Theodoret of Cyrus, Letters, Patmian Collection

to the one who begot him, the maker and orderer and pilot of all things, delivered to death his own body, which he took from us for our sake, not that he might leave it dead, but having first raised it, through it he might sow in us the hopes of the resurrection. And clearly teaching this the Lord himself said: When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself; and again: The hour is coming when those in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who have done good will come out to a resurrection of life, but those who have done evil to a resurrection of judgment. Confirming this hope to the holy Apostles, he called the death of Lazarus sleep, saying: Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. Then, when they did not understand what was said and had said: If he has fallen asleep, he will be saved, he added: Lazarus is dead. You do not understand, he says, what I am saying; understand it as I say it; for I called death sleep. And the blessed Paul, giving us a clearer account of the economy, writing to the Corinthians said: Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and after a little: But now Christ has been raised from the dead; he has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, so also the resurrection of the dead came through a man. And just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. And instructing the Thessalonians he says thus: I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, about those who have fallen asleep. And he does not say of those who are dead, or have passed away; for since the state of affairs has undergone a change, he rightly changes the names as well. I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve as the rest do, who have no hope. For he does not cast out grief, nor does he legislate for passionlessness, nor does he exhort us to be outside the bounds of nature, but he measures grief by faith, as if to say: You do not journey with the same hopes as the Greeks and the Jews, and those of the heretics who consider the resurrection nonsense; nor do you have the same resources for consolation. For they consider death the dissolution of the living being, and suppose the end to be a complete destruction; but you, foreseeing the things to come with the eyes of faith, consider the separation of the soul and the body a sojourning abroad; you believe it to be a removal and a transition; a sleep longer than usual. All these things both Apostles and prophets teach us. Into these hopes we were baptized; for even saving baptism itself has a type of death and of resurrection. Therefore also the blessed Paul cries out: As many of us as were baptized into Christ, were baptized into his death; and again: For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, so shall we be also of his resurrection. Having therefore such hopes, I beseech you, let us measure our despondency by our piety; let us show to all the philosophy, which we have been taught by faith; let us teach those who still suffer from unbelief how many good things faith has been the cause of for us even in this present life, preparing us to bear all things nobly, and teaching that death is not death but a sojourning abroad. Marriage has not given you the little daughter, nor did marriage make you parents, but our maker and the lawgiver of marriage has made you fathers; he does not give us children as though paying a debt, but using munificence, he causes good things to spring up for men. Let us not then be vexed, because he has taken what he gave; for he gave as he willed, and he has taken what is his own, not ours; and having taken it he does not destroy it, but will give it back to us immortal, and impassible, and unchangeable on the day of resurrection. Let us give thanks, that he has taken her blameless, free from sins, uninitiated in evil,

γεννήσαντι, ὁ τῶν ἁπάντων ποιητὴς καὶ κοσ μήτωρ καὶ κυβερνήτης, τὸ οἰκεῖον σῶμα, ὃ ἐξ ἡμῶν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἀνέλαβε, θανάτῳ παρέδωκεν, οὐχ ἵνα νεκρὸν αὐτὸ κατα λίπῃ, ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνο πρότερον ἀναστήσας, δι' ἐκείνου τὰς τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἐλπίδας ἐν ἡμῖν ἐγκατασπείρῃ. Καὶ τοῦτο σαφῶς ἐκπαιδεύων αὐτὸς ὁ Κύριος ἔλεγεν· Ὅταν ὑψωθῶ ἐκ τῆς γῆς, πάντας ἑλκύσω πρὸς ἐμαυτόν · καὶ πάλιν· Ἔρχε ται ὥρα ὅταν ἀκούσωσιν οἱ ἐν τοῖς μνημείοις τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ἐξελεύσονται οἱ τὰ ἀγαθὰ πρά ξαντες εἰς ἀνάστασιν ζωῆς, οἱ δὲ τὰ φαῦλα πράξαν τες εἰς ἀνάστασιν κρίσεως . Ταύτην τοῖς ἱεροῖς Ἀποσ τόλοις βεβαιῶν τὴν ἐλπίδα, τοῦ Λαζάρου τὸν θάνατον ὕπνον προσηγόρευσε, λέγων· Λάζαρος ὁ φίλος ἡμῶν κεκοίμη ται . Εἶτα, ἀγνοησάντων τὸ εἰρημένον καὶ εἰρηκότων· Εἰ κε κοίμηται, σωθήσεται , ἐπήγαγε· Λάζαρος ἀπέθανεν . Οὐ νοεῖτε, φησίν, ὃ λέγω· ὡς λέγω νοεῖτε· ὕπνον γὰρ τὸν θάνα τον προσηγόρευσα. Καὶ ὁ μακάριος δὲ Παῦλος σαφέστερον ἡμῖν τῆς οἰκονομίας τὸν λόγον παραδιδούς, Κορινθίοις ἐπισ τέλλων ἔλεγεν· Εἰ δὲ Χριστὸς κηρύσσεται, ὅτι ἐκ νεκ ρῶν ἐγήγερται, πῶς λέγουσί τινες ἐν ὑμῖν, ὅτι ἀνάστα σις νεκρῶν οὐκ ἔστιν; Εἰ γὰρ νεκροὶ οὐκ ἐγείρονται, οὐδὲ Χριστὸς ἐγήγερται · καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· Νυνὶ δὲ Χρισ τὸς ἐγήγερται ἐκ νεκρῶν· ἀπαρχὴ τῶν κεκοιμημένων ἐγένετο. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ δι' ἀνθρώπου ὁ θάνατος, καὶ δι' ἀνθρώπου ἀνάστασις νεκρῶν. Καὶ ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τῷ Ἀδὰμ πάντες ἀποθνήσκουσιν, οὕτω καὶ ἐν τῷ Χρισ τῷ πάντες ζωοποιηθήσονται . Καὶ Θεσσαλονικεῦσι μὲν εἰσηγούμενος οὕτω φησίν. Οὐ θέλω ὑμᾶς ἀγνοεῖν, ἀδελ φοί, περὶ τῶν κεκοιμημένων . Καὶ οὐ λέγει τῶν τεθνεώτων, ἢ τετελευτηκότων· τῶν γὰρ πραγμάτων μεταβολὴν δεξαμένων, εἰκότως ἐναλλάττει καὶ τὰ ὀνόματα. Οὐ θέλω ὑμᾶς ἀγνο εῖν, ἀδελφοί, περὶ τῶν κεκοιμημένων, ἵνα μὴ λυπῆσθε ὡς καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ οἱ μὴ ἔχοντες ἐλπίδα . Οὐ γὰρ ἐκβάλλει τὴν λύπην, οὐδὲ ἀπάθειαν νομοθετεῖ, οὐδὲ ἔξω τῶν ὅρων τῆς φύσεως γενέσθαι παρακελεύεται, ἀλλὰ τῇ πίστει τὴν λύπην μετρεῖ, μονονουχὶ λέγων· Οὐκ ἐπὶ τῶν αὐτῶν ἐλπίδων ὁδεύετε ὑμεῖς τε καὶ οἱ Ἕλληνες, καὶ οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, καὶ τῶν αἱρετικῶν οἱ τὴν ἀνάστασιν φλυαρίαν νομίζοντες· οὐδὲ τὰς αὐτὰς ἀφορ μὰς εἰς ψυχαγωγίαν ἔχετε. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ λύσιν τοῦ ζῴου τὸν θάνατον νομίζουσι, καὶ φθορὰν παντελῆ τὴν τελευτὴν ὑπολαμ βάνουσιν· ὑμεῖς δὲ τοῖς τῆς πίστεως ὀφθαλμοῖς τὰ μέλλοντα προορῶντες, τὸν τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ τοῦ σώματος χωρισμὸν ἀπο δημίαν ἡγεῖσθε· μετάθεσιν καὶ μετάβασιν εἶναι πιστεύετε· ὕπνον τοῦ εἰωθότος μακρότερον. Ταῦτα ἡμᾶς ἅπαντες ἐκπαι δεύουσι καὶ Ἀπόστολοι καὶ προφῆται. Εἰς ταύτας ἐβαπτίσ θημεν τὰς ἐλπίδας· καὶ αὐτὸ γὰρ τὸ σωτήριον βάπτισμα θανά του τύπον ἔχει καὶ ἀναστάσεως. ∆ιὸ καὶ ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος βοᾷ· Ὅσοι εἰς Χριστὸν ἐβαπτίσθημεν, εἰς τὸν θάνατον αὐτοῦ ἐβαπτίσθημεν · καὶ πάλιν· Εἰ γὰρ σύμφυτοι γε γόναμεν τῷ ὁμοιώματι τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἐσόμεθα . Τοιαύτας οὖν ἔχοντες ἐλπίδας, παρακαλῶ, μετρήσωμεν τῇ εὐσεβείᾳ τὴν ἀθυμίαν· ὑποδείξωμεν ἅπασι φιλοσοφίαν, ἣν ὑπὸ τῆς πίστεως ἐδιδάχθημεν· διδάξω μεν τοὺς ἀπιστίαν ἔτι νοσοῦντας ὅσων ἡμῖν ἀγαθῶν ἡ πίστις κἀν τῷ παρόντι βίῳ γεγένηται πρόξενος, φέρειν ἡμᾶς ἅπαντα γενναίως παρασκευάζουσα, καὶ τὸν θάνατον οὐ θάνατον ἀλλ' ἀπο δημίαν εἶναι διδάσκουσα. Οὐχ ὁ γάμος ὑμῖν δέδωκε τὸ θυγάτριον, οὐδὲ ὁ γάμος γονέας εἰργάσατο, ἀλλ' ὁ ἡμέτερος ποιητὴς καὶ τοῦ γάμου νομοθέτης πατέρας πεποίηκεν· οὐχ ὡς ὄφλημα ἐκτίνων δίδωσιν ἡμῖν τοὺς παῖδας, ἀλλὰ φιλοτιμίᾳ κεχρημένος ἀναβλύζει τὰ ἀγαθὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. Μὴ τοίνυν δυσχεράνωμεν, ὅτι ἔλαβεν ὅπερ ἔδωκεν· ἔδωκε γὰρ ὡς ἠθέλησε, καὶ τὰ οἰκεῖα ἔλαβεν, οὐ τὰ ἡμέτερα· καὶ λαβὼν οὐκ ἀπόλλυσιν, ἀλλ' ἀθάνα τον ἡμῖν αὐτό, καὶ ἀπαθές, καὶ ἄτρεπτον ἀποδώσει ἐν τῇ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἡμέρᾳ. Χάριν ὁμολογήσωμεν, ὅτι ἄμωμον ἔλαβεν, ἁμαρτημάτων ἐλεύθερον, κακίας ἀμύητον,