Oecumenius, Commentary on Apocalypse

the word intimates their alteration and transformation of heaven and earth. For the heavens will pass away with a roar, according to the divine Peter and according to the prophet who says in the beginning you, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; and all will grow old like a garment and like a mantle you will roll them up, and they will be changed, reasonably the passing away and the destruction. which signifies their alteration, the revelation called flight as a place was not found for them; for where would it be found, the corruption which they cast off? Now then it has spoken of their alteration, but proceeding a little it says that they will also be new. and I saw, it says, the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. it says the righteous are the great, not calling them great in bodily size, but in the glory and splendor of virtue, but the sinners the small as being of no account because of their lowliness and worthlessness. and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is of life. The Lord in the Gospels says that the way leading to destruction is broad and wide, and many travel on it; but the way leading to life is narrow and afflicted, and 228 few there are not only who walk on it, but even who find it. For this reason he saw many books and one; many in which all people are written because of the multitude contained therein, but one of life, in which are those chosen from the others and as it were blameless in virtue and traveling the entire rough and steep road of virtue. and each one, it says, of those in the books was judged worthily of their own deeds. But at the beginning of the sixth discourse he also mentions another book, which he calls a little book. but now a book and a book of life, so that there are three differences; a little book, it says, in which are the exceedingly impious according to what is understood there; a book of life, in which are the exceedingly pious and righteous; and books, in which are all people being somehow in the middle of evil and virtue, and having said the things concerning the resurrection; for to say 'and I saw the dead before the throne' receiving and being judged according to their works, is to speak of the resurrection. for he saw the resurrected dead receiving their recompense and then he narrates in what way the resurrection happened; yes, it says; the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and each was judged according to their works. and Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire ... and if anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. and I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea is no more. and I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 229 As many as disbelieve in the resurrection of the bodies, they laugh at us and our doctrine which says, that these bodies rise again, as this is not only difficult, but also completely impossible. and they say that each of the bodies on earth consists of the four elements, fire, water, earth, air; but the bodies dissolved by death return to those from which they were first composed. for instance, the fiery part in us to the kindred and universal fire; the watery part to the water; and the other pair to their own kind. So when these have been mixed and mingled with their own substances, how is it possible for what has become indistinguishable by the mixture, to be returned again to each of the bodies as you say, unless you were to say that different things rise instead of others? To whom one might say that of the divine scripture: You are mistaken, O men, not knowing the power of God, by whose will the universe was brought into being, whose mere willing is a completed work, as has been said before. For what is easy from what is not

τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς τὴν ἐναλλαγὴν αὐτῶν καὶ τὴν μεταποίησιν ὁ λόγος αἰνίττεται. οἱ γὰρ οἱ οὐρανοὶ ῥοιζηδὸν παρελεύσονται, κατὰ τὸν θεσπέσιον Πέτρον καὶ κατὰ τὸν προφήτην ὅς φησι καταρχὰς τὴν γῆν σου, Κύριε, ἐθεμελίωσας, καὶ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν σού εἰσιν οἱ οὐρανοί· αὐτοὶ ἀπολοῦνται, σὺ δὲ διαμένεις· καὶ πάντες ὡς ἱμάτιον παλαιωθήσονται καὶ ὡσεὶ περιβόλαιον ἑλίξεις αὐτούς, καὶ ἀλλαγήσονται, εἰκότως τὴν παρέλευσιν καὶ τὴν ἀπώλειαν. ἅτινα τὴν ἐναλλαγὴν αὐτῶν διασημαίνει, φυγὴν ἐκάλεσεν ἡ ἀποκάλυψις ὡς μὴ εὑρίσκεσθαι τόπον αὐτοῖς· ποῦ γὰρ καὶ εὑρεθείη ἣν ἀπέβαλον φθοράν; νῦν μὲν οὖν τὴν ἐναλλαγὴν αὐτῶν εἴρηκε, μικρὸν δὲ προϊὼν ὅτι καὶ καινοὶ ἔσονται λέγει. καὶ εἶδόν φησι νεκρούς, τοὺς μεγάλους καὶ τοὺς μικρούς, ἑστῶτας ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου. μεγάλους μὲν τοὺς δικαίους φησίν, οὐ τῷ σωματικῷ μεγέθει μεγάλους αὐτοὺς καλέσας, ἀλλὰ τῇ δόξῃ καὶ τῇ λαμπρότητι τῆς ἀρετῆς, μικροὺς δέ γε τοὺς ἁμαρτωλοὺς ὡς οὐδαμινοὺς διὰ τὴν ταπεινότητα καὶ τὸ εὐτελές. καὶ βίβλοι ἀνεῴχθησαν· καὶ ἄλλο βιβλίον ἀνεῴχθη, ὅ ἐστι τῆς ζωῆς. ὁ Κύριος ἐν Εὐαγγελίοις φησὶ πλατείαν εἶναι καὶ εὐρύχωρον τὴν ἀπάγουσαν ὁδὸν εἰς τὴν ἀπώλειαν, καὶ πολλοὺς πορεύεσθαι ἐν αὐτῇ· στενὴν δὲ καὶ τεθλιμμένην τὴν ὁδὸν τὴν ἀπάγουσαν εἰς τὴν ζωήν, καὶ ὀλί 228 γους εἶναι οὐ μόνον τοὺς περιπατοῦντας ἐν αὐτῇ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς εὑρίσκοντας αὐτήν. διὰ τοῦτο βίβλους εἶδε πολλὰς καὶ μίαν· πολλὰς μὲν ἐν αἷς εἰσι πάντες οἱ ἄνθρωποι γεγραμμένοι διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἐγκειμένων, μίαν δὲ τῆς ζωῆς, ἐν ᾗ εἰσιν οἱ τῶν ἄλλων ἐξειλεγμένοι καὶ οἷον ἄμωμοι τῇ ἀρετῇ καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν τραχείαν καὶ ἀνάντη τῆς ἀρετῆς ὁδὸν ὁδεύοντες. καὶ ἕκαστός φησι τῶν ἐν τοῖς βίβλοις ἐκρίθη τῶν οἰκείων πράξεων ἐπαξίως. ἐν δὲ τῇ ἀρχῇ τοῦ ἕκτου λόγου καὶ ἄλλου βιβλίου μέμνηται, ὅπερ βιβλιδάριον καλεῖ. νῦν δὲ βίβλον καὶ βιβλίον ζωῆς, ὡς εἶναι τρεῖς διαφοράς· βιβλιδάριον μέν φησιν, ἐν ᾧ εἰσιν οἱ λίαν ἀσεβεῖς κατὰ τὰ ἐκεῖ νενοημένα· βίβλον δὲ ζωῆς, ἐν ᾗ οἱ λίαν εὐσεβεῖς καὶ δίκαιοι· βίβλοι δέ, ἐν αἷς οἱ πάντες ἄνθρωποι μέσοι πως τυγχάνοντες κακίας καὶ ἀρετῆς, εἰπὼν δὲ τὰ περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως· τὸ γὰρ εἰπεῖν καὶ εἶδον τοὺς νεκροὺς ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου ἀπολαμβάνοντας καὶ κρινομένους κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν, τὴν ἀνάστασίν ἐστιν εἰπεῖν. ἀναστάντας γὰρ τοὺς νεκροὺς εἶδεν τὴν ἀντιμισθίαν ἀπολαμβάνοντας καὶ λοιπὸν ἐπιδιηγεῖται ποίῳ τρόπῳ ἡ ἀνάστασις γέγονε· ναί φησιν· ἔδωκεν ἡ θάλασσα τοὺς νεκροὺς τοὺς ἐν αὐτῇ, καὶ ὁ θάνατος καὶ ὁ Ἅδης ἔδωκαν τοὺς νεκροὺς τοὺς ἐν αὐτοῖς, καὶ ἐκρίθη σαν ἕκαστος κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν. καὶ ὁ θάνατος καὶ ὁ Ἅδης ἐβλήθησαν εἰς τὴν λίμνην τοῦ πυρὸς ... καὶ εἴ τις οὐχ εὑρέθη ἐν τῇ βίβλῳ τῆς ζωῆς γεγραμμένος, ἐβλήθη εἰς τὴν λί μνην τοῦ πυρός. καὶ εἶδον οὐρανὸν καινὸν καὶ γῆν καινήν· ὁ γὰρ πρῶτος οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ πρώτη γῆ ἀπῆλθον, καὶ ἡ θάλασσα οὐκ ἔστιν ἔτι. καὶ τὴν πόλιν τὴν ἁγίαν Ἱερουσαλὴμ καινὴν εἶδον καταβαίνουσαν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡτοιμασ μένην, ὡς νύμφην κεκοσμημένην τῷ ἀνδρὶ αὐτῆς. 229 ὅσοι τῇ τῶν σωμάτων ἀπιστοῦσιν ἀναστάσει, καταμειδιῶσιν ἡμῶν τε καὶ τοῦ ἡμετέρου δόγματος τοῦ λέγοντος, ταῦτα τὰ σώματα πάλιν ἀνίστασθαι, ὡς οὐ μόνον δυσχεροῦς τούτου τυγχάνοντος, ἀλλὰ καὶ παντάπασιν ἀδυνάτου. καί φασιν ἕκαστον τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς σωμάτων ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων συνεστάναι στοιχείων, πυρός, ὕδατος, γῆς, ἀέρος· τὰ δέ γε τῷ θανάτῳ διαλυθέντα σώματα εἰς ἐκεῖνα χωρεῖν ἐξ ὧν καὶ συνέστη τὴν ἀρχήν. οἷον τὸ μὲν πυρῶδες τὸ ἐν ἡμῖν εἰς τὸ συγγενὲς καὶ καθόλου πῦρ· τὸ δὲ ὑδατῶδες εἰς τὸ ὕδωρ· καὶ ἡ ἑτέρα συζυγία πρὸς τὰ οἰκεῖα. ἀνακραθέντων οὖν τούτων καὶ συγχυθέντων ταῖς οἰκείαις οὐσίαις, πῶς ἔνεστι τὸ τῇ συγκρίσει ἀδιάκριτον γεγονός, αὖθις ἑκάστῳ τῶν ὡς ὑμεῖς φατε σωμάτων ἀποδοθῆναι, πλὴν εἰ μὴ ἕτερα ἀνθ' ἑτεροίων ἀνίσασθαι φαίητε; πρὸς οὓς ἄν τις εἴποι τὸ τῆς θείας γραφῆς· πλανᾶσθε, ὦ ἄνθρωποι, μὴ εἰδότες τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ Θεοῦ, οὗ τῷ θελήματι οὐσιώθη τὸ πᾶν, οὗ τὸ βουληθῆναι μόνον ἔργον ἐστὶ συντετελεσμένον, καθὼς καὶ πρόσθεν εἴρηται. τί γάρ ἐστι ῥάδιον ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος