On the Making of Man.

 I. Wherein is a partial inquiry into the nature of the world, and a more minute exposition of the things which preceded the genesis of man

 II. Why man appeared last, after the creation

 III. That the nature of man is more precious than all the visible creation

 IV. That the construction of man throughout signifies his ruling power .

 V. That man is a likeness of the Divine sovereignty .

 VI. An examination of the kindred of mind to nature: wherein, by way of digression, is refuted the doctrine of the Anomœans .

 VII. Why man is destitute of natural weapons and covering

 VIII. Why man’s form is upright and that hands were given him because of reason wherein also is a speculation on the difference of souls .

 IX. That the form of man was framed to serve as an instrument for the use of reason .

 X. That the mind works by means of the senses.

 XI. That the nature of mind is invisible.

 XII. An examination of the question where the ruling principle is to be considered to reside wherein also is a discussion of tears and laughter, and

 XIII. A Rationale of sleep, of yawning, and of dreams .

 XIV. That the mind is not in a part of the body wherein also is a distinction of the movements of the body and of the soul .

 XV. That the soul proper, in fact and name, is the rational soul, while the others are called so equivocally wherein also is this statement, that the

 XVI. A contemplation of the Divine utterance which said—“Let us make man after our image and likeness” wherein is examined what is the definition of

 XVII. What we must answer to those who raise the question—“If procreation is after sin, how would souls have come into being if the first of mankind h

 XVIII. That our irrational passions have their rise from kindred with irrational nature.

 XIX. To those who say that the enjoyment of the good things we look for will again consist in meat and drink, because it is written that by these mean

 XX. What was the life in Paradise, and what was the forbidden tree ?

 XXI. That the resurrection is looked for as a consequence, not so much from the declaration of Scripture as from the very necessity of things .

 XXII. To those who say, “If the resurrection is a thing excellent and good, how is it that it has not happened already, but is hoped for in some perio

 XXIII. That he who confesses the beginning of the world’s existence must necessarily also agree as to its end .

 XXIV. An argument against those who say that matter is co-eternal with God.

 XXV. How one even of those who are without may be brought to believe the Scripture when teaching of the resurrection .

 XXVI. That the resurrection is not beyond probability .

 XXVII. That it is possible, when the human body is dissolved into the elements of the universe, that each should have his own body restored from the c

 XXVIII. To those who say that souls existed before bodies, or that bodies were formed before souls wherein there is also a refutation of the fables c

 XXIX. An establishment of the doctrine that the cause of the existence of soul and body is one and the same.

 XXX. A brief examination of the construction of our bodies from a medical point of view.

XXVI. That the resurrection is not beyond probability138    Otherwise Chap. xxvii. The Bodleian ms. of the Latin version has the title:—“That however much the human body may have been consumed, the Divine power can easily bring it together.”.

1. There are, however, some who, owing to the feebleness of human reasoning, judging the Divine power by the compass of our own, maintain that what is beyond our capacity is not possible even to God. They point to the disappearance of the dead of old time, and to the remains of those who have been reduced to ashes by fire; and further, besides these, they bring forward in idea the carnivorous beasts, and the fish that receives in its own body the flesh of the shipwrecked sailor, while this again in turn becomes food for men, and passes by digestion into the bulk of him who eats it: and they rehearse many such trivialities, unworthy of God’s great power and authority, for the overthrow of the doctrine, arguing as though God were not able to restore to man his own, by return139    ἀναλυσέως, in S. Gregory, seems to be frequently used in the sense of “return.” Cf. Phil. i. 23, εἰς τὸ ἀναλῦσαι, καὶ σὺν Χριστῳ εἶναι, where Tertullian translates “cupio recipi”, (De Patientia). through the same ways.

2. But we briefly cut short their long circuits of logical folly by acknowledging that dissolution of the body into its component parts does take place, and not only does earth, according to the Divine word, return to earth, but air and moisture also revert to the kindred element, and there takes place a return of each of our components to that nature to which it is allied; and although the human body be dispersed among carnivorous birds, or among the most savage beasts by becoming their food, and although it pass beneath the teeth of fish, and although it be changed by fire into vapour and dust, wheresoever one may in argument suppose the man to be removed, he surely remains in the world; and the world, the voice of inspiration tells us, is held by the hand of God. If thou, then, art not ignorant of any of the things in thy hand, dost thou deem the knowledge of God to be feebler than thine own power, that it should fail to discover the most minute of the things that are within the compass of the Divine span?

ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΚϚʹ.

Ὅτι οὐκ ἔξω τοῦ εἰκότος ἡ ἀνάστασις.

Ἀλλ' εἰσί τινες, οἳ διὰ τὴν τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων λογισμῶν ἀτονίαν, πρὸς τὰ ἡμέτερα μέτρα τὴν θείαν δύναμιν κρίνοντες, τὸ ἡμῖν ἀχώρητον οὐδὲ Θεῷ δυνατὸν εἶναι κατασκευάζουσι. Δεικνύουσι γὰρ τῶν τε ἀρχαίων νεκρῶν τὸν ἀφανισμὸν, τῶν τε διὰ πυρὸς ἀποτεφρωθέντων τὰ λείψανα, καὶ ἔτι πρὸς τούτοις τὰ σαρκοβόρα τῶν ζώων τῷ λόγῳ προφέρουσι, καὶ τὸν ἰχθὺν τῷ ἰδίῳ σώματι τὴν σάρκα τοῦ ναυαγήσαντος ἀναλαβόντα, καὶ τοῦτον πάλιν τροφὴν ἀνθρώπων γενόμενον, καὶ εἰς τὸν τοῦ βεβρωκότος ὄγκον μετακεχωρηκότα διὰ τῆς πέψεως. Καὶ πολλὰ τοιαῦτα μικροπρεπῆ, καὶ τῆς μεγάλης τοῦ Θεοῦ δυνάμεως καὶ ἐξουσίας ἀνάξια, ἐπ' ἀνατροπῇ τοῦ δόγματος διεξέρχονται: ὡς οὐ δυναμένου τοῦ Θεοῦ πάλιν διὰ τῶν αὐτῶν ὁδῶν, δι' ἀναλύσεως ἀποκαταστῆσαι τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τὸ ἴδιον. Ἀλλ' ἡμεῖς ἐν ὀλίγῳ τὰς μακρὰς αὐτῶν τῆς λογικῆς ματαιότητος περιδρομὰς ὑποτεμνώμεθα, ὁμολογοῦντες τὴν μὲν διάλυσιν τοῦ σώματος εἰς τὰ ἐξ ὧν συνέστηκε, γίνεσθαι, καὶ οὐ μόνον τὴν γῆν κατὰ τὸν θεῖον λόγον εἰς τὴν γῆν ἀναλύεσθαι: ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν ἀέρα, καὶ τὸ ὑγρὸν προσχωρεῖν τῷ ὁμοφύλῳ, καὶ ἑκάστου τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν πρὸς τὸ συγγενὲς τὴν μεταχώρησιν γίγνεσθαι, κἂν τοῖς σαρκοβόροις ὀρνέοις, κἂν τοῖς ὠμοτάτοις θηρίοις ἀναμιχθῇ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον σῶμα διὰ τῆς βρώσεως, κἂν ὑπὸ τὸν ὀδόντα τῶν ἰχθύων ἔλθῃ, κἂν εἰς ἀτμοὺς καὶ κόνιν μεταβληθῇ τῷ πυρί. Ὅπου δ' ἄν τις καθ' ὑπόθεσιν περιενέγκῃ τῷ λόγῳ τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ἐντὸς τοῦ κόσμου πάντως ἐστί: τοῦτον δὲ τῇ χειρὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ περικρατεῖσθαι, ἡ θεόπνευστος διδάσκει φωνή. Εἰ οὖν σύ τι τῶν ἐν τῇ σῇ παλάμῃ οὐκ ἀγνοεῖς, ἆρ' οἴει τῆς σῆς δυνάμεως ἀτονωτέραν εἶναι τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ γνῶσιν, ὡς μὴ ἂν ἐξευρεῖν τῶν ἐμπεριεχομένων ὑπὸ τῆς θείας σπιθαμῆς τὴν ἀκρίβειαν;