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preaching resurrection, and it knows human beings as nothing else than what it knows human beings to be; but a form not of this kind, it neither knows nor has taught to be a human being. By the same, from chapter 10. -If, therefore, the tabernacles are eternal and the treasures unfailing, and the retribution of sinners is eternal, where will there be room after the resurrection to speak again of a casting off of bodies, and again to be turned aside, and to fall into the same world, when the Apostle clearly states and proves the unchangeable order of things to come? But now he promises, saying: Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven, says the Lord. And the phrase, "yet once more," signifies the removal of what is shaken, so that what cannot be shaken may remain. If, then, we are taught that it is once and not to be shaken again, how can they be disciples of the Gospel, who disparage the great gift of our resurrection, and the boast of the Church, and proclaim to us again a falling away of bodies? For if it is an evil for these things to be eternal, for what purpose do they rise again? And their resurrection is proclaimed as good news and joy; 96.500 and the great Paul endured being bound with chains for this hope, and being judged for the hope and resurrection of the dead, having a hope in God that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of the unjust, and he teaches that his preaching should not be judged unbelievable. If God raises the dead, for what purpose, if indeed it is good for souls, once freed from them, to be without a body? Why do they not remain immediately in the immortal state after death, if not of all, then at least of the just? But on the contrary, as a means for us, and an honor, the Lord Himself, proclaiming the good news, cries out: The hour is coming when those in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of Man, and those who hear will live. If, therefore, in the highest perfection, bodies are superfluous and worthy of being cast off, what need is there (for I will say it again) for the Master to grant and to promise as a great thing to the one who has hoped in Him, I will raise him up on the last day, and that, It will be repaid to you at the resurrection of the just, when for all there is a casting off of the risen bodies? And after a little: But if the resurrection is imperfect, because of having bodies again, according to those who dogmatize that these are to be cast off, then not the resurrection, but death happens to be a great gift, because it frees the soul from the body, and the resurrection is a condemnation, because it binds it again to the body; and the things of hope have been corrupted, as we become worse again through the resurrection. For even if the soul is immortal, yet not being a human being, the Apostle considers it no different from destruction; for it does not otherwise enjoy, or possess, or do anything, or suffer, than as it was created from the beginning with the body, being itself and having its own enjoyment, which having been dissolved by death through the disobedience of the one man Adam, again through the obedience of the one Christ, through hope has received again the state of being human. But they will surely say, How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come? for what makes them ask is the aged and imperfect bodies that depart this life, and moreover also those that are mutilated. For those who are unbelievers in the resurrection constantly say these things to us, and demand to know, that if the resurrection is common to all, the glory is also common to all, if indeed the resurrection is a glory. But let them receive the argument through an example; for we are not masters in discussions about such great things to reason as from ourselves, but of him who was entrusted with these things from God, both to preach and to initiate the Church; that a grain of wheat, or any such seed, is not all whole, nor healthy, but also eaten away and imperfect; for it is impossible for there not to be such grains among the seed; and God gives it a body as He willed; first the grain being dissolved through decay and death; then thus proceeding from what was sown through the midst of root, leaf, and stalk to an ear of grain; and then its 96.501 own seed is produced, the very one which was sown, neither in position, nor in form,

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κηρύττουσα ἀνάστασιν, καὶ οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἀνθρώπους γινώσκει, ἢ ὅπερ οἶδεν εἶναι ἀνθρώπους· τὸ δὲ μὴ τοιόνδε σχῆμα, οὔτε οἶδεν, οὔτε ἐδίδαξεν ἄνθρωπον ὄντα. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ, ἐκ κεφαλαίων ιʹ. -Εἰ τοίνυν αἰώνιοι σκηναὶ καὶ ἀνέκλειπτοι θησαυροὶ, καὶ αἰώνιος τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν ἡ ἀνταπόδοσις, ποῦ χώραν ἕξει μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν πάλιν ἀποβολὴν σωμάτων λέγειν, καὶ πάλιν ἐκτρέπεσθαι, καὶ εἰς τὸν αὐτὸν καταπίπτειν κόσμον, τοῦ Ἀποστόλου σαφῶς λέγοντος, καὶ ἀποδεικνύντος τὴν ἀμετάπτωτον τάξιν τῶν μελλόντων; Νυνὶ δὲ ἐπαγγέλλεται λέγων· Ἔτι ἅπαξ ἐγὼ σείω, οὐ μόνον τὴν γῆν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν, λέγει Κύριος. Τὸ δὲ, ἔτι ἅπαξ, δηλοῖ τῶν σαλευομένων τὴν μετάθεσιν, ἵνα μείνῃ τὰ μὴ σαλευόμενα. Εἰ οὖν ἅπαξ καὶ μηκέτι σαλευθῆναι διδασκόμεθα, πῶς μαθηταὶ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου, οἱ τὸ μέγα τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἡμῶν δῶρον, καὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τὸ καύχημα διασύροντες, καὶ πάλιν ἔκπτωσιν τῶν σωμάτων ἡμῖν καταγγέλλοντες; Εἰ γὰρ κακὸν τὸ ταῦτα διαιωνίζειν, ὑπὲρ ὅτου καὶ ἐξανίστανται; Καὶ εὐαγγελισμὸς, καὶ χαρὰ ἡ τούτων ἀνάστασις καταγγέλλεται· 96.500 καὶ ὁ μέγας Παῦλος ἁλύσεων ὑπὲρ τῆς ἐλπίδος ταύτης περικειμένων ἠνείχετο, περὶ δὲ ἐλπίδος καὶ ἀναστάσεως τῶν νεκρῶν κρινόμενος, ἐλπίδα ἔχων εἰς Θεὸν, ἀνάστασιν μέλλειν ἔσεσθαι νεκρῶν δικαίων τε, καὶ ἀδίκων, καὶ διδάσκει, μὴ ἄπιστον κρίνεσθαι τὸ κήρυγμα αὐτοῦ. Εἰ ὁ Θεὸς νεκροὺς ἐγείρει, ὑπὲρ τίνος, εἴ γε καλὸν τὸ ἄνευ σώματος εἶναι τὰς ψυχὰς ἅπαξ ἀπαλλαγεῖσας αὐτῶν; Τί μὴ ἐξ εὐθείας μένουσιν ἐν τῇ μετὰ θάνατον ἀθανάτῳ καταστάσει, εἰ καὶ μὴ πάντων, ἀλλὰ κἂν τῶν δικαίων· ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον πόρους ἡμῖν, καὶ φιλοτιμίαν αὐτὸς ὁ Κύριος εὐαγγελιζόμενος βοᾷ· Ἔρχεται ὥρα, ὅτε οἱ ἐν τοῖς μνημείοις ἀκούσουσι τῆς φωνῆς τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, καὶ οἱ ἀκούσαντες ζήσονται. Εἰ τοίνυν ἐν τῇ ἄκρᾳ τελειότητι περιττὰ, καὶ ἀποβολῆς ἄξια τὰ σώματα, τίς χρεία (πάλιν γὰρ ἐρῶ) ὡς μέγα τι δωρεῖσθαι, καὶ ἐπαγγέλλεσθαι τὸν ∆εσπότην τῷ εἰς αὐτὸν ἠλπικότι, Ἐγὼ ἀναστήσω αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρα, καὶ ὅτι Ἀνταποδοθήσεταί σοι ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει τῶν δικαίων, οὔσης πᾶσιν ἀποβολῆς τῶν ἀνισταμένων σωμάτων; Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· Εἰ δὲ ἡ ἀνάστασις ἀτελὴς, διὰ τὸ πάλιν ἔχειν τὰ σώματα, κατὰ τοὺς ταῦτα ἀποῤῥίπτεσθαι δογματίζοντας, ἄρα οὐχ ἡ ἀνάστασις, ἀλλ' ἄρα ὁ θάνατος μεγάλη τυγχάνει δωρεὰ, διὰ τὸ ἀπαλλάττειν τοῦ σώματος τὴν ψυχὴν, καταδίκη δὲ ἡ ἀνάστασις, διὰ τὸ πάλιν δεσμεῖν αὐτὴν πρὸς τὸ σῶμα· καὶ διέφθαρται τὰ τῆς ἐλπίδος, ἐν τοῖς χείροσι πάλιν διὰ τῆς ἀναστάσεως γινομένων ἡμῶν. Κἂν γὰρ ἀθάνατος ἡ ψυχὴ, ἀλλὰ μὴ οὖσαν ἄνθρωπον, οὐδὲν ἀπωλείας διαφέρειν οἴεται ὁ Ἀπόστολος· μὴ γὰρ ἄλλως αὐτὴν ἀπολαύειν, ἢ κρατεῖν, ἢ πράττειν τι, ἢ πάσχειν, ἢ καθὼς ἐξ ἀρχῆς δεδημιούργηται μετὰ τοῦ σώματος, αὐτὴν οὖσαν καὶ τὴν ἰδίαν ἀπόλαυσιν ἔχουσαν, ἄνπερ τῷ θανάτῳ διὰ τὴν παρακοὴν τοῦ ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου Ἀδὰμ λυθεῖσα, πάλιν διὰ τῆς ὑπακοῆς τοῦ ἑνὸς Χριστοῦ, διὰ τῆς ἐλπίδος ἀπέλαβεν πάλιν τὸ γενέσθαι ἄνθρωπος. Ἀλλὰ πάντως ἐροῦσι, Πῶς ἐγείρονται οἱ νεκροί; ποίῳ δὲ σώματι ἔρχονται; ἀπορεῖν γὰρ αὐτοὺς παρασκευάζει τὰ γεγηρακότα καὶ ἀτελῆ τῶν σωμάτων ὑπεξερχόμενα τοῦ βίου, προσέτι δὲ καὶ ἠκροτηριασμένα. Ταῦτα γὰρ ἡμῖν οἱ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἄπιστοι συνεχῶς ἐπιλέγουσι, καὶ ἀπαιτοῦσιν, ὅτι εἰ κοινὴ πάντων ἡ ἀνάστασις, κοινὴ πάντων καὶ ἡ δόξα, εἴπερ δόξα ἡ ἀνάστασις. Ἀλλὰ δεχέσθωσαν δι' ὑποδείγματος τὸν λόγον· οὐ γὰρ κύριοι ἡμεῖς ἐν τοῖς περὶ τῶν τηλικούντων λόγοις λογίσασθαι, ὡς ἐξ ἑαυτῶν, ἀλλὰ τοῦ ταῦτα παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ πιστευθέντος, καὶ κηρύξαι, καὶ μυσταγωγῆσαι τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν· ὅτι σῖτος, ἤ τι τῶν τοιούτων σπερμάτων, οὐ πᾶς σῶος, οὐδὲ ὑγιὴς, ἀλλὰ καὶ διαβεβρωμένος καὶ ἀτελής· ἀδύνατον γὰρ καὶ μὴ τοιούτους εἶναι ἐν τῷ σπόρῳ κόκκους· καὶ ὁ Θεὸς αὐτῷ δίδωσι σῶμα καθὼς ἐθέλησε· πρῶτον διὰ σηπεδόνος καὶ θανάτου διαλυθέντος τοῦ κόκκου· εἶθ' οὕτως ἐπὶ τὸ σπαρὲν διὰ μέσου χωρούντων ῥίζης φύλλου καὶ καλάμου ἀστάχυος· καὶ τότε τὸ 96.501 ἴδιον ἐπιγίνεται σπέρμα, ὅπερ ἐσπάρη, οὔτε τὴν θέσιν, οὔτε τὸ σχῆμα,