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it is possible to learn that death has laid rotten foundations; for this reason it will be quickly destroyed, which also happened in the case of our Lord Christ, its seeming power having been destroyed. Glory to the one who from beginning to end administered the affairs concerning man. 5.77 From this it is shown again that death is not according to wrath, because even those testified to be righteous die untimely and by violence, while those testified to be sinners, having completed their days, died in a long old age. "For it is appointed for men to die once," as the Apostle says, speaking for the majority; for neither do all die, nor did Lazarus and the others whom the Lord raised die only once, but so that he might say that all people, being in this state, are mortal, having been so created by God. After this another, better state is introduced, which distinguishes the righteous and the unrighteous, the pious and the impious, in which death no longer reigns. 5.78 Further. Some have said that, when the first man sinned and received the sentence of death, he was changed from his inherent immortality to mortality, and supposedly interpreting, they say that God's saying "on whatever day you eat from the tree, you shall surely die" meant that he would become mortal; for we see that he did not die immediately according to the threat, so that it is clear that this hints to him that: Being immortal, you shall become mortal, so that, he says, the sentence of God might prove true; whence also those born from him, falling under the paternal sentence, are born mortal. 5.79 And if this is true, how is it that Abel, having fallen under the sentence according to them and been born mortal, yet having appeared righteous and a virgin, the sentence was not sufficient for him, but he has fallen under another punishment again, I mean that of an untimely death? From where then was this added to him, being righteous and a virgin, and especially since he was already within the, as it is said, paternal sentence, that is, of a mortal, when even mortal righteous men are able to be preserved from dying, just as we see in the case of Enoch, who though he too had fallen under the paternal sentence, as you say, and had a wife and children, yet did not experience death, while Abel had neither wife nor children? 5.80 And how, when Cain asked for death on account of his fratricide, does God not grant it, but rather delivers him to a heavier punishment, to groan and tremble on the earth, and says that death is a release from this evil? For he says: "Whoever kills Cain will nullify seven vengeances," meaning to say: Whoever kills him removes many punishments from him and nullifies his chastisement. It is possible to see from this too, since the righteous virgin was permitted to be killed, that death was not inflicted on man according to wrath, as the tellers of marvels declare, but by the philanthropy and wisdom from the merciful God for our instruction, as we have also said before. 5.81 Further. How is it according to them that, when the first man sinned by eating of one plant, He condemned both him and all his successors to mortality, but having condemned the first murderer to groan and tremble, He does not condemn all subsequent murderers to the same punishment, but to another, to which the first one even begged to be condemned, and begging did not obtain it? 5.82 This is Enoch against whom the sentence of death did not prevail; for he was translated by God so as not to see death, as it seems to the divine Scripture, so that through this it might be foretold to us that death will not prevail over men, but its power will receive a dissolution, just as also happened in the case of the Lord Christ, its power having been destroyed. This is Enoch who was translated into life as a sign of the power of God to the generations after these, of the power able to preserve mortals from dying, but to endure, while living, the change to the better. This is he who along with Elijah in the last days will stand against the Antichrist and expose his error according to the ecclesiastical tradition. This is he who through faith and

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ἔνεστι μαθεῖν ὅτι σαθρὰ θεμέλια τέθεικεν ὁ θάνατος· διὰ τοῦτο τάχιστα καταλυθήσεται, ὃ καὶ γέγονεν ἐπὶ τοῦ ∆εσπότου ἡμῶν Χριστοῦ, καταλυθὲν αὐτοῦ τὸ δοκοῦν κράτος. ∆όξα τῷ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἕως τέλους οἰκονομήσαντι τὰ κατὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπον. 5.77 Ἐκ τούτου δείκνυται πάλιν μὴ κατ' ὀργὴν εἶναι τὸν θάνατον, ὅτι καὶ οἱ μαρτυρούμενοι δίκαιοι εἶναι ἄωροι καὶ βίᾳ τελευτῶσιν, οἱ δὲ μαρτυρούμενοι ἁμαρτωλοί, πληρώσαντες τὰς ἡμέρας ἑαυτῶν, ἐν μακρῷ γήρει ἐτελεύτησαν. "Ἅπαξ γὰρ ἀπόκειται παρὰ Θεοῦ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἀποθανεῖν", καθά φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος, ἐκ τοῦ πλείονος αὐτὸ προσειπών· οὔτε γὰρ πάντες ἀποθνῄσκουσιν, οὔτε Λάζαρος καὶ οὓς ἤγειρεν ὁ Κύριος ἄλλους ἅπαξ μόνον ἀπέθανον, ἀλλ' ἵνα εἴπῃ ὅτι πάντες ἐν τῇ καταστάσει ταύτῃ ὄντες οἱ ἄνθρωποι θνητοὶ ὑπάρχοντες καὶ οὕτως κτισθέντες ὑπὸ Θεοῦ. Μετὰ τοῦτο ἑτέρα τις κατάστασις ἐπεισάγεται κρείττων, διακρίνουσα δικαίους καὶ ἀδίκους, εὐσεβεῖς καὶ ἀσεβεῖς, ἐν ᾗ θάνατος οὐκέτι κρατεῖ. 5.78 Ἔτι. Τινὲς ἔφασαν ὅτι, ἁμαρτήσαντος τοῦ πρώτου ἀνθρώπου καὶ λαβόντος τὴν ἀπόφασιν τοῦ θανάτου, ἐκ τῆς προσούσης αὐτῷ ἀθανασίας εἰς θνητότητα μετεβλήθη, καὶ δῆθεν ἑρμηνεύοντες λέγουσιν ὅτι τὸ εἰπεῖν τὸν Θεὸν "ᾗ δ' ἂν ἡμέρᾳ φάγῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου, θανάτῳ ἀποθανῇ" θνητὸν αὐτὸν γενέσθαι ἔφησεν· ὁρῶμεν γὰρ αὐτὸν μὴ εὐθέως κατὰ τὴν ἀπειλὴν ἀποθανόντα, ὡς δῆλον ὅτι τοῦτο αὐτῷ αἰνίττεται, ὅτι· Ἀθάνατος ὢν γενήσῃ θνητός, ἵνα ἀληθεύσειεν, φησίν, ἡ ἀπόφασις τοῦ Θεοῦ· ὅθεν καὶ οἱ ἐξ αὐτοῦ γεννώμενοι, τῇ πατρικῇ ἀποφάσει ὑποπίπτοντες, θνητοὶ γεννῶνται. 5.79 Καὶ εἰ τοῦτο ἀληθές, πῶς ὑποπεσὼν κατ' αὐτοὺς ὁ Ἄβελ τῇ ἀποφάσει καὶ θνητὸς γεννηθείς, δίκαιος δὲ ἀναφανεὶς καὶ παρθένος, οὐκ ἀρκετὴ ἐγένετο ἡ ἀπόφασις ἐπ' αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ' ἑτέρᾳ πάλιν τιμωρίᾳ ὑποπέπτωκε, λέγω δὴ τῇ ἀωρίᾳ; Πόθεν οὖν αὐτῷ τοῦτο προσετέθη, δικαίου ὄντος καὶ παρθένου, ἄλλως τε δὲ καὶ τῆς, ὡς λέγεται, πατρικῆς ἀποφάσεως ἤδη ἐντὸς γεγονώς, τουτέστι θνητοῦ, δυναμένων καὶ θνητῶν δικαίων διατηρεῖσθαι μὴ θανεῖν, ὥσπερ ὁρῶμεν καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἐνὼχ ὑποπεσόντος μὲν καὶ αὐτοῦ τῇ πατρικῇ ἀποφάσει, ὥς φατε, καὶ γυναῖκα ἐσχηκότος καὶ τέκνα, πεῖραν δὲ θανάτου μὴ εἰληφότος, τοῦ δὲ Ἄβελ μήτε γυναῖκα μήτε τέκνα ἐσχηκότος; 5.80 Πῶς δὲ καὶ τοῦ Κάϊν αἰτησαμένου θάνατον διὰ 5.80 τὴν ἀδελφοκτονίαν, ὁ Θεὸς οὐ δίδωσιν, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον βαρυτέρᾳ τιμωρίᾳ παραδίδωσι, τὸ στένειν καὶ τρέμειν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἀπαλλαγὴν τούτου τοῦ κακοῦ τὸν θάνατον εἶναι λέγει; Φησὶ γάρ· "Πᾶς ὁ ἀποκτείνας Κάϊν ἑπτὰ ἐκδικούμενα παραλύσει", ἵνα εἴπῃ· Πολλὰς τιμωρίας ἀφαιρεῖται ἀπ' αὐτοῦ καὶ παραλύει αὐτοῦ τὴν κόλασιν πᾶς ὁ ἀποκτείνων αὐτόν. Ἔστιν οὖν καὶ ἐκ τούτου ἰδεῖν, ὡς τοῦ δικαίου καὶ παρθένου συγχωρηθέντος ἀποκτανθῆναι, ὡς οὐ κατ' ὀργὴν ὁ θάνατος τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ἐπενήνεκται, καθὰ οἱ τερατολόγοι ἀποφαίνονται, ἀλλὰ φιλανθρωπίᾳ καὶ σοφίᾳ τῇ παρὰ τοῦ οἰκτίρμονος Θεοῦ πρὸς παιδείαν ἡμετέραν, καθὰ καὶ πρώην εἰρήκαμεν. 5.81 Ἔτι. Πῶς δὲ κατ' αὐτούς, τοῦ πρώτου ἀνθρώπου ἁμαρτήσαντος ἐπὶ βρώσεως ἑνὸς φυτοῦ, καὶ αὐτὸν καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἐφεξῆς θνητότητι κατεδίκασε, τὸν δὲ πρῶτον φονέα στένειν καὶ τρέμειν καταδικάσας οὐ πάντας τοὺς ἐφεξῆς φονέας τῇ αὐτῇ τιμωρίᾳ καταδικάζει, ἀλλ' ἑτέρᾳ, ᾗ καὶ ὁ πρῶτος παρεκάλει καταδικασθῆναι, καὶ παρακαλῶν οὐκ ἔτυχεν; 5.82 Οὗτός ἐστιν Ἐνὼχ πρὸς ὃν οὔτι ἡ ἀπόφασις τοῦ θανάτου ἐκράτησε· μετετέθη γὰρ ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ μὴ ἰδεῖν θάνατον, καθὰ τῇ θείᾳ Γραφῇ δοκεῖ, ὅπως καὶ διὰ τούτου προμηνυθῇ ἡμῖν ὡς οὐ κρατήσει ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὁ θάνατος, ἀλλὰ λύσιν δέξεται τὰ κατ' αὐτόν, ὥσπερ καὶ γέγονεν ἐπὶ τοῦ ∆εσπότου Χριστοῦ, καταλυθέντος αὐτοῦ τοῦ κράτους. Οὗτός ἐστιν Ἐνὼχ ὁ μετατεθεὶς εἰς ζωὴν εἰς δεῖγμα τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ δυνάμεως ταῖς μετὰ ταῦτα γενεαῖς, τῆς δυναμένης διατηρῆσαι τοὺς θνητοὺς μὴ θανεῖν, ἀλλὰ ζῶντας τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ κρεῖττον ἀλλαγὴν ὑπομένειν. Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἅμα τῷ Ἠλίᾳ ἐν ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις ἀντικαθιστάμενος τῷ Ἀντιχρίστῳ καὶ ἐλέγχων τὴν πλάνην αὐτοῦ κατὰ τὴν ἐκκλησιαστικὴν παράδοσιν. Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ διὰ πίστεως καὶ