Chapter VI.—The resurrection consistent with the opinions of the philosophers.

Those, then, who are called natural philosophers, say, some of them, as Plato, that the universe is matter and God; others, as Epicurus, that it is atoms and the void;12    τὸ κενόν, the void of space in which the infinity of atoms moved. others, like the Stoics, that it is these four—fire, water, air, earth. For it is sufficient to mention the most prevalent opinions. And Plato says that all things are made from matter by God, and according to His design; but Epicures and his followers say that all things are made from the atom and the void by some kind of self-regulating action of the natural movement of the bodies; and the Stoics, that all are made of the four elements, God pervading them. But while there is such discrepancy among them, there are some doctrines acknowledged by them all in common, one of which is that neither can anything be produced from what is not in being, nor anything be destroyed or dissolved into what has not any being, and that the elements exist indestructible out of which all things are generated. And this being so, the regeneration of the flesh will, according to all these philosophers, appear to be possible. For if, according to Plato, it is matter and God, both these are indestructible and God; and God indeed occupies the position of an artificer, to wit, a potter; and matter occupies the place of clay or wax, or some such thing. That, then, which is formed of matter, be it an image or a statue, is destructible; but the matter itself is indestructible, such as clay or wax, or any other such kind of matter. Thus the artist designs in the clay or wax, and makes the form of a living animal; and again, if his handiwork be destroyed, it is not impossible for him to make the same form, by working up the same material, and fashioning it anew. So that, according to Plato, neither will it be impossible for God, who is Himself indestructible, and has also indestructible material, even after that which has been first formed of it has been destroyed, to make it anew again, and to make the same form just as it was before. But according to the Stoics even, the body being produced by the mixture of the four elementary substances, when this body has been dissolved into the four elements, these remaining indestructible, it is possible that they receive a second time the same fusion and composition, from God pervading them, and so re-make the body which they formerly made. Like as if a man shall make a composition of gold and silver, and brass and tin, and then shall wish to dissolve it again, so that each element exist separately, having again mixed them, he may, if he pleases, make the very same composition as he had formerly made. Again, according to Epicurus, the atoms and the void being indestructible, it is by a definite arrangement and adjustment of the atoms as they come together, that both all other formations are produced, and the body itself; and it being in course of time dissolved, is dissolved again into those atoms from which it was also produced. And as these remain indestructible, it is not at all impossible, that by coming together again, and receiving the same arrangement and position, they should make a body of like nature to what was formerly produced by them; as if a jeweller should make in mosaic the form of an animal, and the stones should be scattered by time or by the man himself who made them, he having still in his possession the scattered stones, may gather them together again, and having gathered, may dispose them in the same way, and make the same form of an animal. And shall not God be able to collect again the decomposed members of the flesh, and make the same body as was formerly produced by Him?

Φασὶ τοίνυν οἱ τοῦ κόσμου φυσικοί, σοφοὶ λεγόμενοι, τὸ πᾶν ὑπάρχειν οἱ μὲν ὕλην καὶ θεόν, ὡς Πλάτων, οἱ δὲ ἄτομα καὶ κενόν, ὡς Ἐπίκουρος, οἱ δὲ τὰ τέσσαρα, γῆν καὶ ὕδωρ, ἀέρα, πῦρ, ὥσπερ οἱ Στωϊκοί. Ἀρκεῖ γὰρ ἐπιμνησθῆναι τῶν ἐπικρατουσῶν μάλιστα δοξῶν. Καὶ ὁ μὲν Πλάτων φησὶν ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ τὰ πάντα ἐκ τῆς ὕλης γεγονέναι καὶ κατὰ πρόνοιαν αὐτοῦ, ὁ δὲ Ἐπίκουρος καὶ οἱ μετ' αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῶν ἀτόμων καὶ ἐκ τοῦ κενοῦ κατὰ ταὐτόματόν τινα φορὰν τῆς ἐκ τῶν σωμάτων φυσικῆς κινήσεως, οἱ δὲ Στωϊκοὶ ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων διήκοντος δι' αὐτῶν τοῦ θεοῦ. Τοιαύτης δὲ διαφωνίας αὐτοῖς οὔσης, ἔστι τινὰ παρ' αὐτοῖς ὁμολογούμενα κοινὰ δόγματα πρὸς ἁπάντων: ἓν μὲν τὸ μήτε ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος γίνεσθαι μήτε εἰς τὸ μὴ ὂν ἀναλύεσθαι καὶ ἀπόλλυσθαι, καὶ τὸ τὰ στοιχεῖα ἄφθαρτα ὑπάρχειν, ἐξ ὧν ἡ ἑκάστου πράγματος γένεσίς ἐστι. Τούτων τοίνυν οὕτως ἐχόντων, κατὰ πάντας αὐτοὺς φανήσεται δυνατὴ ἡ τῆς σαρκὸς ὑπάρχειν παλιγγενεσία. Εἴτε γὰρ κατὰ Πλάτωνά ἐστιν ἡ ὕλη καὶ ὁ θεός, ἀμφότερα ταῦτα ἄφθαρτα: καὶ ὁ μὲν θεὸς ἐπέχει τόπον τεχνίτου, οἷον πλάστου, ἡ δὲ ὕλη ἐπέχει τόπον πηλοῦ ἢ κηροῦ ἢ τοιούτου τινός. Τὸ μὲν οὖν ἐκ τῆς ὕλης γινόμενον φθαρτὸν πλάσμα, ὁ ἀνδριὰς ἢ εἰκών, ἡ δὲ ὕλη αὐτὴ ἄφθαρτος, οἷον πηλὸς ἢ κηρὸς ἤ τι τοιοῦτον ἄλλο εἶδος ὕλης. Οὕτως ὁ πλάστης ἐκ τοῦ κηροῦ ἢ πηλοῦ πλάσσει καὶ ζωοποιεῖ ζώου μορφήν: πάλιν, ἐὰν διαλυθῇ τὸ πλάσμα, οὐκ ἀδύνατον αὐτῷ ἐστι, τὴν αὐτὴν ὕλην ἀναφυράσαντι καὶ καινοποιήσαντι, τὸ αὐτὸ πλάσμα ποιῆσαι. Οὕτως κατὰ Πλάτωνα οὐδὲ τῷ θεῷ, ἀφθάρτῳ ὄντι, ἄφθαρτον ἔχοντι καὶ τὴν ὕλην, τοῦ ἐξ αὐτῆς γενομένου πλάσματος διαλυθέντος, ἀδύνατόν ἐστιν ἀνακαινοποιῆσαι πάλιν αὐτὴν καὶ ποιῆσαι τὸ αὐτὸ πλάσμα ὁποῖον ἦν καὶ τὸ πρότερον. Ἀλλὰ μὴν κατὰ τοὺς Στωϊκούς, ἐκ τῆς τῶν τεσσάρων στοιχείων κράσεως γινομένου τοῦ σώματος, καί, διαλυομένου τούτου εἰς τὰ τέσσαρα, παραμενόντων τούτων ἀφθάρτων, δυνατόν ἐστι πάλιν τὰ τέσσαρα στοιχεῖα, τὴν αὐτὴν μῖξιν καὶ κρᾶσιν λαβόντα ἀπὸ τοῦ δι' αὐτῶν διήκοντος θεοῦ, ποιῆσαι ὃ πρότερον πεποιήκει σῶμα: ὥσπερ, εἴ τις ἐκ χρυσοῦ καὶ ἀργύρου καὶ χαλκοῦ καὶ κασσιτήρου ποιήσει μῖγμα, ἔπειτα θελήσει πάλιν διαλῦσαι, ὥστε κατ' ἰδίαν ἕκαστον εἶναι, καὶ πάλιν, εἰ θελήσει, μίξας τὰ αὐτὰ ποιήσει ὃ πρότερον πεποιήκει ἐξ αὐτῶν μῖγμα. Καὶ κατὰ τὸν Ἐπίκουρον δέ, τῶν ἀτόμων ἀφθάρτων οὐσῶν καὶ τοῦ κενοῦ, παρὰ τὴν ποιὰν τάξιν καὶ θέσιν τῶν ἀτόμων συντεθειμένων γίνεται τά τε ἄλλα συγκρίματα καὶ τὸ σῶμα, χρόνῳ δὲ διαλυόμενον διαλύεται πάλιν εἰς τὰς ἀτόμους, ἐξ ὧν καὶ ἐγένετο. Τούτων μὲν οὐσῶν ἀφθάρτων, οὐδὲν ἀδύνατόν ἐστι, συνελθουσῶν πάλιν καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν θέσιν καὶ τάξιν λαβουσῶν, ποιῆσαι ὃ πρότερον ἐγεγόνει ἐξ αὐτῶν σῶμα καὶ ὅμοιον: ὥσπερ, εἴ τις ψηφοθέτης ἐκ ψηφίδων ποιήσει ζώου μορφήν, ἔπειτα τούτων ἀπὸ χρόνου διαλυθέντων ἢ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ ποιήσαντος, τὰς αὐτὰς ἔχων ψήφους, ἐσκορπισμένας συνάγων, οὐκ ἀδυνατήσει συλλέξας αὐτὰς καὶ διαθεὶς ὁμοίως ποιῆσαι τὸ αὐτὸ εἶδος τοῦ ζώου. Ὁ δὲ θεὸς ἀναλυθέντα τὰ μέλη τῆς σαρκὸς ἀπ' ἀλλήλων οὐ δυνήσεται πάλιν συναγαγὼν ποιῆσαι τὸ αὐτὸ τῷ πρότερον γεγονότι ὑπ' αὐτοῦ σώματι;