Christian Topography 1 part 16/22

"But our citizenship exists in the heavens, from which also we eagerly await a Saviour."

beginning in the dual, but ending in the singular — saying "from which" (ἐξ οὗ, singular) instead of saying "from which" (ἐξ ὧν, plural).

For, since two heavens were made by God, as the blessed Moses relates, and are bound together with one another, at times the divine Scripture speaks of them in the plural, and at times in the singular, as has been said, on account of the idiom of the tongue.

And it has been stated that, insofar as they are joined together, being bound to one another, they are constituted as one.

Do not, then, fall into error when you hear that the blessed Paul was caught up to the third heaven.

For there are not three heavens, nor more, nor does he mean to say this, nor does he contradict Moses; but he says that he was caught up from the earth through the whole extent of the height of heaven, short of its third part, that is to say:

"I was raised up from the earth to such a degree that a third of the distance of the height of heaven remained for me [to traverse]."

These things being so, it is now time for us to say how the whole divine Scripture proclaims it — or rather, them — to be indissoluble.

The divine Apostle, then, speaks thus:

"For we know that if our earthly house of this tent is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" — so as to show that the earthly condition here is destroyed, but the future condition, which is also heavenly, is indestructible and eternal.

"We have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, a minister of the holy things and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man" — so as to say that the Master Christ was taken up into the heavens, into the true tabernacle, that is, the one that is ever abiding and indestructible.

For by saying "true," he signified that it is indestructible, since the one constructed through Moses was destroyed.

This one he called "true," as indestructible, in contradistinction to that one — as if to say, abiding, firm, and indestructible.

"But Christ, having appeared as high priest of the good things to come, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, nor through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered once for all into the holy places, having obtained eternal redemption." What he says is this:

He hints at this place, and the one above it.

And into the first [tabernacle], the priests continually performed the services; but into the second, only the high priest alone entered once a year, by means of the blood of goats and calves, making atonement in the inner tabernacle, and effecting forgiveness for the people.

For this reason, Paul says that Christ, having appeared, being high priest of the heavens, just as the earthly high priest entered into the inner tabernacle with another's blood, so he too has entered into the higher place with his own blood; and just as the tabernacle here is small, made with hands, and, as a type, imperfect and destructible, so too heaven is great, not made with hands, firm, true, eternal, and indestructible, where the eternal redemption takes place.

For since the high priest is eternal, of necessity both the salvation and the tabernacle are also eternal, as again it is written:

"And the former priests were many, because they were prevented by death from continuing."

"But he, because he continues forever, holds his priesthood unchangeable."

"Wherefore he is also able to save completely those who come to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them."

"For such a high priest was fitting for us: holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens." The phrase "higher than the heavens" he speaks of heaven according to the idiom of the tongue.

And more clearly, the words "unchangeable," "to remain forever," and "always" show the indestructibility of the matter.

For if the priest is unchangeable, then certainly the tabernacle also, where he performs the priestly service, is unchangeable, that is, without succession.

"Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken" — so as to say, abiding, immovable, indestructible, and having no succession. And again:

"Let us be diligent to enter into that rest" — calling it "rest" as without succession, and not [implying] that we again become migrants, but that we rest forever in that very heaven.

"Having therefore a great high priest, who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession."

The phrase "who has passed through the heavens" is to say "heaven" according to the idiom of the tongue, and [means] that he is within the two heavens, as in a tabernacle not made with hands.

"Having therefore boldness to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way which he inaugurated for us" — by "the entrance of the holy places that came about in the blood of Jesus" he means his entrance into the heavens, which he made after the passion and the resurrection, having been taken up into heaven; and this way, having been inaugurated for us, he called "new and living," as being the first of all himself to walk this way in a newly-fitting and recent manner, it being living and holy, and leaving for us a certain pattern.

"And every high priest stands daily ministering and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins."

"But this one, having offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God."

"Henceforth waiting until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet."

"For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified."

If, as he said, he sits forever at the right hand of God after the passion and the sacrifice, and forever sanctifies those who come to him, how is it possible for that place to be destroyed, where he himself sits forever and those who come are sanctified? And again:

"For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priests."

"And it is yet far more evident, if, after the likeness of Melchizedek, another priest arises, who has become so not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an indestructible life."

"For it is testified: 'You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.'"

Behold, he says most clearly that Christ has become an eternal priest through power and indestructible life.

"A minister of the holy things and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man" — expressly declaring this one too to be true and indestructible.

"For men swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute."

"Wherein, God, desiring more abundantly to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of his counsel, mediated by an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast the hope set before us, which we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and entering into that within the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."

"Knowing that you have for yourselves a better and abiding possession." See again, admirable one, that he speaks of that entrance which enters within the veil, that is, of the firmament, where Jesus has entered and where we too are about to enter, as unchangeable, strong, secure, steadfast, abiding, continual, and holding us fast after the manner of an anchor.

"For here we have no abiding city, but we seek the one to come" — as if to say:

We seek that city, the one ever-abiding and eternal, the Jerusalem above, which is free and the mother of all the faithful.

For the one here, he says, is destroyed, according to what has been said:

"For the form of this world passes away."

"Set your minds on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God; seek the things above, not the things on the earth." "The things above," he says, "I have told you" — where Christ now sits, seek those things which are his, not the things here.

And that he calls it prepared from that time on, you may again hear from Paul, who says:

"Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God."

"For he has prepared for them a city." And again, the Lord himself says:

"Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you."

And when was it prepared? he says.

"From the foundation of the world" — so as to say:

From that time, at the beginning of creation, together with the making of heaven and earth and the things brought forth along with them, the place of the kingdom of heaven was prepared, God having foreseen something better concerning us.

For again, he also says in the Gospel according to John:

"In my Father's house are many mansions."

"If it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you."

By "my Father's house" he means the dwelling place, the one in the heavens.

In this, then, he says, is your dwelling place, prepared for you by the Father.

"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also."

"And where I go, you know the way." And again, to the mother of James and John, who had asked that one might sit on his right hand and one on his left in the kingdom, he answered, saying:

"This is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father." Those who are worthy, then, obtain these things even before I bestow them as a favour — whether to your sons, or to others who are also worthy.

But also the phrase "where I am, that you may be also" wonderfully establishes that place to be indestructible and prepared from that time onward, and not — as the wise hold — that another place is introduced in its stead, in which we are to rise and dwell, this one being destroyed.

And to speak concisely, the passages in the divine Scripture that show that heaven is indestructible—into which Christ has entered and we are about to enter—are almost innumerable.

This the Lord proclaimed to his own disciples, while the apostle Paul wrote to those from among the Hebrews who had believed in Christ, fittingly contrasting for them all the features of the tabernacle—both those of the outer tabernacle in relation to this lower region, and those of the inner tabernacle in relation to the upper and heavenly region.

...to the Greeks who had believed—I mean the Corinthians, men who were lovers of learning and philosophers, who had already believed concerning the resurrection of Christ but still doubted concerning the common resurrection of mankind—he again used the same arguments and says:

Now if Christ is preached as having been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised;

but if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and our faith is in vain also—as if to say:

Your faith in Christ is of no benefit to you, if our resurrection also is not believed by you.

For if you believed concerning one that he was raised from the dead, how should it not be believed that it is also possible for all the rest to be raised? For he who is able to raise one is able to raise all.

Moreover we are found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise, if indeed the dead are not raised;

'and we,' he says, 'who testified to you that God raised Christ, will be found false and deceivers.'

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 on the basis of what had been confessed and believed by them, and saying:

'For if that one,' he says, 'concerning whom you believed, being dead, rose, how do you disbelieve also concerning the resurrection of the rest of the dead—so that you appear rather to have believed in vain even concerning that one? For he who is able to raise one dead man is able to raise up all the rest of the dead also; so that, disbelieving the resurrection of dead men, you have slipped back again into your former superstition.'

For this is what 'you are still in your sins' means.

Then, after a little, he adduces the reason also, saying:

'For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead'—and, showing who is the first man through whom death was introduced, and the second man through whom the resurrection was manifested, he adds:

'For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.' Then again, after a little, he says:

'Otherwise what will those do who are baptized on behalf of the dead, if the dead are not raised at all? Why then are they even baptized on their behalf? And why do we also stand in danger every hour?'—so as to say:

'Since we are baptized in a more mystical sense on behalf of our own dead bodies, going down into the holy water and coming up again, thereby imitating death and resurrection in hope and promise of the resurrection from the dead, why,' he says, 'do we do these things in vain, not conforming to what we do? And why do we also stand in danger every hour, proclaiming these things and contending against so great a multitude and worldly prejudice?' Then he attempts again, after a little, by way of contrast, more naturally through an example, to persuade, and says:

'But someone will say, How are the dead raised? And with what body do they come?' He answers, as it were, and says:

Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it first dies;

and what you sow, you do not sow the body that shall be, but a bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other of the rest;

but God gives it a body as he willed, and to each of the seeds its own body—saying this:

Consider, O men, that a bare grain, when sown in the earth, first dissolves;

for this is what 'unless it first dies' means.

Then, being sent forth by the power and providence of God, it appears with much bounty and skill and beauty—instead of one grain, manifold; instead of bare, clothed and having husks; instead of easily caught and easily damaged, made firm and assisted, having awns, so that it may remain unharmed from those things able to injure it—

—of God who fashioned all things.

Consider that God gives it a body as he wills, and to each of the seeds he gives its own corresponding body—so as to say:

Not an alien or foreign one, but a similar body, multiplying, does he give to each, and one that corresponds.

Then again, after comparing different flesh and earthly and heavenly bodies, and having shown their great difference, he adds:

So also is the resurrection of the dead.

It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption;

it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory;

it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;

it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one;

thus also it is written, 'The first man Adam became a living soul; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.'

But that which is spiritual is not first, but that which is natural, and afterward that which is spiritual.

The first man is from the earth, made of dust; the second man is the Lord from heaven;

as is the one made of dust, so also are those made of dust; and as is the heavenly one, so also are those who are heavenly;

and as we have borne the image of the one made of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.

Now this I say, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Here he intends, by a parallel example more in accordance with nature, to persuade those occupied with the wisdom of this world, and from the example concerning the wheat he has passed over to the resurrection of the dead, saying that just as the wheat is sown and dissolves, so also the bodies of men, sown dead in the earth, dissolve; and just as it is sent forth with much increase and security and beauty, so also the bodies of men rise with much honor and glory and power and ineffable beauty, distinguished by the almighty wisdom and ineffable strength of God who created all things and re-creates them.

For in whatever element a human body should be found consumed and digested by countless other bodies, that element, being shaken to its foundations on the last day, renders back the things sought to their own souls;

and just as, when a sieve is shaken, what is sought is found in the middle, so also, when the elements are shaken and stirred, the bodies of men that are sought are brought forth into the midst.

And this is not a marvel for God;

for as he is the judge of hearts and thoughts and reflections, and distinguishes each person's thoughts and reflections at every moment from eternity until the consummation, so also it is possible for him to do the lesser thing and distinguish bodies from bodies;

for 'yet once more,' he says, 'I will shake not only the earth, but also heaven';

and 'yet once more' signifies the removal of the things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, so that the things not shaken may remain—so as to say:

At the consummation I will shake all things once more, moving them each to its own proper transposition;

for since they were already made from the beginning and have undergone corruption or change, it is easy for me to reshape each one according to its proper nature, so that henceforth they may remain in a better state, no longer undergoing convulsion or shaking.

How do our own same bodies rise, having already been digested and changed into countless other bodies? To this we shall say that just as we, being small children, eat much flesh of others—such as of oxen, swine, and various other animals, both birds and fish—and, being digested, they increase our own body without it being changed, nor becoming other instead of other, but it remains in its identity; so also in the resurrection, the opposite happening to us, and our bodies having been dissolved into the elements, you would see the forms easily restored by some movement, being distinguished by the divine power.

For just as, while we are alive, it is not changed by association with other flesh, God having thus ordained it, so also, when we die, being easily distinguished by his power, our bodies are preserved from change into something else.

...speaking of men and earthly beings:

'And as we have borne,' he says, 'the image of the one made of dust'—that is, the mortality and weakness and corruption of Adam—'we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one';

that is, of him who went before and has already ascended into the heavens by the resurrection from the dead—I mean Christ according to the flesh, who became powerful and incorruptible and immortal and glorified—we too likewise becoming heavenly like him; and he rightly said 'we have borne' already, and 'we shall bear' as again foretold of the future;

for this reason, rejoicing and exulting again, he cries out:

But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory.'

'O death, where is your victory? O Hades, where is your sting?'—so as to say:

Death will become invisible, being swallowed up, life having overwhelmingly conquered in us;

'Where, O death, is your arrogance? And where, O Hades, is your dominion?' Then he ascribes the whole to God, as accomplished through Christ, and says:

'But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ'—so as to say:

'This victory over death, wrought through Christ, the God of all bestowed upon us, to whom belong glory and thanksgiving forever, Amen'—writing to these Corinthians nothing other than what he had also written to those from among the Jews: that from this perishable condition we pass over into the one to come, that is, the heavenly region, which he also calls the kingdom of heaven, inasmuch as we reign over the passions and corruption and death, and dwell in a special, eternal, and fitting place—which, being transformed from corruption into incorruption, we inherit.

For this the Apostle also indicated above, in the example concerning the grain of wheat, in that he used a corruptible example with reference to incorruption, saying:

Do not suppose that the examples correspond to this in every respect;

for this I say to you, that while we still exist as mortal or changeable—for this is what 'flesh and blood' means—it is impossible to inherit the kingdom of heaven, unless we first rise from the dead incorruptible, immortal, and unchangeable.

But the Lord also used the same example, when certain Greeks asked Philip to show them Jesus; and to him, when he reported it, the Lord declared, saying:

Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone;

but if it dies, it bears much fruit—so as to say:

Why do they now wish to see me as thus appearing, contemptible, as being only a grain of wheat? For unless I die like the grain and rise like the ear of wheat, becoming beautiful, incorruptible, immortal, and unchangeable, and unless great powers and signs come to pass in my name, they will not know our power and glory.

Likewise John the Baptist also, speaking concerning the Lord, and hastening to show him to be, in the coming state, judge of all, himself too made use of the example concerning the grain, and speaks thus:

Whose winnowing fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor, and gather the wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. Now when Paul, addressing himself also to the Greeks themselves in Athens, on the Areopagus, what does he say? 'Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious;'

for as I passed by and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar on which was inscribed, 'To an Unknown God.'

What therefore you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.

The God who made the world and all things in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything, he himself giving to all life and breath and all things,

that they might find him, though he is not far from each one of us,

for in him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said:

'For we are also his offspring.' Being therefore the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the divine is like gold, or silver, or stone, an engraving of art and of man's imagination.

Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all men everywhere to repent, because he has set a day in which he is about to judge the world in righteousness, by a man whom he has appointed, having given assurance to all by raising him from the dead — saying nothing different in this from what he had earlier said to those who believed from among the Jews and Greeks, that God, being uncircumscribed and almighty, whom he raised from the dead as a man for the confirmation of all men, will in him judge the world in righteousness, having appointed him judge of all.

Likewise the Apostle also said concerning him:

'And made him sit at his right hand.' And John the Baptist likewise said, 'the winnowing fan is in his hand,' and he will separate the wheat from the chaff, delivering to punishments the sinners who are like chaff, as distinguished from the wheat.

Hence some of them believed, as it is written, but some also mocked when they heard of the resurrection of the dead:

'What would this seed-picker [σπερμολόγος] wish to say?' — as if he were the one digging up our seeds;

We will hear you again concerning this.

'He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign deities' — because, says Luke, he preached Jesus and the resurrection —

'May we know what this new teaching is which is spoken by you?' And, simply put, most of them mocked Paul for speaking at all about the resurrection of the dead.

And when Paul, accused by the Jews, stood before the tribunal before Festus the governor and Agrippa the king, about to recount the force of the things previously done, Festus said to Agrippa that they, Paul and the Jews, had certain questions between themselves concerning their own religion, and concerning a certain Jesus who was dead, whom Paul asserted to be alive:

Paul, being permitted by them, cried out with boldness in a clear voice:

'Concerning this hope I am accused by the Jews, O king. Why is it judged incredible among you that God raises the dead?' Then again:

'For this reason the Jews seized me while I was in the temple and attempted to kill me.'

'Having therefore obtained help from God, I stand to this day, testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come:'

'That the Christ must suffer, and that, being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles.' Likewise again, when he was invited by the unbelieving Jews themselves in Antioch of Pisidia, what does he say? 'Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen:'

'The God of this people Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people during their sojourn in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm he led them out of it, and for about forty years' time he bore with their ways in the wilderness, and having destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance, for about four hundred and fifty years:'

'And after these things he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.'

'And from then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul, son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.'

'And having removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he also said, testifying: I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will do all my will.'

'From this man's seed, according to the promise, God brought to Israel a Savior, John having proclaimed beforehand, before his coming, a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.'

'And as John was fulfilling his course, he said:'

'Men and brethren, sons of the race of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us the word of this salvation has been sent.'

'For those dwelling in Jerusalem, and their rulers, not recognizing him, and by condemning him fulfilled the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath;'

'And though they found no cause of death, they asked that he be put to death;'

'And when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb;'

'But God raised him from the dead;'

'He appeared for many days to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people.'

'And we bring you good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this to us their children by raising up Jesus, as it is written also in the second psalm:'