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through Elisha. We are persuaded that death is not a wage of punishment, from the fact that holy men have undergone it, and even the Lord of the saints Himself, Jesus Christ, the life of the faithful and the resurrection of the dead. For this reason, then, He brings on dissolution for a little while, as if for those living in a great city after their contests, so that after raising each one up He may either reject or crown him. For He who formed the body of Adam from earth and the rest of the elements, He will also raise up the body of the rest and of the first man after dissolution. “For,” He says, “all who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.” In addition to these things, we believe that the resurrection happens also from the resurrection of the Lord; for He is the one who raised Lazarus on the fourth day, and the daughter of Jairus, and the son of the widow, and raised Himself by the command of the Father after three days, the pledge of our resurrection. He who brought Jonah alive and unharmed out of the belly of the sea monster after three days, and the three youths from the Babylonian furnace, and Daniel from the lions' den, will not lack the power to raise us up as well. But if the Greeks mock, disbelieving our scriptures, let their own prophetess, the Sibyl, persuade them, speaking to them thus, word for word: “But when all things have become dusty ash, And the immortal God shall quench the fire which He Himself kindled, God Himself will again form the bones and ashes of men, And will set up mortals again, as they were before. And then there will be a judgment, at which God Himself will judge, Judging the world again; and as many as have sinned in impiety, The earth will cover them again; But as many as are pious shall live again in the world, When God gives spirit and life and grace to them, The pious; and then all shall see themselves.” If, therefore, she herself confesses the resurrection and does not deny the regeneration, and distinguishes the pious from the impious, then they disbelieve our writings in vain. And yet they say they even demonstrate a specific resurrection, not believing the very things they themselves relate. For they say there is a certain bird, one of a kind, which offers rich proof of the resurrection, which they say exists without a mate and alone in creation; and they call it a phoenix, which they relate comes every five hundred years to Egypt to the so-called

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διὰ Ἐλισσαίου. Πειθόμεθα δὲ μὴ μισθὸν τιμωρίας εἶναι τὸν θάνατον, ἐξ ὧν αὐτὸν καὶ ἅγιοι ὑπέστησαν ἢ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ τῶν ἁγίων Κύριος Ἰησοῦς ὁ Χριστός, ἡ ζωὴ τῶν πιστῶν καὶ ἡ ἀνάστασις τῶν νεκρῶν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὖν τέως ὡς ἂν ἐν μεγαλοπόλει πολιτευομέ νοις μετὰ τοὺς ἄθλους ἐπάγει πρὸς ὀλίγον τὴν διάλυσιν, ἵνα ἀναστήσας ἕκαστον ἢ ἀποκηρύξῃ ἢ στεφανώσῃ. Ὁ γὰρ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ τὸ σῶμα ἐκ γῆς καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν κατασκευάσας, οὗτος καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν καὶ τοῦ πρώτου μετὰ διάλυσιν τὸ σῶμα ἀναστήσει. «Ἀκούσονται γάρ, φησί, πάντες οἱ ἐν τοῖς μνημείοις τῆς φωνῆς τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ οἱ ἀκού σαντες ζήσονται.» Πρὸς δὲ τούτοις πιστεύομεν γίνεσθαι τὴν ἀνάστασιν καὶ ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Κυρίου ἀναστάσεως· αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ καὶ Λάζαρον ἀναστήσας τετραήμερον καὶ τὴν θυγατέρα Ἰαείρου καὶ τὸν υἱὸν τῆς χήρας, καὶ ἑαυτὸν προστάγματι τοῦ Πατρὸς διὰ τριῶν ἡμερῶν ἀνεγείρας, ὁ ἀρραβὼν τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἡμῶν. Ὁ τὸν Ἰωνᾶν διὰ τριῶν ἡμερῶν ζῶντα καὶ ἀπαθῆ ἐξαγαγὼν ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας τοῦ κήτους καὶ τοὺς τρεῖς παῖδας ἐκ καμίνου Βαβυλωνίας καὶ τὸν ∆ανιὴλ ἐκ στόματος λεόντων, οὐκ ἀπορήσει δυνάμεως καὶ ἡμᾶς ἀνεγεῖραι. Eἰ δὲ χλευάζουσιν Ἕλληνες ἀπιστοῦντες ταῖς ἡμετέ ραις γραφαῖς, πιστωσάτω αὐτοὺς κἂν ἡ αὐτῶν προφῆτις Σίβυλλα, οὕτω πως αὐτοῖς λέγουσα κατὰ λέξιν· «Ἀλλ' ὁπότ' ἤδη πάντα τέφρα σποδόεσσα γένηται, Καὶ πῦρ κοιμίσῃ θεὸς ἄφθιτος, ὅσπερ ἀνῆψεν, Ὀστέα καὶ σποδιὴν αὐτὸς θεὸς ἔμπαλιν ἀνδρῶν Μορφώσει, στήσει δὲ βροτοὺς πάλιν, ὡς πάρος ἦσαν· Καὶ τότε δὴ κρίσις ἔσται, ἐφ' ᾗ δικάσει θεὸς αὐτός, Κρίνων ἔμπαλι κόσμον· ὅσοι δ' ὑπὸ δυσσεβίῃσιν Ἥμαρτον, τούσδ' αὖ πάλι γαῖα καλύψει· Ὅσσοι δ' εὐσεβέουσι, πάλιν ζήσοντ' ἐνὶ κόσμῳ, Πνεῦμα θεοῦ δόντος ζωήν θ' ἅμα καὶ χάριν αὐτοῖς Eὐσεβέσιν· πάντες δὲ τότ' εἰσόψονται ἑαυτούς.» Eἰ τοίνυν καὶ αὐτὴ τὴν ἀνάστασιν ὁμολογεῖ καὶ τὴν παλιγγενεσίαν οὐκ ἀρνεῖται, διακρίνει δὲ τοὺς εὐσεβεῖς ἐκ τῶν ἀσεβῶν, μάτην ἄρα τοῖς ἡμετέροις ἀπιστοῦσιν. Καίτοι φασὶν καὶ εἰδικὴν δεικνύειν τὴν ἀνάστασιν, μὴ πιστεύοντες οἷς αὐτοὶ διηγοῦνται. Φασὶ γὰρ ὄρνεόν τι μονο γενὲς ὑπάρχειν, πλουσίαν τῆς ἀναστάσεως παρέχον τὴν ἀπόδειξιν, ὃ λέγουσιν ἄζυγον ὑπάρχειν καὶ μόνον ἐν δημι ουργίᾳ· φοίνικα δὲ αὐτὸ προσαγορεύουσιν, ὃ καὶ ἱστοροῦσιν κατὰ πεντακόσια ἔτη ἔρχεσθαι εἰς Aἴγυπτον ἐπὶ τὸν λεγό