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those of the Greeks who had believed, I mean the Corinthians, being men who were lovers of words and lovers of wisdom, who already believed concerning the resurrection of Christ, but were still doubting concerning the common resurrection of men, again he used the same arguments and says: "Now if Christ is preached, that he has been raised from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain," as if to say: Unprofitable to you is faith in Christ, if our resurrection is not also believed by you. 7.24 For if you believed concerning one that he was raised from the dead, how can it not be believed that it is possible for all the rest to be raised as well? For he who is able to raise one is also able to raise all. Then he adds: "And we are found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised"; and we, he says, who testified to you that God raised Christ, will be found false and deceivers. 7.25 And again a second time he says: "For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins," refuting them from that which was confessed and believed by them, and saying: For if that one, he says, concerning whom you believed, being dead arose, how do you disbelieve also concerning the resurrection of the rest of the dead, so that you appear rather to have believed in vain also concerning the one? For he who is able to raise one dead person is also able to raise up all the rest of the dead, so that by disbelieving in the resurrection of dead men, you have returned again to your former superstition and have fallen away; for this is what he means by "you are still in your sins." 7.26 Then after a little he also adds the cause, saying: "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead," and making clear who is the first man, through whom death was introduced, and the second man, through whom the resurrection was revealed, he adds: "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive." 7.27 Then again after a little he says: "Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead are not raised at all? Why are they baptized for them? And why do we stand in jeopardy every hour?" meaning to say: Since we are baptized more mystically for our dead bodies, being immersed in the holy water and emerging from it, thereby imitating death and resurrection in the hope and promise of the resurrection from the dead, why, he says, do we do these things in vain, not being consistent with what we do? "And why do we stand in jeopardy every hour" preaching these things to so great a multitude and fighting against worldly prejudice? 7.28 Finally, after a little, he tries again to persuade more naturally from an opposite argument through an example and says: "But some man will say, 'How are the dead raised? And with what body do they come?'" He seemingly answers and says: "You fool, that which you sow is not made alive, unless it first dies. And that which you sow, you do not sow the body that will be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat, or of some of the others; but God gives it a body as he has desired, and to each of the seeds its own body," saying this: Consider, O men, that a bare grain sown in the earth first dissolves; for this is what he means by "unless it first dies." 7.29 Then, being brought forth by the power and providence of God with much bounty and art and beauty, it appears, instead of one grain, many; instead of bare, clothed and having sheaths; instead of vulnerable and easily harmed, strengthened and helped, having awns, so that it may remain unharmed from those things able to do it wrong. This same body, then, which has decayed and turned into earth, and which again sprouts from the earth in greater number and wonderful beauty, is a wise and most beautiful and skillful work of providence

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τῶν Ἑλλήνων πιστεύσαντας, λέγω δὴ Κορινθίους, ἀνθρώπους φιλολόγους ὄντας καὶ φιλοσόφους, πιστεύσαντας μὲν ἤδη περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἔτι δὲ ἀμφιβάλλοντας περὶ τῆς κοινῆς ἀναστάσεως τῶν ἀνθρώπων, πάλιν τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἐνθυμήμασιν ἐχρήσατο καί φησιν· "Εἰ δὲ Χριστὸς κηρύσσεται ὅτι ἐκ νεκρῶν ἐγήγερται, πῶς λέγουσιν ἐν ὑμῖν τινες ὅτι ἀνάστασις νεκρῶν οὐκ ἔστιν; Εἰ δὲ ἀνάστασις νεκρῶν οὐκ ἔστιν, οὐδὲ Χριστὸς ἐγήγερται· εἰ δὲ Χριστὸς οὐκ ἐγήγερται, κενὸν ἄρα καὶ τὸ κήρυγμα ἡμῶν, κενὴ καὶ ἡ πίστις ἡμῶν", ὡσανεί· Ἀνωφελὴς ὑμῖν ἐστιν ἡ εἰς Χριστὸν πίστις, μὴ καὶ τῆς ἡμετέρας ἀναστάσεως πιστευομένης παρ' ὑμῶν. 7.24 Εἰ γὰρ περὶ ἑνὸς ἐπιστεύσατε ὅτι ἠγέρθη ἀπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν, πῶς οὐ πιστευτέον ὅτι δυνατὸν καὶ πάντας τοὺς λοιποὺς ἐγείρεσθαι; Ὁ γὰρ δυνάμενος ἕνα ἐγεῖραι καὶ πάντας δύναται ἐγεῖραι. Εἶτα ἐπιφέρει· "Εὑρισκόμεθα δὲ καὶ ψευδομάρτυρες τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὅτι ἐμαρτυρήσαμεν κατὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ ὅτι ἤγειρε τὸν Χριστόν, ὃν οὐκ ἤγειρεν, εἴπερ ἄρα νεκροὶ οὐκ ἐγείρονται"· καὶ ἡμεῖς δέ, φησίν, οἱ μαρτυρήσαντες ὑμῖν ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς ἤγειρε τὸν Χριστόν, ψευδεῖς καὶ πλάνοι εὑρεθησόμεθα. 7.25 Καὶ πάλιν δεύτερόν φησιν· "Εἰ γὰρ νεκροὶ οὐκ ἐγείρονται, οὐδὲ Χριστὸς ἐγήγερται· εἰ δὲ Χριστὸς οὐκ ἐγήγερται, ματαία ἡ πίστις ὑμῶν· ἔτι ἐστὲ ἐν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ὑμῶν", ἐκ τοῦ παρ' αὐτῶν ὡμολογημένου καὶ πιστευθέντος αὐτοὺς ἐλέγχων καὶ λέγων· Εἰ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος, φησί, περὶ οὗ ἐπιστεύσατε, νεκρὸς ὑπάρχων ἀνέστη, πῶς ἀπιστεῖτε καὶ περὶ τῆς τῶν λοιπῶν νεκρῶν ἀναστάσεως, ὡς φαίνεσθαι ὑμᾶς μᾶλλον μάτην πεπιστευκότας καὶ περὶ τοῦ ἑνός; Ὁ γὰρ δυνάμενος ἕνα νεκρὸν ἐγεῖραι καὶ πάντας τοὺς λοιποὺς νεκροὺς δυνατὸς ἀναστῆσαι, ὥστε ἀπιστοῦντες τῇ τῶν νεκρῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀναστάσει εἰς τὴν προτέραν ὑμῶν δεισιδαιμονίαν πάλιν ὑποστρέψαντες ἐξωλισθήσατε· τοῦτο γὰρ λέγει "ἔτι ἐστὲ ἐν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ὑμῶν". 7.26 Εἶτα μετ' ὀλίγα καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν ἐπιφέρει λέγων· "Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ δι' ἀνθρώπου θάνατος, καὶ δι' ἀνθρώπου ἀνάστασις νεκρῶν", καὶ δηλῶν ὅστις ἐστὶν ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος, δι' οὗ θάνατος παρεισήχθη, καὶ ὁ δεύτερος ἄνθρωπος, δι' οὗ ἡ ἀνάστασις ἀνεδείχθη, ἐπάγει· "Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐν τῷ Ἀδὰμ πάντες ἀποθνῄσκουσιν, οὕτως καὶ ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ πάντες ζωοποιηθήσονται." 7.27 Εἶτα πάλιν μετ' ὀλίγα λέγει· "Ἐπεὶ τί ποιήσουσιν οἱ βαπτιζόμενοι ὑπὲρ τῶν νεκρῶν, εἰ ὅλως νεκροὶ οὐκ ἐγείρονται; Τί καὶ βαπτίζονται ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν; Τί καὶ ἡμεῖς κινδυνεύομεν πᾶσαν ὥραν;" ἵνα εἴπῃ· Ἐπειδὴ βαπτιζόμεθα μυστικώτερον ὑπὲρ τῶν ἡμετέρων νεκρῶν σωμάτων, καταδύνοντες ἐν τῷ ἁγίῳ ὕδατι καὶ ἀναδύνοντες, ἀπεντεῦθεν μιμούμενοι θάνατον καὶ ἀνάστασιν ἐλπίδι καὶ ἐπαγγελίᾳ τῆς ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστάσεως, τί μάτην, φησί, ταῦτα ποιοῦμεν μὴ στοιχοῦντες οἷς ποιοῦμεν; "Τί δὲ καὶ ἡμεῖς κινδυνεύομεν πᾶσαν ὥραν" ταῦτα κηρύττοντες τοσούτῳ πλήθει καὶ προλήψει κοσμικῇ μαχόμενοι; 7.28 Λοιπὸν πειρᾶται πάλιν μετ' ὀλίγα ἐξ ἀντιθέσεως φυσικώτερον διὰ παραδείγματος πείθειν καί φησιν· "Ἀλλ' ἐρεῖ τις, πῶς ἐγείρονται οἱ νεκροί; Ποίῳ δὲ σώματι ἔρχον ται;" Ἀποκρίνεται δῆθεν καὶ λέγει· "Ἄφρον, σὺ ὃ σπείρεις οὐ ζωοποιεῖται, ἐὰν μὴ πρῶτον ἀποθάνῃ· καὶ ὃ σπείρεις, οὐ τὸ σῶμα τὸ γεννησόμενον σπείρεις, ἀλλὰ γυμνὸν κόκκον, εἰ τύχοι σίτου, ἤ τινος τῶν λοιπῶν· ὁ δὲ Θεὸς δίδωσιν αὐτῷ σῶμα καθὼς ἠθέλησε, καὶ ἑκάστῳ τῶν σπερμάτων ἴδιον σῶμα", τοῦτο λέγων· Ἀναλογίσασθε, ὦ ἄνθρωποι, ὅτι γυμνὸς κόκκος σπειρόμενος ἐν τῇ γῇ πρῶτον μὲν διαλύεται· τοῦτο γὰρ λέγει "ἐὰν μὴ πρῶτον ἀποθάνῃ". 7.29 Ἔπειτα ἀναδιδόμενος τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ δυνάμει τε καὶ προνοίᾳ μετὰ πολλῆς δωρεᾶς τε καὶ τέχνης καὶ ὡραιότητος ἀναφαίνεται, ἀντὶ ἑνὸς κόκκου πολλοστός, ἀντὶ γυμνοῦ ἐνδεδυμένος καὶ θήκας ἔχων, ἀντὶ εὐαλώτου καὶ εὐεπηρεάστου ἐστηριγμένος καὶ βεβοηθημένος, ἔχων ἀνθέρικας, ἵν' ἀβλαβὴς διαμείνῃ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀδικῆσαι δυναμένων. Αὐτὸ οὖν τοῦτο τὸ φθαρὲν καὶ μεταβληθὲν εἰς γῆν σῶμα, καὶ πάλιν ἐν ἀριθμῷ πλείονι καὶ θαυμαστῷ κάλλει φυόμενον ἐκ τῆς γῆς, ἔργον σοφὸν καὶ κάλλιστον καὶ ἔντεχνον τῆς προνοίας