Homily on the Resurrection of the Dead

ON THE HOMILY ON THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD: ADMONITION

At what time Chrysostom delivered this homily, he himself indicates in the beginning, not obscurely, by these words: "We have previously discoursed to you concerning the dogmas and the glory of the only-begotten Son of God, silencing those who tear down His dignity and alienate Him from Him who begat Him." Here he refers to the sermons against the Anomoeans who were trying to undermine the glory of the Only-Begotten, which he completed at the beginning of the year 386, as we have demonstrated in the Admonition to those same works. From this, it is argued that this homily was delivered at the start of the year 387, and indeed before the Lent of that year, which he spent entirely in lamenting the calamities of the people of Antioch after the overturning of the statues. See the Admonition to those homilies at the beginning of this volume.

Furthermore, the subject of this sermon is set forth by the holy Doctor in the exordium. It treats of the Resurrection of the dead, the truth of which is asserted throughout; of establishing a life according to God; of undertaking labors with the magnitude of the reward in mind; and it is proven by the example of Paul that some reward for good works is bestowed even in this life. The Manichaeans are also refuted in passing, for they falsely claimed that bodies and human nature are in themselves evil. We have published the translation of an uncertain author, corrected in many places, alongside the Greek text.

ON THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. HOMILY.

1. Regarding the dogmas of our faith and the glory of the only-begotten Son of God, we have discoursed to you formerly, stopping the mouths of heretics who pull down His dignity and declare Him a stranger to the Father who begat Him. Today, I desire to exercise a more moral discourse, and to make the entire exhortation concerning life and manner of living; or rather, this discourse will not be moral only, but also dogmatic, for I am prepared to descend into the topic of the resurrection. This topic is indeed a varied one, rectifying us in dogmas, regulating our life, and clearing the providence of God of all accusation. And just as, when it is disbelieved, it overturns our life, fills it with ten thousand evils, and turns everything upside down; so when it is believed, it introduces to us reasons regarding Providence, prepares us to cultivate virtue with great diligence, leads us to flee wickedness with great eagerness, and fills all things with calm and peace. ^A For he who does not expect that he will be resurrected, nor that he will give an account of those things done here, but thinks that our affairs will stand until the present life and that there is nothing more beyond, he will neither concern himself with virtue—for how should he, expecting no reward to be laid up for his labors?—nor will he abstain from wickedness, expecting to suffer no punishment for the things done wrongly by him. Instead, he will surrender himself to absurd desires and will proceed to every kind of evil. But he who has persuaded himself concerning the future judgment, and has that fearful tribunal before his eyes, and the inexorable accountings, and the inescapable sentence, will by every means endeavor to [live] with temperance and to ^B maintain his heart pure from all wickedness, taking thought for the future and fearing that terrible day, and not fearing, but rather desiring the crown of virtue. For whoever calculates that there will be a reward for his labors, as though he already sees the crowns, will easily endure all the difficulties of the present life. ^C But why do I say that he will endure them? He will even count the toil as a joy, and the pain as a pleasure, since he is not looking to the present but to the future. Thus, therefore, having convinced you that the resurrection is a foundation for all virtue, I have now chosen this topic for you, that you may be instructed in how to live well. For the hope of the resurrection is for the soul what a rudder is for a ship, what walls are for a city, what a light is for the eyes; it drives away the darkness of base thoughts and keeps the soul steady amidst the tempests of earthly affairs. ^D For when you consider that you will stand naked before the Judge, and that all your hidden things will be brought into the open for all to see, you will be restrained from those things that bring shame, and you will pursue those things that bring you honor.

to adhere to temperance and righteousness and to all other virtue; and to flee from intemperance and temerity and all other vices: and he will be able ^A by this great virtue to repel those who slander the divine providence.

Providence of God defended.

^B ...makes discourse, just as you also heard him today crying out and saying: "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved, we have a house from God not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens" (2 Cor. 5:1). Rather, let us speak the discourse more deeply, and let us see how he fell into the discourse concerning the resurrection. For he is not accustomed to bring this doctrine to us simply nor by chance: but because he wishes at once to teach what things are future, and intends to confirm the athletes of piety. Now indeed by the grace of God we enjoy much peace: for indeed the Emperors practice the pious religion, and the princes have acknowledged the truth, and the peoples, and the cities, and the nations, ^C freed from errors, all worship Christ: but then at the beginning of the preaching, when the seeds of piety had recently been cast, there was a great and manifold and varied battle. For princes and kings and domestics and relatives and all were warring against the faithful: and with nature itself resisting, war arose. For a father would often deliver up a son, and a mother her daughter, and a master his servant. For not only cities, nor regions, but even houses were sometimes divided against themselves; and the tumult which then raged was worse than any intestine war. For properties were being plundered, liberty was being taken away, and danger to life was impending, not that barbarians were making an incursion against us, but those who appeared to preside over and rule us were affected worse towards their subjects than all warriors. And Paul declares this, and says: "You have endured a great contest of sufferings: in part indeed, made a spectacle in reproaches and tribulations; in part however, becoming associates of those who were so living. For you also sympathized with my bonds, and took with joy the plundering of your properties" (Heb. 10:32-34). But to the Galatians he says: "Have you suffered so many things in vain, if indeed it be in vain?" (Gal. 3:4). To the Thessalonians also, and Philippians, and in general writing to all, Paul testifies many things of this kind. Nor was this only grievous, that a frequent and continuous war was waged from without; but that among the faithful themselves some scandals, and strifes, and contentions, and rivalries had arisen: which also Paul himself reveals, saying: "Without, fightings; within, fears." There was such for both subjects and teachers: for Paul dreaded the traps of the enemies not so much as the domestic ruins and transgressions that were happening within the Church. For when a certain man had committed fornication among the Corinthians (1 Cor. 5 and 2 Cor. 2), he persevered in mourning for him for all that time, so that he would rend his own entrails, and wail bitterly.

^D There was also a third kind of trouble not less than what has been said...

bringing to the faithful, that is to say, the very nature of things, which demanded frequent toils and sweats. For the way to which the apostles were leading them was not easy or light, but rough and difficult, and demanded a philosophy in the soul that was wakeful and precise in every respect. For this reason Christ also called it narrow and straitened. For it was not permitted to live fearlessly, as among the Greeks, in indecency, drunkenness, gluttony, luxury, and extravagance; but it was necessary both to curb anger, and to hold in check illicit desire, and to look down upon wealth, and to trample upon glory, and to be superior to envy and malice. And how much labor these things provide, those who struggle with them daily well know. ^A For tell me, what is more burdensome than illicit desire, which, like a rabid dog, continually leaps upon us, and daily troubles us, and requires a soul that is perpetually wakeful? And what is more bitter than anger? It is sweet indeed to take vengeance on one who has injured us, but this was not permitted. And why do I say it was not permitted to take vengeance on one who has injured us? It was necessary to benefit those who caused pain, and to bless those who reviled us, and never to utter a bitter word; and it was necessary to show temperance, not only in deeds, but even in thought. For it is necessary to abstain not only from the wanton act itself, but even from such a gaze, and not to indulge in the sights of beautiful women, since they were to undergo the ultimate judgment even for such contemplation. Since, therefore, the war from those without was severe, the fear from those within was severe, ^B and the labor toward the exercise of virtue was severe. And there was also a fourth thing added: the inexperience of those who were about to undergo this great struggle. For the apostles did not receive men who had inherited piety from their ancestors, but who had been reared in sloth, luxury, drunkenness, indecency, and wantonness. And this was no small matter in the difficulty of the struggles, that they had not been taught this philosophy from above nor from their ancestors, but were now stripping themselves for these struggles for the first time.

3. Since, therefore, the difficulty was so great for those struggling at that time, ^C in order to comfort them in their toil, he kept introducing the discourse about the resurrection. And he does not only exhort and encourage the athletes with this, but also with the recounting of his own sufferings. For this reason, before falling into the discourse about the resurrection, he recounts his own sufferings, saying thus: *In everything we are troubled, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed* (2 Cor. 4:8-9). By these words he signifies his daily deaths, that as living dead they were handed over to death daily. When, therefore, he had brought these things before them, then he introduces the discourse about the resurrection: *For we believe,* he says, *that He who raised up our Lord Jesus Christ, ^D shall also raise us up through Jesus, and will present us with you. Therefore we do not grow weary,* having the greatest consolation in our struggles, the hope of things to come. And he did not say to them: "Therefore do not grow weary"; but what? "Therefore we do not grow weary," showing that he himself is also in the struggles continually. For in the case of the Olympic games, the athlete struggles inside, while the trainer sits outside, providing help from his words, contributing to the wrestler only so much as to shout and speak; for no law permits him to stand near and provide assistance from his hands. But in the struggles of piety, it is not so, but the same person is both trainer and athlete. For this reason, not sitting outside the stadium, but having thrown himself into the struggles, he encourages those who wrestle with him, saying: "Therefore we do not grow weary." And he did not say, "Therefore I do not grow weary," but, "Therefore we do not grow weary," wishing to rouse them with these praises. *But even if our outward man is perishing, yet the inward is being renewed day by day* (Ibid. 16). Observe the apostolic understanding. He exhorted them from what they were suffering, that *in everything we are troubled, yet not distressed*; he exhorted them from the resurrection of Jesus, saying, "That He who raised up Jesus will also raise us up." Then he also introduces another manner of consolation. Since most men, being faint-hearted, weak, and miserable, even if they are persuaded about the resurrection, are disheartened by the length of time and grow dizzy and fall back, he gives them another reward and recompense before the resurrection. What is this? *Even if our outward man is perishing, yet the inward is being renewed day by day;* calling the body the outward man, and the soul the inward man. And what he says is this: Even before you rise, and before you enjoy the glory that is to come, you have already received no small reward for your toils from this very present life, in the soul being renewed for us, becoming wiser and more devout, acquiring greater endurance, becoming more vigorous and more powerful. For just as those who excel in physical discipline, even before the crowns and before the prizes, receive a great reward from the very exercise and wrestling, by preparing their bodies through the training to be healthier and stronger, and by escaping all infirmity; so also in the struggles of virtue, even before heaven is opened, and before the Son of God is present, and before we receive the rewards, we harvest a great reward from this, in the soul becoming more philosophical. For those who have sailed the sea and endured ten thousand waves, and have wrestled with many beasts, and have borne many storms, even before the trading itself, receive no small profit from this long journey in having boldness and daring toward the sea, and in making those overseas journeys fearlessly and with pleasure; so also in the present life, he who has borne many troubles for Christ, he who has suffered many terrible things, even before the kingdom of heaven has received a great reward, having acquired boldness toward God from this.

and causes him to laugh at all severe things as if looking down from above. ^A That what we are saying may be even clearer, I wish to demonstrate it by an example. For that very Paul, after suffering countless hardships, did he not receive noble rewards when he laughed at tyrants, when he provoked maddened crowds, when he despised all punishments, and remained fearless and unmoved against wild beasts, against iron, at sea, in precipices, in seditions, in snares, and finally in all evils? What can be conferred upon this man? For indeed, the unhardened man, who has experienced no evil, is accustomed to be disturbed even by light things; nay, not only are the things themselves such, but even light expectations, and what do I say light expectations? Even the shadows of things make him fearful and terrified. But he who enters the struggle exercised, and has suffered many prior evils, he becomes superior to all afterwards, and as if they were croaking crows, he despises those who threaten. And this crown is not small, nor is the reward meager, that nothing of human things can move him: for the things that seem very formidable to others are easily despised by him; and the things for which others tremble and become stupefied with fear, he himself laughs at much, because through excellent patience he has attained the philosophy of the angelic powers. For if we rightly call the body blessed, which can bear without offense cold and heat, hunger and need, road-difficulties and other miseries; how much more does it behoove us to call the soul blessed which is able to bear manfully and bravely the incursions of all grievances of all kinds, and through all things to keep its own mind subject to no servitude? Plainly this man is more of a king than kings themselves. For kings can be offended by satellites, soldiers, friends, and enemies—by one plotting, by another doing violence openly; but for this man, whose mind is as I have just said, neither king, nor guard, nor associate, nor friend, nor enemy, nor the devil himself will be able to harm him in any part. For how could they, since he applies himself with all zeal to this, that he not count among evils those things which are commonly held as evils? ^B Such was the blessed Paul; for this reason he said: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? As it is written: 'For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.' But in all these things we more than conquer through him that loved us" (Rom. 8. 35, 36, 37; Psal. 43, 22). This also he was hinting at in this place when he said: "Although our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day" (2 Cor. 4. 16). The body becomes infirm, he says, but the soul more valid and powerful, nay, and much more active and agile. And just as a soldier, if he carries armor that burdens him, even if he should be very vigorous and exercised in militancy, is no terror to enemies, who know the weight of the armor hinders the speed of the feet and the use of fighting; but if he has received light and manageable arms, like a bird he will rush upon the enemies. Thus also he who has not thickened his flesh with drunkenness ^C nor indulgence nor delicacies, but has made it lighter and thinner with fasts, and prayers, and an inward endurance of afflictions, like some bird flying from above, so he rushes with a strong impetus into the phalanxes of demons, and easily invades and subjects to himself the adverse powers. In this manner also Paul, affected with many blows, and cast into chains, and bound in wooden stocks, had a body indeed very infirm and emaciated by labors, but a soul strong and invincible; and so strong was the bound man, that at his voice alone the foundations of the prison were moved, and he brought the released prison warden bound to his feet, and the closed doors were opened. Thus Paul exhibited to us no small consolation, and that even before the resurrection, namely that we are made better and wiser by temptations: for this reason he says: "Affliction worketh patience; and patience, probation; and probation, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed" (Rom. 5. 3, 4, 5). And again another says: "A man who is not tempted is not approved: and he who is not approved is of no account" (Eccli. 34. 11). And so afflictions bring us no small benefit before the resurrection, since the soul is rendered more approved by patience, and [our] intelligence more excellent and free from all fear. And for this reason he says: "Even if our outward man be corrupted, yet the inward ^D is renewed day by day" (2 Cor. 4. 16). How, I ask, is it renewed? For every effeminacy is driven away, absurd concupiscence is extinguished, and avarice, and vain glory, and in sum, all other evil and perverse thoughts are destroyed. As therefore a soul given to sloth and sluggishness is easily exposed to such affections; so if it is involved in continuous struggles for piety, it does not have so much leisure as to think of these things at any time, with cares, namely, calling it away from all these things to the studies of the gymnasium. Therefore he said, "It is renewed day by day." Afterwards, so that he may again comfort souls grieving in the evils by which they are afflicted, and, not knowing how to philosophize through the hope of future things, raise them up, he says: "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Cor. 4. 17, 18). As if he were to say: Therefore, affliction in this life confers many goods upon us, namely that it makes our soul wiser and more prudent, and it also conciliates countless future goods: not those which are repaid equally to the liberators, but those which are due to struggles, as much in quality as in quantity. And declaring both these, he compares the magnitude of the dangers with the excellence of the rewards, and opposes brevity to eternity, weight to lightness, glory to affliction. For affliction, he says, is temporal and light; but delight—or rather, he did not say delight, but glory, which is much greater than delight—is eternal, and continuous, and great: but here he calls "weight" not anything miserable and burdensome, but something magnificent and precious, according to the common custom, by which we are accustomed to say that precious things are of greater weight.

[GREEK COLUMN] ^A 425 are wont to do. Therefore, when he says "a weight of glory," he speaks of the magnitude of glory. Do not, therefore, consider this alone, he says, that you are being scourged and driven, but look also to the crowns and the rewards, that those are far greater and brighter than present things, and have no end or limit. But these, he says, we experience, while those are set in hope: and these indeed are manifest, but those do not appear, and yet they are suspended and on high; but even if they are invisible, they are far more manifest than visible things. What do I mean by more manifest? Those you can see more than you can these. For these pass away, while those remain. For this reason he added, saying, *While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal* (2 Cor. 4:18).

5. But if you say: And how shall I be able to see things which are invisible, while not seeing things which are present? I shall attempt to lead you into this faith through worldly affairs. For no one would easily lay hold of these fleeting things in the world without first seeing the invisible before the visible. What do I mean? The merchant undergoes many winters and the assaults of waves and shipwrecks and a thousand difficulties, and he enjoys wealth after the winters, when he has disposed of his cargo and conducted much business. But the winters are first, and the cargo is later; and the open seas and waves are visible to him as he leaves the harbor, but the merchandise is not visible: it is still in hope. Yet if he does not look first to that invisible gain—which is not present and not yet in his hands, but in hope—he would never lay hold of these present and visible things. So too the husbandman binds oxen, and draws the plow, and cleaves a deep furrow, and casts in seeds, and spends all he has, and endures frost and ice and rain and other many toils, and after this labor he expects to see the crops flourishing and the threshing floor filled. Do you see how even here the toil is first, and the reward afterwards? And the reward is uncertain, while the toil is manifest and clear; and the one is in hope, while the other is in his hands. And yet, if he does not first look to that uncertain and invisible reward, which is not seen by the eyes of the body, he will not only not bind oxen, nor draw the plow, nor cast in seeds, but he will not even move from his place to this work at any time. How then is it absurd ^B to see the invisible before the visible in worldly affairs, and to endure toils before the rewards, and to bear all hardships first and then expect the good things from them, and so to lay hold of visible things by being encouraged by the hope of invisible things; yet in the case of God to hesitate and doubt, and to demand rewards before the toils, and to appear more faint-hearted than husbandmen and sailors? For we will appear worse not only in this, that we are troubled about the future, but also in another respect no less than this.

Which is this? That they, even not having confidence about the end, do not even so abandon their toils; but you, having a trustworthy guarantor of the crowns, do not imitate their endurance. For the husbandman, often after casting in the seeds and caring for the land and expecting to see the crops flourishing, if hail or rust or locusts or some other such plague occurs, has fallen away from the reward of his toils, and after many sweats returns home with empty hands. And the merchant again, after traversing a great sea and bringing a full ship, often upon reaching the very mouth of the harbor, with winds rushing in and striking against some cliff, has barely escaped with his body, saved, yet empty-handed. And in all worldly things whatsoever, it is likely that such misfortunes often happen near the end. But in your contests this is not so; but it is necessary in any case for the one who has contended, who has sown piety and borne many toils, to attain the end. For God did not entrust the rewards for these toils to the irregularities of the air or the rushes of the winds; but they are laid up in the heavens, in the inviolable treasuries. For this reason also Paul was saying: *Tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed* (Rom. 5:3-5). Do not, therefore, say that future things are invisible; for if you should wish to examine them with exactness, they are much more manifest than things in our hands. ^C And Paul, showing us this very thing again, calls these things eternal, and those temporal, by the word "temporal" declaring their corruptibility. For before they even appear they fly away, and they run off before they arrive; and their changes are swift, and their possession is untrustworthy. One may see this happening in wealth and glory and power, and in the beauty of bodies, and this in strength and generally in all other worldly things. For this reason the prophet also, mocking those who live in luxury and are mad about money and all other such illusion, says that they considered these things as standing, and not as fleeing (Amos 6:5). For just as it is not possible to grasp a shadow, so neither is it possible to take hold of worldly things; rather, some are destroyed by death, and others even before death flow away more swiftly than any torrent. But future things are not like this; for they do not know change, they do not admit turning, they do not have any age, they do not undergo any alteration, but they flourish continuously and remain in the same beauty. So if one must speak of things as invisible and uncertain and untrustworthy, one must say this of present things—which do not remain with those who possess them, but change masters, and day by day leap from one to another, and again from that one to another. Paul declares all these things to us, and for this reason, having called present things temporal and future things eternal, he moves the discourse concerning the resurrection, saying thus: *For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens* (2 Cor. 5:1).

6. See again even here how he uses the words properly, showing the power of the thoughts through the names themselves. For he did not simply call the body a tabernacle, but was showing us the temporal nature of the present life, and declaring the change for the better, saying as it were: Why do you groan and weep, beloved, because you are struck and driven and fall into a prison? Why do you lament these partial afflictions, when you ought to receive the total dissolution of the body—or rather, not simply of the ^D

not simply of the body, but of the corruption in the body? For in order to show that these particular afflictions should not only not grieve us but even refresh us, he points out that a universal and final consummation is to be desired, namely, that dissolution which comes through death. Thus he says: ^A *For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven* (2 Cor. 5:2). He calls the body a "house of the tent," explaining one thing with two names; or rather, he calls the houses in which we dwell, and cities, and the figure of the present life, a house of a tent. And he did not say simply, "I know," but "We know," taking also the judgment of his hearers: "I do not dispute about ambiguous things," he says, "nor about those things which are unknown, but about those for which you have already long since received the faith, believing in the resurrection of the Lord: and for this reason we call the bodies of those who depart hence 'tents'." ^B And see how aptly he has used the word. He did not say, "It has been killed" or "It has disappeared," but "It has been dissolved," by which he declared that it is dissolved so that it may rise more brightly, so that it may be found more clearly; just as he compared labors and rewards from quality, quantity, and time, so he acted here too. He calls the decaying body a tent, but that which rises he calls by the name of a house; and not simply a house, but an eternal one; and not only eternal, but heavenly, indicating its excellence both from time and from place. For this one is earthly, that one is heavenly; this one is temporal, that one is eternal. And now, indeed, there is need for us of a body and a dwelling on account of the weakness of the flesh: but then, the body and the dwelling will be the same thing, having no need of a roof or other coverings, when incorruptibility suffices for all these things. ^C Afterwards, indicating the preeminence of the goods stored up for us, he says: *For in this tent we groan.* He did not say, "I groan," but renders the sentiment common: "For in this," he says, "we groan," wishing to draw them to his own philosophy and to make them participants in his judgment. *For in this we groan, longing to be clothed upon with our domicile from heaven*: he did not say simply "to be clothed," but "to be clothed upon," and he adds, *If indeed, being clothed, we shall not be found naked* (Ibid. v. 3). And what has been said seems indeed to be obscure, but it becomes clearer through the things which follow: *For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, in that we do not wish to be unclothed, but clothed upon* (Ibid. v. 4).

Against the Manichaeans who accuse our nature as evil; why we groan in this life

You see how he does not forget himself, nor call this body a house, but a tent, *in that we do not wish to be unclothed, but clothed upon?* Here he inflicts a fatal wound upon those who accuse the nature of the body and our flesh. For because he said that we groan and wish to be unclothed, so that you might not think that he flees from the body as something evil, a cause of wickedness, an enemy, and an adversary, hear how he excludes that suspicion: first of all, when he says, *We groan, longing to be clothed upon with our heavenly domicile* (Ibid. v. 2). For he who is clothed upon, in truth, puts on something else over it. ^D Then, when he says, *We groan being burdened, in that we do not wish to be unclothed, but clothed upon.* What he meant by this is: we do not wish to put off the flesh, but corruption: not the body, but death. The body is one thing, death is another; and the body is one thing, corruption is another; nor is the body corruption, nor is corruption the body, and while the body is indeed corruptible, the body is not corruption; likewise, the body is mortal, but it is not death. For the body is a work of God, but corruption and death were brought in by sin. Therefore he says, "I wish to put off what is alien, not what is my own": but the alien thing is not the body, but corruption. And for this reason he says, *In that we do not wish to be unclothed*: that is, to be stripped of the body, but to be clothed upon with incorruption in the body. The body holds a middle place between corruption and incorruption. He strips off, therefore, corruption, and puts on incorruption; he casts off what he received from sin, and possesses what the grace of God gave. That you may learn that he does not speak of being unclothed from the body, but from corruption and death, hear the things which are presently added. For after he said, *We do not wish to be unclothed, but clothed upon*: he did not say, "So that the body may be absorbed by incorporeality," but what? *So that mortality may be absorbed by life* (2 Cor. 5:4), that is, so that it may vanish, so that it may be abolished: thus he calls the removal not of the body, but of corruption and death. For life, arriving, does not abolish and consume the body, but the death and corruption which had invaded it. That groaning, therefore, is not on account of the body, but on account of the corruption which is in it. For the body is heavy and burdensome and troublesome, not according to its own nature, but according to the mortality which afterwards befell it; nevertheless, the body is not corruptible, but incorruptible and immortal. So great, indeed, is its nobility that it has shown its dignity even in corruption itself. For the shadows of the apostles expelled incorporeal powers; likewise, their ashes and dust conquered demons, and the garments which had adhered to their bodies put diseases to flight and conferred health.

What the corruptibility of the body profits

Therefore, do not tell me of phlegm, and bile, and sweat, and filth, and other things which the accusers of the body relate; for indeed these did not arise from the nature of the body, but were brought in by the subsequent corruption. For if you wish to learn its virtue, consider the formation of all the limbs, the figure, the operations, and their mutual concord; and you will see a diligent administration of the members among themselves, more accurately disposed than any city governed by the best laws, which has none but wise citizens. If you pass by these things upwards and downwards in a cursory manner, and object only to corruptibility and mortality, not even so will we lack a reply. For that from this there accrued to the human race not only no harm, but also very much benefit, is evident from the fact that all the saints, living in the body, exhibited an angelic manner of living, and no detriment from this happened to them in their course of virtue. To those, however, who were inclined toward impiety, the corruption of the body was no small impediment, lest they should progress further through their own iniquity. For when some men, even with mortal and

corruptible bodies—which serve as a clear sign of their infirmity—have imagined themselves to be equal to God, and have labored greatly to clothe themselves in such glory, whom would they not have deceived if they had not possessed a body subject to passion and corruption, a silent rebuke to their weakness? Since, therefore, the body acts as a barrier to impiety (which is the extreme limit of wickedness) and provides holy men the opportunity to demonstrate the courage of their souls, why should those who disparage and malign it find any forgiveness? For we would have more to say about the body than just this; we must say that it is also the cause of our knowledge of God. For if "the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made" (Rom. 1:20), and if "faith comes by hearing" (Rom. 10:17), it is clear that the soul, being led by the eyes and ears, has come to know the God who created it. For this reason, Paul also loves the body and cries out, saying that we do not wish to be unclothed, but to be clothed upon it with immortality (2 Cor. 5:4).

^B And do not tell me: "How can the body rise again and become incorruptible?" When the power of God goes to work, do not add "how." And why do I speak of God? He has made you yourself the artificer of resurrection: this is evident in seeds, in crafts, and in the nature of metals. For seeds, unless they first die, rot, and are corrupted, do not bring forth the stalk. As, therefore, you see there the grain rotting and being dissolved, you do not doubt the resurrection, but you make of it the clearest proof for yourself; for if it remained as it was and were not corrupted or dissolved, it would never rise. Therefore, think likewise concerning your own body: whenever you see corruption, then most of all philosophize about the resurrection. For death is nothing else but the final end of corruption; for death does not consume the body itself, but its corruption. This, too, can be seen happening with metallic substances or materials. For those experienced in these matters take the gold-bearing earth and deliver it to the furnace, and they create gold; and by mixing in sand and other materials, they have made pure glass. Tell me, then, will the grace of God not be able to do, regarding the body, what the power of fire does? And who among those who have any sense at all could say this? Consider how He fashioned you from the beginning, and no longer doubt the resurrection. Did He not take earth and mold it? And yet, what is more difficult: to create from earth flesh and veins and skin and bones and fibers and nerves and arteries and the organs, and the simple bodies, the eyes, ears, nose, feet and hands, and to implant in each of these both a private and a common function, or to work upon things that have become corruptible and make them immortal? Do you not see how the earth is uniform, but the body is diverse and multiform, both in its operations, and in its colors, and in its formation, and in its essences, and in all other things? How, then, do you doubt about future things, tell me? And what must one say about bodies? For the infinite powers, and the hosts of angels, the archangels, and the orders superior to these, how did He make them, tell me? I indeed would not have the way to say, except that it sufficed for Him only to will it. And then, having created such vast incorporeal hosts, is He unable to renew the body of a man that has been corrupted and to bring it to a greater dignity? And who is so senseless as to doubt these things, ^C and to abolish the resurrection? For if the body does not rise, man does not rise; for man is not soul alone, but soul and body. If, therefore, only the soul rises, the living creature rises by half, but not as a whole. Otherwise, one could not strictly call it a resurrection of the soul. For resurrection is of that which has fallen and has been dissolved, but the soul is not dissolved, the body is.

What is the meaning of "if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked"? A great and ineffable mystery is hinted at for us here. What is this? It is what he also says in the Epistle to the Corinthians: "That we shall all rise, but each in his own order" (1 Cor. 15:22, 23). What is this saying? That both the Greek, and the Jew, and the heretic, and every man who has passed into this world, will rise on that day. And he declared this very thing, saying: "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet" (1 Cor. 15:51, 52).

8.

[431 S. JOANNIS CHRYSOSTOMI ARCHIEP. CONSTANTINOP.]

to open them, He would not have permitted Abel, endowed with every virtue and having become His friend, to suffer what he suffered. But now, in order to demonstrate to us that we are traveling toward another life, and that another world is left for the just, in which they may receive the crowns and rewards stored up for them: He permitted that he who first lived justly here should not receive the rewards of his labors here, but departing hence, should cry out through the things which he suffered here, and say to all: After this life there is a certain reward and remuneration. On this account He also translated Enoch, and snatched away Elijah, by them sketching out the dogma of the resurrection. ^A Sufficit, therefore, for the abundance of arguments, the power of the Creator alone: but if anyone is weaker, and wishes to obtain another demonstration, and a pledge of the future resurrection, God has given even this to us with great liberality and abundance, namely, the grace of the Spirit. Wherefore, when Paul had made ^B a discourse worthy of faith concerning the resurrection from the resurrection of Christ, in that God was the author of it, he also brings in this statement: And He gave us an earnest, not of wealth, nor of gold, nor of silver, but an earnest of the Spirit, and makes it valid for the whole. For just as in feasts, he who has received an earnest has faith and is secure regarding all the rest: so also you, when you have received the earnest, I mean the gifts of the Spirit, should no longer doubt regarding the other goods stored up for you. For He who raised the dead, who heals the blind, casts out demons, cleanses lepers, corrects diseases, dissolves death, and can do so many and such great things in a fragile and mortal body, what excuse will you have [432] in doubting the resurrection? For if, when the time of the resurrection has not yet arrived, but while the struggle is still ongoing, God bestows upon you such crowns: consider what great goods He will give you at the time of rewards. But if anyone says, “But we do not see these signs happening now, nor is such power entrusted to us”: I would answer that it makes no difference, whether these were done now or formerly. For the things done previously by the apostles are testified to by the Churches, and peoples, and cities, and nations throughout the whole world, which flocked to the unlearned and fishermen. ^C For the illiterate, and the needy, and the poor, and the base would not have prevailed over the whole world, unless helped by miracles. Yet you have not become destitute of the grace of the Spirit; but even now many symbols of that donation remain, and much greater and more admirable ones than those which were enumerated. For it is not an equal thing to raise a dead body and to liberate a soul killed by sins from destruction, which comes about through baptism: it is not equal to drive away a disease of the flesh, and to cast off the weight of sins: it is not equal to restore a blinded eye, and to illuminate a soul darkened. For unless there were now also an earnest of the Spirit, baptism would not have been applied, nor would the remission of sins, nor would justification and sanctification have been effected, nor would we have received the adoption as children of God, nor would we have partaken of the mysteries: for the body and the mystical blood are not made without the grace of the Spirit; nor would we have had priests; for it is not possible for these ordinations to occur without such a descent. But we could say many other things concerning the symbols of the grace of the Spirit. Therefore you also have the earnest of the Spirit, and you drive away the death of the soul, and the blindness of thoughts, and you have put off an unclean life. Let us not, therefore, doubt concerning the future, especially since we have received such pledges; but gathering from everywhere a solid discourse concerning the resurrection, let us exhibit a life worthy of such dogmas, that we may also attain here to the immovable goods, which transcend human speech and mind. May it befall us all to attain to these, by the grace and kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom, and with whom, be glory to the Father together with the Holy Spirit, for ages of ages. Amen. ^D

CONCERNING THE HOMILY AGAINST DRUNKARDS, AND CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION

[MONITUM: This discourse was delivered in the same year in which the second one concerning Judas the traitor was given; specifically on the day of the Resurrection of the Lord following that Lent, in which he had delivered the thirty-two prior homilies on Genesis. In that same year, after Pascha, Chrysostom delivered those nine homilies, of which the first five were delivered on the beginning of the Acts [of the Apostles]: but the later four on the Change of Names. Moreover, that this is openly demonstrated in the Monitors to the same discourses, where Chrysostom himself is brought forward as a clear witness. We send the reader there, and also to the Monitor above on the Homilies concerning Judas the traitor: the matter will be further treated in the Homilies on Genesis. Furthermore, Chrysostom recalls this discourse in homily 1 on the beginning of the Acts, which was delivered shortly after the day of the Resurrection, num. 2: “Riches, therefore, are not an evil, but the unlawful use of them is an evil; and just as speaking recently concerning drunkenness, I was not accusing wine, since every creature of God is good, which is received with thanksgiving; but the evil use, etc.” Which words harmonize wonderfully with this discourse.]