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of those asking; for he came for the life of men. Therefore, since he is concerned with life and points out that the law is life for the one who keeps it and does it, and since he said to the one who answered according to the law that he had spoken correctly, and 'do this and you will live', 2.133 who would be so thunderstruck as to be persuaded by Marcion, who blasphemes against the God who has graciously given both the law and the grace of the gospel to men, and to be led astray by him who has nothing of his teaching either from the law or from the Holy Spirit. 20Scholion20 24. And he said, "Which of you will have a friend, and go to him at midnight, asking for three loaves?" and the rest, "Ask, and it will be given. For which of you, if a son asks his father for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent, or instead of an egg, a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know good gifts, how much more the Father?" 20Refutation20 24. But the deceiver's self-willed religion of his way of life has been refuted by this saying. For with him, the way of life is not for the sake of self-control nor for a good reward and the hope of a contest, but on account of impiety and the wickedness of an evil suspicion. For this man teaches not to partake of living things, saying that those who partake of meats are liable to judgment, as if they were eating souls. But the whole thing is foolish. For the soul is not the flesh, but the soul is in the flesh, and we do not say that the soul in animals is honorable like that of men, but a soul only for the animal to live. But this wretched man, along with those who think thus, supposes that the same soul exists in men and in animals. For this is vainly supposed by many of the errant heresies. For both Valentinus and Colorbasus, and all the Gnostics and Manichaeans, also say there is a transmigration of souls and reincarnations of the soul of men who are in ignorance, as they themselves say according to a certain myth-making; they say that this soul returns and is reincarnated into each of the animals, until it comes to know, and thus being purified and released, it may pass over into the heavenly realms. And first, the whole vain construction of his myth has been refuted. For no one else can know the accuracy of these things 2.134 better than our Lord Jesus Christ, who came for the lost sheep, that is, for the souls of men; who, caring for them, healed them both bodily and spiritually, as being Lord of both body and soul, and the provider of life here and of that which is to come; raising from the dead those who had died, I mean Lazarus and the son of the widow and the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, not bringing them into evil, as they themselves dogmatize that the body is a prison, but doing good and knowing that both the sojourn here in the flesh has been ordained by him and the future resurrection of flesh and soul. And if again he had known that the soul in animals and in men is one and the same, and he came to bring salvation to the soul, it would not have been right for him, after cleansing one demoniac—I mean the one coming out of the tombs—to command the demons to depart and to kill two thousand swine, if the souls of men and of swine were equal. For how, while caring for one, did he bring about the destruction of two thousand? But if again you should twist like a serpent, contriving and saying that he released them from their bodies, so that they might ascend, it would have been necessary for Lazarus, having been released from the body, not to return again to the body, and moreover, to release the demoniac himself from the bond of the body. But he did not do so; rather, he foresaw thus, knowing what was profitable for the body. Your argument concerning the soul has fallen, O Marcion, and that of those springing from you and the other heresies. And again I will speak concerning your feigned way of life, because you say that it is evil and unlawful to partake of flesh. But the Savior refutes you, knowing more than you and teaching the
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ἐρωτώντων· διὰ γὰρ τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ζωὴν ἐλήλυθεν. ζωῆς τοίνυν ἐπιμελομένου αὐτοῦ καὶ ὑποδεικνύντος τὸν νόμον τῷ φυλάττοντι ποιήσαντι ζωὴν ὑπάρχειν καὶ τῷ κατὰ νόμον ἀποκρι2.133 θέντι φήσαντος ὀρθῶς λελαληκέναι καὶ «οὕτως ποίει καὶ ζήσῃ», τίς οὕτως ἐμβρόντητος ἂν εἴη ὡς πείθεσθαι μὲν τῷ Μαρκίωνι, βλασφημοῦντι εἰς τὸν θεὸν τὸν καὶ τὸν νόμον καὶ τὴν χάριν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου τοῖς ἀνθρώποις κεχαρισμένον, αὐτῷ δὲ συναπάγεσθαι τῷ μήτε ἐκ νόμου μήτε ἀπὸ πνεύματος ἁγίου ἔχοντί τι τῆς διδασκαλίας. 20Σχόλιον20 ˉκˉδ. Καὶ εἶπεν «τίς ἐξ ὑμῶν ἕξει φίλον, καὶ πορεύσεται πρὸς αὐτὸν μεσονυκτίου, αἰτῶν τρεῖς ἄρτους;» καὶ λοιπόν «αἰτεῖτε, καὶ δοθήσεται. τίνα γὰρ ἐξ ὑμῶν τὸν πατέρα υἱὸς αἰτήσει ἰχθὺν καὶ ἀντὶ ἰχθύος ὄφιν ἐπιδώσει αὐτῷ ἢ ἀντὶ ᾠοῦ σκορπίον; εἰ οὖν ὑμεῖς πονηροὶ οἴδατε δόματα ἀγαθά, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ὁ πατήρ;» 20Ἔλεγχος20 ˉκˉδ. Ἐλήλεγκται δὲ τοῦ ἀπατηλοῦ ἡ ἐθελοθρῃσκεία τῆς πολιτείας ἀπὸ τούτου τοῦ ῥητοῦ. οὐ γὰρ παρ' αὐτῷ δι' ἐγκράτειαν ἡ πολιτεία οὐδὲ διὰ μισθὸν ἀγαθὸν καὶ ἐλπίδα ἀγῶνος, ἀλλὰ διὰ ἀσέβειαν καὶ κακοτροπίαν κακῆς ὑπονοίας. διδάσκει γὰρ οὗτος ἐμψύχων μὴ μεταλαμβάνειν, φάσκων ἐνόχους εἶναι τῇ κρίσει τοὺς τῶν κρεῶν μεταλήπτορας, ὡς ἂν ψυχὰς ἐσθίοντας. ἠλίθιον δέ ἐστι τὸ πᾶν. οὐ γὰρ τὰ κρέα ἡ ψυχὴ ἀλλ' ἐν τοῖς κρέασιν ἡ ψυχή, καὶ οὔτε ψυχὴν φαμὲν εἶναι τὴν ἐν τοῖς ζῴοις ὡς τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων τιμίαν, ἀλλὰ ψυχὴν εἰς τὸ ζῇν μόνον τὸ ζῷον. νομίζει δὲ ὁ ἐλεεινὸς οὗτος ἅμα τοῖς οὕτω φρονοῦσιν ὅτι ἡ αὐτὴ ψυχὴ ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις καὶ ζῴοις ὑπάρχει. τοῦτο γὰρ παρὰ πολλαῖς τῶν πεπλανημένων αἱρέσεων μάτην ὑπολαμβάνεται. καὶ γὰρ καὶ Οὐαλεντῖνος καὶ Κολόρβασος, Γνωστικοί τε πάντες καὶ Μανιχαῖοι καὶ μεταγγισμὸν εἶναι ψυχῶν φάσκουσι καὶ μετενσωματώσεις τῆς ψυχῆς τῶν ἐν ἀγνωσίᾳ ἀνθρώπων, ὡς αὐτοί φασιν κατά τινα μυθοποιίαν· ταύτην φασὶν ἐπιστρέφειν καὶ μετενσωματοῦσθαι εἰς ἕκαστον τῶν ζῴων, ἕως ἂν ἐπιγνῷ καὶ οὕτω καθαρθεῖσα καὶ ἀναλυθεῖσα μεταστῇ εἰς τὰ ἐπουράνια. Καὶ πρῶτον μὲν ἐλήλεγκται αὐτοῦ ἡ μάταιος πᾶσα τοῦ μύθου κατασκευή. τούτων γὰρ τὴν ἀκρίβειαν οὐδεὶς ἄλλος δύναται εἰδέναι 2.134 ὑπὲρ τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, τὸν ἐλθόντα διὰ τὸ πρόβατον τὸ πεπλανημένον τουτέστιν διὰ τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν ἀνθρώπων· ὃς τῶν αὐτῶν ἐπιμελόμενος ἐθεράπευσε σωματικῶς καὶ ψυχικῶς, ὡς σώματός τε καὶ ψυχῆς δεσπόζων καὶ τῆς ἐνταῦθα ζωῆς παρεκτικὸς ὢν καὶ τῆς μελλούσης· τοὺς μὲν τελευτήσαντας, φημὶ δὲ Λάζαρον καὶ τὸν υἱὸν τῆς χήρας καὶ τὴν θυγατέρα τοῦ ἀρχισυναγώγου ἀπὸ νεκρῶν ἐγείρας, οὐκ εἰς πονηρὸν αὐτοὺς φέρων, ὡς αὐτοὶ τὸ σῶμα φυλακὴν εἶναι δογματίζουσιν, ἀλλὰ ἀγαθὸν ποιῶν καὶ γινώσκων ὅτι καὶ ἡ ἐνταῦθα ἐν σαρκὶ παραμονὴ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ ὥρισται καὶ ἡ μέλλουσα σαρκὸς καὶ ψυχῆς ἀνάστασις. καὶ εἰ πάλιν ᾔδει ὅτι μία ψυχή ἐστιν ἡ ἐν ζῴοις καὶ ἐν ἀνθρώποις, ψυχῆς δὲ ἦλθεν ποιήσασθαι τὴν σωτηρίαν, οὐκ ἔδει αὐτόν, ἕνα καθαρίσαντα δαιμονιῶντα λέγω δὴ τὸν ἀπὸ τῶν μνημείων ἐξερχόμενον κελεῦσαι τοῖς δαίμοσιν ἀπελθεῖν καὶ ἀποκτεῖναι δισχιλίους χοίρους, εἰ ἴσαι ἦσαν αἱ ψυχαὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ τῶν χοίρων. πῶς γὰρ μιᾶς ἐπιμελόμενος δισχιλίων ἐποίει ὄλεθρον; εἰ δὲ πάλιν ὡς ὄφις σκολιεύῃ, μηχανώμενος καὶ λέγων ὅτι ἔλυσεν αὐτὰς ἀπὸ τῶν σωμάτων, ἵνα ἀνέλθωσιν, ἔδει τὸν Λάζαρον λυθέντα τοῦ σώματος μὴ ἐπιστρέψαι πάλιν εἰς τὸ σῶμα, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν δαιμονιῶντα λῦσαι τοῦ δεσμοῦ τοῦ σώματος. ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐποίησεν οὕτως· προενόει δὲ μᾶλλον οὕτω τοῦ σώματος εἰδὼς τὸ συμφέρον. ∆ιέπεσεν ὁ περὶ ψυχῆς σου λόγος, ὦ Μαρκίων, καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ σοῦ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων αἱρέσεων ὁρμωμένων. καὶ περὶ τῆς προσποιητῆς σου πολιτείας αὖθις ἐρῶ, διὰ τὸ λέγειν σε πονηρὸν εἶναι καὶ ἀθέμιτον τὸ σαρκῶν μεταλαμβάνειν. ἐλέγχει δέ σε ὁ σωτήρ, πλέον σου ἐπιστάμενος καὶ διδάσκων τὸ