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of men is by nature fulfilled through many deaths, not only in the change according to the different ages of life, but also in the falls of souls on account of sin. But where there is no change either of body or of soul (for there is neither a turning aside of reason, nor a change of mind, with no circumstance taking away the stability and imperturbability of one's thoughts), that is truly a land of the living, who are always like themselves. In which the Prophet professes that he will be especially well-pleasing to the God of all, since he is not about to be interrupted by anything from without from the purpose of true service, of equal honor with the angels. We make it our aim, he says, whether at home in the body or away from the body, to be well-pleasing to him. That is a land of the living, in which there is no night, no sleep, the imitation of death; in which there is no food, no drink, the supports of our weakness, no sickness, no pains, no medicine, no law-courts, no commerce, no crafts, no money, the beginning of evils, the cause of wars, the root of enmity; but a land of the living, not of those dying through sin, but of those living the true life in Christ Jesus, to whom be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

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ἀνθρώπων διὰ πολλῶν θανάτων συμπληροῦσθαι πέφυκεν, οὐ μόνον ἐν τῇ κατὰ τὰς μεθηλικιώσεις μεταβολῇ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τοῖς καθ' ἁμαρτίαν πτώμασι τῶν ψυχῶν. Ὅπου δὲ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀλλοίωσις οὔτε σώματος οὔτε ψυχῆς (οὐδὲ γάρ ἐστι λογισμοῦ παρατροπὴ, οὐδὲ μετάθεσις γνώμης, οὐδεμιᾶς περιστάσεως τὸ εὐσταθὲς καὶ ἀτά- ραχον τῶν λογισμῶν ἀφαιρουμένης), χώρα ἐστὶν ἐκείνη τῷ ὄντι ζώντων, ὁμοίων ὄντων ἀεὶ αὐτῶν ἑαυτοῖς. Ἐν ᾗ μάλιστα εὐαρεστήσειν τῷ Θεῷ τῶν ὅλων ὁ Προφήτης κατεπαγγέλλεται, ὡς ὑπ' οὐδενὸς μέλλων τῶν ἔξωθεν διακόπτεσθαι πρὸς τὸν σκοπὸν τῆς ἀληθινῆς καὶ ὁμοτίμου τοῖς ἀγγέλοις δουλείας. Φιλοτιμούμεθα, φησὶν, εἴτε ἐνδημοῦντες ἐν τῷ σώματι, εἴτε ἐκδημοῦντες ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος, εὐάρεστοι αὐτῷ εἶναι. Ζώντων ἐκείνη χώρα, ἐν ᾗ οὐκ ἔνι νὺξ, οὐκ ἔνι ὕπνος τὸ τοῦ θανάτου μίμημα· ἐν ᾗ οὐκ ἔνι βρῶσις, οὐκ ἔνι πόσις, τὰ τῆς ἀσθενείας ἡμῶν ὑπ- ερείσματα, οὐκ ἔνι νόσος, οὐκ ἔνι ἀλγήματα, οὐκ ἰατρεία, οὐ δικαστήρια, οὐκ ἐμπορίαι, οὐ τέχναι, οὐ χρήματα, τῶν κακῶν ἡ ἀρχὴ, ἡ τῶν πολέμων ὑπόθεσις, ἡ ῥίζα τῆς ἔχθρας· ἀλλὰ χώρα ζώντων, οὐκ ἀποθνησκόντων διὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ἀλλὰ ζώντων τὴν ἀληθῆ ζωὴν τὴν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.