|
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 bodies. 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 downfall. 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 drink: 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
man. 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 living, whose
souls indeed live in His hand, 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
dust. 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 earth.
Further Isaiah says: The dead shall rise again, and they that are
in the graves shall awake. 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 above. 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 beyond. 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 damnation. 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 stinking.
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 jet in our sins.
And, Now, is Christ risen from the dead and become the
first-fruits of them that slept, and the first-born pyre the dead;
and again, For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so
them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. 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 up. 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
changed: for a spirit hath not flesh or bones, as ye see Me have.
And when He had said this He shewed them His hands
and His side, and stretched them forward for Thomas to touch. 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 immortality. And again:
It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption: it is sawn 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 body, 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 God: 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 body: not meaning change
into another form (God forbid!), but rather the change from
corruption into incorruption.
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 come?
Thou fool, if thy hardness will not permit you to believe the words of
God, at least believe His works. For that which thou sowest is not
quickened except it die. 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 body. 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 fire 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 ages. Amen.
|
|
