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Dionysius: for he does not understand these things concerning the life of intelligible beings or our own life; for God, having essentially created this life for immortality, would not take away their living from the intelligible beings and our souls; since they will be essences, but David speaks also about living things being renewed from the earth, but not about these; and concerning the life of the demons who willingly fell away, he adds that it too remains indestructible, since God who created them wills this, even if they have apostatized from God; "for the gifts of God are irrevocable," who made them immortal from the beginning; and he calls the fainter participation in life the last echo, and, so to speak, little participating in vital power.

When this is taken away: The saying from the Psalms speaks of human beings, and of the final and common resurrection, which the father sets forth more clearly a little before; but here he has introduced the saying, making his argument about all things that have life in any way whatsoever, showing that their life is not seen in them otherwise than from God. And he has used "to be taken away" instead of 'to be separated', just as also "returning" instead of 'participating'. And he says these things are weak with respect to participating in this life, because they do not have life from their own home and from themselves, but (14S_254> brought in from God; for those things, insofar as they are on their own, are not seen in living, but having this by their offering to God, in a certain way they live again, and as he himself says, they become living beings again.

§ 2. To those that are composite: Wonderfully he teaches all the doctrines with correctness. For in now handing down the manner of the resurrection, he declares us mortals, since being from an immortal soul and a mortal body we are mortals, and he says the essential life of the soul is lesser than that of the angelic essences, inasmuch as he calls it an angel-like life, but not an angelic one, not as being angelic itself, but similar; and he says that we are partially the rational souls, but we as wholes are those who exist from soul and body; and he says our bodies are made immortal in the resurrection, stating that the doctrine of the resurrection seems unbelievable to antiquity, instead of 'to the foolish opinion of the Greeks', because the immortalization of matter is contrary to nature. And foolishness is called antiquity; and if the matter of the resurrection is also beyond nature, for instance in relation to the present life which is conducted through food and excretion and diseases, yet in relation to God, nothing is contrary to nature or beyond nature, since he himself is the cause of all life.

I say also the conjoined bodies: That the divine word wills that our bodies also partake of immortality, according to the Apostle; "for this mortal must put on immortality."

Beyond nature: He says this because it is according to nature for God alone to give life. The contradictory arguments of Simon: He says that the arguments of Simon are contradictory

against our doctrine which says, 'that our body (14S_256> is resurrected and immortalized', as if the matter were contrary to nature. But those who have spoken against Simon and refute him concerning these things are Irenaeus and Origen and Hippolytus and Epiphanius. But the great Dionysius divinely refutes what is said by Simon, that the resurrection of bodies is contrary to nature; for since nothing is contrary to God, how will anything be contrary to nature? And to suppose that one can furnish proofs from these manifest and sensible things against the incomprehensible and altogether invisible cause of all things, that is, against God, this is truly contrary to nature; for how will things of opinion and intelligible things subvert that which is beyond all sensation and intellection?

By the evidence of sense: One must not, he says, on account of things apprehended by sense, disbelieve the arguments concerning God, who is the invisible cause of all things. For it is properly contrary to nature to say this, to disregard things beyond sense on account of the evidence of sensible things.

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∆ιονύσιος· περί γάρ τῆς τῶν νοητῶν ζωῆς ἤ τῆς καθ' ἡμᾶς οὐ νοεῖ ταῦτα· τήν γάρ ζωήν ταύτην οὐσιωδῶς δημιουργήσας εἰς ἀθανασίαν ὁ Θεός, τοῖς νοητοῖς καί ταῖς ψυχαῖς ἡμῶν οὐκ ἄν ἀφέλοι αὐτῶν τό ζῇν· ἐπεί οὐσίαι ἔσονται, ἀλλά καί περί ζώων ἀπό γῆς ἀνανεουμένων φησίν ὁ ∆αβίδ, οὐ μήν περί τούτων· καί περί τῆς ζωῆς δέ τῷν ἑκουσίως ἀποβάντων δαιμόνων, ἐπάγει, ὅτι καί αὐτή διαμένει ἀνώλεθρος, τοῦ κτίσαντος αὐτούς Θεοῦ τοῦτο βουλομένου, κἄν αὐτοί ἀπέστησαν τοῦ Θεοῦ· «ἀμεταμέλητα γάρ τά χαρίσματα τοῦ Θεοῦ», τοῦ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ποιήσαντος αὐτούς ἀθανάτους· ἔσχατον δέ ἀπήχημα λέγει τήν ἀμυδροτέραν μετοχήν τῆς ζωῆς, καί οἷον εἰπεῖν, ὀλίγως μετέχουσαν ζωτικῆς δυνάμεως.

Ἧς ἀνταναιρουμένης: Τό μέν ψαλμικόν ρητόν περί ἀνθρώπων, καί τῆς τελευταίας καί κοινῆς ἀναστάσεως λέγει, ἥν μικρῷ πρόσθεν τρανότερον τίθησιν ὁ πατήρ· ἐνταῦθα δέ τό ρητόν παρήγαγε, τόν λόγον ποιούμενος περί πάντων τῶν ὁπωσοῦν ζῇν ἐχόντων, δεικνύς μή ἄλλως ταῦτα ἤ ἐκ Θεοῦ τό ζῇν θεωρεῖσθαι ἐν αὐτοῖς. Τό δέ «ἀνταναιρεῖσθαι» ἀντί τοῦ 'κεχωρίσθαι' τέθεικεν, ὥσπερ καί τό «ἐπιστρεφόμενα» ἀντί τοῦ 'μετέχοντα'. Ἀσθενεῖν δέ ταῦτα πρός τό μετέχειν τῆς ζωῆς ταύτης φησί, διά τό μή οἴκοθεν καί παρ' ἑαυτῶν ἔχειν τήν ζωήν, ἀλλ' (14S_254> ἐπακτήν ἐκ Θεοῦ· τά γάρ ὅσον ἐφ' ἑαυτῶν, οὐκ ἐν τῷ ζῇν θεωρούμενα, τῇ δέ πρός τόν Θεόν ἀναθέσει τοῦτο ἔχοντα, τρόπον τινά ἀναζῇ, καί ὡς αὐτός φησι, πάλιν ζῶα γίνεται.

§ 2. Τήν ὡς συμμίκτοις: Θαυμασίως πάντα τά δόγματα μετά ὀρθότητος διδάσκει. Τόν γάρ περί τῆς ἀναστάσεως τρόπον νῦν παραδιδούς, θνητούς μέν ἡμᾶς ἀποφαίνει, ἅτε ἐξ ἀθανάτου ψυχῆς καί θνητοῦ σώματος ὄντας θνητούς, τήν δέ ζωήν οὐσιώδη τῆς ψυχῆς ἐλάττονά φησι τῶν ἀγγελικῶν οὐσιῶν, παρ' ὅσον αὐτήν καί ἀγγελοειδῆ ζωήν, οὐ μήν ἀγγελικήν ὀνομάζει, οὐχ ὡς αὐτοαγγελικήν, ἀλλά παρεμφερῆ· καί ἡμᾶς μέν μερικῶς φησιν εἶναι τάς λογικάς ψυχάς, ὅλους δέ ἡμᾶς τούς ἐκ ψυχῆς καί σώματος ὄντας· ἀπαθανατίζεσθαι δέ φησι τά σώματα ἡμῶν ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει, φάσκων τό περί ἀναστάσεως δόγμα ἄπιστον δοκεῖν τῇ παλαιότητι, ἀντί τοῦ 'τῇ ἀνοήτῳ δόξῃ τῶν Ἑλλήνων', διά τό παρά φύσιν εἶναι τῆς ὕλης τό ἀπαθανατίζεσθαι. Παλαιότης δέ λέγεται ἡ ἀνοησία· εἰ δέ καί ὑπέρ φύσιν τό πρᾶγμα τῆς ἀναστάσεως, οἷον πρός τόν παρόντα βίον τόν διά τροφῆς καί ἐκκρίσεως καί νόσων διεξαγόμενον, ἀλλά πρός τόν Θεόν, οὐδέν παρά φύσιν οὐδέ ὑπέρ φύσιν, ἐπειδή αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ πάσης ζωῆς αἴτιος.

Φημί καί τά συζυγῆ σώματα: Ὅτι καί τά σώματα ἡμῶν ἀθανασίας μετέχειν ὁ θεῖος βούλεται λόγος, κατά τόν Ἀπόστολον· «δεῖ γάρ τό θνητόν τοῦτο ἐνδύσασθαι ἀθανασίαν».

Ὑπέρ φύσιν: Τοῦτό φησι διά τό μόνῳ Θεῷ κατά φύσιν εἶναι τό ζωοῦν. Σίμωνος ἀντιρρητικοί λόγοι: Σίμωνός φησιν ἀντιρρητικούς εἶναι λόγους

κατά τοῦ δόγματος ἡμῶν τοῦ λέγοντος, 'τό σῶμα (14S_256> ἡμῶν ἀνίστασθαι καί ἀθανατίζεσθαι', ὡς παρά φύσιν ὄντος τοῦ πράγματος. Οἱ δέ εἰρηκότες κατά Σίμωνος καί περί τούτων αὐτόν ἐλέγχουσιν Εἰρηναῖος καί Ὠριγένης καί Ἱππόλυτος καί Ἐπιφάνιος. Ὁ δέ μέγας ∆ιονύσιος θείως ἐκλύει τό λεγόμενον παρά Σίμωνος, παρά φύσιν εἶναι τήν ἀνάστασιν τῶν σωμάτων· τῷ γάρ Θεῷ οὐδενός ὄντος ἐναντίου, πῶς ἔσται τι παρά φύσιν; Τό δέ οἴεσθαί τινα ἐκ φανερῶν καί αἰσθητῶν τούτων τάς ἀποδείξεις πορίζεσθαι κατά τῆς ἀκαταλήπτου καί πᾶσαν ἀφανοῦς αἰτίας τῶν πάντων, τουτέστι κατά τοῦ Θεοῦ, τοῦτό ἐστι ἀληθῶς παρά φύσιν· τά γάρ δοξαστά καί νοητά πῶς ἀνατρέψει τό ὑπέρ πᾶσαν αἴσθησιν καί νόησιν;

Τῷ προφανεῖ τῆς αἰσθήσεως: Οὐ χρή, φησι, διά τά τῇ αἰσθήσει ληπτά ἀπιστεῖν τοῖς περί Θεοῦ λόγοις, ὅς ἐστιν ἡ πάντων ἀφανής αἰτία. Κυρίως γάρ τοῦτό ἐστι παρά φύσιν εἰπεῖν, τό ἀθετεῖν τά ὑπέρ αἴσθησιν, διά τό τῶν αἰσθητῶν προφανές.