John Chrysostom, On the Resurrection of the Dead

For when he said, that we groan and do not wish to be unclothed, lest you think that he flees the body as something evil and a cause of wickedness and hostile and an enemy, listen how he corrects this suspicion: first, by saying, that We groan, longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven; for he who is clothed upon is in fact clothed upon with something else; then by saying, We groan, being burdened, for which reason we do not want to be unclothed, but are longing to be clothed upon. What he says is something like this: We do not wish to put off the flesh, he says, 50.428 but corruption; not the body, but death. The body is one thing, and death another; the body is one thing, and corruption another; neither is the body corruption, nor is corruption body. And the body is corruptible, but the body is not corruption; and the body is mortal, but the body is not death; but the body became the work of God, while corruption and death were introduced by sin. I wish, then, to put off what is alien, he says, not what is my own; and what is alien is not the body, but corruption. For this reason he says: For which reason we do not want to be unclothed, that is, the body, but to be clothed upon with incorruptibility for the body. The body is between corruption and incorruption. It puts off, therefore, corruption, and is clothed upon with incorruption; it casts off what it received from sin, and acquires what the grace of God has given. And so that you may learn that he speaks of being unclothed not concerning the body, but concerning corruption and death, listen to what immediately follows. For having said, We do not want to be unclothed, but to be clothed upon, he did not say: That the body might be swallowed up by bodilessness; but what? That what is mortal might be swallowed up by life, that is, that it might be made to disappear, that it might perish; so that he speaks of the destruction not of the body, but of death and corruption. For life, when it comes, does not destroy and consume the body, but the corruption and death that have come upon it. This groaning, therefore, is not because of the body, but because of the corruption laid upon it; for the body is heavy and burdensome and oppressive, not because of its own nature, but because of the mortality that later accrued to it. But it is not a corruptible body, but an incorruptible one. For so great is its nobility, that even in corruption itself it displays its own worth. The shadows, at least, of the apostles drove away the bodiless powers, and the dust and ashes prevailed over demons, and the garments that had touched their bodies removed diseases, and brought back health. 7. For do not tell me of phlegm and bile, and sweat, and filth, and the other things, which the accusers of the body say; for these things were not of the nature of the body, but of the corruption that came upon it later. But if you wish to understand its excellence, consider the formation of all its members, the shape, the functions, the harmony with one another; and you will see that the commonwealth of these members with one another is more exact than any well-ordered city which has all philosophers for its citizens. But if, passing over these things cursorily, you were to put forward only its corruptible and mortal aspect, not even from this shall we be at a loss for a defense. For that not only has no harm come from this, but even great gain to the human race, is clear from this. For all the saints, living with this, displayed that angelic way of life, and no harm came to them from this for the race of virtue; and those who looked toward impiety had no small hindrance, the corruption of the body, from proceeding further in their own lawlessness. For if, clothed in this corruptible and passible body, many 50.429 of mankind imagined themselves equal to God, and busied themselves greatly to put about themselves such a reputation; if they did not have a passible and corruptible body, which proves their weakness, whom of the more foolish would they not have deceived? When therefore even of impiety, which

Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἶπεν, ὅτι στενάζομεν καὶ ἐκδύσασθαι οὐ βουλόμεθα, ἵνα μὴ νομίσῃς, ὅτι ὡς κακὸν φεύγει τὸ σῶμα καὶ πονηρίας αἴτιον καὶ ἐχθρὸν καὶ πολέμιον, ἄκουσον πῶς διορθοῦται τὴν ὑπόνοιαν· πρῶτον μὲν τῷ εἰπεῖν, ὅτι Στενάζομεν τὸ οἰκητήριον ἡμῶν τὸ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἐπενδύσασθαι ἐπιποθοῦντες· ὁ γὰρ ἐπενδυόμενος τῷ ὄντι ἕτερον ἐπενδύεται· ἔπειτα τῷ εἰπεῖν, Στενάζομεν βαρούμενοι, ἐφ' ᾧ οὐ θέλομεν ἐκδύσασθαι, ἀλλ' ἐπενδύσασθαι ἐπιποθοῦντες. Ὃ δὲ λέγει τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν· Οὐ τὴν σάρκα ἀποθέσθαι βουλόμεθα, φησὶν, 50.428 ἀλλὰ τὴν φθοράν· οὐ τὸ σῶμα, ἀλλὰ τὸν θάνατον. Ἄλλο σῶμα, καὶ ἄλλο θάνατος· ἄλλο σῶμα, καὶ ἄλλο φθορά· οὔτε τὸ σῶμα φθορὰ, οὔτε ἡ φθορὰ σῶμα. Καὶ φθαρτὸν μὲν τὸ σῶμα, οὐ φθορὰ δὲ τὸ σῶμα· καὶ θνητὸν μὲν τὸ σῶμα, οὐ θάνατος δὲ τὸ σῶμα· ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν σῶμα ἔργον ἐγένετο τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἡ δὲ φθορὰ καὶ ὁ θάνατος ὑπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας εἰσήχθη. Τὸ γοῦν ἀλλότριον ἀποδύσασθαι βούλομαι, φησὶν, οὐ τὸ οἰκεῖον· ἀλλότριον δὲ, οὐ τὸ σῶμα, ἀλλ' ἡ φθορά. ∆ιὰ τοῦτό φησιν· Ἐφ' ᾧ οὐ θέλομεν ἐκδύσασθαι, τουτέστι, τὸ σῶμα, ἀλλ' ἐπενδύσασθαι τῷ σώματι τὴν ἀφθαρσίαν. Μέσον ἐστὶ τὸ σῶμα φθορᾶς καὶ ἀφθαρσίας. Ἀποδύεται τοίνυν φθορὰν, καὶ ἐπενδύεται ἀφθαρσίαν· ἀποβάλλει ὅπερ ἔλαβεν ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, καὶ κτᾶται ὅπερ ἔδωκεν ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ χάρις. Καὶ ἵνα μάθῃς, ὅτι τὸ ἐκδύσασθαι οὐ περὶ τοῦ σώματός φησιν, ἀλλὰ περὶ τῆς φθορᾶς καὶ τοῦ θανάτου, ἄκουσον τῶν ἐπαγομένων εὐθέως. Εἰπὼν γὰρ, Οὐ θέλομεν ἐκδύσασθαι, ἀλλ' ἐπενδύσασθαι, οὐκ εἶπεν· Ἵνα καταποθῇ τὸ σῶμα ὑπὸ τῆς ἀσωματότητος· ἀλλὰ τί; Ἵνα καταποθῇ τὸ θνητὸν ὑπὸ τῆς ζωῆς, τουτέστιν, ἵνα ἀφανισθῆ, ἵνα ἀπόληται· ὥστε ἀπώλειαν οὐχὶ τοῦ σώματος λέγει, ἀλλὰ θανάτου καὶ φθορᾶς. Ἐπερχομένη γὰρ ἡ ζωὴ οὐχὶ τὸ σῶμα ἀφανίζει καὶ δαπανᾷ, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐπιγινομένην αὐτῷ φθορὰν καὶ τὸν θάνατον. Ὃ τοίνυν στεναγμὸς οὐ διὰ τὸ σῶμα, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν ἐπικειμένην φθοράν· καὶ γὰρ τὸ σῶμα βαρύ ἐστι καὶ φορτικὸν καὶ ἐπαχθὲς, οὐ παρὰ τὴν οἰκείαν φύσιν, ἀλλὰ παρὰ τὴν ὕστερον αὐτῷ προσγενομένην θνητότητα. Ἀλλ' οὐχὶ σῶμα φθαρτὸν, ἀλλ' ἄφθαρτόν ἐστι. Τοσαύτη γὰρ αὐτοῦ ἐστιν ἡ εὐγένεια, ὡς καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ φθορᾷ τὴν ἀξίαν ἐπιδείκνυσθαι τὴν αὑτοῦ. Αἱ γοῦν σκιαὶ τῶν ἀποστόλων τὰς ἀσωμάτους ἀπήλασαν δυνάμεις, καὶ ἡ κόνις καὶ ἡ τέφρα δαιμόνων περιεγένετο, καὶ τὰ ἱμάτια τὰ ὁμιλήσαντα τοῖς σώμασιν αὐτῶν νόσους ἀνεῖλον, καὶ ὑγίειαν ἐπανήγαγον. ζʹ. Μὴ γάρ μοι φλέγμα καὶ χολὴν εἴπῃς, καὶ ἱδρῶτα, καὶ ῥύπον, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα, ἅπερ οἱ κατηγοροῦντες τοῦ σώματος λέγουσιν· οὐ γὰρ τῆς τοῦ σώματος φύσεως ταῦτα ἦν, ἀλλὰ τῆς ὕστερον ἐπιγενομένης φθορᾶς. Εἰ δὲ θέλεις αὐτοῦ καταμαθεῖν τὴν ἀρετὴν, ἔπελθε τῶν μελῶν ἁπάντων τὴν διάπλασιν, τὸ σχῆμα, τὰς ἐνεργείας, τὴν πρὸς ἄλληλα συμφωνίαν· καὶ πάσης πόλεως εὐνομουμένης καὶ φιλοσόφους ἅπαντας τοὺς πολίτας ἐχούσης ἀκριβεστέραν ὄψει τὴν τῶν μελῶν τούτων πρὸς ἄλληλα πολιτείαν. Εἰ δὲ ἄνω καὶ κάτω ταῦτα παρατρέχων, τὸ φθαρτὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ θνητὸν μόνον προτείνοις, οὐδὲ ἐντεῦθεν ἀπορήσομεν ἀπολογίας. Ὅτι γὰρ οὐ μόνον οὐδεμία γέγονεν ἐντεῦθεν ἡ βλάβη, ἀλλὰ καὶ πολὺ τὸ κέρδος τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων, δῆλον ἐκεῖθεν. Οἵ τε γὰρ ἅγιοι πάντες μετὰ τούτου ζῶντες, τὴν ἀγγελικὴν ἐκείνην ἐπεδείξαντο πολιτείαν, καὶ οὐδεμία τις αὐτοῖς ἐντεῦθεν ἐγίνετο βλάβη πρὸς τὸν τῆς ἀρετῆς δρόμον· οἵ τε πρὸς ἀσέβειαν βλέποντες οὐ μικρὸν ἔσχον κώλυμα, τοῦ σώματος τὴν φθορὰν, πρὸς τὸ μὴ ποῤῥωτέρω προελθεῖν τῆς οἰκείας παρανομίας. Εἰ γὰρ τὸ φθαρτὸν τοῦτο καὶ παθητὸν σῶμα περικείμενοι πολλοὶ 50.429 τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἰσοθεΐαν ἐφαντάσθησαν, καὶ ὑπὲρ τοῦ τοιαύτην ἑαυτοῖς περιθεῖναι δόξαν πολλὰ ἐπραγματεύσαντο· εἰ μὴ παθητὸν εἶχον τὸ σῶμα καὶ φθαρτὸν, ἐλέγχον αὐτῶν τὴν ἀσθένειαν, τίνας οὐκ ἂν ἠπάτησαν τῶν ἀνοητοτέρων; Ὅταν οὖν καὶ ἀσεβείας, ὅπερ