Compendium of Heretical Fables 1 part 8/10

yet being immortal and immutable, it endured neither death nor suffering

For if the soul, on account of its innate immortality, did not share in the death of the body, how could it be possible for the uncircumscribed nature to be nailed to the wood, or committed to the tomb? Making this plain, the four evangelists mention Joseph of Arimathea, and say that he came to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus, and that when Pilate had given permission, he took the body down from the wood, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and committed the body to the tomb

And often they have set down the name 'body,' stopping the shameless mouth of the blasphemers with clear and manifest testimonies

That the same [God] is both good and just

For since that utterly abominable man heard the Law declaring, 'an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, a burn for a burn, a bruise for a bruise,' while the Lord enjoins that to the one who strikes the right cheek, the other should be turned as well, and that to him who wishes to go to law and take one's tunic, one should give up one's cloak also, that senseless man supposed that the one [the Lawgiver] was just, but the other [the Lord] was good

And he did not perceive that the precision of the evangelical laws is more formidable than the Mosaic legislation

For that law forbids murder, but the evangelical law threatens gehenna even to him who calls his brother a fool

For whoever,' he says, 'says to his brother, Fool, is liable to the gehenna of fire.' So again, the old law condemns adultery, but the evangelical law calls even the shameful desire which enters through a lustful gaze adultery

And the old law forbids falsehood, but the new law forbids even the oath

And the old law commanded that a man who had come to hate his wife should divorce her;

but the new law calls divorce apart from fornication adultery

For whoever,' he says, 'divorces his wife, except for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery

And in addition to these things, he threatened that he would require an account even for an idle word, and eternal punishment, and outer darkness, and the gehenna of fire, and many other such things

...good; and he who is called good is [also] just

For indeed he has laid down more exacting laws, and threatened harsher punishments

But even to say such things is manifest madness

For he who in the Gospels commanded that we love our enemies, also commanded in the old law not to overlook the enemy's beast fallen beneath its burden, but to help it, and not to remember the enmity at the time of need

So again he commands that the enemy's ox, if it goes astray, be brought back and restored to its owner

The ancient law teaches not only kindness toward human beings, but even commands that pity be shown to irrational animals as well.

For it says, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox while it is threshing.’ And, ‘You shall not boil a lamb in its mother’s milk.’ And it forbids those who find the nestlings of certain birds to seize their parents along with them.

And it commanded that the seventh day be a day of rest, so that not only the manservant and the maidservant might have rest, but also the ox and the beast of burden;

so great is the care it takes even for irrational creatures.

One may also find the laws written concerning proselytes to be full of every kindness.

For it says, ‘You shall not mistreat the proselyte, for you were proselytes in Egypt.’ And it commanded those who reap to leave the fallen ears of grain for the proselyte, the orphan, and the widow.

In the same way it forbids those who gather the grape harvest to collect a second time the fallen grapes and the clusters that have been overlooked.

It commands that the same thing be done also with the other fruits.

For it says, ‘You shall not glean your vineyard a second time, nor strip your olive tree bare, but it shall belong to the proselyte, the orphan, and the widow, and to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.’ Moreover, it deems the woman taken captive in war worthy of the greatest forethought;

for it does not hand her over to be outraged by those given to pleasure, but commands first that she be permitted to honor her family with mourning, then to shave her head, and only then to be joined in marriage.

What punishment, then, could they pay that would be a fitting penalty for their blasphemy — those who have dared to call so good a lawgiver not only unjust, but even wicked?

‘…but I will make with them a new covenant, putting my laws into their minds, and I will write them upon their hearts.’ By these words he taught clearly that the one who gave the old covenant would provide the new one as well.

And through the prophet Isaiah he said:

‘Arise, O Lord; let not man prevail;

let the nations be judged before you;

appoint, O Lord, a lawgiver over them.’ But if they disbelieve the prophecies, let them hear the one who gives the law — who does not overturn the ancient laws, but tightens them.

For it would be the mark of one overturning the law to say, ‘It was said to those of old…’

‘…and it was said to those of old…’

‘…but I say to you, murder!’

For this is what the associates of Marcion…

he introduces a more exacting way of life.

And just as the schoolteacher teaches those beginning their studies the shapes of the letters,

while to those who have already learned these he presents the combinations of syllables,

and trains others in the composition of words, and yet others in the harmony of reading — he does not thereby introduce contrary rules of instruction, but offers teachings suited to each age;

For the necessary and primary laws he inscribed in the very nature of human beings.

For each person has the discernment of good and evil;

and when we do the things we would not wish to suffer, by this very fact we proclaim that we know that what is done is evil.

Thus, whoever commits murder or adultery knows that what is being done is evil.

For he does not want to be slain himself, but contrives every means so as not to suffer this; and when his own wife is seduced, he accuses the one who has despoiled his bed, and having received the insult, brings a charge of outrage.

And examining the other cases in the same manner, we shall find that all people know that evil is evil.

These, then, God who fashioned us has placed in our nature;

while the others he gave differently in each generation.

For to Adam he gave the law concerning the tree;

to Noah, the law concerning the eating of flesh;

and he legislated circumcision for the patriarch;

and the rest he composed through Moses, the great prophet.

But in the divine Gospels, having brought to an end, as it were, the practice of the elementary rudiments — the legislation concerning lesser matters — he gave the most perfect laws.

And just as mothers offer the breast to newborn infants, then a little later food broken small enough for the teeth, and then, once they have become children and youths, solid food;

so also the God of all offers the more perfect teachings to those who have been instructed in the former things.

and we no longer partake of the milk.

For the milk of the one who nursed them is superfluous to those who are grown;

yet they nonetheless honor the nurse, since they were nourished by her.

For indeed it trains us precisely in piety, in faith toward God, in love for one’s neighbor, in temperance, in righteousness, and in courage, and it sets before us for imitation the archetypes of the saints of old.

And instead of those sprinklings of old, the gift of the all-holy baptism suffices for believers.

For baptism does not, as the demented Messalians suppose, merely resemble a razor, removing only the sins previously committed;

for this it grants only out of its abundance.

For if this alone were the work of baptism, why do we baptize infants who have not yet tasted sin? For the mystery does not promise this alone, but things greater and more perfect than these;

‘For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.’ And:

‘As many of us as were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death;’

‘so that just as Christ was raised through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.’

‘For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we shall certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.’ The divine Apostle taught us to think this concerning the all-holy baptism — that by being buried together with Christ, we shall share in his resurrection.

But indeed, more mystical discourse is needed here;

and besides, having already composed twelve mystical discourses, we shall refer those eager to learn to those, while we ourselves shall proceed to the examination of the remaining chapters.

Thus, in performing the mystery of baptism, we receive the hope concerning the resurrection, and we await the resurrection of bodies.

For this is also what the name itself indicates.

For ‘resurrection’ is a standing-up-again.

Now it is the body that decays and is dissolved, and is changed into dust;

For it says, ‘His spirit shall go forth, and he shall return to his dust.’ And again:

‘You will take away their spirit, and they will fail and return to their dust.’ And the Maker himself said to Adam, ‘You are earth, and to earth you shall return.’ This renewed constitution of the body, then, is fittingly called resurrection.

For indeed, in the case of the immortal soul, there occurs not a resurrection, but a return to the body.

But Marcion, Cerdo, and Mani, and all who did not accept the resurrection of bodies, rejected the restoration of this present life as altogether impossible.

For just as they supposed that God is unable to create apart from matter, so also they held that he is by no means able to restore, to its former form, what has been once and for all dissolved, changed into a little dust, and consumed by time.

And yet they themselves say that God, having taken a single lump of earth, formed man.

And they ought to have understood that, just as at that time the God of all most easily changed that lump into a body and made many various members, so it is likewise easy for him to construct the substance of the body from these small remains.

Indeed, this is what we now see happening in the womb, in accordance with that ancient act of creation.

For from the small matter of the seed, bones grow, and membranes, and sinews, and veins, and arteries, and skin, and fat, and flesh, and all the other things of which the body is composed.

For nature proceeds according to the divine ordinance, and, like some sculptor, fashions the living statue, and neither the smallness of the material, nor the narrowness of the place, nor the surrounding darkness hinders the creative work.

It is, then, the height of folly to disbelieve what is actually seen to happen, especially when God himself makes the promise.

For Christ himself said that those in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who have done good will come forth to the resurrection of life;

but those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment. And no one of sound mind would say that souls dwell in the tombs;

For the bodies lie among these.

And rebuking the Sadducees also, who did not accept the doctrine concerning the resurrection, the Lord said these things:

Concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken by God, who says, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? And he added:

God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. And to Martha he said:

Your brother will rise again. And she, having been taught this from the Old Scripture, answered:

I know that my brother will rise again in the resurrection, on the last day. Then the Lord, taking up her word, said:

I am the resurrection and the life:

...he shall live. So then, just as, having said at that time:

'Your brother will rise again,' he did not raise Lazarus' soul alone, but while he brought the soul back, he also raised the body, which was foul-smelling and decomposed:

so too, having promised the common resurrection, he will restore the dissolved bodies, reconstituted anew, to their souls, rendering them free from death and corruption

And this the divine Apostle taught explicitly:

Wherein we do not wish to be unclothed, but to be further clothed, that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. And again:

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

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

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

it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. And again:

For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible. And he has also set forth the objection of the unbelieving:

How are the dead raised? And with what body do they come? And first he called them foolish, since, though they see in seeds the pattern of the resurrection, they are not led by this to [believe in] the resurrection of bodies

'Fool,' he said, 'what you sow does not come to life unless it dies; and what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare grain, it may be of wheat, or of some of the rest. Consider,' he says, 'the things that happen daily'

For furrows differ in nothing from tombs

and while the farmers do nothing else than bury the seeds, it is the word of him who fashioned all things that accomplishes the rest

For this too the divine Apostle said:

But God gives it a body as he willed. And lest anyone suppose that a different body is being formed, he necessarily added:

and to each of the seeds its own body. And writing to the Philippians he proclaims:

For our citizenship exists in the heavens, from which also we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus, who will transform the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory. He has called it transformation, not a change into another form, but the change from corruption into incorruption

And to the Thessalonians too, who were greatly disheartened over those who had died, offering them comfort, he presented to them the teaching concerning the resurrection

'For I do not want you,' he says, 'brethren, to be ignorant concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you grieve as do the rest who have no hope'

'For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will also bring with him those who have fallen asleep.' And lest anyone suppose he was saying these things out of his own reasoning, he added:

'For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall by no means precede those who have fallen asleep.' And one may find in him countless other testimonies clearly proclaiming the resurrection

And even in Jerusalem, when he was being tried as a transgressor of the law, he cried out:

'Concerning the resurrection of the dead I am on trial this day.' And why should I speak of the apostles, who received clearer teaching concerning the resurrection from the Lord himself? For the divinely-inspired prophets, too, held fast to this very hope

'You will take away their spirit, and they will fail, and return to their dust:'

'you will send forth your spirit, and they will be created, and you will renew the face of the earth.' And we also hear the divinely-inspired Isaiah crying out:

'The dead shall arise, and those in the tombs shall be raised'

And the thrice-blessed Ezekiel also said that he himself had seen the manner of the resurrection:

and flesh growing, and sinews, and skins

'And it came to pass,' he says, 'while I was prophesying, behold, a shaking, and bones came together, bone to its bone, each to its joint'

'And I looked, and behold, sinews came upon them, and flesh grew up, and rose over them, and skin was stretched over them from above.' Then he teaches how, at the command, the spirits returned from every quarter, and how, when these were joined to those, the pattern of the resurrection to come was prefigured

And if the prophets foretold these things even before the manifestation of the Savior, what penalty would not those justly pay who, after the Savior's resurrection and the apostles' preaching, disbelieve the doctrine of the resurrection? 20.

And how would the judgment take place justly, if, according to the doctrine of the unbelieving, the bodies were not raised at all, and only the souls were made to render account for their offenses? For it is not just that the soul—which sinned together with the body, and through the eyes admitted both envy and improper desires, and through the ears was beguiled by unlawful words, and through every part of the body received certain not-good incitements—should alone pay the penalty for the offenses committed, and endure this not for some brief time, but for endless ages; for this we have been taught by the divine Scripture

'For these,' he says, 'shall go away into eternal life, and these into eternal punishment and shame.' And again, how would it be holy that the souls of the saints alone should enjoy the promised good things, when it was together with the bodies that they achieved virtue? For the eyes pour forth the tears of compunction, and the ears convey the divine oracles to the soul, and the tongue both hymns the Benefactor and continually offers prayer, and the hands minister to the care of those in need, and the feet now run to houses of prayer, now stand in prayer, and endure a very great deal of toil

How then would it be just that the body—which together with the soul amassed the wealth of virtue—should be dust and cast aside, while the soul alone is proclaimed victor? And if this would be grievous, it is right, then, that the bodies rise first, and thus that together they render account for the life they have lived

For this too the divine Apostle said

'that you will render to each according to his works.' Now Pythagoras fabricated the myth of the transmigration of souls, saying that they pass not only into the bodies of irrational creatures, but also into plants

And Plato too followed this myth in much the same way

From this Mani, and even before him, the impious swarm of those called Gnostics, having taken their starting-points, said that this was a form of punishment

And the utterly abominable Carpocrates, and Epiphanes, and Prodicus, and the Cainites, who legislated a swinish life, said that souls are sent into other bodies, so that through fornication and every kind of licentiousness each might render service to the world-making angels

But the Church of the pious abhors these and such-like myths, and, following the divine words, believes that the bodies will rise, and that together with them the souls will be judged, and that those who lived in companionship with vice will be punished, while those who took care for virtue will attain the acclamations [of victory]

And the greatly bountiful [God] has promised to give nothing perishable or temporary, but the eternal enjoyment of good things:

for the kingdom of our God and Savior will not be, as Cerinthus and those like him held, earthly, nor bounded by a fixed span of time

Let them imagine the span of a thousand years, and perishing luxury, and other sensual pleasures, and besides these, sacrifices and Jewish festivals;

for we look forward to the ageless life

'For these,' says the Lord, 'shall rise to eternal life, and these to eternal punishment and shame.' And again:

'Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' And he also commanded the divine apostles to preach and say:

'The kingdom of heaven has drawn near.' And elsewhere he said to them:

'When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all to myself.' And again:

'In my Father's house are many dwelling-places:'

'and if it were not so, I would have told you that I go to prepare a place for you.' And:

'I will come again, and take you to myself, that where I am, you may be also.' And again:

'He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.' And moreover, speaking also to the Father, he said thus:

'Father, those whom you have given me, I desire that where I am, they also may be with me, that they may behold my glory which you have given me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world.' Having learned these things, the divine Apostle said:

'We shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord, and so we shall always be with the Lord.' And again:

'for if we died with him, we shall also live with him:'

'if we endure, we shall also reign with him.' And writing to the Romans he said:

'For if by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one, much more shall those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift and of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ.' And again:

'For our momentary light affliction is working for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, while we look not at the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen'

'For the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal.' And the crowning good of all is that the promised life is free from sin

For when the bodies rise incorruptible and the souls receive immutability, sin will then no longer have any place at all

And with sin thus put out of the way, and the devil together with the demons handed over to Gehenna, the toils of the contests will cease, along with the dread of defeat and the anxious care for victory

And a life free from grief and pleasing to the heart will be given to the worthy, and they will enjoy a light both intelligible and divine—or rather, they themselves will become light-formed

“For then,” saith the Lord, “shall the righteous shine forth as the sun.” XXII.

On the second epiphany of our God and Savior

These things shall come to pass after the second epiphany of our Savior.

For thus he promised also to the apostles:

“I go away, and I come unto you.” And again:

“I will come again unto you, and will take you unto myself.” And in another place:

“Then shall ye see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven in his glory, and all the holy angels with him.”

“I beheld,” he says, “till thrones were set, and the Ancient of Days sat:”

“his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool;”

“his throne was a flame of fire, his wheels burning fire; a river of fire went forth and issued before him.”

“Thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.”

“The judgment was set, and the books were opened.” — “And behold, one came with the clouds of heaven as the Son of man, and reached unto the Ancient of Days, and there was given unto him authority and kingship.”

“His authority is an everlasting authority, and his kingdom shall be for ever.” And, “The dominion of the beasts was taken away, and the kingdom was given to the saints of the Most High.” Such is the concord between the evangelical proclamations and the prophetic oracles.

For these words and those are the oracles of one and the same God.

Concerning this fire the prophet Isaiah also says:

“Who shall declare unto you the everlasting place?” — And at the end of the prophecy he says:

“God, the Lord of gods, has spoken, and has called the earth, from the rising of the sun unto its setting.”

“Out of Zion is the perfection of his beauty.”

“God shall come manifestly, our God, and shall not keep silence.”

“A fire shall burn before him, and round about him a mighty tempest.” And in another psalm:

“Cloud and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the foundation of his throne;”

“a fire shall go before him, and shall burn up his enemies round about.” And again:

“For he comes to judge the earth: he shall judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in equity.” And through the prophet Malachi the God of all himself says:

“Behold, I send unto you Elijah the Tishbite, lest I come and smite the earth utterly.” And the divine Apostle, writing to the blessed Titus, joined the second epiphany of our Savior to the first:

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,” he says, “instructing us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age, awaiting the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” By these words he showed that the first epiphany had come to pass for the sake of the second.

For it was for this reason, he says, that he appeared: that, having freed us from impiety and transgression, and having taught us every virtue, he might make us ready to await the second epiphany with gladness of heart.

And he marvels also at the Thessalonians, that, having been delivered from the error of idols, they chose to serve the living and true God, and to await his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.

And writing also to the Hebrews, he made known this same coming, making use of prophetic testimony.

“For yet a very little while,” he says, “he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” These same things he taught the Philippians also:

“For our citizenship,” he said, “is in heaven, from whence also we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus.” And likewise also the Thessalonians:

“For the Lord himself,” he says, “shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first,” and so forth.

It would be easy also to adduce other testimonies proclaiming the second epiphany of our Savior, but even these suffice to persuade even the most contentious.

And many of the prophets foretold this enigmatically also in the Old Testament.

And if any of these things need clarification, we have already expounded them above, having interpreted the whole prophecy word for word.

And having also interpreted, together with the other epistles, what the divine Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, we made use of a longer discourse than is our custom in searching out the passage concerning the Antichrist.

For this also the Lord said to the Jews:

“I have come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not.”

“Another shall come in his own name, and him ye will receive.” This same thing the divine Apostle also said:

“Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved:”

“and for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be judged who believed not the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness” — unto their conviction. Therefore, upon those who did not believe the proclamation of the truth, the father and teacher of wickedness shall come.

And that most wicked demon shall name himself the greatest god.

“For he shall not regard the gods of his fathers,” it is said, “and he shall glorify the god Mazurim in his place”; that is, he shall proclaim himself a strong and mighty god.

For this reason, then, the all-wise God permits the accursed one to appear.

For it is quite evident that he would not have appeared, had God not willed it.

Yet we do not call this willing an active working.

For God is not the cause of evils, even according to the philosophers outside the Church.

For neither did he himself make Cain a murderer, merely because, when Cain willed to slay his brother, he did not prevent him.

Nor did he himself cause the sons of Jacob to sell Joseph, merely because he did not put a stop to their undertaking.

He permits this one to appear, laying bare that one's wickedness, and exposing the depravity of the Jews.

And he brings it about, with all speed, that this one comes to utter destruction, but the Jews to healing.