John Chrysostom, On the Resurrection of the Dead

and to say what is incredible, one must speak of present things, and how they do not remain with their possessors, but change masters, and each day leap from this one to another, and again from that one to someone else. After Paul had shown us all these things, and for this reason called the present things temporary and the things to come eternal, he introduces the discussion of the resurrection, saying thus: For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 6. See again here also how he has used words in their proper sense, showing the power of the thoughts through the very names. For he did not simply call the body a tabernacle, but to indicate to us the temporary nature of the present life, and to show the change for the better, as if saying: Why do you groan and weep, beloved, because you are beaten and driven and fall into prison? why do you lament these partial afflictions, when you ought to receive the entire dissolution of the body; or rather not simply of the 50.427 body, but of the corruption in the body? For in order to show that these partial afflictions ought not only not to grieve us, but even to gladden us, he shows that the universal and final demolition is an object of prayer for us, speaking thus of the dissolution through death. And again: For in this tabernacle we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. And by 'house of the tabernacle' he either calls the body by both names; or by 'house of the tabernacle' he means the houses in which we dwell, the cities, the fashion of the present life. And he did not simply say, 'I know,' but, 'We know,' including also the opinion of his hearers. I am not discoursing on doubtful matters, he says, nor about things unknown, but about things for which you have already received the faith, having believed in the resurrection of the Lord. For this reason also we call the bodies of the departed tabernacles. And see how he has also used the word in its proper sense. He did not say, 'It was destroyed and vanished,' but, 'It was dissolved,' showing that it is dissolved, so that it may rise more cheerfully, more splendidly. Then just as he made a comparison in the case of the labors and the prizes, from their quality, from their duration and quantity; so indeed he does here also, calling the falling body a tabernacle, but the rising one a house; and not simply a house, but an eternal one; and not simply eternal, but heavenly, showing its superiority both from its duration and from its place. For this one is earthly, but that one is heavenly; this one is temporary, that one is eternal. And now indeed we need both a body and dwellings because of the weakness of the flesh; but then the same thing will be both body and dwelling, not needing a roof, nor any coverings, incorruption being sufficient for it in place of all things. Then, showing the superiority of the good things stored up for him, he says: For in this tabernacle we groan. He did not say, 'I groan,' but he makes the opinion common. For in this, he says, we groan, wishing to draw them to his own philosophy, and to make them partakers of his own judgment. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from the heavens. He did not say simply, 'to be clothed,' but 'to be clothed upon'; and he adds: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. And what has been said seems to be obscure, but it becomes clearer through what is added next: For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon. Do you see how he is not forgetful of himself, nor does he call this body a house, but a tabernacle again? Not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon? Here he has given a mortal blow to those who slander the nature of the body, and who accuse our flesh.

εἰπεῖν καὶ ἄπιστα, τὰ παρόντα δεῖ λέγειν πράγματα, καὶ μὴ παραμένοντα τοῖς κεκτημένοις, ἀλλ' ἀμείβοντα τοὺς δεσπότας, καὶ καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ἀπὸ τούτου πρὸς ἕτερον μεταπηδῶντα, καὶ πάλιν ἀπ' ἐκείνου πρὸς ἄλλον. Ταῦτα δὴ πάντα δηλώσας ἡμῖν ὁ Παῦλος, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τὰ μὲν παρόντα πρόσκαιρα, τὰ δὲ μέλλοντα αἰώνια καλέσας, τὸν περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως κινεῖ λόγον, οὕτω λέγων· Οἴδαμεν γὰρ ὅτι ἐὰν ἡ ἐπίγειος ἡμῶν οἰκία τοῦ σκήνους καταλυθῇ, οἰκίαν ἐκ Θεοῦ ἔχομεν ἀχειροποίητον, αἰώνιον ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. στʹ. Ὅρα πάλιν καὶ ἐνταῦθα πῶς ταῖς λέξεσιν κέχρηται κυρίως, δι' αὐτῶν τῶν ὀνομάτων τὴν δύναμιν ἐμφαίνων τῶν νοημάτων. Οὐ γὰρ ἁπλῶς σκῆνος τὸ σῶμα ἐκάλεσεν, ἀλλὰ τὸ πρόσκαιρον τῆς παρούσης ζωῆς ἡμῖν ἐνδεικνύμενος, καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον μεταβολὴν δηλῶν, μονονουχὶ λέγων· Τί στενάζεις καὶ δακρύεις, ἀγαπητὲ, ὅτι τύπτῃ καὶ ἐλαύνῃ καὶ εἰς δεσμωτήριον ἐμπίπτεις; τί θρηνεῖς τὰς κατὰ μέρος ταύτας κακώσεις, ὀφείλων τὴν ὁλόκληρον δέξασθαι κατάλυσιν τοῦ σώματος· μᾶλλον δὲ οὐχ ἁπλῶς τοῦ 50.427 σώματος, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἐν τῷ σώματι φθορᾶς; Ἵνα γὰρ δείξῃ, ὅτι αἱ κατὰ μέρος αὗται κακώσεις οὐ μόνον ἡμᾶς λυπεῖν οὐκ ὀφείλουσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ εὐφραίνειν, δείκνυσιν ὅτι ἡ καθολικὴ καὶ τελευταία καθαίρεσις, εὐχῆς ἔργον ἐστὶν ἡμῖν, τὴν διὰ τοῦ θανάτου κατάλυσιν οὕτω λέγων. Καὶ πάλιν· Καὶ γὰρ ἐν τούτῳ στενάζομεν τῷ σκήνει, τὸ οἰκητήριον ἡμῶν τὸ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἐπενδύσασθαι ἐπιποθοῦντες. Οἰκίαν δὲ σκήνους ἤτοι τὸ σῶμα δι' ἀμφοτέρων καλεῖ τῶν ὀνομάτων· ἢ οἰκίαν σκήνους τὰς οἰκίας ἐν αἷς κατοικοῦμεν, τὰς πόλεις, τὸ σχῆμα τοῦ παρόντος βίου. Καὶ οὐχ ἁπλῶς εἶπεν, Οἶδα, ἀλλ', Οἴδαμεν, καὶ τὴν τῶν ἀκουόντων προσλαμβάνων γνώμην. Οὐ περὶ πραγμάτων ἀμφιβαλλομένων διαλέγομαι, φησὶν, οὐδὲ περὶ τῶν ἀγνοουμένων, ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ ὧν ἤδη τὴν πίστιν ἐδέξασθε, εἰς τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου πιστεύσαντες ἀνάστασιν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ σκηνώματα καλοῦμεν τῶν ἀπελθόντων τὰ σώματα. Καὶ ὅρα πῶς καὶ τῇ λέξει κυρίως κέχρηται. Οὐκ εἶπεν, Ἀνῃρέθη καὶ ἠφανίσθη, ἀλλὰ, Κατελύθη, δεικνὺς ὅτι καταλύεται, ἵνα φαιδρότερον, ἵνα λαμπρότερον ἀναστῇ. Εἶτα ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τῶν πόνων καὶ τῶν ἐπάθλων ἐποιήσατο σύγκρισιν, ἀπὸ τῆς ποιότητος, ἀπὸ τοῦ χρόνου καὶ τῆς ποσότητος· οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἐνταῦθα ποιεῖ, τὸ μὲν πῖπτον σῶμα σκῆνος καλῶν, τὸ δὲ ἀνιστάμενον οἰκίαν· καὶ οὐχ ἁπλῶς, οἰκίαν, ἀλλ' αἰώνιον· καὶ οὐχ ἁπλῶς, αἰώνιον, ἀλλ' οὐράνιον, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ χρόνου, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ τόπου δεικνὺς τὴν ὑπεροχήν. Αὕτη μὲν γὰρ ἐπίγειος, ἐκείνη δὲ οὐράνιος· αὕτη πρόσκαιρος, ἐκείνη αἰώνιος. Καὶ νῦν μὲν καὶ σώματος δεῖ καὶ οἰκημάτων ἡμῖν διὰ τὴν ἀσθένειαν τῆς σαρκός· τότε δὲ τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ σῶμα ἔσται καὶ οἴκημα, οὐ δεόμενον στέγης, οὐδὲ καλυμμάτων τινῶν, ἀντὶ πάντων ἀρκούσης αὐτῷ τῆς ἀφθαρσίας. Εἶτα δεικνὺς τὴν ὑπεροχὴν τῶν ἐναποκειμένων αὐτῷ ἀγαθῶν, φησί· Καὶ γὰρ ἐν τούτῳ στενάζομεν τῷ σκήνει. Οὐκ εἶπε, Στενάζω, ἀλλὰ κοινὴν ποιεῖται τὴν γνώμην. Καὶ γὰρ ἐν τούτῳ, φησὶ, στενάζομεν, βουλόμενος αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν ἑλκύσαι φιλοσοφίαν, καὶ τῆς αὑτοῦ κρίσεως ποιῆσαι κοινωνούς. Καὶ γὰρ ἐν τούτῳ στενάζομεν, τὸ οἰκητήριον ἡμῶν τὸ ἐξ οὐρανῶν ἐπενδύσασθαι ἐπιποθοῦντες. Οὐκ εἶπεν ἁπλῶς, Ἐνδύσασθαι, ἀλλ' Ἐπενδύσασθαι· καὶ ἐπάγει· Εἴ γε καὶ ἐνδυσάμενοι, οὐ γυμνοὶ εὑρεθησόμεθα. Καὶ δοκεῖ μὲν ἀσαφὲς εἶναι τὸ εἰρημένον, γίνεται δὲ σαφέστερον διὰ τῶν ἑξῆς ἐπαγομένων· Καὶ γὰρ οἱ ὄντες ἐν τῷ σκήνει στενάζομεν βαρούμενοι, ἐφ' ᾧ οὐ θέλομεν ἐκδύσασθαι, ἀλλ' ἐπενδύσασθαι. Ὁρᾷς πῶς ἑαυτοῦ οὐκ ἐπιλανθάνεται, οὐδὲ καλεῖ οἰκίαν τὸ σῶμα τοῦτο, ἀλλὰ σκῆνος πάλιν· Ἐφ' ᾧ οὐ θέλομεν ἐκδύσασθαι, ἀλλ' ἐπενδύσασθαι; Ἐνταῦθα τοῖς τοῦ σώματος διαβάλλουσι τὴν φύσιν, καὶ τῆς σαρκὸς τῆς ἡμετέρας κατηγοροῦσι καιρίαν ἔδωκε πληγήν.