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another, the angels. For they must be both what they are and what they have become. But man also, having been established from the beginning of creation to inhabit the world and rule over all things in it, being immortal, will never be changed from being a man, neither into the form of angels nor into the form of others, because neither do the angels change into the form of others, being transformed from their original state. For Christ did not come preaching that human nature should be remolded or refashioned into another, but into what it was from the beginning before it fell, being immortal. For each of the created beings must remain in its own place of its order, so that all things may be filled with all things, the heavens with angels, thrones with authorities, lights with ministers and the more divine 2.465 places and the unmixed and pure lights of the Seraphim, which stand beside the great council that governs all, and the world with men. But if we grant that men are changed into angels, it is time to say that angels are also changed into authorities, and these into another and another, until the argument, having ascended, falls into peril. 42. But God did not, as if having fashioned man poorly or having erred in his formation, afterward, having repented, conceive of making him an angel, like the most worthless of artisans, nor, having wished to make an angel at the beginning and being unable, did He form a man. For this is weak. Why then did He make man a man and not an angel, if indeed He wished man to become an angel and not a man? As if He were unable? This is blasphemous. But did He postpone the better by making the worse? This too is absurd. For He neither fails in doing what is good, nor does He postpone, nor is He unable, but both as He wills and when He wills, He has the ability, being power itself. Therefore, wishing man to be man, He created him from the beginning. And if wishing, and He wills what is good, and man is good, and man is said to be that which is composed of soul and body, then man will not be outside the body, but with a body, so that man does not become other than man. For all immortal races must be saved by God. And man is also immortal. For wisdom says, "God created man for incorruption and made him an image 2.466 of His own eternity." Therefore the body is not destroyed; for man consists of soul and body. 43. Wherefore understand, as the Lord also, wishing to teach these same things, when the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the flesh—for this is a dogma of the Sadducees; whence, having concocted the parable concerning the woman and the seven brothers, in order to reject the doctrine of the resurrection of the flesh, they came to Him; indeed the evangelist himself noted, saying, "And Sadducees came to him, saying there is no resurrection"—Christ, therefore, if there were no resurrection of the flesh, but only the soul was saved, would have agreed with them as thinking well and correctly. But now He refutes them, saying, "in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as angels in heaven," not in not having flesh, but in not marrying and being given in marriage, but in being henceforth in incorruption and in lights, being made like angels in this respect, that just as the angels are in heaven, so also we are in paradise, no longer occupied with marriages or feasts, but with seeing God and cultivating life, with Christ presiding over us. For He did not say "they will be angels," but "as angels," as in "crowned with glory and honor" according to what is written, "differing a little from the angels" and being near to being angels. Just as if one were to say, there being good order in the air and calmness of night and all things being adorned by the ethereal light of the moon: 2.467 the moon shines as the sun. And we would not in any way say that he testifies that the moon is the sun, but as the sun,

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ἑτέραν οἱ ἄγγελοι. εἶναι γὰρ αὐτὰ χρὴ καὶ ὅ εἰσι καὶ ὃ γεγόνασιν. ἀτὰρ καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος τὸν κόσμον οἰκεῖν καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ πάντων ἡγεμονεύειν κατασταθεὶς ἀπὸ τῆς ἐξ ἀρχῆς διακοσμήσεως, ἀθάνατος ὢν τοῦ εἶναι ἄνθρωπος οὔποτε μεταβληθήσεται, οὔτε εἰς τὴν τῶν ἀγγέλων οὔτε εἰς τὴν τῶν ἑτέρων μορφήν, ὅτι μηδὲ οἱ ἄγγελοι εἰς τὴν τῶν ἄλλων, τῆς ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἰδέας μετακοσμούμενοι, μεταβάλλονται. ὁ γὰρ Χριστὸς ἧκεν οὐκ εἰς ἑτέραν μεταπλασθῆναι κηρύσσων ἢ μετασκευασθῆναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον φύσιν, ἀλλὰ εἰς ὃ ἦν ἐξ ἀρχῆς πρὸ τοῦ ἐκπεσεῖν ἀθάνατος ὤν. χρὴ γὰρ ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ τῆς τάξεως αὐτοῦ τόπῳ τῶν γενητῶν ἕκαστον μένειν, ἵνα πάντα πάντων ὦσι πεπληρωμένα, οὐρανοὶ μὲν ἀγγέλων, θρόνοι δὲ ἐξουσιῶν, φῶτα δὲ λειτουργῶν καὶ οἱ θειότεροι 2.465 τόποι καὶ τὰ ἄκρατα καὶ ἀκραιφνῆ φῶτα τῶν Σεραφίμ, ἃ παρεστήκασι τῇ μεγάλῃ βουλῇ διακρατούσῃ τὸ πᾶν, ὁ δὲ κόσμος ἀνθρώπων. ἐὰν δὲ μεταβάλλεσθαι δῶμεν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους εἰς ἀγγέλους, ὥρα μεταβάλλεθαι λέγειν καὶ τοὺς ἀγγέλους εἰς ἐξουσίας καὶ ταύτας εἰς ἄλλο καὶ ἄλλο, ἔστ' ἂν ὁ λόγος ἀναβὰς εἰς κίνδυνον πέσῃ. 42. Ἀλλ' οὔτε ὡς φαῦλον τεκτηνάμενος ὁ θεὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἢ διαμαρτήσας αὐτοῦ περὶ τὴν διάπλασιν, ἄγγελον αὐτὸν ὕστερον ἐπενόησε ποιῆσαι μεταγνούς, ὥσπερ οἱ φαυλότατοι τῶν δημιουργῶν, οὔτε ἄγγελον κατ' ἀρχὰς θελήσας ποιῆσαι καὶ μὴ δυνηθεὶς ἄνθρωπον ἔπλασεν. ἀσθενὲς τοῦτο γάρ. τί δή ποτε οὖν τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἄνθρωπον ἐποίει καὶ οὐκ ἄγγελον, εἴ γε ἄγγελον τὸν ἄνθρωπον καὶ οὐκ ἄνθρωπον γενέσθαι ἤθελεν; ὡς οὐ δυνάμενος; βλάσφημον τοῦτο. ἀλλὰ ἀνεβάλλετο περὶ τοῦ κρείττονος τὸ χεῖρον ποιῶν; καὶ τοῦτο ἄτοπον. οὔτε γὰρ διασφάλλεται περὶ τὸ ποιεῖν τὸ καλὸν οὔτε ἀναβάλλεται οὔτε ἀδυνατεῖ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὡς θέλει καὶ ὅτε θέλει τὸ δύνασθαι ἔχει, δύναμις ὤν. οὐκοῦν εἶναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἄνθρωπον θέλων ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἔκτισεν. εἰ δὲ θέλων, θέλει δὲ τὸ καλόν, καλὸν δὲ ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ἄνθρωπος δὲ τὸ ἐκ ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος λέγεται συντεθέν, οὐκ ἔσται ἄρα ἐκτὸς σώματος ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλὰ μετὰ σώματος, ἵνα μὴ ἄλλος παρὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὁ ἄνθρωπος γενηθῇ. δεῖ γὰρ τῷ θεῷ τὰ ἀθάνατα γένη πάντα σῴζεσθαι. ἀθάνατον δὲ καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος. «ἔκτισε», γάρ φησιν ἡ σοφία «τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὁ θεὸς ἐπὶ ἀφθαρσίᾳ καὶ εἰκόνα 2.466 τῆς ἰδίας ἀιδιότητος ἐποίησεν αὐτόν». οὐκ ἄρα ἀπόλλυται τὸ σῶμα· ὁ γὰρ ἄνθρωπος ἐκ ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος. 43. ∆ιὸ ἐπίστησον, ὡς καὶ ὁ κύριος τὰ αὐτὰ ταῦτα διδάσκειν θέλων, μὴ πιστευόντων Σαδδουκαίων εἰς τὴν ἀνάστασιν τῆς σαρκός-δόγμα γὰρ τοῦτο Σαδδουκαίων· ὅθεν συσκευασάμενοι τὴν κατὰ τὴν γυναῖκα καὶ τοὺς ἑπτὰ ἀδελφοὺς παραβολήν, ἵνα τὸν περὶ ἀναστάσεως τῆς σαρκὸς λόγον ἀποκηρύσσωσι, προσῆλθον αὐτῷ· ἀμέλει αὐτὸς ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς ἐπεσημήνατο, «προσῆλθον δὲ αὐτῷ» εἰπών «καὶ Σαδδουκαῖοι, λέγοντες μὴ εἶναι ἀνάστασιν»-ὁ οὖν Χριστός, εἰ μὴ ἦν ἀνάστασις σαρκός, ἀλλὰ μόνον ἐσῴζετο ψυχή, συνέθετο ἂν αὐτοῖς ὡς καλῶς καὶ ὀρθῶς φρονοῦσι. νυνὶ δὲ ἀποκρούεται λέγων «ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει οὔτε γαμοῦσιν οὔτε γαμίσκονται, ἀλλ' ὡς ἄγγελοι ἐν οὐρανῷ εἰσιν», οὐ τῷ σάρκα μὴ ἔχειν, ἀλλὰ τῷ μὴ γαμεῖν καὶ γαμεῖσθαι, ἀλλὰ εἶναι λοιπὸν ἐν ἀφθαρσίᾳ καὶ φωσίν, ἀγγέλοις κατὰ τοῦτο παραπλησιασθέντας, ἵν' ὥσπερ οἱ ἄγγελοι ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, οὕτως καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ, μήτε γάμοις ἢ εἰλαπίναις ἔτι σχολάζοντες, ἀλλὰ τῷ βλέπειν τὸν θεὸν καὶ γεωργεῖν τὴν ζωὴν πρυτανεύοντος ἡμῖν τοῦ Χριστοῦ. οὐ γὰρ εἶπεν «ἔσονται ἄγγελοι», ἀλλ' «ὡς ἄγγελοι», οἷον «δόξῃ μὲν καὶ τιμῇ» κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον «ἐστεφανωμένοι, βραχὺ δέ τι παρὰ τοὺς ἀγγέλους διαλλάσσοντες» καὶ ἐγγὺς ὄντες τοῦ εἶναι ἄγγελοι. καθάπερ εἰ ἔλεγεν, οὔσης εὐταξίας κατὰ τὸν ἀέρα καὶ γαλήνης νυκτὸς καὶ πάντων τῷ τῆς σελήνης αἰθερίῳ φωτὶ κεκοσμημένων· 2.467 ἡ σελήνη φαίνει ὡς ὁ ἥλιος. καὶ οὐ πάντως ἂν ἥλιον εἶναι τὴν σελήνην ἀπομαρτυρεῖν αὐτὸν ἐλέγομεν, ἀλλ' ὡς ἥλιον,