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BY THE SAME (AUTHOR), CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD

To every doctrine and argument that holds to the truth in these matters, some falsehood grows alongside; and it grows alongside, not arising according to nature from some underlying principle or from the cause of what each thing is in itself, but being cultivated by those who have esteemed the lawless sowing for the corruption of the truth. And one may find this, first of all, from those of old who devoted themselves to concerns about these things and from the difference that arose among them both towards their elders and their contemporaries, and not least from the very confusion of those who are tossed about in the midst. For such men have left none of the truths unslandered, not the substance of God, not His knowledge, not His operation, not the things that follow these in order and that outline for us the doctrine of piety; but some completely and altogether despair of the truth concerning these things, while others pervert it according to what seems good to them, and others still make a practice of being perplexed even concerning manifest things. For this reason, I think it is necessary for those who labor in these matters to have two kinds of arguments, those on behalf of the truth, and those concerning the truth; and those on behalf of the truth are for those who disbelieve or who doubt, while those concerning the truth are for those who are well-disposed and receive the truth with goodwill. For which reason it is necessary for those wishing to examine these matters to consider the need presented on each occasion and to measure their arguments by this, and to adapt the order concerning these things to what is fitting, and not, for the sake of seeming to always preserve the same starting point, to neglect what is proper and the place that befits each. For with respect to proof and natural sequence, the arguments concerning it always stand first before those on behalf of it, but with respect to what is more necessary, conversely, those on behalf of it [stand before] those concerning it. For neither could a farmer properly cast seeds into the earth, without first removing the wild growth and <τὰ> damaging the cultivated seeds being cast, nor could a physician administer any of the healthy medicines to a body in need of treatment, without first cleansing the indwelling malady or checking that which is flowing in; nor indeed could one wishing to teach the truth, by speaking about the truth, persuade anyone, if some false opinion is dwelling within the mind of the hearers and opposing his arguments. Therefore, looking to what is more necessary, we also sometimes place the arguments on behalf of the truth before those concerning the truth; and in the same way, to do so now as well in the case of the arguments about the resurrection does not seem unhelpful to those considering what is needful. For even in these matters we find some who disbelieve completely, and some who doubt, and of those who have accepted the first principles, some are at a loss equally with those who doubt; but the most irrational of all things—

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ΤOΥ AΥΤOΥ ΠEΡI AΝAΣΤAΣEΩΣ ΝEΚΡΩΝ

Παντὶ δόγματι καὶ λόγῳ τῆς ἐν τούτοις ἀληθείας ἐχομένῳ παραφύεταί τι ψεῦδος· παραφύεται δὲ οὐκ ἐξ ὑποκειμένης τινὸς ἀρχῆς κατὰ φύσιν ὁρμώμενον ἢ τῆς κατ' αὐτὸ ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἕκαστον αἰτίας, ἀλλ' ὑπὸ τῶν τὴν ἔκθεσμον σπορὰν ἐπὶ διαφθορᾷ τῆς ἀληθείας τετιμηκότων σπουδαζόμενον. τοῦτο δ' ἔστιν εὑρεῖν πρῶτον μὲν ἐκ τῶν πάλαι ταῖς περὶ τούτων φροντίσιν ἐσχολακότων καὶ τῆς ἐκείνων πρός τε τοὺς ἑαυτῶν πρεσβυτέρους καὶ τοὺς ὁμοχρόνους γενομένης διαφορᾶς, οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς τῶν ἐν μέσῳ στρεφομένων ταραχῆς. οὐδὲν γὰρ τῶν ἀληθῶν οἱ τοιοῦτοι κατέλιπον ἀσυκοφάντητον, οὐ τὴν οὐσίαν τοῦ θεοῦ, οὐ τὴν γνῶσιν, οὐ τὴν ἐνέργειαν, οὐ τὰ τούτοις ἐφεξῆς καθ' εἱρμὸν ἑπόμενα καὶ τὸν τῆς εὐσεβείας ἡμῖν ὑπογράφοντα λόγον· ἀλλ' οἱ μὲν πάντῃ καὶ καθάπαξ ἀπογινώσκουσιν τὴν περὶ τούτων ἀλήθειαν, οἱ δὲ πρὸς τὸ δοκοῦν αὑτοῖς διαστρέφουσιν, οἱ δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἐμφανῶν ἀπορεῖν ἐπιτηδεύουσιν. ὅθεν οἶμαι δεῖν τοῖς περὶ ταῦτα πονουμένοις λόγων διττῶν, τῶν μὲν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀληθείας, τῶν δὲ περὶ τῆς ἀληθείας· καὶ τῶν μὲν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀληθείας πρὸς τοὺς ἀπιστοῦντας ἢ τοὺς ἀμφιβάλλοντας, τῶν δὲ περὶ τῆς ἀληθείας πρὸς τοὺς εὐγνωμονοῦντας καὶ μετ' εὐνοίας δεχομένους τὴν ἀλήθειαν. ὧν ἕνεκεν χρὴ τοὺς περὶ τούτων ἐξετάζειν ἐθέλοντας τὴν ἑκάστοτε προκειμένην χρείαν σκοπεῖν καὶ ταύτῃ τοὺς λόγους μετρεῖν τήν τε περὶ τούτων τάξιν μεθαρμόζειν πρὸς τὸ δέον καὶ μὴ τῷ δοκεῖν τὴν αὐτὴν πάντοτε φυλάττειν ἀρχὴν ἀμελεῖν τοῦ προσήκοντος καὶ τῆς ἐπιβαλλούσης ἑκάστῳ χώρας. ὡς μὲν γὰρ πρὸς ἀπόδειξιν καὶ τὴν φυσικὴν ἀκολουθίαν, πάντοτε πρωτοστατοῦσιν οἱ περὶ αὐτῆς λόγοι τῶν ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς, ὡς δὲ πρὸς τὸ χρειωδέστερον, ἀνεστραμμένως οἱ ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς τῶν περὶ αὐτῆς. οὔτε γὰρ γεωργὸς δύναιτ' ἂν προσηκόντως καταβάλλειν τῇ γῇ τὰ σπέρματα, μὴ προεξελὼν τὰ τῆς ἀγρίας ὕλης καὶ <τὰ> τοῖς καταβαλλομένοις ἡμέροις σπέρμασιν λυμαινόμενα, οὔτε ἰατρὸς ἐνεῖναί τι τῶν ὑγιεινῶν φαρμάκων τῷ δεομένῳ θεραπείας σώματι, μὴ τὴν ἐνοῦσαν κακίαν προκαθήρας ἢ τὴν ἐπιρρέουσαν ἐπισχών· οὔτε μὴν ὁ τὴν ἀλήθειαν διδάσκειν ἐθέλων περὶ τῆς ἀληθείας λέγων πεῖσαι δύναιτ' ἄν τινα ψευδοδοξίας τινὸς ὑποικουρούσης τῇ τῶν ἀκουόντων διανοίᾳ καὶ τοῖς λόγοις ἀντι- στατούσης. διὸ πρὸς τὸ χρειωδέστερον ἀφορῶντες καὶ ἡμεῖς προτάσσομεν ἔσθ' ὅτε τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀληθείας λόγους τῶν περὶ τῆς ἀληθείας· κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν δὲ τρόπον ποιῆσαι καὶ νῦν ἐπὶ τῶν τῆς ἀναστάσεως λόγων οὐκ ἀχρεῖον φαίνεται σκοποῦσι τὸ δέον. καὶ γὰρ ἐν τούτοις εὑρίσκομεν τοὺς μὲν ἀπιστοῦντας πάντῃ, τινὰς δὲ ἀμφιβάλλοντας καὶ τῶν γε τὰς πρώτας ὑποθέσεις δεξαμένων τινὰς ἐπ' ἴσης τοῖς ἀμφιβάλλουσιν ἀποροῦντας· τὸ δὲ πάντων παραλογώ-