巴蘭與約撒法 第 1 章 第 4/18 段

for it is not impossible for him who formed it from the earth in the beginning, when it has then turned back to the earth from which it was taken, according to the sentence of the Creator, to raise it up again.

For if you consider how many things God made out of what did not exist, this will be sufficient proof for you."

For indeed, taking earth, He made man — earth that had not existed before.

How then did the earth become man? And how was this earth, not existing before, brought forth? What substratum does it have? And how were from it brought forth the countless kinds of irrational creatures, of seeds, of plants? But now also consider our own begetting:

Is not a small seed cast into the womb that receives it? Whence then comes such great formation of the living being? Therefore, for Him who created all these things out of things not existing, and who still creates, it is not impossible to raise up from the earth bodies that have been deadened and corrupted, so that each may receive according to his works;

For, it is said, the present season is one of labor, but the season to come is one of recompense.

Since, where would the justice of God be, if there were no resurrection? For many, being righteous, having suffered many afflictions in the present life and having been punished, were violently put to death;

while some, being impious and lawless, spent the present life in luxury and prosperity;

but God, since He is good and just, has appointed a day of resurrection and testing, so that, each soul receiving back its own body, the evil man, having received good things here, may there be punished for the things in which he sinned; and the good man, having been punished here for the things in which he sinned, may there become an heir of good things;

For, says the Lord, those who are in the tombs shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who have done good shall come forth to a resurrection of life, but those who have done evil to a resurrection of judgment, at which time thrones also shall be set, and the Ancient of Days and Creator of all shall sit before them, and books shall be opened, having written in them all our deeds, words, and thoughts, and a river of fire shall be drawn forth, and all hidden things shall be uncovered;

there no advocate, or persuasiveness of words, or false defense, or power of wealth, or weight of rank, or abundant gifts, shall have power to steal away the righteous judgment;

but that incorruptible and true Judge shall discern all things by the scales of righteousness — both deed and word and thought.

And those who have done good shall go into eternal life, into the ineffable light, rejoicing with angels, enjoying the unspeakable good things, and standing purely before the Holy Trinity;

but those who have done evil, and all the impious and sinners, shall go into eternal punishment, which is called Gehenna, and the outer darkness, and the unsleeping worm, and the gnashing of teeth, and ten thousand other torments — or rather, hardest of all, to be estranged from God and cast away from His most sweet face, and to be deprived of that indescribable glory, and to be made a public spectacle before all creation, and to suffer shame that has no end;

For after that dreadful sentence is given, all things shall remain unchangeable and

unalterable, neither the radiant life of the righteous having an end, nor the misery and punishment of sinners receiving a limit;

for neither is there a judge higher than He after Him, nor a defense through a second set of works, nor a time-limit for change, nor any other means for those being punished, their punishment continuing with them forever.

These things being so, what manner of persons ought we to be in holy conduct and pious ways of life, that we may be counted worthy to escape the coming threat and to stand at the right hand of the Son of God? For this is the station of the righteous;

but to sinners is allotted the wholly wretched portion on the left.

And from there, calling the righteous blessed, the Master leads them into the unending kingdom; but the sinners, casting them out with wrath and curse from His gentle and serene face — the bitterest and hardest thing of all — He sends into eternal punishment.

19. And Ioasaph said to him:

"Great and wonderful things you tell me, O man, worthy of much fear and trembling, if indeed these things are so, and if, after dying and being dissolved into ash and dust, there is again resurrection and regeneration, and recompenses and accountings for the things lived;

but what is the proof of these things? And how, having learned that which has never yet been seen, have you believed it so firmly and undoubtingly? For as to the things already done and manifested in deeds, even if you yourselves did not see them, yet you heard from those who related them;

but how, in proclaiming such great and immense things also about the things to come, have you obtained sure certainty concerning them?" And Barlaam said:

"From the things already done I have also obtained certainty concerning the things to come;

for those who proclaimed these things, having failed of the truth in nothing, but having confirmed the things said by signs and wonders and various powers, are the very ones who also taught concerning the things to come;

just as, then, in this matter they taught nothing crooked and fabricated, but all that they said and did shone brighter than the sun, so also there they set forth true doctrines;

which things our very Lord and Master Jesus Christ Himself confirmed both in word and in deed.

For, He says, verily I say to you, an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear shall live;

An hour is coming, when the dead shall hear His voice, and shall come forth — those who have done good, to a resurrection of life, but those who have done evil, to a resurrection of judgment;

And again He speaks concerning the resurrection of the dead:

"Have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying,

'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living;

For just as the tares are gathered and burned with fire, so shall it be at the consummation of this age;

the Son of God shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out all the causes of stumbling and those who do lawlessness, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire;

there shall be weeping and the gnashing of teeth;

Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father."

"He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

With such words, and with many others besides, the Lord made manifest the resurrection of our bodies;

and He confirmed His words by deed, raising many dead, and toward the end of His way of life on earth, calling forth from the tomb a certain Lazarus, His friend, who had already been decaying and stinking for four days, and presenting the breathless one as living;

and besides these things, the Lord Himself became the firstfruits of the perfect resurrection that no longer falls subject to death, having tasted death in the flesh, and having risen on the third day, becoming the firstborn of the dead;

for others also were raised from the dead, but again

died, and did not live to present an image of the true resurrection to come;

but He alone became the author of that resurrection, being the first raised in the immortal resurrection.

These things also those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and became ministers of the word proclaimed;

for the blessed Paul says, whose calling was not from men, but came from heaven:

"I make known to you, brothers, the Gospel which I preached to you;

for I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures;

now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some say that there is no resurrection? For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised;

and if Christ has not been raised, our faith is vain, you are still in your sins;

if in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most pitiable."

"But now Christ has been raised from the dead, having become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep;

for since death came through man, resurrection of the dead came also through man;

for just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive."

"For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality;

and when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

'Death has been swallowed up in victory.'

'O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?' For then the power of death is utterly abolished and vanishes, no longer working at all, but henceforth eternal immortality and incorruption is given to mankind.

There shall be, there shall be, without doubt, a resurrection of the dead; and this we believe unhesitatingly;

but we also know that there are recompenses and accountings for the things lived, at the fearful day of Christ's coming, through which the heavens, being set on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements, being burned, shall melt, as one of the God-speaking Fathers says; and we look for new heavens and a new earth, according to His promise;

for that there are recompenses and accountings of deeds there, and that nothing at all, whether good or evil, shall be overlooked, but that recompenses are laid up for deeds and words and thoughts as well, is clear:

"Whoever gives to drink to one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple shall by no means lose his reward."

"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then all the nations shall be gathered before Him, and He shall separate them from one another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left;

then the King shall say to those on His right hand:

'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;

for I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me.'"

What does He mean by saying this? He is appropriating to Himself the acts of kindness done by us toward those in need.

"Whoever confesses Me before men, I also will confess him before My Father who is in heaven."

Behold, through all these sayings and many others, He made clear that the recompenses of good deeds are certain and sure;

but He also foretold that accountings for the opposite deeds are laid up, through wondrous and extraordinary parables, which the fount of wisdom recounted most wisely;

at one time introducing a certain rich man clothed in purple and fine linen, and feasting sumptuously every day, but ungiving and merciless toward those in need, so that even

he would overlook a certain poor man named Lazarus, laid at his gate, and would not even give him the crumbs from his own table;

Now when both had died, the poor man—that one covered with sores—was carried away, it says, into the bosom of Abraham, thus signifying the fellowship of the righteous;

while the rich man was delivered to the flame of bitter torment in Hades:

'You received your good things in your life, and Lazarus likewise the bad things;

but now he is comforted, while you are in anguish.'

And elsewhere, likening the kingdom of heaven, he says:

'The kingdom of heaven is like a king who made a wedding feast for his son'—thus signifying the joy and splendor to come—

for, addressing his word to lowly people who were minded toward earthly things, he gave the parables from things familiar and known to them,

not, however, indicating that there are weddings and tables in that age;

but condescending to their coarseness, he used such terms, wishing to make known to them the things to come.

So then, it says, the king summoned all, with a lofty proclamation, to come together to the wedding and to be filled with those ineffable good things;

but many of those who had been invited, being negligent, did not go, but, occupying themselves—some with fields, some with trade, some with newly-married wives—deprived themselves of the splendor of the bridal chamber.

And when those had willingly estranged themselves from that delightful joy, others were invited in their place;

and the wedding was filled with guests reclining at table.

And the king, coming in to view those who reclined at table, saw there a man not clothed in a wedding garment, and says to him:

'Friend, how did you come in here without having a wedding garment?' And he was speechless.

Then the king said to the servants:

'Bind his hands and feet, take him up, and cast him into the outer darkness;

there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

Now those who declined and did not obey the call at all are those who did not run to the faith of Christ, but remained either in idolatry or in some heresy;

while he who did not have the wedding garment is he who believed, but stained the noetic garment with filthy deeds—who was also justly cast out of the joy of the bridal chamber.

And he also set forth another parable in harmony with this, figuring ten virgins, of whom five were wise and five foolish.

The foolish ones, taking their lamps, did not take oil with them;

but the wise took oil,

signifying by the oil the acquisition of good works.

And at midnight, it says, a cry arose:

'Go out to meet him,'

presenting by the midnight the unknowability of that day.

Then all those virgins arose;

the ready ones went out to meet the bridegroom, and went in with him to the wedding, and the door was shut;

but the unready ones—whom he fittingly called foolish—seeing their own lamps going out, went away to buy oil.

But when they arrived, the door being already shut, they cried out, saying:

'Lord, Lord, open to us;'

but he, it says, answering, said:

'Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.'

By all these things, then, it is clear that there is a recompense not only for opposing deeds, but also for words and for the very thoughts themselves.

'I say to you that for every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account of it in the day of judgment.'

'And even the hairs of your head,' it says, 'are numbered;'

by the hairs indicating the most subtle of reasonings and thoughts.

In harmony with these things, blessed Paul also teaches:

'For the word of God,' he says, 'is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing to the division of soul'

and spirit, of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart;

and there is no creature invisible before him, but all things are naked and laid bare to his eyes, to whom is our account.'

These things also the prophets, many ages before, illumined by the grace of the Spirit, proclaimed most clearly:

'I know their works and their thoughts, and I will repay them;

behold, I come to gather all the nations and tongues, and they shall come and see my glory.'

'And there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, which I make before me;'

and all flesh shall come to worship before me, says the Lord; and they shall go forth and see the corpses of the men who transgressed against me;

for their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be a spectacle to all flesh.'

And again concerning that day he says:

'And the heaven shall be rolled up like a scroll, and all the stars shall fall like leaves from a vine;

for behold, the day of the Lord comes, incurable in wrath and anger, to make the whole world desolate and to destroy the sinners out of it;

for the stars of heaven and Orion and all the ornament of heaven shall not give their light, and it shall be darkened at the rising of the sun, and the moon shall not give her light;

and I will destroy the insolence of the lawless, and I will humble the insolence of the proud.'

'Woe to those who draw their sins to themselves as with a long rope, and their iniquities as with a heifer's yoke-strap;

woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.'

'Woe to your mighty ones, the rulers, who mix strong drink, who justify the ungodly for the sake of gifts and take away the justice of the just, who turn aside the judgment of the poor and snatch away the right of the needy, so that the widow becomes their prey and the orphan their spoil.'

'And what will they do on the day of visitation? And to whom will they flee for help? And where will they leave their glory, so as not to fall into captivity? As stubble is burned by a coal of fire, and is burned up together by a kindled flame, their root shall be as chaff, and their blossom shall go up like dust;

for they did not desire the law of the Lord of Sabaoth, but provoked the oracle of the Holy One of Israel.'

In harmony with this, another prophet also says:

'Near is the great day of the Lord, near and exceedingly swift;

the sound of the day of the Lord is appointed bitter and harsh;

a mighty day of wrath is that day, a day of affliction and distress, a day of misery and destruction, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of cloud and mist, a day of trumpet and outcry;

and I will afflict the wicked, and they shall walk as blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord;

and their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath;

for all the earth shall be consumed by the fire of his jealousy, because he will make a complete end of all who dwell on the earth.'

In addition to these, David also, king and prophet, cries out:

'God shall come manifestly, our God, and shall not keep silence;

a fire shall burn before him, and round about him a mighty tempest;

he shall call to the heaven above and to the earth, to judge his people.'

'Arise, O God,' it says, 'judge the earth, for the thought of man shall give thanks to you.'

And you will repay each one according to his works.

And many other such things did the Psalmist and all the prophets, initiated by the divine Spirit, proclaim concerning the coming judgment and recompense.

The Savior most surely confirmed their words, and taught us to believe in the resurrection of the dead, the recompense for the deeds done in life, and the unending life of the age to come.

Ioasaph, filled with great compunction at these things, was all in tears,

and said to the elder:

"You have made everything clearly known to me, and have surely related this dreadful and wonderful narrative.

Since these things, then, lie before us, what must we do in order to escape the punishments prepared for sinners, and be counted worthy of the joy of the righteous?" And Barlaam answered:

"It is written that once, when Peter—who was also called chief of the apostles—was teaching the people, they were pricked in their hearts, just as you are today; and when they said:

'What shall we do?' Peter said to them:

'Repent, and let each of you be baptized for the forgiveness of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit;

for the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call.'

Behold, then, He has also poured out upon you His rich mercy, and has called you, who were far from Him in mind and were serving alien things that are not gods, but destructive demons and deaf, senseless carved images.

Therefore, before all else, come to Him who has called you, from whom you shall receive the unerring knowledge of things seen and unseen.

But if, after being called, you are unwilling or delay, by God's just judgment you shall be disinherited: since you were not willing, you shall not be willed.

For thus did the same apostle Peter speak to one of his disciples.

But I believe that you have indeed obeyed the calling, and, obeying it yet more clearly, you shall take up the cross and follow the God and Master who calls you, who summons you from death to life and from darkness to light.

For indeed, ignorance of God is darkness and death of the soul, and to be enslaved to idols unto the ruin of all nature seems to me to be beyond all senselessness and folly.

To what shall I liken them, and what kind of image of their folly shall I set before you? Rather, I will lay before you an example spoken to me by a certain very wise man.

For he used to say that the worshippers of idols are like a fowler who caught one of the smallest sparrows.

And taking a knife to slaughter it and eat it, an articulate voice was given to the nightingale.

and it said to the fowler:

'What profit is it to you, man, to slaughter me? For through me you will not be able to fill your belly.

But if you set me free from my bonds, I will give you three commandments, which if you keep, you shall be greatly benefited for your whole life.'

And he, astonished at her speech, promised that, if he should hear something new from her, he would quickly release her from captivity.

So the nightingale, turning to him, says to the man:

'Never attempt to attain any of the unattainable things, and do not regret a matter once it has passed, and never believe an unbelievable word.'

'Keep, then, these three commandments, and it shall be well with you.'

And the man, admiring the clarity and wisdom of the words, loosed her from her bonds and sent her forth into the air.

Now the nightingale, wishing to learn whether the man had understood the meaning of the words spoken to him, and whether he had reaped any benefit from them, flying in the air says to him:

'Alas for your folly, man! What a treasure you have lost today!

For within my entrails there is a pearl exceeding in size an ostrich's egg.'

When the fowler heard this, he was thrown into confusion with grief, regretting that that nightingale had escaped his hands;

and, attempting once more to catch her, he said:

'Come into my house, and, after I have treated you kindly, I will send you away with honor.'

'Now I know for certain that you are exceedingly foolish.

For though you received readily what was told you, and heard it gladly, you gained no benefit at all from it.

I told you not to regret a matter once it has passed;

yet you were thrown into confusion with grief that I had escaped your hands, regretting a matter that had already passed.

I charged you not to attempt to attain the unattainable, and yet you try to catch me, though you are unable to attain my flight.

Moreover, I also instructed you not to believe an unbelievable word;

but behold, you believed that within my entrails there was a pearl exceeding the very measure of my own body, and you did not have the sense to understand that I myself do not even reach the size of an ostrich's egg—so how could I contain such a pearl within me? Thus, then, do those who trust in idols also play the fool:

for they made these things with their own hands, and they worship what their own fingers have made, saying:

'These are our makers.'

How then can they consider as their makers those who were themselves fashioned and formed by them? Yet, guarding them securely so that they may not be plundered by thieves, they call them the guardians of their own salvation;

and yet how great is this folly, not to know that, since they are not even sufficient to guard and help themselves, how could they become guardians and saviors to others? For why, it says, do they seek the living among the dead? They squander their wealth to erect pillars and statues to demons, and prattle that these are the givers of good things, asking to receive from them what they have never possessed, nor ever shall possess.

'Let those who make them become like them, and all who trust in them.'

'who, it says, hired a goldsmith and made things made by hand, and bowing down worshipped them;

they lift them upon their shoulders and go about;

but if they set them in a place, it remains there, it does not move at all;

and whoever cries out to it, it will not hear him; it will not save him from evils.

'Therefore be ashamed with everlasting shame, you who trust in graven images, who say to molten images:'

'For they sacrificed, it says, to demons and not to God, to gods whom their fathers did not know;

'new and recent [gods] have come, for it is a perverted generation, and there is no faithfulness in them.'

From this evil and faithless generation, then, the Lord calls you, saying to you:

'Come out from among them and be separated, and touch no unclean thing; but be saved from this crooked generation.'

'Arise and depart, for this is not your rest.'

For the multiplicity of rulers among your gods is both disorderly and factious, and altogether non-existent.

But it is not so with us, nor are there many gods and lords;

but one God the Father, from whom are all things, and we unto him;

and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and we through him, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation and of all the ages, because in him all things were created, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether Thrones, or Dominions, or Principalities, or Powers;

'All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.'

and one Holy Spirit, in whom are all things, the Lord and life-giver, God and deifier, a good Spirit, an upright Spirit, a comforting Spirit, a Spirit of adoption;

Of these, each, considered in himself, is God;

as the Father and the Son, as the Son and the Holy Spirit; yet one God in three, one nature, one kingdom, one power, one glory, one essence, divided only in the hypostases.

For the Father is one, and unbegottenness is His own property;

and the only-begotten Son is one, and generation is His own property;

and the Holy Spirit is one, and procession is His own property.

For thus we, illumined with light—the Son—from the light of the Father, in the light of the Holy Spirit, glorify one Godhead in three hypostases;

and He himself is the true and only God, known in Trinity, because from him and through him and unto him are all things.

By His grace, having learned of your circumstances, I too was sent to teach you the things which—

I have learned and kept this from the beginning until this very old age;

If, then, you believe and are baptized, you shall be saved;

but if you disbelieve, you shall be condemned.

For these things which you see today and glory in — the glory, the luxury, the wealth, and all the deceit of this life — will very soon pass away, and they will cast you out from here, even against your will;

and your body will be shut up in a very small tomb, left utterly alone, and deprived of all fellowship of friends and kinsfolk;

and the delights of the world will vanish away, and much loathsomeness and foul-smelling corruption will be poured about you, in place of the beauty and fragrance you now have;

and they will cast your soul into the nether regions of the earth, into the condemnation of Hades, until the final resurrection, when the soul, having taken back its own body, will be cast out from the presence of the Lord, and delivered to the fire of Gehenna that burns without end.