164
to suppose the coming of the Antichrist; but rather to believe and be assured that it is present, and anyone who has any share in reasoning; she herself bearing witness to such an evil, having the (absurdity) of the things being said.
For they say, who fearlessly sharpen their tongue against everything, and consider nothing done or said impiously as dreadful, that bodies are to be held together at the resurrection by phlegm and blood again, and also by yellow and black bile and a draught of air, and by sensible food for living, with absolutely nothing strange, compared to the present life, appearing through the resurrection, except for not being able to die again; I know not how, with respect to all the things in Holy Scripture concerning both the soul and the resurrection of the dead through the prophets and apostles, and of the Word of God Himself who spoke to us through the flesh, and especially what was declared to the Corinthians in a particular way through the divine Paul concerning the resurrection, they have willfully stopped their ears, and shut the eye of the soul to the understanding of things that are so clear and plain and needing no interpreter to be known; and having nature itself of beings teaching no less than the divinely revealed things, which also knows how to lead Barbarians to the knowledge of truth, putting itself (436) forth as a very clear proof of the things sought, they are not ashamed.
For who, unless he is entirely deprived of the grace of reason, is ignorant that every nature is essentially defined by its own properties; and thereby shows both the manner of its own existence, and the difference by which it is distinguished unmixedly from other natures; when it is deprived of the properties that constitute its essence, it either will not exist at all, or has become what it was not; if indeed one could tolerate saying that it exists by extension upon the removal of its properties. For every subject is naturally destroyed when its natural properties are destroyed. For what, or where, will be an ox, and a horse, and a lion, and such things, when the properties that constitute the nature of each do not exist? Or who, being free from, not bordering on, madness, would dare to say that these things exist without those? If, therefore, it is true that nothing that exists can be or be known without the things that naturally and properly characterize it, those who take away from the soul what is by nature inherent in its essence, that is, the rational and the intellectual, by which it always both is and acts, understanding and reasoning, manifestly also take away its very being, even if they do not say so; and according to them, it is corruptible and mortal, not having existence after the death of the body; than which what is more absurd?
But if they suppose it to live, even in word, if not in deed, suspecting refutation from all, it is certainly also moved. For all life of created things is shown in motion. And if it is moved, it also certainly acts; for all motion is manifested through activity. And if it acts, being certainly moved naturally, and not conventionally, or accidentally, it will act. For not circularly, or by changing place; or, to speak concisely, corporeally; but intellectually and rationally.
And if it both lives and is moved and acts intellectually and rationally, it certainly reasons and understands and knows. But if it does not know and reason, neither does it act, nor is it moved, nor does it live. For it is not possible for life to exist without innate motion; nor for natural motion to be manifested, when there is no proper activity.
Moreover, the soul is rational and intellectual either through itself, or through the body. And if through itself, that is, it is rational and intellectual in its own essence, and self-subsistent, it certainly is. But if it is self-subsistent through itself by nature and in itself, also with a body
164
Ἀντιχρίστου παρουσίαν ὑπολαμβάνειν· παρεῖναι δέ μᾶλλον πιστεύειν καί διαβεβαιοῦσαθαι , καί τόν ὁποσοῦν μετέχοντα τοῦ λογίζεσθαι· αὐτήν μαρτυροῦσαν τῷ τοιούτῳ κακῷ τήν τῶν λεγομένων (ἀτοπίαν) ἔχοντα.
Φασί γάρ οἱ πρός πάντα τήν γλῶσσαν ἀδεῶς ὀξύνοντες, καί μηδέν τῶν ἀσεβῶς γινομένων ἤ λεγομένων ἡγούμενοι φοβερόν, φλέγματι πάλιν καί αἵματι, χολῇ τε αὖ ξανθῇ καί μελαίνῃ καί ὀλκῇ ἀέρος, καί τροφῇ αἰσθητῇ πρός τό ζῇν συνέχεσθαι μέλλειν τά σώματα κατά τήν ἀνάστασιν, οὐδενός τό σύνολον ξένου παρά τήν παροῦσαν ζωήν διά τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἀναφανησομένου, πλήν τό μή δύνασθαι πάλιν ἀποθανεῖν· οὐκ οἶδ᾿ ὅπως πρός πάντα τά ἐν τῇ ἁγίᾳ Γραφῇ περί τε ψυχῆς καί ἀναστάσεως νεκρῶν διά τε προφητῶν καί ἀποστόλων, καί αὐτοῦ τοῦ διά σαρκός ὁμιλήσαντος ἡμῖν Θεοῦ Λόγου, καί μάλιστα Κορινθίοις ἰδιοτρόπως διά τοῦ θεσπεσίου Παύλου περί ἀναστάσεως διηγορευμένα, τήν τε ἀκοήν ἑκουσίως βύσαντες, καί πρός κατανόησιν τό τῆς ψυχῆς ὄμμα ἐπιμύσαντες, οὕτω τρανά ὑπάρχοντα καί ἐξάκουστα καί μηδενός τοῦ ἑρμηνεύοντος πρός τό γνωσθῆναι δεόμενα· καί τήν φύσιν αὐτήν τῶν ὄντων οὐχ ἦττον τῶν θειωδῶς ἐκπεφασμένων παιδεύουσαν ἔχοντες· ἤ καί τούς Βαρβάρους πρός γνῶσιν ἀληθείας ἐνάγειν ἐπίσταται, ἀρίδηλον ἑαυτήν (436) προβαλλομένη τῶν ζητουμένων ἀπόδειξιν, οὐκ αἰδούμενοι.
Τίς γάρ εἴπερ μή πάντη τῆς κατά τόν λόγον ἐστέρηται χάριτος, ἀγνοεῖ, ὅτι πᾶσα φύσις οὐσιωδῶς οἰκείοις ἰδιώμασι διειλημμένη · καί ταύτῃ τόν τε τρόπον τῆς οἰκείας ὑπάρξεως, καί τήν διαφοράν καθ᾿ ἥν τῶν ἄλλων ἀμιγῶς διώρισται δεικνύουσα φύσεων· ἐπάν τῶν συνεκτικῶν τῆς οὐσίας αὐτῆς ἀπογένηται ἰδιωμάτων, ἤ οὐδ᾿ ὅλως ἔσται, ἤ ὅπερ οὐκ ἦν, γέγονεν· εἴπερ ὅλως κατά τήν ἀναίρεσιν τῶν ἰδιωμάτων εἶναι συμπεριφορικῶς αὐτήν ἀνάσχοιτο εἰπεῖν. Πέφυκε γάρ πᾶν ὑποκείμενον τοῖς φυσικοῖς ἰδιώμασι φθειρομένοις συμφθείρεσθαι. Τί γάρ, ἤ ποῦ βοῦς ἔσται, καί ἵππος , καί λέων, καί τά τοιαῦτα, τῶν συνεκτικῶν τῆς ἑκάστου φύσεως ἰδιωμάτων οὐκ ὄντων; Ἤ τίς εἶναι ταῦτα ἐκείνων χωρίς εἰπεῖν θαῤῥήσοι, μανίας ὑπάρχων ἐλεύθερος, οὐ συνόρῳ. Εἰ οὖν ἀληθές, τό μηδέν δύνάσθαι τῶν ὄντων εἶναι ἤ γνωσθῆναι ἄνευ τῶν φυσικῶς καί κυρίως αὐτό χαρακτηριζόντων, οἱ τῆς ψυχῆς τό κατ' οὐσίαν αὐτῇ ἐμπεφυκός ἀφαιρούμενοι· τουτέστι, τό λογικόν τε καί νοερόν, καθό ἀεί τέ ἐστι καί ἐνεργεῖ νοοῦσα καί λογιζομένη, προδήλως καί τό εἶναι αὐτῆς, κἄν μή λέγουσι, συναφαιροῦνται· καί ἔστι κατ' αὐτούς, φθαρτή καί θνητή, τό εἶναι μετά τόν τοῦ σώματος θάνατον οὐκ ἔχουσα· οὗ τί ἀτοπώτερον;
Εἰ δέ ζῇν αὐτήν ὑποτίθενται, κἄν λόγῳ, εἰ καί μή πράγματι, τόν παρά πάντων ὑφορώμενοι ἔλεγχον, πάντως καί κινεῖται. Πᾶσα γάρ ζωή τῶν γενητῶν, ἐν κινήσει δείκνυται. Εἰ δέ κινεῖται, καί ἐνεργεῖ πάντως· πᾶσα γάρ κίνησις, δι᾿ ἐνεργείας ἐκφαίνεται. Εἰ δέ ἐνεργεῖ, φυσικῶς πάντως κινουμένη, καί οὐ θετικῶς, ἤ κατά συμβεβηκός, ἐνεργήσει. Οὐ γάρ κυκλοφορικῶς, ἤ μεταβατικώς· ἤ συνελόντα εἰπεῖν, σωματικῶς· ἀλλά νοερῶς τε καί λογικῶς.
Εἰ δέ νοερῶς τε καί λογικῶς καί ζῇ καί νινεῖται καί ἐνεργεῖ, λογίζεται πάντως καί νοεῖ καί γινώσκει. Εἰ δέ μή γινώσκει καί λογίζεται, οὐδέ ἐνεργεῖ, οὐδέ κινεῖται, οὐδέ ζῇ. Οὐ γάρ οἷόν τε εἶναι ζωήν ἄνευ τῆς ἐμφύτου κινήσεως· οὐδέ κίνησιν φυσικήν, προσφυοῦς ἐνεργείας οὐκ οὔσης, ἐμφαίνεσθαι.
Ἄλλως τε δέ, ἡ ψυχή, ἤ δι᾿ ἑαυτήν ἐστι λογική τε καί νοερά, ἤ διά τό σῶμα. Καί εἰ μέν δι᾿ ἑαυτήν, ἤτοι τήν ἑαυτῆς οὐσίαν ἐστί λογική τε καί νοερά, καί αὐθυπόστατος, πάντως ἐστίν. Εἰ δέ αὐθυπόστατος δι᾿ ἑαυτήν φύσει καί καθ᾿ ἑαυτήν, καί μετά σώματος