Ancoratus 1 part 10/12

God has made in us seals of resurrection, ten and ten, by means of our nails, bearing witness concerning our hope.

But also, as though by a crown upon the head, he proclaimed our resurrection through the hair.

For that which seems in us to be dead matter, that is, the hair and the nails, though cut every day — the hair being cut, and the nails being cut — flourish again, signifying the hope of the resurrection.

And countless things could be said, drawn from examples, for the full conviction of unbelievers.

But neither the ring-dove, that bird, nor the dormouse, that creature, has persuaded these people.

For such a creature "dies" for six months, and the ring-dove for forty days, and again after their appointed times they come back to life.

And beetles, when about to die, hide themselves upon a ball of dung, having buried and covered over such a ball in the earth, and thus from their own moisture they are found again, coming back to life from their very remains.

As for the phoenix, the Arabian bird, it is superfluous for me to speak of it.

For it has already come to the hearing of many, both believers and unbelievers.

And the account concerning it appears to be as follows:

when it has completed five hundred years, and comes to know that the time of its death has arrived, it makes an enclosure of spices, and comes bearing it to the city of the Egyptians called Heliopolis, which, translated from the Egyptian dialect and from Hebrew, is "On"; and having struck its own breast many times with its own wings, and bringing forth fire from its body, it sets ablaze the material laid beneath it in that place, and thus wholly burns itself up, and reduces all its flesh, together with its bones, to ashes.

But by God's dispensation a cloud is sent, and it rains, and quenches the flame that has consumed the bird's body, the bird being already dead and thoroughly roasted;

and when the flame has been quenched, remains of its flesh, still raw, are left behind, and within a single day, having vanished, they generate a worm;

the worm grows feathers, becoming a fledgling, and on the third day it matures; and having matured, it shows itself to those who attend that place, and again runs back up to its own homeland, and rests.

But it occurs to me to marvel at the mind of the unbelieving Greeks and other barbarians, deceived in every respect, in that in their own myths they are not ashamed to signify a resurrection at every turn, and to sing often concerning resurrection — as their myths record, that Alcestis, daughter of Pelias, died on behalf of her husband Admetus, and was raised up by Heracles after three days and brought back up from the inner shrines; and that Pelops, son of Tantalus, after being carved up as meat for their falsely-named gods by his own father —

Amphiaraus, son of Oecles, brought back to life by Asclepius; Glaucus, son of Minos, made alive again by Polyeidus, son of Coeranus, by means of a certain herb; Castor, through his brother Polydeuces, who chose willingly to exchange life with him every other day; and Protesilaus, on account of Laodamia.

But also Sisyphus and Tantalus and the daughters of Caucasus—whom they have called the Erinyes—and Tiresias along with these have been cast into Tartarus, so they say, to pay the penalty there, one by a rock, another beneath a wheel, and others punished in other ways, and still exist in punishment, since they have not passed into non-existence, but exist in bodies.

For if they did not have bodies, how were they subjected to torments beneath a rock and a wheel? And much could be said about these things for the demonstration of the faith that is in us, and as a refutation directed against them.

But those also who set out from the heresies sing things akin to these and in tune with unbelief: in that some of the heretics—I mean the Manichaeans—say that the resurrection will be not of the body but of the soul, and likewise that the aforementioned Greeks hold and glorify the very same opinion, so that their account is more like foolish babble than something put forward out of understanding.

For if the heresies speak of resurrection, and do hold to resurrection at all, but define this as concerning souls, such a thing is foolish.

For how will a soul rise, which has not fallen? For we do not bury souls in the tombs, but bodies.

For it is not souls that fall, but flesh.

As indeed common usage is accustomed to call dead bodies "the fallen" (πτώματα).

Therefore, if resurrection is confessed by them, it is clear to everyone that it is not of the soul, but of the body that has fallen.

But the Greeks, again, who deny resurrection altogether, are refuted.

For carrying foods and drinks to the tombs on the days called "Pandemia" (the public/all-people days), they burn the food whole as an offering and pour out libations of wine, in no way benefiting the dead but rather doing greater harm to themselves.

Yet by this very custom they are compelled to confess the resurrection of the dead.

For they come to the place where the bodies of the deceased were laid, and they address the buried dead by name, saying:

"Arise," they say, "so-and-so, eat and drink and be merry."

And if indeed they suppose that the souls remain there, where the remains of the deceased are buried, such an expectation concerning the souls is in itself a good one;

for [they suppose] the souls remain [there], awaiting the coming day and the resurrection of the rebirth, until they receive back their composite and conjoined bodies—even though the sons of the Greeks abhor the flesh as a base thing, wholly perishing, and having no hope of coming to life again.

[Do they think] that the souls themselves attend upon the deceased remains? Or on what expectation of hope do they come—let them say. But it is clear that they do not suppose the souls to be in the tombs, but in certain storehouses appointed by God for each soul, according to the worth of what they did and how they conducted themselves in life;

but the bodies each one laid, with his own hands, on behalf of his neighbor, in the receptacles for bodies—or rather, for bones.

It would be foolish, when there is one single supposition and consistency in this matter among all, as it is confessed from every quarter, that yet among the unbelieving, on the contrary, the true things should be denied, and the things possible with God should not be made firm among them for their hopes.

But concerning these things I think enough has been said, since we have set forth a few examples out of many.

But concerning those who seem to be Christians, yet are persuaded by Origen, and who confess the resurrection of the dead—both of our flesh and of the body of the Lord, that holy body taken up from Mary—but say that this same flesh will not rise, but that another is given by God in its place: how should we not say that they hold a supposition more impious, and more foolish, than the surmise found among the Greeks and the rest of the heresies? For, in the first place, if—according to their account—another rises in place of this one, then according to their fable the judgment of God is not just, judging another flesh in place of the one that sinned, or bringing another body into the glory of the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven instead of the body that had labored in fastings and vigils and persecutions for the sake of the name of God.

And how, according to the account of the heresies, will the soul alone be judged, when the body that sinned along with it is not present? For such a soul would speak against the judgment of God, claiming that the sins were committed by the body.

For it has its proof too, according to the reasoning of those carried along by contentiousness and not by truth.

"It was not I who sinned, but the body."

"For from the time I departed from the body, I have neither fornicated nor committed adultery; I have not stolen, I have not murdered, I have not worshiped idols, I have done none of the evil and irremediable things."

And its defense will be found reasonable.

But when it makes this reasonable defense, what shall we say? Is the judgment of God then idle? Or does God unjustly bring wrath upon mankind? Let it not be!

But we know that all things are possible with God, and that he is able both to sustain a body without a soul, and to make bodies that have vanished from sight come to life again, and to move by themselves without souls, if he so wills—as indeed he already accomplished such a dispensation through the most holy Ezekiel.

For he said to the holy prophet: "Say, son of man, let bone be joined to bone, and joint to joint;"

and it was a thing to marvel at, the power of God—that although the souls had not yet been placed into them, but the bones were still dry, they had not only the power to move at the command of God, but the bones were also filled with understanding and no ordinary knowledge.

For the bones belonging to the feet did not, through forgetfulness, walk toward the region of the head, nor did the vertebrae of the neck wander about the joints of the ankles, seeking their place; but each of the bones both moved and walked according to understanding, and was joined to its own proper joint.

If, then, God wills, he is able also to raise a body without a soul.

For in this he showed his power: in that he first caused that very thing which was despaired of among men to come to life, by commanding Ezekiel—

to give assurance, I mean, that the bodies would be gathered together; then he commanded the souls to enter into those very bodies:

"And there arose," it says, "a great assembly."

I have said, then, that God is able to make even a body come to life apart from the soul, as has been shown above; but the body cannot be judged by itself alone.

For it has a just defense to make against the judgment of God.

For it too speaks, saying:

"The sin came from that soul; I was not the cause."

"For from the time I was dissolved and that soul departed from me, did I commit adultery? Did I fornicate? Have I stolen? Have I worshiped idols? Have I done any such transgressions?" And thus, according to the reasoning of the contentious, the judgment of God will prove ineffective.

Therefore, just as the body and the soul were, as a single composite man made by God, so again the just judge raises the body and gives its soul back into it.

And thus the judgment of God will prove just, both [body and soul] together sharing either in the punishment on account of sin, or in the †reverence for God† on account of virtue, and in the reward that is to be rendered to the saints.

And considering that these things suffice for the demonstration of the truth of our hope, we have set forth a few things in place of many.

But because of those who say that another body rises in place of the one that falls, we again add to our labor, wishing to benefit those who are willing to understand, and not wishing that they should lose their life by refusing to try to comprehend.

For may it be that we, the least and most insignificant, labor, so that both we ourselves and all may be benefited, and that we do not deny the resurrection of our flesh—in which lies the whole treasure and foundation of every sound reasoning, and in which the hope of every good work is laid up, according to what is said: "having this treasure in earthen vessels," and so forth.

For we, though weak, practice self-control; we, though lowly, keep ourselves chaste; we, though powerless, long to give alms—on account of the receiving of the things hoped for, [namely,] the resurrection of the dead;

and thus the rule of faith and hope in God has been founded—of love, and of martyrdom for the sake of the name of God amid persecutions, torments, and other inhuman punishments—in those who do not deny the resurrection of our flesh, but believe that the very thing that is sown in the earth will be raised.

For the divine scriptures have given us two clear and true testimonies, by which we are able to know the hope of our resurrection, and not to be led astray by the myths of vainglorious men who have been deceived and who have written deceit into their lives.

In order, then, that I may not employ many testimonies—for they are not few, in both the New and the Old Testament, concerning our hope and resurrection—I will say this briefly:

that if what rises were something else, as some assert, the apostle would not have affirmed with certainty, saying: "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality."

And since it is also necessary that we be made firm in hope concerning the glory of the saints—how they are to be made radiant and changed in glory after the resurrection, just as it says, "it is raised in glory"—holy scripture says: "Fool, that which you sow is not brought to life unless it dies;"

"And that which you sow is not the body that is to be, but perhaps a bare grain of wheat or of some other seed, and God gives it a body as he willed."

He said this concerning the glory of those who are raised in radiance.

But in order to show that it is the very grain itself that receives the glory, he who also spoke through Paul concerning the resurrection said, in his own person, in the Gospel:

"Unless the grain of wheat," he says, "falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone;"

"but if it dies, it bears much fruit."

So then the apostle spoke of a grain, and the Savior himself, in his own person, demonstrated that same grain to be [a figure] of the body.

"He is risen, he is not here," and as he says to Mary, "Do not touch me;"

"for I have not yet ascended to my Father"; and as he shows his hands and side to Thomas, saying, "Do not be unbelieving, but believing."

For it belongs to unbelievers to say that he did not rise at all, and it belongs also to the falsely believing to say that it was not the very body that had existed and slept which rose; but it belongs to the faithful to say that the very body rose, and that from that same body which he raised, our own [resurrection] has been established as a hope of truth.

For to this end he also left the marks of the nails, not erasing them, nor the mark of the spear, even though he had entered while the doors were shut.

For his fleshly [body] rose as spiritual, yet not as something other than what it actually was, but as that very thing which it was, united together into the divinity, adorned with the fineness of spirit.

For if there had not been the fineness of spirit, what kind of opening would have received a massive body? But in order to show that this very corruptible [nature] of ours truly puts on incorruption—for even though it is mortal, it puts on immortality—he entered while the doors were shut, so as to show that the coarse becomes fine, and the mortal immortal, and the corruptible incorruptible;

and in order to refute all those who disbelieve concerning our salvation—I mean the resurrection—he who changed the body into fineness and blended the flesh into spirit did not, after the resurrection, erase the scars of the nails nor the mark of the spear, but showed that it was the very body that had suffered on the cross, so that [it might be plain] that it was not something else that rose, nor something else grown from it, but that very thing which had suffered, now beyond suffering, and that it was the very grain that had fallen which rose—and, having risen, was incorruptible.

And again, that we might not suppose that only some part of it had been raised: it, as a whole, did not see corruption—for it says, "You will not let your holy one see corruption"—and it, as a whole, rose, for it says, "He is risen, he is not here."

But if he was raised and is not here, then he truly rose;

and the scriptures, being our life, do not err.

And so that those who have been deceived might not find a pretext, he showed bones and flesh to Thomas and to his disciples, saying, "Behold me, that it is I myself."

"For a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see me having."

But if someone, being clever, should say:

"But the body of our Savior was exceptional, because it alone was conceived from Mary and without the seed of a man"—well then, was Adam's body also something other than ours, because it too was taken solely from the earth without the seed of a man? But no one can say this, nor demonstrate it.

But if someone, being clever again, should say:

"Christ's body alone rose entire, but ours is not raised as itself, but another in its place" — then how does [Scripture] say, "Christ rose, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep"? It is one and the same body — the firstfruits of those who are being raised.

But let them learn how Christ became the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep, and let them not turn again to another error, and suppose that the other Scriptures lie.

For before him he raised Lazarus, and the son of the widow at Nain, and Elijah raised a dead man; but Elisha too raised two dead men, one still lying there [not yet buried], and one already buried.

But those, having risen, died again, and they are awaiting the one, universal resurrection;

but Christ is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep, because, having risen, he no longer dies; death no longer has dominion over him, according to what is written:

for he died once, having endured the passion on our behalf, because of our passions;

once he tasted death, and death by the cross — the Word having willingly come to death for our sake, that by death he might put death to death;

the Word, having become flesh, did not suffer in his Godhead, but suffered together with the manhood while himself remaining impassible — the passion being reckoned to him even while he remained in impassibility;

... in immortality — or rather, being wholly immortality itself.

for he himself said, "I am the life."

Nor is our hope through flesh;

for, it says, "Cursed is he who hopes in man,"

"and he shall be like the wild tamarisk." What then shall we say? Is not Christ man? From what has been said before, it is clear to everyone that we confess without doubt that the Lord God the Word became man, not in appearance, but in truth.

But he did not come as a man who arrived at Godhead by advancement;

for our hope of salvation is not placed in man;

for none of all the men descended from Adam was able to accomplish salvation, but God the Word, having become man, did so, so that our hope might not be in man, but in the living and true God who became man.

For every priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men, according to what is written:

Wherefore the Lord, having come, took the flesh from our flesh, and God the Word became man like unto us, so that in his divinity he might give us salvation, and in his humanity might suffer on behalf of us men, dissolving [our] passion through his own passion, and putting death to death through his own death.

And the passion was reckoned to the divinity, although the divinity is impassible — the passion being reckoned to the divinity because thus it pleased the holy and impassible God the Word, having come, [so to ordain];

and the example is something like this:

as when someone is wearing a garment, and blood sprinkled upon the garment stains the garment, yet does not reach the body of the one wearing it, but the stain from the blood is nonetheless reckoned to the one wearing the garment — so Christ suffered in the flesh, I mean in the very lordly man, whom the holy God the Word himself, having come from the heavens, fashioned into himself;

as holy Peter says: "put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit"; and again: "Christ then having suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind."

Just as the blood on the garment is reckoned to the one wearing it, so the passion of the flesh was reckoned to him unto divinity, though it [the divinity] suffered nothing at all, so that the world might not place its hope in man, but in the lordly man — the divinity undertaking that the passion should be reckoned unto itself, so that salvation for the world might come from the impassible divinity, so that the passion which occurred in the flesh might be reckoned unto the divinity, although it suffered nothing at all, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: "For if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory," and so on.

He was crucified, then; the Lord was crucified, and we worship him who was crucified, who was buried and rose on the third day and ascended into the heavens.

O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God, according to what is written:

For we know in part and we prophesy in part, drawing, as it were, a single drop from the ocean of the knowledge of God, and grasping an example of such a dispensation — the grace of our hope, by the good pleasure of the Father, the will of the Son together with the will of the Holy Spirit, all belonging to the same dispensation of God.

Now all the Scriptures held the proclamation of the resurrection scattered [throughout them], but its completion was reserved for the very presence of the Word who subsists in his own hypostasis.

for Christ is the fulfillment of the law, according to what is written:

For where did the divine writing not speak concerning the resurrection? First, the blood of Abel proclaims it:

for even after death he still speaks, as Scripture says;

Enoch was translated and was not found, and did not see death;

Noah, at God's command, constructed an ark, working out a regeneration for himself and for his own household.

To one whose body was already deadened, God graciously granted the hope of a child as though from the dead, since the womb of Sarah especially was deadened; and that which had grown old and drawn near to vanishing — the dried-up spring of woman's accustomed course — again received power for the depositing of seed, and the aged woman conceived as though a younger one.

And Isaac, alive as though from death, was restored to his father;

for God, restoring the child alive from among the dead to his father, was thereby proclaiming the hope of resurrection.

Jacob demonstrates the matter, not placing the hope concerning the bones in second place;

for he cared for such things not as things perishing, but as things about to live again, and he commanded that his bones be carried back from the land of the Egyptians, not as a matter of little consequence.

And Joseph too signified this, saying, "You shall carry my bones up with you;"

"for the Lord will surely visit you."

If there were no hope of resurrection, what point would there be in such care for bones, that the righteous should give commands concerning bones that were decaying? The first word to Moses was God's own testimony:

"I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" — of those who sleep in the world, but live with me.

One and the same Spirit is he who spoke in the Law and who teaches in the Gospel.

For this too the Savior signified to the Sadducees — he who spoke in the prophets: "Behold, I am here."

Let the rod of Aaron also demonstrate this — being dry, perhaps, for many years, and then left in the tabernacle from evening until morning —

for whereas living trees, with labors, produce fruit over the twelve months as the year runs its full cycle — the sun warming, the rains watering, the dews spreading, and night and day nourishing — God accomplished in a single night what is difficult as though it were easy.

for the dry rod sprouted, and put forth leaves and ripe fruit.

for God thereby showed forth things like unto the resurrection that was to be wrought by him.

Now when children are conceived according to the honorable marriage which the Lord instituted, first the seed of the natural process is deposited, as the Lord ordained, in the generative wombs;

and as the seasons revolve, that which was deposited in the womb is brought to completion over a period of nine months;

I mean, within the space of nine months in number, that which is conceived is brought to its full accomplishment and is born.

But in the resurrection it is not so;

for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,

as the Lord showed in the Tabernacle of Testimony: that the almonds which on living trees are borne to ripeness over twelve months, grow thick and put forth shoots — in a single night; not only so, but within the space of a single hour he brought to full completion what, as has been said, occurs over twelve months;

and likewise the infant that comes to be in the womb over nine months, which is gathered together and perfected through a long span of time — in the resurrection it shall be completed instantly and rise.

Let the power of the Lord persuade the unbelievers, whose purpose no one withstands.

Let Moses hear, and let him demonstrate.

"What is in your hand?" says the Lord;

and this rod was made of wood, and altogether dry.

And he says, "Throw it upon the ground."

And he threw the dry rod,

and God made the dry thing moist, and not only moist, but also ensouled — indeed changed in nature and reshaped otherwise in essence.

The work was not an apparition;

for it is truth, and not illusion, that works by God's command.

for in all things, through Moses, he set our understanding right, correcting it toward the truth.

for the prophet knew, by fleeing, that what was happening was not in appearance, but in truth;

for if he had known the event to be an illusion, he would not have fled from before the serpent.

It will become a stumbling-block to the contentious, and they will say:

"that the rod was a different one, and God gave it another body, as he wished."

And first of all, then, let them learn that he did not ensoul one thing in place of another, but ensouled that very same rod which had been dry;

For this body given to the rod, and the kind or form set in motion by it, God did not summon to judgment, nor did he wish to bring the serpent to trial in place of the rod; but through the rod he wrought a full assurance of the resurrection, while God displayed his own power, so that no one might disbelieve him who is powerful in all things.

And this too he did with complete security.

For he did not raise up only a part of the rod, but transformed the whole rod as he willed.

And that these things are so, and that the dead have hope of eternal life, and that those in the tombs will rise — summon for me again as witness the trustworthy Moses.

For when Reuben transgressed, his father, the holy patriarch Jacob, laid a curse upon him, saying: 'Reuben, my firstborn and the beginning of my children, you have acted wantonly like water;'

'for you went up onto your father's bed, and you uncovered,' he says, 'that upon which you went up.'

but in the Hebrew, 'elthothar,' which, being interpreted, means 'you shall not return' or 'you shall not be added' or again 'you shall not overflow'; but taken plainly according to the bare word, it means 'you shall not boil over';

but the translators rendered it thus.

And if you wish to learn that these things are so, and that death was decreed by the father for this one who had sinned, Moses will make it clear to you.

For he too, when blessing the twelve tribes, upon coming to Reuben, and knowing that Levi was priest — for by the hand of the priesthood sins were both loosed and bound — said: 'Let Reuben live, and let him not die.'

But how could he live, who had been buried one hundred and twenty-six years before?

But since he also knew that the resurrection was destined to come upon all, and knew the second death, the one that comes through condemnation on the day of judgment, wishing to relieve him — instead of the one temporal punishment already suffered — from the things that are to come, he says, 'Let him live,' meaning at the resurrection, thereby signifying this:

For he knew that all would live; and 'let him not die' — that is, let him not be clothed with the second death, the one that comes through condemnation, and with eternal torment.

For if it had concerned him only the loss of this present life, it would have sufficed to say merely, 'Let Reuben live;'

but since he is signifying the things to come, he says, 'Let Reuben live, and let him not die.'

And from what source could one not be able to gather so many testimonies concerning our hope and expectation of the resurrection — the resurrection that is in truth, and not in mere appearance? For let the vainglorious and those who contend in vain say whether only a part of the bodies rises, and of all only a part, or again whether for some the whole is raised while for others the resurrection is of a part, and for others the whole body.

What sort of partiality is this? Is there, then, partiality with God? Let it not be!

Let us search out where or when the saints raised a dead person only in part, and not the whole body.

The son of the widow of Zarephath rose whole, and no part was left behind; the son of the Shunammite woman rose whole, and Elisha left no member of his unraised.

And the Lord raised Lazarus, and left no remnant in the tomb, but raised him together with the grave-bands and the other wrappings — although, of course, there is no need at all of garments on the day of judgment;

he raised whole the son of the widow at Nain, the daughter of the synagogue ruler, the daughter of the centurion.

O the vain conjecture of those who reckon such things — that he raises a part and leaves a part behind!

Let us see, then, from the very subjects themselves, and from those who have already become for us pledges of equal weight for our hope,

...in body, and has not seen death until now, so that in two living bodies he might exhibit to us the perfect resurrection.

And so that no one might be in doubt, he set forth two figures of the two firstfruits of our resurrection: