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He is able also to do what He has promised; wherefore he also added: But it was not written for his sake alone, but for ours also, to whom it will be reckoned, who believe in Him that raised Jesus Christ our Lord from the dead. It is clear, therefore, that the birth of Isaac was a type of the resurrection of Christ. For if it were not a type, he would not have added and said: But it was not written for his sake alone, but for ours also, to whom it will be reckoned. For types are not written for those who receive them at that time in which they occur, but also for those who are going to profit from them in the time after. Wherefore he also says elsewhere: Now these things happened to them as a type; but they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. And Elijah, having been taken up, also opened for us this hope of the resurrection. But those things were as in types; but since the only-begotten Son of God arrived after many and countless ages, in the deed itself He showed us the resurrection through His own body, having freed it from the tyranny of death; wherefore he also says, Christ having died and been raised from the dead, dies no more; for what he died, he died to sin once for all.

4. But in the beginnings these things happened dimly; for of the resurrection the

hope was shown to us as in a riddle through Enoch, and the destruction of death through Abel; but both these things have happened clearly and manifestly and completely and in truth through the only-begotten Son of God. Whence indeed hosts of martyrs have sprung up for us, death having been destroyed, and the resurrection shining forth. For this reason the present life has become toilsome and full of many sweats, so that from this the duller of men and those who delight in present things, being pushed, and growing numb at the burden of this life, might flee pleasures and sympathy for the present life, and run toward the love of the heavens, and hasten toward that day. For the philosopher and the lofty man will not need the exhortation from this, but having considered how great is the kingdom of heaven, or rather, before the kingdom, to be with God and to be with Christ (for this is greater than any kingdom), he will have no sense of any present 63.477 pleasures, but will dishonor these things, running past them more than a shadow. But since many, being slaves to the flesh, and held by the tyranny of worldly things, just like burrowing beasts, delight in them; interrupting their sympathy for these things, He has allotted to them many griefs, and fears and anxieties and cares and struggles and dangers and cowardice, and the great swarm of bodily passions, and the siege from bodies, and many other things, which it is not possible to describe in words; so that at least shuddering at the cloud of these evils, they might desire to sail into the waveless harbor. and to enjoy the perpetual calm, which does not have evils mixed with the good things, but pure goods, things that are truly good. For the things here that seem to be good, such as wealth and glory and power, are names of good things and are mixed with their opposites; but the things there are sincere and pure, having their blessedness not in names, but in reality. Therefore, that we may obtain these things, let us emulate the virtue of the martyrs, their courage, their zeal, 63.478 their faith, their contempt for present things, their desire for things to come. For it is possible to achieve all these things even without persecution. For even if fires are not set before us, yet a more vehement desire is present; even if there are no teeth of beasts, yet an anger more difficult than a beast assails us; even if executioners are not standing by tearing at our sides, yet envy lies within, consuming the mind more grievously than any executioner.

4

ἐπήγγελται δυνατός ἐστι καὶ ποιῆσαι· διὸ καὶ ἐπήγαγεν· Οὐκ ἐγράφη δὲ δι' αὐτὸν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ δι' ἡμᾶς, οἷς μέλλει λογίζεσθαι τοῖς πιστεύουσιν ἐπὶ τὸν ἐγείραντα Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν ἐκ νεκρῶν. ∆ῆλον οὖν ὅτι ἡ γέννησις τοῦ Ἰσαὰκ τύπος ἦν τῆς ἀναστάσεως τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ τύπος ἦν, οὐκ ἂν ἐπήγαγε καὶ εἶπεν· Οὐκ ἐγράφη δὲ δι' αὐτὸν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ δι' ἡμᾶς, οἷς μέλλει λογίζεσθαι. Οἱ γὰρ τύποι οὐ διὰ τοὺς δεχομένους κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν ἐκεῖνον καθ' ὃν γίνονται γράφονται, ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τοὺς μέλλοντας ἀπ' αὐτῶν κερδαίνειν ἐν τῷ μετὰ ταῦτα χρόνῳ. ∆ιὸ καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ φησι· Ταῦτα δὲ τύπος συνέβαινον ἐκείνοις· ἐγράφη δὲ πρὸς νουθεσίαν ἡμῶν εἰς οὓς τὰ τέλη τῶν αἰώνων κατήντησε. Καὶ ὁ Ἠλίας δὲ ἀναληφθεὶς ταύτην ἡμῖν ἤνοιγε τὴν ἐλπίδα τὴν τῆς ἀναστάσεως. Ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνα μὲν ὡς ἐν τύποις· ἐπειδὴ δὲ ὁ μονογενὴς τοῦ Θεοῦ Υἱὸς παρεγένετο μετὰ πολλοὺς καὶ ἀπείρους χρόνους, ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ ἔργῳ τὴν ἀνάστασιν ἡμῖν ἔδειξε διὰ τοῦ οἰκείου σώματος, ἀπολύσας αὐτὸ τῆς τοῦ θανάτου τυραννίδος· διὸ καί φησι, Χριστὸς ἀποθανὼν καὶ ἐγερθεὶς ἐκ νεκρῶν, οὐκ ἔτι ἀποθνήσκει· ὃ γὰρ ἀπέθανε τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, ἀπέθανεν ἐφάπαξ.

δʹ. Ἀλλ' ἐν προοιμίοις μὲν ἀμυδρῶς ταῦτα ἐγένετο· τῆς τε γὰρ ἀναστάσεως ἡ

ἐλπὶς ὡς ἐν αἰνίγματι παρεδείκνυτο ἡμῖν διὰ τοῦ Ἐνὼχ, τοῦ τε θανάτου ἡ κατάλυσις διὰ τοῦ Ἄβελ· ἀμφότερα δὲ ταῦτα σαφῶς καὶ δήλως καὶ ὁλοσχερῶς καὶ ἐν ἀληθείᾳ διὰ τοῦ μονογενοῦς Υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ γέγονεν. Ὅθεν δὴ καὶ δῆμοι μαρτύρων ἡμῖν ἐβλάστησαν, τοῦ θανάτου καταλυθέντος, τῆς δὲ ἀναστάσεως λαμπούσης. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ παρὼν ἐπίπονος γέγονε βίος καὶ πολλῶν ἱδρώτων γέμων, ἵνα κἀντεῦθεν οἱ παχύτεροι τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ τοῖς παροῦσιν ἐμφιλοχωροῦντες ὠθούμενοι, καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἐπαχθὲς τῆς ζωῆς ταύτης ναρκῶντες, φεύγωσι μὲν ἡδονὰς καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὸν παρόντα βίον συμπάθειαν, πρὸς δὲ τὸν τῶν οὐρανῶν τρέχωσιν ἔρωτα, καὶ πρὸς ἐκείνην ἐπείγωνται τὴν ἡμέραν. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ φιλόσοφος καὶ ὑψηλὸς οὐ δεήσεται τῆς ἐντεῦθεν παραινέσεως, ἀλλ' ἐννοήσας ἡλίκον ἐστὶ βασιλεία οὐρανῶν, μᾶλλον δὲ πρὸ τῆς βασιλείας τῷ Θεῷ συγγίνεσθαι καὶ μετὰ Χριστοῦ εἶναι (τοῦτο γὰρ βασιλείας ἁπάσης μεῖζον), οὐδενὸς αἰσθήσεται τῶν παρ 63.477 όντων ἡδέων, ἀλλ' ἀτιμάσει ταῦτα, τῆς σκιᾶς αὐτὰ μᾶλλον παρατρέχων. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ πολλοὶ τῇ σαρκὶ δουλεύοντες, καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς τυραννίδος τῶν βιωτικῶν κατεχόμενοι, καθάπερ τὰ φωλεύοντα τῶν θηρίων, ἐμφιλοχωροῦσιν αὐτοῖς· διακόπτων αὐτῶν τὴν πρὸς ταῦτα συμπάθειαν, συνεκλήρωσεν αὐτοῖς πολλὰ τὰ λυπηρὰ, καὶ φόβους καὶ μερίμνας καὶ φροντίδας καὶ ἀγωνίας καὶ κινδύνους καὶ δειλίαν, καὶ τὸν πολὺν τῶν σωματικῶν παθῶν ἑσμὸν, καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν σωμάτων πολιορκίαν, καὶ ἕτερα πολλὰ, ἅπερ εἰπεῖν οὐκ ἔνι τῷ λόγῳ· ἵνα κἂν τὸ νέφος τῶν κακῶν τούτων φρίττοντες, ἐπιθυμήσωσιν εἰς τὸν ἀκύμαντον καταπλεῦσαι λιμένα. καὶ τῆς γαλήνης ἀπολαύειν τῆς διηνεκοῦς, τῆς οὐκ ἀναμεμιγμένα τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς τὰ κακὰ ἐχούσης, ἀλλὰ καθαρὰ τὰ ἀγαθὰ, τὰ ὄντως ἀγαθά. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἐνταῦθα δοκοῦντα εἶναι καλὰ, οἷον πλοῦτος καὶ δόξα καὶ δυναστεία, ὀνόματα μέν ἐστι καλῶν καὶ τοῖς ἐναντίοις ἀναμεμιγμένα· τὰ δὲ ἐκεῖ εἰλικρινῆ καὶ καθαρὰ, οὐκ ἐν ὀνόμασιν, ἀλλ' ἐν πράγμασι τὴν μακαριότητα ἔχοντα. Ἵν' οὖν τούτων ἐπιτύχωμεν, ζηλώσωμεν τῶν μαρτύρων τὴν ἀρετὴν, τὴν ἀνδρείαν, τὸν ζῆλον, 63.478 τὴν πίστιν, τὴν τῶν παρόντων ὑπεροψίαν, τὴν τῶν μελλόντων ἐπιθυμίαν. Ἔστι γὰρ ταῦτα καὶ χωρὶς διωγμοῦ πάντα κατορθοῦν. Κἂν γὰρ πυρὰ μὴ προκέηται, ἀλλ' ἐπιθυμία πρόσεστι σφοδροτέρα· κἂν ὀδόντες θηρίων μὴ ὦσιν, ἀλλὰ θηρίου χαλεπώτερος ἐπίκειται θυμός· κἂν δήμιοι μὴ παρεστήκοιεν πλευρὰς καταξαίνοντες, ἀλλὰ φθόνος ἔγκειται δημίου παντὸς χαλεπώτερον κατεσθίων τὴν διάνοιαν.