home with
the Lord." And thus he does perpetually,
(as I showed also before) turning round the
objection of his opponents unto the very
contrary.
Ver. 9. "Wherefore also we make it our aim
whether at home or absent, to be well pleasing
unto him."
'For what we seek for is this,' saith he,
'whether we be there or here, to live according
to His will; for this is the principal thing.
So that by this thou hast the kingdom already in
possession without a probation.' For lest when
they had arrived at so great a desire of being
there, they should again be disquieted at its
being so long first, in this he gives them
already the chief of those good things. And
what is this? To be well "pleasing." For as
to depart is not absolutely good, but to do so
in [God's] favor, which is what makes
departing also become a good; so to remain here
is not absolutely grievous, but to remain
offending Him. Deem not then that departure
from the body is enough; for virtue is always
necessary. For as when he spoke of a
Resurrection, he allowed [them] not by it
alone to be of good courage, saying, "If so
be that being clothed we shall not be found
naked;" so also having showed a departure,
lest thou shouldest think that this is enough to
save thee, he added that it is needful that we
be well pleasing.
Seeing then he has persuaded them by many good
things, henceforth he alarms them also by those
of gloomier aspects. For our interest consists
both in the attainment of the good things and the
avoidance of the evil things, in other words,
hell and the kingdom. But since this, the
avoiding of punishment, is the more forcible
motive; for where penalty reaches only to the
not receiving good things, the most will bear
this contentedly; but if it also extend to the
suffering of evil, do so no longer: (for they
ought, indeed, to consider the former
intolerable, but from the weakness and
grovelling nature of the many, the latter
appears to them more hard to bear:) since then
(I say) the giving of the good things doth not
so arouse the general hearer as the threat of the
punishments, he is obliged to conclude with
this, saying, Ver. 10. "For we must all
be made manifest before the judgment-seat."
Then having alarmed and shaken the hearer by the
mention of that judgment-seat, he hath not even
here set down the woful without the good things,
but hath mingled something of pleasure, saying,
"That each one may receive the things done in
the body," as many as "he hath done,
whether" it be "good or bad."
By saying these words, he both reviveth those
who have done virtuously and are persecuted with
those hopes, and maketh those who have fallen
back more earnest by that fear. And he thus
confirmed his words touching the resurrection of
the body. 'For surely,' sayeth he, 'that
which hath ministered to the one and to the other
shall not stand excluded from the recompenses:
but along with the soul shall in the one case be
punished, in the other crowned.' But some of
the heretics say, that it is another body that
is raised. How so? tell me. Did one sin,
and is another punished? Did one do
virtuously, and is another crowned? And what
will ye answer to Paul, saying, "We would
not be unclothed, but clothed upon?" And how
is that which is mortal "swallowed up of
life?" For he said not, that the mortal or
corruptible body should be swallowed up of the
incorruptible body; but that corruption [should
be swallowed up] "of life." For then this
happeneth when the same body is raised; but if,
giving up that body, He should prepare
another, no longer is corruption swallowed up
but continueth dominant. Therefore this is not
so; but "this corruptible," that is to say
the body, "must put on incorruption." For
the body is in a middle states, being at present
in this and hereafter to be in that; and for
this reason in this first, because it is
impossible for the incorruption to be dissolved.
"For neither cloth corruption inherit
incorruption," saith he, (for, how is it
[then] incorruption?) but on the contrary,
"corruption is swallowed up of life:" for this
indeed survives the other, but not the other
this. For as wax is melted by fire but itself
doth not melt the fire: so also doth corruption
melt and vanish away under incorruption, but is
never able itself to get the better of
incorruption.
Let us then hear the voice of Paul, saying,
that "we must stand at the judgment-seat of
Christ;" and let us picture to ourselves that
court of justice, and imagine it to be present
now and the reckoning to be required. For I
will speak of it more at large. For Paul,
seeing that he was discoursing on affliction,
and he had no mind to afflict them again, did
not dwell on the subject; but having in brief
expressed its austerity, "Each one shall
receive according to what he hath done," he
quickly passed on. Let us then imagine it to be
present now, and reckon each one of us with his
own conscience, and account the Judge to be
already present, and everything to be revealed
and brought forth. For we must not merely
stand, but also be manifested. Do ye not
blush? Are ye not astonied? But if now, when
the reality is not yet present, but is granted
in supposition merely and imaged in thought; if
now [I say] we perish conscience-struck;
what shall we do when shall arrive, when the
whole world shall be present, when angels and
archangels, when ranks upon ranks, and all
hurrying at once, and some caught up on the
clouds, and an array full of trembling; when
there shall be the trumpets, one upon another,
[when] those unceasing voices?
For suppose there were no hell, yet in the
midst of so great brightness to be rejected and
to go away dishonored;--how great the
punishment! For if even now, when the Emperor
rideth in and his train with him, we
contemplating each one of us our own poverty,
derive not so much pleasure from the spectacle,
as we endure dejection at having no share in what
is going on about the Emperor, nor being near
the Sovereign; what will it be then? Or
thinkest thou it is a light punishment, not to
be ranked in that company, not to be counted
worthy of that unutterable glory, from that
assemblage and those untold good things, to be
cast forth some-wither far and distant? But
when there is also darkness, and gnashing of
teeth, and chains indissoluble, and an undying
worm, and fire unquenchable, and affliction,
and straitness, and tongues scorching like the
rich man's; and we wail, and none heareth;
and we groan and gnash our teeth for anguish,
and none regardeth; and we look all round, and
no where is there any to comfort us; where shall
we rank those that are in this condition? what
is there more miserable than are those souls?
what more pitiable? For if, when we enter a
prison and see its inmates, some squalid, some
chained and famishing, some again shut up in
darkness, we are moved with compassion, we
shudder, we use all diligence that we may never
be cast into that place; how will it be with
us, when we are led and dragged away into the
the torture-dungeons themselves of hell? For
not of iron are those chains, but of fire that
is never quenched; nor are they that are set
over us our fellows whom it is often possible
even to mollify; but angels whom one may not so
much as look in the face, exceedingly enraged at
our insults to their Master. Nor is it given,
as here, to see some bringing in money, some
food, some words of comfort, and to meet with
consolation; but all is irremissible there: and
though it should be Noah, or Job, or
Daniel, and he should see his own kindred
punished, he dares not succor. For even
natural sympathy too comes then to be done away.
For since it happeneth that there are righteous
fathers of wicked children, and [righteous]
children of [wicked] fathers; that so their
pleasure may be unalloyed, and those who enjoy
the good things may not be moved with sorrow
through the constraining force of sympathy, even
this sympathy, I affirm, is extinguished, and
themselves are indignant together with the
Master against their own bowels. For if the
common run of men, when they see their own
children vicious, disown and cut them off from
that relationship; much rather will the
righteous then. Therefore let no one hope for
good things, if he have not wrought any good
thing, even though he have ten thousand
righteous ancestors. "For each one shall
receive the things done in the body according to
what he hath done." Here he seems to me to be
alluding also to them that commit fornication:
and to raise up as a wall unto them the fear of
that world, not however to them alone; but also
to all that in any wise transgress.
Let us hear then, us also. And if thou have
the fire of lust, set against it that other
fire, and this will presently be quenched and
gone. And if thou purposest to utter some harsh
sounding [speech], think of the gnashing of
teeth, and the fear will be a bridle to thee.
And if thou purposest to plunder, hear the
Judge commanding, and saying, "Bind him hand
and foot, and cast him into the outer
darkness," (Matt. xxii. 13.) and thou
wilt cast out this lust also. And if thou art
drunken, and surfeitest continually, hear the
rich man saying, 'Send Lazarus, that with
the tip of his finger he may cool this scorching
tongue;' (Luke xvi. 24.) yet not
obtaining this; and thou wilt hold thyself aloof
from that distemper. But if thou lovest
luxury, think of the affliction and the
straitness there, and thou wilt not think at all
of this. If again thou art harsh and cruel,
bethink thee of those virgins who when their
lamps had gone out missed so of the bridal
chamber, and thou wilt quickly become humane.
Or sluggish art thou, and remiss? Consider
him that hid the talent, and thou wilt be more
vehement than fire. Or doth desire of thy
neighbor's substance devour thee? Think of the
worm that dieth not, and thou wilt easily both
put away from thee this disease, and in all
other things wilt do virtuously. For He hath
enjoined nothing irksome or oppressive. Whence
then do His injunctions appear irksome to us?
From our own slothfulness. For as if we labor
diligently, even what appears intolerable will
be light and easy; so if we are slothful, even
things tolerable will seem to us difficult.
Considering then all these things, let us think
not of the luxurious, but what is their end;
here indeed filth and obesity, there the worm
and fire: not of the rapacious, but what is
their end; cares here, and fears, and
anxieties; there chains indissoluble: not of
the lovers of glory, but what these things bring
forth; here slavery and dissemblings, and there
both loss intolerable and perpetual burnings.
For if we thus discourse with ourselves, and if
with these and such like things we charm
perpetually our evil lusts, quickly shall we
both cast out the love of the present things,
and kindle that of the things to come. Let us
therefore kindle it and make it blaze. For if
the conception of them, although a faint sort of
one, affords so great pleasure; think how great
the gladness, the manifest experience itself
shall bring us. Blessed, and thrice blessed,
yea, thrice blessed many times, are they who
enjoy those good things; just as,
consequently, pitiable and thrice wretched are
they Who endure the opposite of these. That
then we may be not of these but those, let us
choose virtue. For so shall we attain unto the
good things to come as well; which may all we
attain, through the grace and love towards men
of our Lord Jesus Christ; by Whom, and with
Whom, to the Father, together with the Holy
Spirit, be glory, might, and honor, now and
for ever, and world without end. Amen.
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