# On the Resurrection - Author: [Methodius of Olympus](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/methodius-of-olympus/) - Latin title: *De resurrectione* - Date: late 3rd cent. (disputed) (approximate) - Source: G. Nathanael Bonwetsch, ed., Methodius, GCS 27 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1917) (Greek text and German translation of the Old Slavonic: G. N. Bonwetsch, Methodius (GCS 27, 1917); OCR made for this site) - Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator - Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/ - Passages: 91 ## Res. 1.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-1/#p-1-1 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:221 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: Sistelius proposes that the heretical view be stated fully before it is answered, and Theophilus, defending the practice from Solomon's portraits of the harlot and of the ungodly, asks the physician Aglaophon to state the case against the resurrection of the body. ### English translation (Claude) And Sistelius answered and said: "You do not speak well, Memianus, in wanting to hold the discussion simply like this, without investigation. For in a public discussion everyone feels constrained and dresses up his speech so as to show it off, caring not at all for the truth and for what is useful, but only to show those present how skilful he is, since it is natural to everyone to love what is his own out of prejudice. But one must not listen to the man who too busily commends his wares; one must investigate and test, for sellers are in the habit of lying about the things they sell. So that we too may not fail and be deceived in the discussion by coming to it without examination, I propose (for each of us is to make his understanding known in turn, and to set it before Theophilus) that one man, the heterodox, should first bring forward the questions, having investigated them fully and exactly, leaving out none of the opposing problems but binding everything together with the deepest thoughts. So the contest will be fought vigorously, and they will have nothing beyond what is said here to bring forward in support of their argument. Then another, in turn, opposing the subtleties that have been put forward and showing with much insight, will prove that the teaching of the catholic Church is true. In this way our discussion will not be in vain but carried out with the greatest care, so that it leaves nothing unexamined and unrefuted, whether that person sets out the understanding of the Church, or a foreign one, or the one that suits each; and it will strive after truth, saying nothing idle from a presupposition of what is already fixed, but seeking the best discussion by putting the arguments together. That is truly wise, and the way of one who thirsts to see the truth." This pleased those present, and we all praised it. [2] Theophilus agreed and directed that Aglaophon, who was also a physician, should speak about the nature of the body. In order that the matter might be better learned, he prompted him first to raise what the opponents say, which I would then answer in turn, so that through the contest of the discussion the truth might shine out like living gold tested in the fire. "And if anyone is angry, thinking it improper that heretical teachings should be made known in this way, we will refute him with gentle instruction: in the books of the prophets too the Holy Spirit, just as he describes the person of the godly, so also gives the wicked their fitting form, giving each its form in words according to its deserts, and setting out the various kinds of deceit. So Solomon among them depicts the harlot in words. Let him who can see, see! Has he not openly, as though speaking of some heresy, set everything before our eyes, and shown words and ways dressed up exactly in the manner of a harlot? As when he says, 'She sat at the door and calls to herself the senseless'; or again when he says, 'The woman meets him, with a harlot's appearance, who makes the hearts of the young burn. Then she seized him and kissed him; with a shameless face she spoke to him'; or this: 'Come, let us enjoy love until morning; come, let us give ourselves up to love. For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey. He has taken a bag of gold in his hand, and after travelling many days he comes to his house.' It is unfitting to explain all this as it stands; it was written so that it might make the hearers wise. For when an image is shown, and the explanation is given spiritually through a picture, with rebuke, the reader is taught virtue, being instructed not to be deceived by lying words and so robbed by the seductive arts of the harlot. [3] "One also finds him using this method in the Wisdom. For here too, distinguishing the kinds of wisdom, assigning them to their persons and keeping the order of each, he has carried out a true examination of the matter. For the saying, 'Short and sorrowful is our life, and there is no healing at a man's end, and no one has appeared who brings back from Hades. For we were born by chance, and afterward we shall be as though we had never been; for the breath in our nostrils is smoke, and reason is a spark in the movement of our heart; when it is quenched, our body will become ashes, and the spirit will be scattered like a light wind,' is a picture of those who say that everything has come to be of itself and has been arranged without providence. Against this zeal steps in, which draws toward the truth and is provoked by the presupposition of these teachings. So it is not at all improper that we too should examine the philosophies of the heretics in order to destroy the lie. For they have spewed out untruth, speaking up to heaven. So from now on it is your task, Aglaophon, to begin and to carry the discussion through to the end." ### Scripture references - Prov 9:14: quotation, high confidence - Prov 7:10: quotation, high confidence - Prov 7:13: quotation, high confidence - Prov 7:18: quotation, high confidence - Prov 7:19: quotation, high confidence - Prov 7:20: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 2:1-3 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Greek of this part of the dialogue is lost (only small fragments survive); it is translated here from N. Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic version (GCS 27, 1917). The staged text of this unit begins in mid-sentence; its first sentence ("And Sistelius answered ... to show it off") is completed from the same page as staged under ref 1.2, which otherwise repeats this unit. The opening of chapter 1 (the setting of the dialogue) is not in this unit. - The OCR lost the headings of chapters 2 and 3, so this unit holds chapters 1 (from about section 4), 2 and 3. Chapter 2 begins at "[2]" (the numeral survives in the OCR); the start of chapter 3 at "[3]" is placed by the page layout and is probable, not certain. - The speakers are characters of the dialogue: Sistelius, Memianus, Theophilus (the host and judge of the discussion), Aglaophon the physician, who states the opposing view, and the narrator, who speaks for the Church. Two passages are marked as corrupt in the edition ("then ... opposing" and "catholic ... Church"), and the clause "whether that person sets out ..." is obscure in the Slavonic; they are translated by sense. - "Short and sorrowful ..." is Wisdom of Solomon 2:1-3. Where the German has "apart from him himself", the Septuagint reads "by chance" (αὐτοσχεδίως), which is translated here as the evident sense of Methodius's quotation. For "zeal" the edition suggests that the Slavonic may originally have read "wisdom". - The harlot passages are Prov 9:14 (cf. 7:6), 7:10, 13 and 7:18-20, cited in a form close to the Septuagint ("bag of gold" where the Septuagint has silver). ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.1 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:221; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-1/#p-1-1). ## Res. 1.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-1/#p-1-4 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:242 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: Aglaophon, stating the case against bodily resurrection, argues that the 'garments of skins' given after the fall are our bodies, a fetter and tomb of the soul that clouds its knowledge. ### English translation (Claude) Aglaophon, hearing this, blushed as Theophilus spoke, and looked at me so darkly that I wanted to take flight. Then he began to speak: "If, according to you, there is a resurrection of these dead bodies and a change of them into immortality, tell me, why did God from the beginning create man without the rag of the body, as Scripture itself teaches? For the 'garments of skins' which he made for Adam and Eve after the transgression are plainly the bodies with which we have been clothed after transgressing the commandment, clothed with such a fetter for punishment's sake. That is why they are fittingly called skin: because this body is a fetter, and also, as a sign, a tomb for the soul, which was condemned to be buried in it, so that, being mortal for so long a time, it might not leave us to suffer everlasting pain. For God did not make garments for the first-created as a leather-worker does, flaying four-footed beasts from their dead bodies; he made heavy earthly bodies for us as 'garments of skins.' The prophet Jeremiah too, in the Lamentations, calls them fetters, calling human beings for this reason 'the bound of the earth'; and David calls them 'the bound', since God bound us, because of Adam's transgression, with fetters of the dust of the earth, so that, receiving food from the earth with much labour, we might not lift up our heads to see the fruit of life. For he says: 'And now, lest he stretch out his hands and take from the tree of life and live forever. And the Lord sent them out of the paradise of delight to till the earth from which he was made. And he sent Adam out.' For the flesh causes much toil for the sake of food. All wars and battles happen for the sake of possessions; for possessions' sake we are compelled to gather, serving the body and agreeing with its desires, since it fills us with love and desire and sickness and fear and other evils, which do not allow the soul to strive after the good, nor allow anything of what is imperishable and good to be known by it. For even if we undertake to do some good, the body confuses and confounds us and darkens the mind; it does not allow us to see clearly what truly is, like the cuttlefish, a creature of the sea that spews out black water. And in truth, unless the soul is first set free, as though released from fetters, it does not become able to see and to grasp what truly is. For our eyes are full of error in seeing, our ears full of error, our other senses full of error. We cannot see or touch wisdom, or the greatness or the essential form of the soul; they are beyond our grasp so long as we are in the body. ### Scripture references - Gen 3:21: quotation, high confidence - Lam 3:34: allusion, medium confidence - Ps 146:7 (145:7 LXX): allusion, low confidence - Gen 3:22: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:23: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:24: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Gorg. 493a (Plato (works)): echo, medium confidence - Plato, Phaed. 65b (Plato (works)): echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic; the unit also holds Greek fragments of the same passage beside the German in the edition, which are not staged. - Aglaophon is stating the view that Methodius sets out to refute (the reading of the 'garments of skins' as bodies is associated with Origen and his followers); the dialogue gives it in full before answering it. - Gen 3:21 ('garments of skins'); Lam 3:34 ('the bound of the earth'); 'the bound' in David is probably Ps 146:7 (LXX 145:7), 'the Lord sets free the bound'; then Gen 3:22-24, quoted loosely. The body as tomb and the senses as full of error recall Plato (Gorg. 493a; Phaed. 65b-66a). The clause 'so that, being mortal ... everlasting pain' is obscure in the German and is translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.4 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:242; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-1/#p-1-4). ## Res. 1.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-1/#p-1-5 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:226 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: Aglaophon argues that Adam lived incorruptibly before the fall without the flesh, and that Paul's lament in Romans 7 shows the body to be a prison and punishment. ### English translation (Claude) "Moreover, it is not incorruption that is the cause of sins and blasphemies and errors, since the soul cannot sin by itself, apart from the body. But if, according to you, union with the flesh is good for man, then he ought to have been in the flesh from the beginning, in paradise, before Adam's sin, when he beheld wisdom and the angels and received from the tree of life, being incorruptible. But at that time he evidently lived an untroubled and incorruptible life; now he lives a very toilsome and sorrowful one, because he is clothed in a garment of skin. So Paul too taught, saying, 'I was once alive apart from the law.' Come now, for I will try to explain it to you more exactly: 'For I know,' he says, 'that nothing good dwells in my flesh. For to will is present with me, but to do the good I do not find,' that is, obedience to the Spirit, which is enslaved by fleshly desires, because the flesh cannot receive the good. So he also confesses that the flesh becomes death and destruction to the soul; and he thirsts to be quickly freed from it, saying, 'Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of death?' So the body is a kind of torture chamber and prison because of the transgression, since God placed us in it so that we might receive a very painful punishment for disobedience. ### Scripture references - Rom 7:9: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:18: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:24: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. The first sentence is obscure in the German and is translated by its most likely sense. - Paul's words 'I was once alive apart from the law' (Rom 7:9) are given in Greek in the edition. Then Rom 7:18 and 7:24. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.5 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:226; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-1/#p-1-5). ## Res. 1.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-1/#p-1-6 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:227 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: Aglaophon reads Psalm 66 as speaking of souls tested in the body and mocks the idea that the soul would take up the body's yoke again in the kingdom of light. ### English translation (Claude) "One must also examine whether what is said in the Psalms, 'You have tested us, O God; you have refined us by fire as silver is refined by fire; you brought us into the snare; you laid afflictions on our heads; we went through fire and water, and you brought us out into rest,' was not said of the souls placed in the body, as in a snare and a kind of torment, so that those who overcome it might receive honour in paradise after they have risen. But you, through ignorance, say that even after the fetters have been loosed, and the man has been freed from the punishment and has gone from here to rest, the soul takes up the yoke again, so that even in the kingdom of light we should be forever bound to corruption: always carrying this compound clay, decked out with beauty outside to deceive, but inside full of worms and maggots and stench; heavy, dragging the soul's inclination down with it toward pleasures, pressing down the mind of the heavily burdened man, burning up with pleasures the spiritual wing of reason, not permitting the spirit and the soul to behold the tree of life, being the substance and source of all that is bold and sorrowful and wrathful. ### Scripture references - Ps 66:10 (65:10 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 66:11 (65:11 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 66:12 (65:12 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Phaedr. 246c (Plato (works)): echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. - The psalm is Ps 66:10-12 (LXX 65:10-12). The 'wing' of the soul recalls Plato, Phaedrus 246c-248c. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.6 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:227; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-1/#p-1-6). ## Res. 1.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-1/#p-1-7 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:228 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: Aglaophon objects that a resurrection of the same members would bring back eating, drinking and intercourse, whereas Christ said the risen will be like the angels. ### English translation (Claude) "Consider how foolishly you speak when you say that man will once more be subject to such passions! For if, according to you, the same members of the flesh rise in the same form, so that each appears the same, bearing the same form, one must admit that he must also have the same needs; and it follows that he eats and drinks and has intercourse again, life circling round like a drone, and the heavenly life of the saints is destroyed. Yet Christ clearly taught a manner of resurrection worthy of it, that we shall be 'like the angels in heaven,' when the Sadducees were testing him. But the angels are not yoked to flesh; they are 'ministering spirits,' which need spiritual food. Whether you even dare to call the angels fleshly, tell yourselves, when they are in such great blessedness and glory, beholding God, the sea of incorruption, on whom no flesh can look. For the corruptible cannot have fellowship with the incorruptible. ### Scripture references - Matt 22:30: quotation, high confidence - Heb 1:14: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:50: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. - Matt 22:30 (cf. Mark 12:25); Heb 1:14; the last sentence echoes 1 Cor 15:50. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.7 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:228; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-1/#p-1-7). ## Res. 1.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-1/#p-1-8 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:228 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: Aglaophon argues that since heaven, earth and the elements will pass away, bodies made from them cannot survive, having no place left to exist. ### English translation (Claude) "Again, while heaven 'grows old like a garment' and the earth 'passes away,' and all things are 'rolled up like a cloak' and pass away, you maintain that these corruptible bodies do not pass away along with these great things, but are greater than heaven and the most enduring of all. Are you not ashamed, as though God prized what is as nothing compared with the whole creation? Do you not know that when those pass away, bodies cannot remain? For if the words of Christ and of the prophets are true (Christ teaches that heaven and earth will pass away, and the prophets that the earth passes away), then bodies too must pass away with the elements from which they were formed. For hear the prophetic Spirit crying: 'Look up to heaven above, and look down on the earth below; for heaven has been made firm like smoke, and the earth will grow old like a garment, and its inhabitants will perish like them,' since 'the form of this world passes away,' according to the apostle Paul, that is, through the passing away of the whole bodily nature, so that everything that is spiritual by nature, while all matter drags downward, may become fleshless and attain the perfection of holiness. But if anyone says that while heaven and earth and the whole creation pass away, as I have said, the bodies of men do not pass away, he is guilty of irrational blasphemy. Tell me: when the spring perishes, can the river still exist and flow in its bed? Nor otherwise can the body abide among the bodiless, any more than wax can in fire; for it perishes, melted by the purest essential substance. Moreover, bodies need a place to stand. There is a place for bodies: the air for birds, the water for fish, the earth for land creatures. But when these have passed away, in what order will the bodies be, when there is neither air nor earth nor water, nor the firmament itself, nor the stars? For Plato says that time corresponds to heaven, so that, having come into being together, they may also be dissolved together. ### Scripture references - Ps 102:26 (101:27 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Matt 24:35: allusion, high confidence - Isa 51:6: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:31: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Tim. 38b (Plato (works)): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. - Ps 102:26 (LXX 101:27); Matt 24:35; Isa 51:6 (in the Septuagint's wording, 'made firm like smoke'); 1 Cor 7:31. Plato, Tim. 38b (time and heaven came into being together, so that they may be dissolved together). ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.8 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:228; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-1/#p-1-8). ## Res. 1.9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-1/#p-1-9 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:230 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: Aglaophon argues from the physiology of digestion and the constant flux of bodily matter that no identical body persists to be raised. ### English translation (Claude) "And there is still more to discuss openly. For consider other objections too, now that these arguments are finished, so that you may see into how great an evil you fall by teaching that the flesh rises. For since the substance itself is altogether in flux, indistinct and changeable, coming and going like the current of a river, so that it can never be taken to be the same even for the briefest moment, which body will rise? That of the youth, or of the old man, or of the child? How do the same bodies remain to us, when the first ones are often carried away by the stream of food flowing within? For the flesh of newborn children is one thing, that of youths another, that of old men another; and having first had one, we pass over into another, from the child's into the youth's and from that into the old man's, changing our ages like garments when the first are worn out. For of the food taken in, the heavy and husk-like part goes out of the belly dried up, while the fine and light part passes through the adjoining veins, which receive the juices, and becomes blood, which pours through the veins into the whole body, flowing upward and downward and increasing, and so produces the flesh. With such wisdom God, the good artist and first potter, prepared the nature of our body. First he draws the juices up from below, so that, raised above the marrow, they may moisten the living creature, sprinkling it with blood. That is why all the residue of food, if it does not dry up, flowing down through the veins and rising as vapour with the blood, produces festering sores in the places where the vapour rises. For rising as vapour, to speak with Aristotle ... floating in the air above us, which is cold, what has been dried out by heat gathers, becomes watery, and comes down elsewhere; and since the earth changes in many ways, and changes the forms of air and of fire, what has become moist becomes dry. For fire, that is, flame, changes into the smoke of the air, air into water, water into earth, earth into the tree, the trees into fire, fire into air. So the body too increases and decreases and admits every change, like the nourisher and nurse of all. "Of the food that is brought in, this is the first work: a mixing of the watery with the dry and with the juices, which, like a cooking in the body, is called concoction. The second is a moisture, scarlet in colour, in the veins, and is called blood. The third is distributed through the whole body, and is called the making of flesh. So there are also three kinds of residue. The first concoction receives the food, and as the concoction takes place in the body the husks are excreted ... From the second come the blood in the veins, the moisture, and the two kinds of bile: the moisture, as whey runs off from the cheese mat; the yellow bile, which is like the colour of wine; and the black, which is like lees. Through the whole body there is an imperceptible breathing out. The cause of this is the natural heat in us, as the sun's heat is for the world. By it the food is drawn from the belly through the veins and, as it were, cooked within it, made sweet and frothy and scarlet. It is as with fruits: at first they are thin and watery in consistency, white in appearance and sour in taste; through the sun and its rays they grow sweeter and become sweet and red. So too the warmth in us changes the food, which is brought into us plain and simple, into different forms: sometimes into white, that is, phlegm and seed and milk; sometimes again into scarlet, that is, blood and flesh; sometimes into black, that is, black bile and liver and spleen. For the veins are nourished from their moisture, that is, from the juicy part; the fleshy parts from another, that is, from the bloody; and the marrowy parts from another, that is, from the phlegmatic. That is why Hippocrates said that the stomach is to living creatures what the earth is to trees. For as trees spring up from the earth and become earth again, when fruits and leaves come out, and the fruits become earth, and those again become earth, so too food rises from the earth, goes into the body, and comes back to the earth, fulfilling God's command: 'You are earth, and to earth you shall return.' For flesh and bones and veins change into hair and nails and phlegm and tears and other moisture of the body; and these into earth, earth into food, food into blood, and that again into bones and hair and veins, when it is brought to a living creature. ### Scripture references - Gen 3:19: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Aristotle, Meteor. 1.9 (Aristotle (works)): allusion, medium confidence - Hippocrates (Hippocrates, Hippocratic Corpus): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. The Slavonic is defective at two points (after 'to speak with Aristotle' and after 'the husks are excreted'), marked '...'. The paragraph break is the translator's. - The cycle of the elements and of moisture rising as vapour follows Aristotle's meteorology (e.g. Meteor. 1.9, 346b-347a); the saying ascribed to Hippocrates (stomach to animals as earth to trees) is from the Hippocratic writings (cf. De alimento; Aristotle, Part. an. 650a). Gen 3:19. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.9 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:230; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-1/#p-1-9). ## Res. 1.10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-1/#p-1-10 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:233 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: Aglaophon concludes that a body in constant flux cannot be preserved, and urges hope to look to the things above rather than to earthly corruption. ### English translation (Claude) "So it is not possible for the same body to be preserved. For the one is destroyed and departs as it ages, in hair, flesh, blood and bones; and the other, which constantly comes from food to take the place of the old that has departed, preserves the bodily form, so that the very same body is always changing and never is, nor has what is its own within itself, even though it appears the same. From where, then, would the wasted flesh of the sick be filled up again, or what is buried in the earth after blood-letting, or the blood that flows out of a wound? It comes, rather, from food, poured into all the members by the third concoction and changed into other elements, as the earth rises through the root into the branches, the leaves and the fruits, the substance of the earth being entirely transformed. So stop accepting impossible things. Hope, which according to you digs in the clay, must set its mind on 'the things above,' and look up to that place 'where Christ is,' and not to the earth or to corruption, where corruption soon comes, setting its mind on what belongs to earthly things and is unworthy of the glory of God." ### Scripture references - Col 3:1: quotation, high confidence - Col 3:2: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. Col 3:1-2 (the words 'where Christ is' are partly given in Greek in the edition). ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.10 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:233; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-1/#p-1-10). ## Res. 1.11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-1/#p-1-11 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:234 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: Aglaophon asks which of a man's successive bodies would be judged, if the bodies he lived in chastely and in immorality are no longer the same. ### English translation (Claude) "Further, tell me, which body is to rise? The one exhausted by loss of blood and other wounds, or another, new one that has come in its place? For the same flesh does not always remain; it often departs as food is added. Can you then say what God raised up, and that nothing perishes because he preserves everything? And what if someone who was purified a year or more ago commits sexual immorality, and again, after abstaining, commits sexual immorality, and has done this often, after the first bodies have passed away and been changed, as the discussion has shown, so that they are no longer the same bodies with which he lived purely and with which he committed sexual immorality: in the resurrection, which body, or how many bodies, will the soul wear in order to be judged, those with which it practised purity or those with which it committed fornication? But now you say that only the last body rises and receives punishment for all the deeds. And to allow you to speak of this too: what fine judge, judging according to justice, rules that while one has committed sexual immorality another should suffer? Or what good general, that while one has shared in the victory another should be crowned?" ### Translation notes - Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. 'Purified' probably refers to baptism. A similar argument appears in Gregory of Nyssa, On the Soul and the Resurrection. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.11 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:234; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-1/#p-1-11). ## Res. 1.12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-12/#p-1-12 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:235 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: Aglaophon closes his case with Scripture that laments the body as a burden of the soul, concluding with 1 Corinthians 15:50 that flesh and blood will not inherit God's kingdom. ### English translation (Claude) "So it has been established on every ground that this compound, changeable, dead and many-formed thing, always perishing and flowing (as Paul says, 'Though our outer man is decaying, yet the inner is renewed day by day'), cannot receive the resurrection. 'For we know,' he says, 'that if our earthly house of the body is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.' But here one must look closely, for the subject is not something ordinary but how one must believe. All with one mouth, the prophets and the apostles alike, call this body a burden and a misfortune for the soul. At one time the prophet, looking at the length of it, says, 'Woe is me, how my sojourning has been prolonged!' and another, 'Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?' At another time they weep and lament the beginning, the joining to the body and the coming into life, as both the one says, 'Let the day perish on which I was born, and the night in which they said, Behold, a male child,' and the other, 'Cursed be the day on which I was born, the day on which my mother bore me.' And Solomon says, 'And I praised the dead more than the living, whoever says to himself, I am still alive. Better than both is he who has not been born, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun,' speaking of the fellowship of the flesh with the soul. 'Lord God, to be swift and soon ...' He teaches, so that he may not grow weary, bearing heavily the long times of their being together: 'My Spirit shall not remain in these men, because they are flesh' and blood, since flesh and blood perish, 'because all flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass; the grass has withered, the flower has fallen, but the word of God remains forever.' That is, he now calls the inbreathing, which is the soul, the word of God, so that, when the life of the flesh has withered, 'the dust returns to the earth' like a falling flower, and when the moisture has gone, so too our spirit departs to what is akin to it, going upward. For 'while we are in the flesh, we are away from the Lord.' So we must make haste 'to depart from the body' and to come and draw near to God, that we may 'be at home with the Lord'; for 'flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom of God, nor will the corruptible receive incorruption.'" Aglaophon, having said this much, fell silent. ### Scripture references - 2 Cor 4:16: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 5:1: quotation, high confidence - Ps 120:5 (119:5 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:24: quotation, high confidence - Job 3:3: quotation, high confidence - Jer 20:14: quotation, high confidence - Eccl 4:2: quotation, high confidence - Eccl 4:3: quotation, high confidence - Gen 6:3: quotation, high confidence - Isa 40:6: quotation, high confidence - Isa 40:7: quotation, high confidence - Isa 40:8: quotation, high confidence - 1 Pet 1:24: echo, medium confidence - Eccl 12:7: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 5:6: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 5:8: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:50: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. The words 'Lord God, to be swift and soon ...' break off in the Slavonic; the sentence that follows is obscure and is translated by sense. - 2 Cor 4:16; 2 Cor 5:1; Ps 120:5 (LXX 119:5); Rom 7:24; Job 3:3; Jer 20:14; Eccl 4:2-3; Gen 6:3; Isa 40:6-8 (cf. 1 Pet 1:24-25); Eccl 12:7; 2 Cor 5:6, 8; 1 Cor 15:50. 'While we are in the flesh' stands where Paul has 'at home in the body'. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.12 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:235; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-12/#p-1-12). ## Res. 1.13 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-12/#p-1-13 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:236 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: Proclus of Miletus asks to add further arguments against bodily resurrection before the narrator replies, and the narrator agrees. ### English translation (Claude) Methodius: And I prepared to answer them. Proclus: But the guest from Miletus said, "He has not yet said enough of the opposing arguments; there is still more to be said. What ought to be said has not been said." Methodius: I was surprised and said, "Do you too mean to come to the help of these arguments, as though they were not enough to draw people away and lead them astray?" Proclus: "You are saying nothing yet about the resurrection we are discussing," he said, "but listen to this as well. The remaining arguments, which we have not yet given, must also be stated here, so that, once everything has been fully set out by the opponents, you may conduct your case. But see whether what I say is to your liking." Methodius: "More than anything," I said, "since that is why our gathering has come together." ### Translation notes - Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. The speaker names are those given in the Slavonic, which calls the narrator Methodius (in the Greek excerpts he is called Eubulius). ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.13 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:236; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-12/#p-1-13). ## Res. 1.14 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-12/#p-1-14 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:237 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: Proclus argues that at death the body dissolves into the four elements and its parts cannot be recovered and distinguished to form the same flesh again. ### English translation (Claude) Proclus: And he began and said: "Hear the rest as well, for it is time to say what the body is and from what it is formed. From the indivisible bodies, fire and earth, air and water, God took from each what was sufficient and skilfully made this flesh, one flesh, mixing it well from them all, a useless thing. So when it is thrown into disorder by the inflow of what comes from outside, cold or warm, and by the inequality of the natural constituents of which it is composed, one of them prevailing or increasing, it is weakened by the change, which produces many diseases, and the soul is no longer able to protect it; it is as when a ship is wrecked and its parts come apart. So the dead and motionless body must necessarily separate into many parts and be dispersed. For each kind goes to its own mass, moved by its substance, since the body no longer has the same firmness or harmony but separates again into the elements from which it came before, that is, before it was mixed into one blend and put together into its fine shape: its watery part into water, its warm part into fire, its dry part into earth, its cold part into air, no longer like its former form. For when the parts are in conflict, and what was common has been changed into what is like each of them, it is not possible for their mixture to remain. So they must gather again, united with their own elements, so that after the scattering of the members nothing of the body is preserved forever, once it has been swallowed up by its own substance. Now if anyone says that the flesh will be gathered from the same matter as before, that would be plausibly said, for this argument came to hand ... But if not, we shall make ourselves a laughing-stock by trying to teach impossible things. For how are the parts of the flesh, each of which has gone into the mass of the elements, to be clearly recognized by themselves, so as to be mixed neither with parts of other bodies nor with the mass itself, so that each of us may take the same flesh from these very same parts?" ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Tim. 42e (Plato (works)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. The Slavonic is defective after 'this argument came to hand'. - The making of the body from portions of the four elements, and its dissolution into them, follows Plato, Tim. 42e-43a and 81e-82a. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.14 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:237; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-12/#p-1-14). ## Res. 1.15 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-12/#p-1-15 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:238 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: Proclus illustrates with wine poured into the sea that bodily matter dispersed into the elements cannot be retrieved unmixed for a resurrection. ### English translation (Claude) "Shall I make it still clearer to you by a proof how impossible this is, even by nature itself? Look: take wine or milk or blood or anything else that can mix with water, and pour some measure of it into the sea; and when you have done so, bring back to its place what you poured out, the wine or the oil, and take what was poured out unmixed with anything else, that is, with water, even if you imagine to yourself that it remains and is preserved after being received into so great a depth of water. For how could what has been mixed with it into the same substance of water, and has become what that was into which it was poured and given up, remain unmixed or unblended in that from which it was taken? But this is not possible. Do not be surprised, and do not take these for the questions of an unbeliever. So it is not possible that our body should be preserved by itself, once it has been divided into the elements of which it is composed and these have returned to what is akin to them among the elements, to flow away and mix with the mass. For of what is ours, one part must go into fire, that is, the warm; another into earth, that is, the flesh; and, simply, each into its own. Since, then, the water goes away into the whole substance of water, the cold into the air, and the others likewise into their own substances, how, according to you, is the body to rise again from those parts of which it was composed?" ### Translation notes - Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic (the staged text also ends with a line of the edition's apparatus, which is not part of the work). Compare Jerome, Against John of Jerusalem 25, where the same illustration is reported. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.15 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:238; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-12/#p-1-15). ## Res. 1.16 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-12/#p-1-16 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:239 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: Proclus argues that matter returned to the elements is mixed beyond recovery, so a body re-formed from the elements, like a statue recast from pooled wax, would not be the same body. ### English translation (Claude) "Nevertheless, having found a reason, you say that God, by measure and limit, takes the parts of the body that have gone away into the elements back from those same elements: the warm from the warm substance (for in what does one warmth surpass another?), the cold from the cold, and the rest in turn from their own kinds in the same way, so that what has become empty is wonderfully filled again, as in the image of the wineskin; for it makes no difference, provided only that the same measure is kept. But see what I say to you, Eubulius: what was poured out would have to be preserved throughout, even if it is to come from the same water into which it was poured. But it is impossible for water mixed into water to be preserved as an unmixed substance. It is mixed and blended into one, not only the watery part of every human being but also that of sea monsters, animals and birds. So it is time to say that the flesh of each one rises formed again in common from the four elements, but not from the same matter from which the compound was made before death. For suppose a craftsman takes many statues made of wax, melts them together with much other wax, and forms others from it like the first ones, teaching us to say that they are the same. He could have said that he formed the same statue back when he made each image by itself; but now that he has melted many into one mass, melting together the material of each image, it has come about that this one has much of that one, and that one of this. This is how some speak of the flesh too: insofar as it is restored from the same kind of matter, it is again called fleshly; but insofar as it is not from the parts of the composition from which it was made before, it is not the same." ### Translation notes - Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. The craftsman sentence is incomplete in the Slavonic and is translated by sense. 'Sea monsters' is marked uncertain in the edition. Compare Gregory of Nyssa, On the Soul and the Resurrection (PG 46:44-48), and the Dialogue of Adamantius 5.16. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.16 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:239; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-12/#p-1-16). ## Res. 1.17 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-12/#p-1-17 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:240 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: Proclus argues that a soul cannot justly be rewarded or punished in a different body, so the risen body must be spiritual, and introduces Origen's teaching as the strongest statement of this view. ### English translation (Claude) "But if it does not rise, then, as the discussion has shown, but not the same body, rather another, new one, your argument is destroyed, the claim that the flesh shares in the crowns of honour just as it shares in the labours and toils. And if it is impossible for the flesh that toiled with the soul to enjoy the same good things along with it (as it indeed is not possible, for our discussion above has taught by many proofs that the flesh will not share with the soul in either good or evil, since it did not toil with it), what benefit does the soul have, having laboured with one body, from enjoying honour at the judgment with another, or, having been overcome with one, from being condemned with another, compelled to receive a second flesh and blood? But if it is superfluous and impossible that, since its own body cannot be given to it, another should be given to it in its place, it remains to confess that it receives the spiritual and uncompounded body, with which it is possible to remain even in heaven. For, says the apostle, 'a natural body is sown, a spiritual body is raised.' [18] "Consider now, Eubulius, whether holding this seems new to you too; for I think that you too are weighing this within yourself. So either refute it and show it to be false, or, if it is left thus unrefuted and uncorrected, I do not know who will think it right to confess these things any longer. And that Jonah, not dried up in the belly of the whale, was cast out on the land healthy and whole after three days and three nights ... For it seems to me, regarding these people, that they either do not know, or arrive at understanding only with great difficulty. For I do not understand them; my ears are quite deafened from hearing people who dispute at length but say nothing true, but in ignorance turn downward and upward as in a ... And what the heretics say about the faith in the resurrection, perverting it, does not grieve me as much as what men of the Church say. 'For what have I to do with judging those outside,' who do not believe rightly or truly? So I do not learn from them, and am not compelled to investigate them with very elaborate thoughts. But hear what the wise Origen said, so that, as much is brought forward, you may be assured that once this body has been taken up and has perished, and has been shattered by corruption into many pieces like an earthen vessel, it is not gathered a second time from the same fragments. For it is good not to leave things not understood until, having looked through all the arguments, we see the truth well, having completed this discussion by adding new arguments too, even though so much has been said by others, but passing none of them by." ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 15:44: quotation, high confidence - Jonah 1:17: allusion, high confidence - Jonah 2:10: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 5:12: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. The OCR lost the heading of chapter 18, which begins at "[18]". The Slavonic is defective after the sentence about Jonah and after 'as in a'; the Jonah sentence evidently introduces an argument of the opposing side that is lost. - 1 Cor 15:44; Jonah 1:17-2:10; 1 Cor 5:12. 'Eubulius' is the name the Greek gives to the narrator who defends the resurrection of the flesh. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.17 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:240; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-12/#p-1-17). ## Res. 1.19 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-12/#p-1-19 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:241 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: Proclus presents Origen as a learned churchman who firmly rejected the resurrection of the same flesh, and introduces a quotation from his commentary on the first Psalm. ### English translation (Claude) "Now Origen, being a learned man of the Church who had gone carefully through the whole of Scripture, recognized that this view too is foreign to the apostolic faith in the resurrection. In his many books he gives his exposition not merely as one weighing or investigating, or as one who does not know and has no settled understanding of these things, whether this opinion is reliable, that is, reasonable, or the reverse; he teaches as one who already understands sufficiently, and declares what the matter is, rejecting with firm statements the hope that many place in bodies, as we shall show from his own words, which he himself committed to writing and which we have kept in memory. For it is fitting to bring that forward too, along with what has been said, so that here too you who have taken offence may gain knowledge of the truth and be persuaded not to think in this way about such great matters, about which you will not be able to lay down doctrines with proof from reasoning, since this understanding is annulled and destroyed by the bringing in of the spiritual understanding. For he speaks in order, when explaining the Psalms, at the tenth verse-line of the first Psalm:" Excerpt from Origen. ### Scripture references - Ps 1:5: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. 'This view' is the resurrection of the same flesh. The heading 'Excerpt from Origen' is printed in Greek capitals in the edition. - Contrary to the staging flag, the quotation that follows (Bonwetsch chs. 20-22, Origen on Ps 1:5, preserved in Greek in Epiphanius, Panarion 64.12-16) is not in this unit; the staged text instead ends with several pages of leaked apparatus. Chapters 21 and 22 are staged as '1.11' and '1.16', and chapter 20 is not staged (see the report). ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.19 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:241; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-12/#p-1-19). ## Res. 1.20 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-12/#p-1-20 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:242 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen, quoted by Methodius in his comment on Psalm 1:5, presses the simpler believers with the problem of bodily flux and of bodies eaten by animals and men. ### Greek text Ἐντεῦθεν οἱ ἁπλούστεροι τῶν πεπιστευκότων ὁρμώμενοι νομίζουσι τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς τῆς ἀναστάσεως μὴ τεύξεσθαι, τί νοοῦντες τὴν ἀνάστασιν; κἂν γὰρ δοκῶσι περὶ τούτων ἀποφαίνεσθαι, ἡ βάσανος αὐτοὺς διελέγξει, τὰ ἑξῆς ἀκολούθως σῴζειν μὴ δυναμένους. ἐὰν δ᾽ οὖν πυνθανώμεθα αὐτῶν, τίνος ἡ ἀνάστασις γίνεται, ἀποκρίνονται ὅτι τῶν σωμάτων ὧν νῦν περικείμεθα. εἶτα προσεπερωτησάντων ἡμῶν, πότερον τῆς οὐσίας αὐτῶν ὅλης ἢ οὐχί; πρὶν βασανίσαι λέγουσιν ὅτι ὅλης. ἐὰν δὲ προσαπορήσωμεν συμπεριφερόμενοι τῇ ἀκεραιότητι αὐτῶν, εἰ συναναστήσεται τὰ ἀπορρεύσαντα ἐν φλεβοτομίαις αἵματα καὶ σάρκες καὶ τρίχες αἱ πώποτε γενόμεναι, ἢ μόναι αἱ πρὸς τῇ ἐξόδῳ, — θλιβόμενοι εἰς τὸ τὸν θεὸν ποιεῖν ἃ βούλεται προστρέχουσιν. οἱ δὲ γενναιότεροι αὐτῶν, ἵνα μὴ ἀναγκάζωνται τὰ αὐτὰ αἵματα συναγαγεῖν τῷ λόγῳ, ἃ πολλάκις ἀπεκκριθῆναι τῶν σωμάτων ἡμῶν συνέβη, φασὶν τὸ ἐπὶ τέλει ἡμῶν ἀναστήσεσθαι σῶμα. προσηπορήσαμεν δὲ διὰ τὸ τρεπτὴν εἶναι τὴν σωματικὴν φύσιν καὶ τοιαῦτα ὥσπερ εἰς τὸ ἡμέτερον σῶμα αἱ τροφαὶ κατατάττονται καὶ μεταβάλλουσι τὰς ὁμοιότητας, οὕτως καὶ τὰ ἡμέτερα σώματα μεταβάλλονται [καὶ] ἐν τοῖς σαρκοβόροις οἰωνοῖς καὶ θηρίοις ⟨καὶ⟩ γίγνεται μέρη τῶν ἐκείνων σωμάτων, καὶ πάλιν ἐκεῖνα ὑπὸ ἀνθρώπων ἢ ἑτέρων ζῴων ἐσθιόμενα ἀντιμεταβάλλεται καὶ γίγνεται ἀνθρώπων ἢ ἑτέρων ζῴων σώματα. καὶ τούτου ἐπὶ πολὺ γιγνομένου ἀνάγκη τὸ αὐτὸ σῶμα πλειόνων ἀνθρώπων πολλάκις γίγνεσθαι μέρος. τίνος οὖν ἔσται σῶμα ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει; καὶ οὕτως εἰς βυθὸν ἡμᾶς φλυαρίας ἀλόγου συμβήσεται ἐμπίπτειν. ### English translation (Claude) From this the simpler among believers set out and suppose that the ungodly will not attain the resurrection. What do they mean by the resurrection? For even if they seem to make pronouncements about these things, examination will refute them, since they cannot consistently maintain what follows. If, then, we ask them whose resurrection takes place, they answer, "That of the bodies we now wear." Then, when we ask further whether it is of their whole substance or not, before they are examined they say, "Of the whole." But if, accommodating ourselves to their simplicity, we raise the further difficulty whether the blood that has flowed out in blood-lettings will rise along with them, and all the flesh and hair that ever existed, or only what was there at their departure, being hard pressed they run for refuge to "God does what he wills." The more noble of them, so as not to be forced by the argument to gather together the same blood, which has often been excreted from our bodies, say that the body we have at our end will rise. But we raised a further difficulty, because bodily nature is changeable, and such things as foods are assimilated into our body and change their likeness: so too our bodies are changed in carnivorous birds and beasts and become parts of their bodies, and these in turn, eaten by men or by other animals, are changed back and become the bodies of men or of other animals. And since this goes on for a long time, the same body must often become part of several men. Whose body, then, will it be in the resurrection? And so it will happen that we fall into a deep sea of irrational nonsense. ### Scripture references - Ps 1:5: allusion, high confidence - Ps 115:3 (113:11 LXX): echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Chapters 20-22 are Methodius's quotation of Origen's comment on Ps 1:5 ('the ungodly shall not rise in the judgment'), headed 'Excerpt from Origen' in the edition and preserved in Epiphanius, Panarion 64.12-16; here 'we' is Origen. The OCR of this page is moderate (e.g. 'Ῥαμύνους', 'ἀπὸ κρίνοντει', 'ὅλης' for ἀποκρίνονται and ὅλης); the translation follows the evident sense, which agrees with the Epiphanius text. Ps 1:5; Ps 115:3 (LXX 113:11) echoed in 'God does what he wills'. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.20 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:242; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-12/#p-1-20). ## Res. 1.21 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-12/#p-1-21 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:243 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Aglaophon reports that the defenders of bodily resurrection appeal to God's omnipotence and to Ezekiel's dry bones, the Gospel sayings on bodily punishment, and Romans 8:11. ### Greek text Καὶ μετὰ ταύτας τὰς ἀπορίας ἐπὶ τὸ πάντα εἶναι δυνατὰ τῷ θεῷ καταφεύγουσι, καὶ λέξεις τῶν γραφῶν δυναμένας κατὰ τὴν πρόχειρον ἐκδοχὴν ὑποβάλλειν τὸ νοούμενον αὐτοῖς προφέρονται" οἷον τὴν ἐν τῷ Ἰεζεκιήλ »καὶ ἐγένετο ἐπ᾽ ἐμὲ χεὶρ κυρίου, καὶ ἐξήγαγέ με ἐν πνεύματι καὶ ἐθηκέ μὲ ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ πεδίου, καὶ τοῦτο ἦν μεστὸν ὀστέων ἀνθρωπίνων. καὶ περιήγαγέ μὲ ἐπ᾽ αὐτὰ κυκλόθεν κύκλῳ" καὶ ἰδού, πολλὰ σφόδρα ἐπὶ προσώπου τοῦ πεδίου, καὶ ἰδού, αὐτὰ ξηρὰ λίαν. καὶ εἶπε πρός με· υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, εἰ ζήσεται τὰ ὀστᾶ ταῦτα; καὶ εἶπον" κύριε ὁ θεός, σὺ ἐπίστασαι ταῦτα. καὶ εἶπε πρός με, προφήτευσον. υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου. καὶ εἰπὸν πρὸς αὐτά" τὰ ὀστέα τὰ ξηρὰ ταῦτα, ἀκούσατε λόγον κυρίου. τάδε λέγει Ἀδωναὶ κύριος τοῖς ὀστέοις τούτοις" ἰδού, ἐγὼ εἰσάγω εἰς ὑμᾶς πνεῦμα ζωῆς, καὶ δώσω ἐφ᾽ ὑμᾶς νεῦρα. καὶ ἐπάξω ἐφ᾽ ὑμᾶς σάρκας, καὶ ἐκτενῶ ἐφ᾽ ὑμᾶς δέρμα, καὶ δώσω τὸ πνεῦμά μου ἐφ᾽ ὑμᾶς. καὶ ζήσεσθε, καὶ θήσομαι ὑμᾶς ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ὑμῶν, καὶ γνώσεσθε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι κύριος.« τούτῳ μὲν οὖν πιθανωτέρῳ χρῶνται τῷ ῥητῷ. καὶ ἄλλα δὲ λέγουσιν εὐαγγελικά, οἷον ὡς τό »ἐκεῖ ἔσται ὁ κλαυθμὸς καὶ ὁ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων«, καὶ τό »φοβήθητε τὸν δυνάμενον καὶ ψυχὴν καὶ σῶμα ἀπολέσαι ἐν γεέννῃ«. καὶ τὸ ἐν τῷ Παύλῳ »ζῳοποιήσει τὰ θνητὰ ὑμῶν σώματα, διὰ τὸ ἐνοικοῦν αὐτοῦ πνεῦμα ἐν ὑμῖν«. ### English translation (Claude) "And after these difficulties they take refuge in the claim that all things are possible to God, and they bring forward passages of the Scriptures which, on a ready interpretation, can suggest what they think; for example, the one in Ezekiel: 'And the hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit and set me in the middle of the plain, and it was full of human bones. And he led me around them all about; and behold, there were very many on the face of the plain, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, Son of man, will these bones live? And I said, O Lord God, you know this. And he said to me, Prophesy, son of man, and say to them: You dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says Adonai the Lord to these bones: Behold, I bring into you the breath of life, and I will put sinews upon you, and bring flesh upon you, and stretch skin over you, and I will put my Spirit into you, and you shall live; and I will set you in your own land, and you shall know that I am the Lord.' This is the more persuasive text they use. They also cite other passages from the Gospels, such as 'There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,' and 'Fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna'; and the saying in Paul, 'He will give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwells in you.'" ### Scripture references - Ezek 37:1: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 37:2: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 37:3: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 37:4: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 37:5: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 37:6: quotation, high confidence - Matt 8:12: quotation, high confidence - Matt 10:28: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:11: quotation, high confidence - Matt 19:26: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - This staged unit is really chapter 21 of Book 1 in Bonwetsch (its numeral XXI was misread as XI); it belongs between chapters 20 and 22 and should be renumbered 1.21 before publishing. It is part of Origen's comment on Ps 1:5, which Methodius quotes (chs. 20-22) and which survives in Greek in Epiphanius, Panarion 64.12-16; the edition also prints the German translation of the Slavonic beside it, which is not staged. 'They' are the simpler believers who hold that the same flesh rises; Origen reports their texts in order to answer them. - Ezek 37:1-6, quoted closely from the Septuagint ('Adonai the Lord'); Matt 8:12 (cf. 22:13; 25:30); Matt 10:28; Rom 8:11. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.21 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:243; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-12/#p-1-21). ## Res. 1.22 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-12/#p-1-22 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:244 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen, quoted by Methodius, argues that the body's matter is always in flux like a river, and that what rises is the same bodily form, changed into a spiritual body suited to heaven. ### Greek text Χρὴ δὲ πάντα τὸν φιλαλήθη κατὰ ταὐτὸν τούτοις τὸν νοῦν ἐπιστήσαντα περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἀγωνίσασθαι, σῷσαί τε καὶ τὴν τῶν ἀρχαίων παράδοσιν, καὶ φυλάξασθαι μὴ ἐμπεσεῖν εἰς φλυαρίαν πτωχῶν νοημάτων, ἀδυνάτων τὲ ἅμα, καὶ θεοῦ ἀναξίων. τοῦτο οὐν εἰς τὸν τύπον (τοῦτον) διαληπτέον, ὅτι πᾶν σῶμα ὑπὸ φύσεως συνεχόμενον τῆς καταταττούσης ἔξωθέν τινὰ δίκην τροφῆς εἰς αὐτό, καὶ ἀποκρινούσης ἀντὶ τῶν ἐπεισαγομένων ἕτερα, ὥσπερ τὰ τῶν φυτῶν καὶ τῶν ζῴων, τὸ ὑλικὸν ὑποκείμενον οὐδέποτε ἔχει ταὐτόν. διόπερ οὐ κακῶς ποταμὸς ὠνόμασται τὸ σῶμα. διότι ὡς πρὸς τὸ ἀκριβὲς τάχα οὐδὲ δύο ἡμερῶν τὸ πρῶτον ὑποκείμενον ταὐτόν ἐστιν ἐν τῷ σώματι ἡμῶν, καίτοι γε τοῦ οἱονεὶ Παύλου ἡ Πέτρου ἀεὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ ὄντος (οὐ τοῦ κατὰ ψυχὴν μόνον. ἧς ἡ οὐσία οὔτε ῥεῖ καθ' ἡμᾶς οὔτ᾽ ἐπεισαγόμενόν τι ἔχει ποτέ), κἂν ῥευστὴ ᾖ ἡ φύσις τοῦ σώματος. τῷ τὸ εἶδος τὸ χαρακτηρίζον τὸ σῶμα ταὐτὸν εἶναι, ὡς καὶ τοὺς τύπους μένειν τοὺς αὐτοὺς τοὺς τὴν ποιότητα Πέτρου καὶ Παύλου τὴν σωματικὴν παριστάνοντας, καθ᾽ ἣν ποιότητα καὶ οὐλαὶ ἐκ παίδων παραμένουσι τοῖς σώμασι καὶ ἄλλα τινὰ ἰδιώματα (ἐν τῷ σώματι), φακοὶ καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις εἴ τί ἐστιν ὅμοιον" τοῦτο τὸ εἶδος, καθ' ὃ εἰδοποιεῖται ὁ Πέτρος καὶ ὁ Παῦλος. τὸ σωματικόν, ὃ ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει περιτίθεται πάλιν τῇ ψυχῇ, ἐπὶ τὸ κρεῖττον μεταβάλλον, οὐ πάντως δὲ τόδε τὸ ἐκτεταγμένον τὸ κατὰ τὴν πρώτην ὑποκείμενον. ὥσπερ δὲ τὸ εἰδός ἐστιν ἐκ βρέφους μέχρι πρεσβύτου, κἂν οἱ χαρακτῆρες δοκῶσι πολλὴν ἔχειν παραλλαγὴν, οὕτως νοητέον καὶ τὸ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος εἶδος ταὐτὸν εἶναι τῷ μέλλοντι, πλείστης ὅσης ἐσομένης τῆς ἐπὶ τὸ κάλλιον μεταβολῆς. ἀναγκαῖον γὰρ τὴν ψυχὴν ἐν τόποις σωματικοῖς ὑπάρχουσαν κεχρῆσθαι σώμασι καταλλήλοις τοῖς τόποις. καὶ ὥσπερ ἐν θαλάσσῃ ζῆν ἡμᾶς ἐνύδρους γενομένους εἰ ἐχρῆν, πάντως ἂν ἡμᾶς ἔδει βράγχια ἔχειν καὶ τὴν ἄλλην ἰχθύων κατάστασιν, οὕτως μέλλοντας κληρονομεῖν βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν καὶ ἐν τόποις διαφέρουσιν ἔσεσθαι, ἀναγκαῖον χρῆσθαι σώμασι πνευματικοῖς, οὐχὶ τοῦ εἴδους τοῦ προτέρου ἀφανιζομένου. κἂν ἐπὶ τὸ ἐνδοξότερον γένηται αὐτοῦ ἡ τροπή, ὥσπερ ἦν τὸ Ἰησοῦ εἶδος καὶ Μωυσέως καὶ Ἠλίου, οὐχ ἕτερον ἐν τῇ μεταμορφώσει παρ᾽ ὃ ἦν. ### English translation (Claude) "But every lover of truth must fix his mind on these points in the same way and contend for the resurrection, preserving the tradition of the ancients and at the same time taking care not to fall into the nonsense of beggarly notions, which are both impossible and unworthy of God. This, then, must be understood on this point: every body, being held together by a nature that brings certain things into it from outside by way of food and excretes others in place of those brought in (as the bodies of plants and animals do), never has the same material substrate. That is why the body has not been badly called a river. For, strictly speaking, the first substrate in our body is perhaps not the same for even two days, although Paul or Peter, so to speak, is always the same (not only in respect of the soul, whose substance on our view neither flows nor ever has anything brought into it), even though the nature of the body is in flux. For the form that characterizes the body is the same, so that the same features remain that present the bodily quality of Peter and Paul; and according to this quality scars from childhood remain on bodies, and certain other peculiarities in the body, moles, and anything else of the kind. This form, by which Peter and Paul are formed, the bodily form, is what is put around the soul again in the resurrection, changed for the better; but by no means this particular substrate that was laid out at first. Just as the form is the same from infancy to old age, even though the features seem to undergo much alteration, so one must understand that the form of the present body is the same as that of the future one, though there will be a very great change for the better. For a soul that exists in bodily places must use bodies suited to those places. And just as, if we had to live in the sea as water creatures, we would certainly need gills and the rest of the make-up of fish, so, since we are to inherit the kingdom of heaven and to be in places that are different, we must use spiritual bodies; not that the former form disappears, even if its change is to something more glorious, just as the form of Jesus, and of Moses and Elijah, was not other in the transfiguration than it had been." ### Scripture references - Matt 17:2: allusion, high confidence - Matt 17:3: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:44: allusion, high confidence - Matt 25:34: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - This staged unit is really chapter 22 of Book 1 in Bonwetsch (page 244, numeral printed XXII), not chapter 16; it should be renumbered 1.22 before publishing. Chapter 16 (in the German only) and chapter 20 (Greek) are not staged. - Chapters 20-22 are Methodius's quotation of Origen's comment on Ps 1:5, which survives in Greek in Epiphanius, Panarion 64.14. Origen's doctrine of the bodily 'form' (εἶδος) is set out here in his own words; Methodius answers it from chapter 23 on. - The image of the body as a river recalls Heraclitus and Plato (Crat. 402a; Tim. 43a). The transfiguration: Matt 17:2-3 (Mark 9:2-4). 'Spiritual bodies': 1 Cor 15:44. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.22 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:244; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-12/#p-1-22). ## Res. 1.23 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-12/#p-1-23 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:246 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen, still quoted, argues that the risen body keeps the bodily form but not its matter, and reads Ezekiel's dry bones, the gnashing of teeth and Paul's seed analogy in that light. ### Greek text Μὴ πρόσχοπτε τοίνυν, εἰ τὸ πρῶτον ὑποκείμενον ἐάν τις λέγοι μὴ ἔσεσθαι ταὐτὸν τότε, ὅπου ὁ λόγος τοῖς ἐφιστάναι δυναμένοις δείκνυσιν, ὅτι οὐδὲ νῦν δύναται δύο ἡμερῶν ταὐτὸν εἶναι τὸ πρῶτον ὑποχείμενον. ἄξιον δὲ ἐπιστῆσαι καὶ τὸ ἑτεροῖον μὲν σπείρεσθαι, ἑτεροῖον δὲ ἀνίστασθαι. »σπείρεται γὰρ σῶμα ψυχικόν, ἐγείρεται σῶμα πνευματικόν.« καὶ ἐπιφέρει πάλιν ὁ ἀπόστολος, σχεδὸν τὴν γηΐνην ποιότητα διδάσκων ἀποτίθεσθαι μέλλειν ἡμᾶς. τοῦ εἴδους σῳζομένου κατὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν »τοῦτο δέ φημι, ἀδελφοί, ὅτι σὰρξ καὶ αἷμα βασιλείαν θεοῦ κληρονομῆσαι οὐ δύναται, οὐδὲ ἡ φθορὰ τὴν ἀφθαρσίαν«. σῶμα μὲν γὰρ ἔσται περὶ τὸν ἅγιον διακρατούμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ εἰδοποιοῦντός ποτε τὴν σάρκα᾽ σὰρξ δὲ οὐκέτι᾽ ἀλλ᾽ ὅπερ ποτὲ ἐχαρακτηρίζετο ἐν τῇ σαρκί, τοῦτο χαρακτηρισθήσεται ἐν τῷ πνευματικῷ σώματι. Καὶ πρὸς τὰ ῥήματα δὲ τῶν γραφῶν, ἃ παρατίθενται οἱ ἀδελφοὶ ἡμῶν, ταῦτα ἔστιν εἰπεῖν. καὶ πρῶτόν γε τὰ ἐν τῷ Ἰεζεκιήλ, [ἐπὶ τὸ ὅσον] ἐφ᾽ ὅσον βούλονται οἱ ἁπλούστεροι, κατὰ τὰς λέξεις ταύτας οὐδὲ ἀνάστασις σαρκῶν ἔσται. ἀλλὰ ὀστέων μόνον καὶ δερμάτων καὶ νεύρων. ἅμα δὲ καὶ ὑποδεικτέον αὐτοῖς ὅτι συναρπάζονται, ὡς μὴ νενοηκότες τὸ γεγραμμένον. οὐ γὰρ εἰ ὀστᾶ ὀνομάζεται, πάντως τὰ ὀστᾶ ταῦτα νοητέον᾽ ὥσπερ οὐδὲ ἐν τῷ »ἐσκορπίσθη τὰ ὀστᾶ ἡμῶν παρὰ τὸν ᾅδην« καί »ἐσκορπίσθη πάντα τὰ ὀστᾶ μου« καί »ἴασαί με, ὅτι ἐταράχθη τὰ ὀστᾶ μου«, φανεροῦ ὄντος τοῦ μὴ λέγεσθαι τὰ ὀστᾶ κατὰ τὴν κοινὴν ἐκδοχήν. ἐπιφέρεται γοῦν τῷ λόγῳ ὅτι »αὐτοὶ λέγουσι. ξηρὰ γέγονε τὰ ὀστᾶ ἡμῶν«. ἄρα γὰρ λέγουσι »ξηρὰ γέγονε τὰ ὀστέα ἡμῶν«, θέλοντες ἀνίστασθαι συναχθέντα; ἀλλὰ τοῦτο ἀμήχανον. λέγοιεν δ᾽ ἂν »ξηρὰ γέγονε τὰ ὀστᾶ ἡμῶν« ἐν αἰχμαλωσίαις γενόμενοι καὶ πᾶσαν ζωτικὴν νοτίδα ἀποβεβληκότες. ἐπιφέρουσι γοῦν τὸ »ἀπόλωλεν ἡ ἐλπὶς ἡμῶν, διαπεφωνήκαμεν«, οὐκοῦν ἡ ἐπαγγελία τῆς ἀναστάσεως τοῦ λαοῦ ἐστιν ἀπὸ τοῦ πτώματος καὶ τῆς οἱονεὶ νεκρότητος ἣν νενέκρωνται, διὰ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα τοῖς ἐχθροῖς παραδοθέντες. καὶ οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος λέγονται εἶναι »τάφοι γέμοντες ὀστέων νεκρῶν καὶ πάσης ἀκαθαρσίας«. πρέπει δὲ τῷ θεῷ ἀνοίγειν τὰ μνημεῖα ἑκάστου καὶ ἐξάγειν ἐκ τῶν μνημείων ἡμᾶς ἐζωοποιημένους, ὥσπερ ὁ σωτὴρ τὸν Λάζαρον εἴλκυσεν ἔξω. Τὸ δέ »ἐκεῖ ἔσται ὁ κλαυθμὸς καὶ ὁ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων« πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἀπορητέον᾽ ὅτι ὥσπερ ἐν τούτῳ τῷ βίῳ πᾶν μέλος εἴς τινα χρείαν ὁ δημιουργὸς κατεσκεύασεν. οὕτως καὶ τοὺς ὀδόντας εἰς τὸ διακόπτεσθαι τὴν στερεὰν τροφήν. τίς οὖν χρεία τοῖς κολαζομένοις ὀδόντων; οὐ γὰρ εἰς τὴν γέενναν ὄντες κατ᾽ αὐτοὺς φάγονται. καὶ δεικτέον ὅτι οὐ πάντα παραλαμβάνεσθαι δεῖ κατὰ τὸ κείμενον. »ὀδόντας γοῦν ἁμαρτωλῶν«, φησίν, »συνέτριψας«, καί »τὰς μύλας τῶν λεόντων συνέθλασεν ὁ κύριος«. τίς δὲ οὕτως ἠλίθιος, ὡς ὑπολαμβάνειν ὅτι τηρῶν τὰ σώματα τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν ὁ θεὸς τοὺς ὀδόντας αὐτῶν μόνον συντρίβει; ὥσπερ οὖν εἴ τις θέλων ταῦθ᾽ οὕτως ἔχειν θλιβόμενος εἵλκετο ἐπ᾽ ἀλληγορίαν, οὕτως ζητητέον τῶν κολαζομένων τὸν βρυγμὸν τῶν ὀδόντων τῆς ψυχῆς δύναμιν μασητικὴν ἐχούσης, ἥτις ἐν καιρῷ τοῦ ἐλέγχου περὶ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων κατὰ τὸν συγχρουσμὸν τῶν ὀδόντων ὧν ἐφρόνησε βρύξει τοὺς ὀδόντας. τὸ δέ »φοβήθητε τὸν δυνάμενον καὶ τὴν ψυχὴ» καὶ τὸ σῶμα ἀπολέσαι ἐν Γεέννῃς τάχα μὲν διδάσκει ὅτι ἀσώματος ἡ ψυχή, τάχα δὲ δηλοῖ καὶ ὅτι χωρὶς σώματος οὐ κολασθήσεται περὶ οὗ φυσιολογοῦντες τὰ περὶ τοῦ εἴδους: καὶ τοῦ πρώτου ὑποκειμένου εἰρήκαμεν. καὶ τὸ παρὰ τῷ ἀποστόλῳ δέ »ζῳοποιήσει καὶ τὰ θνητὰ ἡμῶν σώματα«, θνητοῦ ὄντος τοῦ σώματος καὶ οὐ μετέχοντος τὴς ἀληθινῆς ζωῆς, δύναται παριστάνειν. ὅτι τὸ σωματικὸν εἶδος, περὶ οὗ εἰρήκαμεν, τῇ φύσει θνητὸν ὄν, ὅταν ὁ Χριστὸς φανερωθῇ ἡ ζωὴ ἡμῶν, καὶ αὐτὸ μεταβάλλει ἀπὸ τοῦ εἶναι σῶμα θανάτου ξῳοποιηθέν, διὰ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ζῳοποιοῦν, ἐκ τοῦ σαρκικοῦ πνευματικὸν γεγονέναι. καὶ τό" »ἐρεῖ δέ πῶς ἐγείρονται οἱ νεκροί; ποίῳ δὲ σώματι ἔρχονται;« γυμνῶς παρίστησιν. δον ὅτι τὸ πρῶτον ὑποκείμενον οὐκ ἀναστήσεται. εἰ γὰρ καλῶς ἐλάβομεν τὸ παράδειγμα. τηρητέον ὅτι ὁ σπερματικὸς λόγος ἐν τῷ κόκκῳ τοῦ σίτου δραξάμενος τῆς παρακειμένης ὕλης καὶ δι᾿ ὕλης αὐτῆς χωρήσας. περιδραξάμενος αὐτῆς τοῦ αὐτοῦ εἴδους ὧν ἔχει δυνάμεων ἐπιτίθησι τῇ ποτε γῇ καὶ ὕδατι καὶ ἀέρι καὶ πυρί, καὶ νικήσας τὰς ἐκείνων ποιότητας μεταβάλλει ἐπὶ ταύτην. ἧς ἐστιν αὐτὸς δημιουργός. καὶ οὕτως συμπληροῦται ὁ στάχυς, εἰς ὑπερβολὴν διαφέρων τοῦ ἐξ ἀρχῆς κόκκου μεγέθει καὶ σχήματι καὶ ποικιλίᾳ. ### English translation (Claude) "So do not take offence if someone says that the first substrate will not then be the same, when reason shows those able to attend that not even now can the first substrate be the same for two days. It is worth noting too that what is sown is of one kind and what rises of another. For 'it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.' And the apostle adds again, as though teaching that we are to put off the earthly quality while the form is preserved in the resurrection: 'This I say, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption.' For there will be a body around the saint, held together by that which once gave form to the flesh, but no longer flesh; what was once characterized in the flesh will be characterized in the spiritual body. "And to the texts of the Scriptures which our brothers put forward, this can be said. First the passage in Ezekiel: if one goes as far as the simpler ones wish, then according to these words there will not even be a resurrection of flesh, but only of bones and skins and sinews. At the same time we must show them that they are carried away, not having understood what is written. For if bones are named, these bones need not by any means be understood; as also in 'Our bones were scattered beside Hades,' and 'All my bones were scattered,' and 'Heal me, for my bones are troubled,' where it is plain that bones are not meant in the common sense. Indeed it is added to the word: 'They say, Our bones have become dry.' Do they then say 'Our bones have become dry' because they wish to rise when they have been gathered together? That is impossible. They would say 'Our bones have become dry' when they were in captivities and had lost all living moisture. Indeed they add, 'Our hope has perished; we are undone.' So the promise of the resurrection of the people is a rising from the fall and, as it were, from the deadness which they suffered when they were delivered to their enemies because of their sins. And sinners too are said by the Saviour to be 'tombs full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness.' But it befits God to open the tombs of each one and to bring us out of the tombs made alive, as the Saviour drew Lazarus out. [24] "As for 'There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,' we must put this difficulty to them: just as in this life the Creator made every member for some use, so he made the teeth for cutting up solid food. What use, then, do those being punished have for teeth? For on their own view they will not eat in Gehenna. And it must be shown that not everything is to be taken according to the letter. 'You have broken the teeth of sinners,' he says, and 'The Lord has shattered the molars of the lions.' Who is so foolish as to suppose that God preserves the bodies of sinners and breaks only their teeth? So, just as someone who wanted these things to be so would be hard pressed and drawn to allegory, so we must look for the gnashing of teeth of those who are punished in the soul's power of chewing, which, at the time of its conviction for its sins, will gnash its teeth by the clashing together of the things it has thought. And 'Fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna' perhaps teaches that the soul is incorporeal, and perhaps also shows that it will not be punished without a body, about which we have spoken in our natural account of the form and of the first substrate. And the saying in the apostle, 'He will give life also to our mortal bodies,' since the body is mortal and does not share in the true life, can show this: the bodily form of which we have spoken, being mortal by nature, will itself, when 'Christ, our life, is revealed,' be changed from being a body of death to being made alive, through the Spirit that gives life, having become spiritual instead of fleshly. And 'But someone will say, How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?' shows plainly that the first substrate will not rise. For if we have taken the example rightly, we must observe that the seminal principle in the grain of wheat lays hold of the matter lying around it, passes through the matter itself, and, having grasped it, imposes on what was once earth and water and air and fire the powers it has of its own form; and, overcoming their qualities, it changes them into the form of which it is itself the maker. And so the ear is filled out, differing exceedingly from the original grain in size and shape and variety." ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 15:44: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:50: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 37:11: quotation, high confidence - Ps 141:7 (140:7 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 22:14 (21:15 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 6:2 (6:3 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Matt 23:27: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 37:12: allusion, high confidence - John 11:43: allusion, high confidence - Matt 8:12: quotation, high confidence - Ps 3:7 (3:8 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 58:6 (57:7 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Matt 10:28: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:11: quotation, high confidence - Col 3:4: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:45: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 15:35: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:37: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Chapters 23-24 continue Methodius's quotation of Origen on Ps 1:5 (Greek also in Epiphanius, Panarion 64.14-16); 'our brothers' and 'the simpler ones' are those who expect the same flesh to rise. The heading of chapter 24 survives in the OCR as a garbled numeral, removed by a logged correction; the chapter begins at "[24]". A line of the edition's apparatus that had leaked into the text, and the speaker heading 'Proclus' that belongs to the next chapter, are removed by logged corrections. - 1 Cor 15:44; 15:50; Ezek 37:11; Ps 141:7 (LXX 140:7); Ps 22:14 (LXX 21:15); Ps 6:2 (LXX 6:3); Matt 23:27; Ezek 37:12; John 11:43-44; Matt 8:12; Ps 3:7 (LXX 3:8); Ps 58:6 (LXX 57:7); Matt 10:28; Rom 8:11; Col 3:4; 1 Cor 15:45; 1 Cor 15:35-38. 'Seminal principle' (σπερματικὸς λόγος) is a Stoic term. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.23 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:246; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-12/#p-1-23). ## Res. 1.25 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-25/#p-1-25 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:250 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Proclus explains Origen's view with the image of a waterskin that keeps its shape while water flows in and out, and answers the appeal to Christ's risen flesh by stressing the difference between his virginal conception and ours. ### Greek text Ἢ μὲν οὖν Ωριγένης εἰς τὴν περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἐγχειρῶν πραγματείαν ἐσπούδασε, ποικιλωτάτην ἐπιδεικνύμενος εἰς αὐτὴν θεωρίαν. τοσαῦτα ὡς ἐν ἐπιτομῇ ἐνθυμοῦ δὲ καὶ τὰ τούτοις ἀναθεωρῶν ἐφεξῆς. λείπεται γὰρ τὰς ἀπὸ τῶν γραφῶν ἔτι πρὸς τοῖς εἰρημένοις μαρτυρίας παραλαβεῖν, ἵν᾿ ὥσπερ ἀνδριὰς πάντα τὰ μέρη συμμέτρως ὁ λόγος ἑαυτοῦ λαβὼν ὅλος ἐκ πλήρους ἡ κατεσκευασμένος, ἀλλὰ μηδὲν ἔχων ἐνδεὲς τῶν εἰς σχῆμα καὶ κάλλος συναγομένων. τί οὖν αἱ γραφαὶ συν άδουσι τούτοις. ἐπικρατύνουσαι πρὸς συμπλήρωσιν διαγωγῆς κρείττονος τὸν ἄνθρωπον, φραστέον. ταῦτα γὰρ ἐάν τις οἷός ω: ἣν μὴ παραχύπτων τοῦ ὅὄέξοντος, ἀκριβῶς νοεῖν, εἴσεται τὴν ἀνάστασιν ἐπὶ τούτου μὴ χρῆναι παραλαμβάνεσθαι τοῦ σώματος, ἅτε ἀδυνατοῦντος ἀτρέπτου δι᾿ αἰῶνος μένειν, ἀλλὰ ἐπὶ τοῦ πνευματικοῦ, ἐν ᾧ ὁ αὐτὸς ὁ καὶ νῦν ἐν τούτῳ διασῳζόμενος χαρακτὴρ τηρηθήσεται, ἵν᾽ ἕκαστος ἡμῶν καὶ κατὰ τὴν μορφὴν ὁ αὐτὸς ἢ, καθάπερ ἐλέχθη καὶ Ὠριγένει. οὕτω γὰρ ἐκεῖνος ἔσεσθαι τίθεται τὴν ἀνάστασιν. ῥευστοῦ γὰρ ὄντος τοῦ σώματος τοῦ ὑλικοῦ καὶ μηδέποτε μένοντος ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτῷ κἂν τὸ βραχύ, ἀλλὰ προσγινομένου καὶ ἀπογινομένου περὶ τὸ εἶδος τὸ χαρακτηρίζον τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ὑφ᾽ οὗ καὶ συγκρατεῖται τὸ σχῆμα, ἀνάγκη, φησί, τὴν ἀνάστασιν ἐπὶ μόνου τοῦ εἴδους σώζεσθαι δεῖν προσδοκᾶν. καὶ ἵνα μὴ εἴπῃς ὅτι Οὐ μανθάνω (συντόμως ἐκεῖνος γὰρ τοῦτο διέλαβεν). ἐγὼ δή σοι σαφέστερον ὧδε τὸν νοῦν τούτων ἐξηγήσομαι. ἤδη γὰρ πάντως ἑώρακας δέρμα ζῴου ἄλλο τι τοιοῦτο γεμισθὲν ὕδατος, ὅπως, ἐὰν πρὸς ὀλίγον κενούμενον πρὸς ὀλίγον πληροῖτο, ἀεὶ τὸ εἶδος τὸ αὐτὸ δείκνυσιν. οἷον γὰρ ἂν ἢ τὸ περιέχον, ἀνάγκη πρὸς αὐτὸ καὶ τὸ ἐντὸς σχηματίζεσθαι. φέρε γάρ. ὑπεκρέοντος τοῦ ὕδατος εἴ τις προσβάλλοι τοσοῦτον ὅσον ἐκχεῖται, μὴ ἰῶν τὸν ἀσκὸν ἀθρόως κενωθῆναι τοῦ ὕδατος, εἰ μὴ ἀνάγκη τοιοῦτο φαίνεσθαι τὸ προστιθέμενον οἷον καὶ τὸ πρῶτον, διὰ τὸ εἶναι καὶ τὸ περιέχον τὸ αὐτό, περὶ ὦ εἰσρεῖ καὶ ἀπορρεῖ τὸ ὕδωρ. καὶ δὴ καὶ τὸ σῶμα τοῦ τοις ὁ ἐθέλων ἀπεικάζειν οὐκ αἰδεσθήσεται. ὡσαύτως γὰρ καὶ τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς τροφῆς ἀντεισαγόμενα ἀντὶ τῶν ὑπεξωσθεισῶν σαρκῶν εἰς τὸ σχῆμα τοῦ περιέχοντος εἴδους μεταβαλοῦνται" καὶ ὁπόσον μὲν ἂν κατὰ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς διαχυθῇ, τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἔοικεν, ὁπόσον δὲ κατὰ τὸ πρόσωπον, τῷ προσώπῳ, ὁπόσον δὲ κατὰ τὰ ἕτερα, τούτοις. ὥστε τὸν αὐτὸν ἕκαστον φαίνεσθαι, οὐκ οὐσῶν τῶν σαρκῶν ἐν ταὐτῷ τῶν πρώτων ὑποκειμένων, ἀλλὰ τοῦ εἴδους, ᾧ εἰδοποιοῦνται τὰ προσγιγνόμενα. καὶ τοίνυν εἰ μή ἐσμὲν οἱ αὐτοὶ κἂν ἐπ᾿ ὀλίγας ἡμέρας τῷ σώματι, ἀλλὰ τῷ εἴδει τῷ ἐν τῷ σώματι (τοῦτο γὰρ μόνον ἕστηκεν ἀπὸ γενέσεως), πολλῷ μᾶλλον οὐδὲ τότε οἱ αὐτοὶ κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν σάρκα ἐσόμεθα, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸ εἶδος τὸ καὶ νῦν ἀεὶ διασῳζόμενον ἐν ἡμῖν καὶ μένον. ὃ γὰρ ἐκεῖ τὸ δέρμα, τοῦτο τὸ εἶδος ἐνθάδε· ὃ δὲ ἐκεῖ τὸ ὕδωρ ἐπὶ τῆς εἰκόνος, τοῦτο ἐνταῦθα τὸ προσγιγνόμενον καὶ ἀπογιγνόμενον. ὥσπερ οὖν νῦν τοῦ σώματος οὐχ ὄντος τοῦ αὐτοῦ, ὅμως ὁ χαρακτὴρ ὁ κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν μορφὴν ὁ αὐτὸς σῴζεται, οὑτοσὶ καὶ τότε, οὐκ ὄντος τοῦ σώματος τοῦ αὐτοῦ. εἰς τὸ ἐνδοξότερον τὸ εἶδος αὐξηθὲν οὐκέτι ἐν φθαρτῷ, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν ἀπαθεῖ καὶ πνευματικῷ δειχθήσεται σώματι, ὥσπερ οἷον (τὸ) τοῦ Ἰησοῦ κατὰ τὴν μεταμόρφωσιν ἣν. ὅτε εἰς τὸ ὄρος ἀνέβη μετὰ Πέτρου. καὶ τοῦ Μωυσέως καὶ τοῦ Ἠλίου τῶν ὀφθέντων αὐτῷ. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν οὖν μέχρι τοσούτου διεσκέφθω. οὗτος γὰρ ὡς ἐν κεφαλαίῳ τῶν Ὡριγένους δογματισμῶν ὁ νοῦς. ἐὰν δέ τις τῶν ἀμφισβητούντων προβαλλόμενος τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ, διὰ τὸ »πρωτότοκον τῶν νεκρῶν« καὶ »ἀπαρχὴν« αὐτὸν εἰρῆσθαι. »τῶν κεκοιμημένων«, λέγοι ὅτι Καθάπερ ἐκεῖνος ἀνέστη, καὶ τὰ πάντων ὡσαύτως ἐκείνῳ δεῖ προσδοκᾶν ἀναστήσεσθαι (σώματα), ἵνα ὥσπερ Χριστὸς ἐγήγερται, »οὕτως καὶ ὁ θεὸς τοὺς κοιμηθέντας διὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἄξει σὺν αὐτῷ«, ἐγήγερται δὲ τὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τὰς σάρκας ἔχον ἃς εἶχε καὶ τὰ ὀστᾶ, καθάπερ ἐπείσθη καὶ Θωμᾶς" λέξομεν, Ἀλλὰ τὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ σῶμα οὐκ ἦν »ἐκ θελήματος ἀνδρός«, ἡδονῆς ὕπνῳ συνελθούσης, »ἐν ἀνομίαις συλληφθὲν καὶ κισσηθὲν ἐν ἁμαρτίαις«, ἀλλὰ ἐκ »πνεύματος ἁγίου καὶ δυνάμεως ὑψίστου« καὶ παρθένου, τὸ δὲ σὸν ὕπνος ἐστὶ καὶ ἡδονὴ καὶ δύπος. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ σοφὸς Σειράχ »ἐν γὰρ τῷ ἀποθνήσχειν ἄνθρωπον« ἀποφθέγγεται »κληρονομήσει ἑρπετὰ καὶ θηρία καὶ σκώληκας«. καὶ ἐν ὀγδοηκοστῷ ἑβδόμῳ ψαλμῷ" »μὴ τοῖς νεκροῖς ποιήσῃς θαυμάσια, ἢ ἰατροὶ ἀναστήσουσι καὶ ἐξομολογήσονταί σοι; μὴ διηγήσεταί τις ἐν τῷ τάφῳ τὸ ἔλεός σου καὶ τὴν ἀληθειάν σου ἐν τῇ ἀπωλείᾳ; μὴ γνωσθήσεται ἐν τῷ σκότει τὰ θαυμάσιά σου καὶ ἡ δικαιοσύνη σου ἐν γῇ ἐπιλελησμένῃ;« καὶ ἕτερα δὲ ῥήματα τοιαῦτα τῷ βουλομένῳ συνάγειν ἐκ τῶν γραφῶν πάρεστιν, ἃ ἐῶμεν, ἵνα μὴ πάντων ἡμεῖς εἰς πλῆθος μνημονεύσαντες πολυπλασίονα τῶν εἰρημένων αὐξήσωμεν τὸν λόγον. ### English translation (Claude) Proclus: "This, then, is what Origen strove to set out when he undertook the treatment of the resurrection, displaying a most varied speculation on it; so much, by way of summary. Consider it, and review in order what follows from it. For it remains to take up, in addition to what has been said, the testimonies from the Scriptures, so that the argument, like a statue, having all its parts in proportion, may be whole and fully finished, lacking nothing that contributes to shape and beauty. We must say, then, how the Scriptures agree with these things, confirming them for the bringing of man to a better way of life. For if anyone is able to understand these things exactly, not merely glancing past what is needed, he will know that the resurrection must not be understood of this body, since it cannot remain unchanged for ever, but of the spiritual body, in which the same character that is now preserved in this one will be kept, so that each of us may be the same in shape too, as was said by Origen as well. For this is how he lays down that the resurrection will be. Since the material body is in flux and never remains in itself even for a short time, but is added to and taken away around the form that characterizes the man, by which the shape too is held together, it is necessary, he says, to expect that the resurrection will preserve the form alone. And so that you may not say, 'I do not understand' (for he set this out concisely), I will explain the sense of these things to you more clearly, as follows. You have surely seen an animal's skin or something else of the kind filled with water: if it is emptied a little and filled a little, it always shows the same form. For whatever the container is like, the contents too must be shaped to it. Suppose, as the water flows out, someone adds as much as is poured out, not letting the skin be emptied of water all at once: must not what is added appear such as the first was, because the container too, around which the water flows in and out, is the same? And indeed whoever wishes to compare the body to these things will have no cause for shame. For in the same way what is brought in from food in place of the flesh that has been pushed out will change into the shape of the containing form; as much of it as is spread over the eyes resembles the eyes, as much as over the face, the face, as much as over the other parts, those parts; so that each person appears the same, not because the flesh consists of the same first substrates, but because of the form by which what is added is formed. And so, if we are not the same in body even for a few days, but are the same by the form that is in the body (for this alone has stood firm from birth), much more shall we not then be the same in the same flesh, but by the form that even now is always preserved in us and remains. What the skin is there, the form is here; and what the water is there, in the image, is here what is added and taken away. Just as now, though the body is not the same, the character in the same shape is preserved the same, so also then, though the body is not the same, the form, increased to greater glory, will be shown no longer in a corruptible body but in an impassible and spiritual body, as that of Jesus was at the transfiguration, when he went up the mountain with Peter, and those of Moses and Elijah, who were seen with him. [26] "Let these things, then, be considered thus far; for this, in summary, is the sense of Origen's doctrines. But if one of those who dispute this puts forward the body of Christ, because he is called 'the firstborn of the dead' and 'the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep,' and says that just as he rose, so the bodies of all must be expected to rise in the same way as his, so that, just as Christ has been raised, 'so also God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus,' and the body of Jesus was raised having the flesh and the bones that it had, as Thomas too was persuaded, we shall say: But the body of Christ was not 'of the will of a man,' of 'pleasure coming together with sleep,' 'conceived in iniquities and conceived in sins,' but of 'the Holy Spirit and the power of the Most High' and of a virgin; whereas yours is sleep and pleasure and filth. And for this reason the wise Sirach too declares, 'For when a man dies, he will inherit creeping things and beasts and worms.' And in the eighty-seventh psalm: 'Will you work wonders for the dead, or will physicians raise them up and they confess you? Will anyone tell of your mercy in the tomb, and of your truth in destruction? Will your wonders be known in the darkness, and your righteousness in a land that is forgotten?' And other sayings of this kind are at hand for anyone who wishes to gather them from the Scriptures; we pass them over, so as not to swell our discussion to many times what has been said by recounting them all at length." ### Scripture references - Matt 17:1: allusion, high confidence - Matt 17:3: allusion, high confidence - Col 1:18: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:20: quotation, high confidence - 1 Thess 4:14: quotation, high confidence - John 20:27: allusion, high confidence - Luke 24:39: allusion, medium confidence - John 1:13: quotation, high confidence - Ps 51:5 (50:7 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Luke 1:35: quotation, high confidence - Ps 88:10 (87:11 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 88:11 (87:12 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 88:12 (87:13 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 7:2 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence - Sir 10:11 (Sirach): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The heading of chapter 26 survives in the OCR as a numeral inside the text (removed by a logged correction); the chapter begins at "[26]". The speaker heading 'Proclus' printed before chapter 25 had been staged at the end of ref 1.23. - Some phrases are garbled in the OCR ('not merely glancing past what is needed' is translated by sense). Matt 17:1-3; Col 1:18; 1 Cor 15:20; 1 Thess 4:14; John 20:27 (cf. Luke 24:39); John 1:13; Wis 7:2 ('pleasure coming together with sleep'); Ps 51:5 (LXX 50:7); Luke 1:35; Sir 10:11; Ps 88:10-12 (LXX 87:11-13; the Septuagint reads 'physicians'). ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.25 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:250; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-25/#p-1-25). ## Res. 1.27 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-25/#p-1-27 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:254 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The narrator, shaken by Proclus's speech, calls Auxentius to his aid and attacks the opponents' rhetoric and the presumption of those who interpret Scripture to win applause rather than to live rightly. ### Greek text Ὡς οὖν ἐπαύσατο μόγις ὁ Πρόκλος καὶ σιγὴ τῶν παρόντων ἦν ἐπὶ πολύ, καταβληθέντων ἱκανῶς πρὸς ἀπιστίαν, καὶ ἐγὼ ἠσθόμην ὅτι τῷ ὄντι πεπαυμένος εἴη, ἠρέμα τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐπάρας καὶ ἀναπνεύσας, ὥσπερ οἱ πλέοντες τοῦ κύματος ἤδη λωφῶντος, ὑποτρέμων ἔτι καὶ σκοτιζόμενος (ἐβεβλήμην γάρ, ὡς πρὸς ὑμᾶς εἰρῆσθαι, τῇ δεινότητι κατηντλημένος τῶν λόγων) τρέπομαι πρὸς τὸν Αὐξέντιον, καὶ καλέσας αὐτόν Ὦ Αὐξέντιε, νομίζω, ἔφην, μὴ μάτην λελέχθαι τὸ ποιητικὸν σύν τε δύ᾽ ἐρχομένω" καὶ γὰρ οἱ ἀνταγωνισταὶ δύο. νῷ δὲ σθένος ἀμφότεροι ἀμφοτέρων περ σχῶμεν. συναντιλήπτορα γὰρ καὶ συναγωνιστὴν αἱροῦμαί σε τῆς πρὸς αὐτοὺς μάχης, μὴ ἡμῖν ὁ ᾿Αγλαοφῶν μετὰ Πρόκλου καὶ ᾿ὠριγένους τοῖς ἀνατρεπτιχοῖς καθ' ἡμῶν ὡπλισμένος λόγοις ἐκπέρσῃ τὴν ἀνάστασιν. ἄγε οὖν ἀντιπαραταξώμεθα. τῶν σοφισμάτων αὐτῶν μηδὲν τῶν ἀντιλογικῶν, οἷς οἱ δειλοὶ βάλλονται. φοβηθέντες. καὶ γὰρ οὐδὲν ἐν αὐτοῖς ὑγιὲς ὅλως οὐδὲ πάγιον, ἀλλὰ φαντασία μόνον εὐπρεπὴς ῥημάτων. πρὸς κατάπληξιν (μόνον. τῶν ἀκουόντων καὶ πειθὼ κατεσκευασμένη, οὐ τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ τοῦ συμφέροντος χάριν, ἀλλὰ τοῦ δόξαι τοῖς παροῦσι σοφοὺς τοὺς λόγους. ἐντεῦθεν γοῦν τοῖς πολλοῖς οἱ ἐκ τῶν εἰκότων ἔσθ᾽ ὅτε λόγοι πρὸς κάλλος καὶ ἡδονὴν πεποικιλμένοι μᾶλλον τῶν εἰς ἀκρίβειαν ἐξητασμένων νομίζονται σπουδαιότεροι. τῶν διδασκάλων οὐ πρὸς τὸ βέλτιον ἁμιλλωμένων ἔτι καὶ σεμνόν, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ ἀρέσαι καὶ εὐημερῆσαι, καθάπερ οἱ σοφισταί. οἱ μισθὸν αἴρονται τῶν λόγων. ἐπευωνιζόμενοι τῆς σοφίας ἐπαίνοις. τὸ μέντοι παλαιὸν βραχὺ παντελῶς τὸ περὶ τὴν ἐξήγησιν ἦν, φιλοτιμουμένων μὴ τέρπειν ἀλλὰ ὠφελεῖν τοὺς παρόντας τῶν τότε. ἀφ᾽ οὗ δὲ λοιπὸν εἰς ῥᾳστώνην ἐπετράπη πᾶσιν ἑρμηνεύειν ἐξεῖναι τὰς γραφάς, καὶ πάντες εἰς τὸ ποιῆσαι μὲν τὸ καλὸν ἡμβλύνθησαν πλησθέντες οἰήματος, περὶ τὸ λογικεύεσθαι δὲ προέκοψαν καλλωπιζόμενοι ὡς πάντα γινώσχειν ὑπάρχοντες δεινοί, διδάσκεσθαι μὲν ὁμολογεῖν χρήζειν αἰδεσθέντες, φιλονικεῖν δὲ μᾶλλον καὶ προπηδᾶν. ὡς οἱ διδάσκαλοι. θρασυνθέντες γοῦν ἐντεῦθεν τοῦ μὲν εὐλαβοῦς καὶ πράου καὶ πάντα δύνασθαι ποιεῖν τὸν θεόν, ὡς ἐπηγγείλατο. πιστεύειν ὠλίσθησαν, εἰς δὲ ζητήσεις κενὰς καὶ βλασφημίας ἥκασι μὴ νοήσαντες ὡς οὐ τὰ ἔργα τῶν λόγων ἐπετηδεύθη χάριν, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἔργων οἱ λόγοι. ὥσπερ (ἐπ᾽ ἰατρικῆς δι᾿ ὧν τοὺς κάμνοντας σῴζεσθαι δεῖ τῶν λόγων ἔργοις κυρουμένων, ἵν᾽ ἡρμοσμένον ἡμῶν πάντα σύμφωνος ὁ νοῦς εἴη τοῖς ἀρίστοις λόγοις τὰ ἤθη τῇ γλώσσῃ συνῳδὰ παρέχων δίκην λύρας, ἀλλὰ μὴ ἄμουσα καὶ ἀσύμφωνα. ἐπὶ γὰρ τῷ κτήσασθαι κατὰ ἀλήθειαν (τὴν σοφίαν) ἀγωνίζεσθαι δεῖ τὸ δίκαιον ἀσκοῦντα καὶ οὐχ ἐπὶ τῷ δοκεῖν, χωλῶς ἐπιβαίνοντα σοφίας, καὶ πρὸς δόξαν μᾶλλον ἢ πρὸς ἀλήθειαν ἁμιλλώμενον, πρόθυρα καὶ προσχήματα καὶ πᾶσαν ὑποδυσάμενον τῆς ὑποχρίσεως τὴν σκευήν. ### English translation (Claude) When Proclus had at last stopped, and there was a long silence among those present, who had been considerably cast down toward unbelief, and I perceived that he had really finished, I gently raised my head and drew breath, like sailors when the wave is already subsiding, still trembling and in darkness (for I had been struck, I tell you, and overwhelmed by the force of the arguments). I turned to Auxentius, called him and said: "Auxentius, I think the poet's line 'when two go together' was not said in vain; for our opponents are two. So let the two of us together have the strength of both. I choose you as my helper and fellow-combatant in the battle against them, lest Aglaophon, together with Proclus and Origen, armed with arguments meant to overthrow us, should lay waste the resurrection. Come then, let us draw up against them, fearing none of their contentious sophisms, by which the cowardly are struck down. For there is nothing at all sound or firm in them, only a specious show of words, contrived to astonish the hearers and to persuade them, not for the sake of the truth and of what is profitable, but so that the arguments may seem wise to those present. That is why arguments from probability, decked out for beauty and pleasure, are sometimes thought more serious by the many than those that have been examined for exactness, since the teachers no longer compete for what is better and dignified, but to please and win applause, like the sophists, who take a fee for their speeches and cheapen wisdom for the sake of praise. In ancient times, however, interpretation was altogether brief, since the men of that time were eager not to delight those present but to benefit them. But since then, for ease, all have been permitted to interpret the Scriptures; and all, filled with conceit, have grown dull in doing what is good but have advanced in argumentation, priding themselves on being clever at knowing everything, ashamed to admit that they need to be taught, but rather contentious and leaping forward as if they were the teachers. Emboldened by this, they slipped from believing with reverence and gentleness that God can do all things, as he promised, and have come to empty questionings and blasphemies, not understanding that deeds were not practised for the sake of words, but words for the sake of deeds. It is as in medicine, by which the sick are to be saved: the words are confirmed by deeds, so that our mind, being well tuned, may be in all things in harmony with the best words, offering a life that accords with the tongue, like a lyre, and not one that is unmusical and out of tune. For one must strive to acquire wisdom in truth, practising justice, and not merely to seem to, stepping lamely into wisdom and competing for reputation rather than for truth, having put on facades and pretences and the whole costume of hypocrisy. ### Scripture references - Matt 19:26: echo, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 10.224 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence - Plato, Rep. 7.535d (Plato (works)): echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - The Greek of this part is preserved in Photius, Bibliotheca, cod. 234, and by other excerptors. The narrator is called 'Methodius' in the speaker headings of the edition (Eubulius in the dialogue). 'When two go together' is Homer, Il. 10.224; the following words also echo Homer. 'Stepping lamely into wisdom' recalls Plato, Rep. 7.535d. 'God can do all things' echoes Matt 19:26. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.27 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:254; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-25/#p-1-27). ## Res. 1.28 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-25/#p-1-28 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:256 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The narrator compares heterodox sophists to painters who imitate ships without knowing how to build or steer them, and Auxentius asks him to lead the reply. ### Greek text Εἰσὶ γάρ, εἰσὶν οἱ λόγων τραγικῶς κεκοσμημένοι προβολαῖς καθάπερ γυναῖκες ἔξωθεν ὡραϊζόμεναι πρὸς ἀπάτην ἐντέχνως, ἐὰν μή τις πεφυλαγμένως αὐτοῖς τῶν ἔτι νεωτέρων προσβλέψῃ τῇ πίστει καὶ νηπτικῶς. ὅθεν εὐλαβητέον πρὸ τοῦ καταμαθεῖν ἀσφαλῶς εἰς τὴν καρδίαν εἰσδέξασθαι τὸν τοιούτων λόγον. καὶ γὰρ φθάνουσιν οἱ ἐξαπατῶντες πολλάκις τοὺς διδάσκοντας, καθάπερ δὴ καὶ αἱ Σειρῆνες τοὺς φεύγοντας αὐτὰς κρύπτουσαι μακρόθεν τὸ μισάνθρωπον τῇ καλλιφωνίᾳ. ἢ πῶς, ὦ Αὐξέντιε, ἔφην ἐγώ. σοι (δοκεῖ) ταῦτα τίθεσθαι; ΑΥΞ. καὶ ὃς ἀπεχρίνατο, Οὕτως καθάπερ καὶ σύ. ΜΕΘ. Οὐκοῦν πάντως τῶν ἑτεροδόξων τοὺς σοφιστὰς μιμητὰς εἰδώλων ἀληθείας εἶναι λέγωμεν, ἀλήθειαν μὴ γινώσκοντας, καθάπερ ζωγράφους; καὶ γὰρ οὗτοι μιμεῖσθαι μὲν ναυπηγοὺς καὶ πλοῖα καὶ κυβερνήτας ἐπιχειροῦσι, ναυπηγεῖν καὶ κυβερνᾶν οὐ γινώσκοντες. οὐκοῦν ἀποξέοντες, εἰ θέλεις, τὰ χρώματα πείθωμεν αὐτῶν τὰ θαυμάζοντα τὰς τοιαύτας γραφὰς παιδία. ὅτι οὔτε τὸ πλοῖον τοῦτο πλοῖόν ἐστιν οὔτε ὁ κυβερνήτης κυβερνήτης. ἀλλὰ τοῖχος ἔξωθεν πρὸς τέρψιν χρώμασι καὶ γραφαῖς κεκοσμημένος, καὶ ὅτι μιμηταὶ μὲν εἰδώλου πλοίου καὶ κυβερνήτου οἱ δημιουργήσαντές εἰσιν ἀπὸ τῶν χρωμάτων ταῦτα, καὶ οὐ πλοίου ἢ κυβερνήτου; ΑΥΞ. Μακρὸν τῷ ἀκοῦσαι ποθοῦντι τὸ προοίμιον. MEO. Ἀλλ᾽ ὠφέλιμον. ἔφην. ὦ ἄριστε. τὰ γὰρ ἀπὸ τῶν θεοπνεύστων γραμμάτων ῥήματα, οἷς ἐπιχρωματίζοντες ποικίλλουσιν ἑαυτῶν πρὸς ἀπάτην" οὗτοι τὴν δόξαν, δικαιοσύνην αὐθαδῶς καὶ ἀλήθειαν ὀνομάζοντες, οὐ γινώσκοντες ὅλως δικαιοσύνην, εἴ τις ἀφέλοιτο, πόσον οἴει γυμνωθέντας αὐτοὺς τῶν τοιούτων ὀνομάτων χλευασθήσεσθαι; ΑΥ̓́Ξ. Πάνυ πολύ, ἔφη. MEO. Πότερον οὖν, ὦ Αὐξέντιε, ἦν δὲ ἐγώ, σὺ βούλει ταύτης ἡγεμονεύειν τῆς ὁδοῦ, ἢ ἐγὼ ἡγῶμαι; ΑΥΞ. Εἰκός, ἔφη, σὲ ἡγεῖσθαι, σὺ γὰρ ἀεὶ κατάρχεις τοῦ λόγου. ### English translation (Claude) "For there are, there truly are, people decked out with tragic displays of words, like women who adorn themselves outwardly with skill in order to deceive, unless one of those still young in the faith looks at them warily and soberly. Hence one must beware of admitting such people's argument into the heart before learning it securely. For deceivers often get the better even of those who teach, just as the Sirens, too, by the beauty of their voices hide their hatred of men from afar from those who flee them. Or how do these things seem to you to stand, Auxentius?" I said. Auxentius: And he answered, "Just as they do to you." Methodius: "Shall we not say, then, that the sophists among the heterodox are altogether imitators of images of truth, not knowing the truth, like painters? For painters too attempt to imitate shipwrights and ships and pilots, without knowing how to build ships or to steer. So, if you like, let us scrape away their colours and persuade their children, who marvel at such paintings, that this ship is not a ship, nor the pilot a pilot, but a wall decked out outwardly with colours and paintings to give pleasure; and that those who made these things out of colours are imitators of the image of a ship and a pilot, and not of a ship or a pilot." Auxentius: "The preface is long for one who longs to hear." Methodius: "But it is profitable, my excellent friend," I said. "For they use the words of the divinely inspired writings to colour and embellish their own opinion in order to deceive, boldly calling it justice and truth, though they do not know justice at all. If someone were to take these words away, how much do you think they would be mocked, stripped of such names?" Auxentius: "Very much," he said. Methodius: "Which then do you want, Auxentius," said I, "to lead on this road, or shall I lead?" Auxentius: "It is fair," he said, "that you should lead; for you always begin the discussion." ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Rep. 10.598b (Plato (works)): allusion, high confidence - Homer, Od. 12.39 (Homer, Odyssey): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The painter who imitates shipwrights and pilots without their knowledge is from Plato, Rep. 10.598b-c and 601c; the Sirens are from Homer, Od. 12. The heterodox are compared to the adorned harlot as in 1.1 (Prov 7:10). ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.28 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:256; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-25/#p-1-28). ## Res. 1.29 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-25/#p-1-29 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:258 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The narrator shows that Aglaophon contradicted himself: if the soul sinned before receiving the 'garments of skins', the body cannot be the cause of sin, and Aglaophon concedes. ### Greek text ΜΕΘ. Οὐκοῦν ἐλέγετο (φέρε γὰρ πρὸς μέρος ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἀκολούθως τὸν Ἀγλαοφῶντος ἐξετάσωμεν νοῦν) ἡ χη τὸ σῶμα διὰ τὴν παράβασιν ὃ περικείμεθα τοῦτο ἀνειληφέναι, χρόνοις τοῖς ἄντ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ μακαρίως διάξασα; τοὺς γὰρ δερματίνους εἶναι χιτῶνας σώματα, εἰς ἃ] ἐνεῖυχθαι συνέβη τὰς ψυχάς, δίκην ὅπως ὧν ἔδρασαν νεκροφοροῦσαι παράσχωσιν. ἢ οὐ ταῦτα πρῶτον ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ τὰ λεχθέντα ὑπὸ σοῦ, ἰατρέ; ἀλλ᾽ ἴθι ὑπόμνησον, ἐάν τί σοι φαίνομαι μὴ μεμνημένος. ΑΓΛ. Οὐδὲν νῦν ὑπομνήσεως εἰς τοῦτο δέῃ, αὐτὰ ταῦτα γὰρ ἢν ἐν πρώτοις ἡμῖν τὰ εἰρημένα. ΜΕΘ. Ti δέ; οὐχὶ καὶ τοῦτο ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς ἐλέγετο πολλαχῶς: ὑπὸ σοῦ, ὡς ἐμπόδιον πρὸς τὴν κατάληψιν ἡμῖν τὸ σῶμα τῶν ὄντως ὄντων καὶ γνῶσιν διὰ τὰς πρὸς τὸ κοσμεῖν ἀσχολίας αὐτὸ καὶ θεραπεύειν γίγνεται καὶ τὰς ἄλλας τὰς περὶ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν τῆς γαστρὸς προσβολάς, ἔτι τε βλασφημιῶν καὶ παντοίων αἴτιον ἁμαρτημάτων, διὰ τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι καθ᾽ ἑαυτὴν δίχα σώματος ὅλως ἁμαρτῆσαι ψυχήν" καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μετὰ τὴν ἐντεῦθεν ἀποδημίαν ἐκτὸς ἁμαρτήματος ὅπως ἔσοιτο καὶ παρακοῆς ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, ἔνθα καὶ τὰς διατριβὰς ἕξει μετὰ τῶν ἀγγέλων. ἐλευθέραν αὐτὴν καὶ γυμνὴν χρῆναι διαμεῖναι σώματος. ἐπειδήπερ τὸ σῶμα τοῦ μιαίνεσθαι τοῦτο καὶ ἁμαρτάνειν παραίτιον αὐτῇ καὶ συνεργὸν γίγνεται" ἄνευ γὰρ σώματος ἀμήχανον ἁμαρτῆσαι ψυχήν· ὅθεν ἵνα τὸν ἄπειρον ἀναμάρτητος αἰῶνα τηρηθῇ, οὐκέτι τὸ ταλαίπωρον αὐτὴν εἰς τὴν φθορὰν κάτω καὶ τὴν ἀδικίαν σῶμα λήψεσθαι; ΑΓΛ. Ἐλέχθη καὶ τοῦτο. ΜΕΘ. Τί δέ; καὶ καλῶς σοι τοῦτο καὶ ὀρθῶς, ἔφην, ἥγησαι λελέχθαι; ΑΓΛ. Καὶ τί σοι. ἔφη. τοῦτο διαφέρει. ἀλλὰ οὐχ ἐξελέγχεις τὸν λόγον; MEO. Οὐδέν. ἡν δὲ ἐγώ. ἀλλὰ δι᾿ ἃ εἴρηκας. ὅπως ἐξετάζηται ὁ λόγος. ἊΓΛ. Καλῶς καὶ ὀρθῶς, ἔφη. ΜΕΘ. Καλῶς δέ σοι δοκεῖ τίθεσθαι καὶ ὀρθῶς ὁ ἑαυτῷ τἀναντία λέγων καὶ ἀσύμφωνα; ἌΓΛ. Οὐδ᾽ ὁπωστιοῦν. ΜΕΘ. Ἀμούσως γὰρ οὗτος σοι φαίνεται τὴν ἀλήθειαν ὑποκρίνεσθαι; ΑΓΛ. Πάντων μάλιστα, ἔφη. ΜΕΘ. Οὐκ ἄρα ἀποδέχῃ τὸν τὰς ἁρμονίας ἐντείνοντα πρὸς τὸ ψευδὲς μέλος τῶν λόγων; ΑΓΛ. Οὐδ᾽ ὁπωστιοῦν. ΜΕΘ. Οὐκοῦν οὐδὲ σεαυτοῦ λέγοντος ἀμούσως οὐδ᾽ ὁτιοῦν ἀποδέξῃ. δοὺς γὰρ ἀσωμάτως ἡμαρτηκέναι τὰς ψυχάς, ἀποσφαλείσας τῆς ἐντολῆς, καὶ φράσας διὰ τὴν ἀνομίαν τοὺς χιτῶνας αὐταῖς ὕστερον τοὺς δερματίνους δεδωκέναι τὸν θεόν, ἵνα δίκην νεκροφοροῦσαι παράσχωσι, χιτῶνας τὰ σώματα φράσας. προϊόντος τοῦ λόγον ἐπιλαθόμενος ἃ τὸ πρῶτον ὑπέθου, μὴ δύνασθαι καθ᾽ ἑαυτὴν τὴν ψυχὴν ἁμαρτῆσαι λέγεις (οὐ πεφυκέναι γὰρ ὅλως πρὸς τοῦτο, ἀλλὰ παραίτιον αὐτῇ παντοίων» κακῶν τὸ σῶμα 7γιγονή var‘ 00er ποὺς τὸ μὴ ZU ἤναι πρὸς ἀδικίαν αἱ τὴν ae, καθάπερ GV »έ 3, καὶ πρόσθεν ὑπὸ τοῦ σώματος. οὕτως εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνος αὐτὴν ὁ ἐσεσθ en χαρὲς « αὐτοῦ. καίτοι πρῶτον εἰπὼν ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ πρὸ τοῦ σώματος τὴν ψυχὴν, ὁπότε ἔτι μακαρία καὶ ἀναλγὴς ἦν, ἡμαρτηκέναι· παραβάσῃ γὰρ τὴν ἐντολήν, κεκρατυμμένης ἤδη διὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸν ὄφιν πειθὼ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, δεσμὸν αὐτῇ τὸ σῶμα δεδόσθαι τιμωρόν. ὥστε ἢ τὸ πρότερον ἢ τὸ ὕστερον οὐκ ὀρθῶς ἔχει. ἥτοι γὰρ πρὸ σώματος ἥμαρτε. καὶ οὐδέν τι μᾶλλον κἂν μὴ λάβῃ σῶμα ἁμαρτήσεται, καὶ μάταιος ἡ περὶ τοῦ μὴ ἀνίστασθαι τὸ σῶμα περισσολογία" ἢ μετὰ σώματος, καὶ οὐ δύνανται σῶμα οἱ χιτῶνες νομίζεσθαι εἶναι οἱ δερμάτινοι. εὐρίσκεται γὰρ πρὸ τῆς κατασκευῆς αὐτῶν ἀθετήσας ὁ ἄνθρωπος τὴν θείαν ἐντολὴν" οὗ καὶ χάριν οἱ χιτῶνες κατασκευάζονται, τὴν γύμνωσιν τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν προσγενομένην καλύψοντες. ἀλλὰ πότερον πείθω σε, καὶ ὁρᾷς ὡς ἑαυτῷ μαχόμενα ὑπέθου, καί σοι τοῦτο γεγένηται σαφές; ἢ οὐδέπω μανθάνεις, ὦ Αγλαοφῶν. ἔφην, ὁ λέγω; ΑΓΛ. Μανθάνω, ἔφη, καὶ οὐκέτι δέομαι δεύτερον ἀκοῦσαι" ἀλλὰ ἔλαθον ἐμαυτὸν οὐκ ὀρθῶς εἰπών. ἀνάγκη γάρ μοι δεδωκότι τοὺς δερματίνους χιτῶνας εἶναι τὰ σώματα ὁμολογεῖν, καὶ πρὶν εἰς τὸ σῶμα τὴν ψυχὴν ἐληλυθέναι ἡμαρτηκέναι, ἀνθ᾽ ὧν πρὸ τῆς κατασκευῆς αὐτῶν ἡ παράβασις ἐγένετο (διὰ τὴν παράβασιν γὰρ οἱ χιτῶνες αὐτοῖς κατασκευάζονται. καὶ οὐχ ἡ παράβασις διὰ τοὺς χιτῶνας γίγνεται). καὶ ἐκ ταύτης τῆς ὁμολογίας. συγκατατίθεσθαι, ὡς οὐ τὸ σῶμα τοῦτο παραίτιον κακίας ἐστίν, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτὴ ἡ ψυχὴ ἐν ἑαυτῇ. διὸ κἂν μὴ λάβῃ τὸ σῶμα. ἁμαρτήσεται, ἐπειδήπερ καὶ πρόσθεν ἥμαρτεν χωρὶς σώματος. καὶ ἀνόητον τὸ λέγειν ἀναβιῶναι μὴ δύνασθαι τὸ σῶμα διὰ τοῦτο, ἵνα μὴ παραίτιον τῇ ψυχῇ τοῦ ἁμαρτῆσαι γενηθῇ. ἁμαρτήσεται γάρ, ὥσπερ καὶ πρὸ τοῦ σώματος ἥμαρτεν, οὕτως καὶ μετὰ τὴν τοῦ σώματος ἀπόθεσιν, κἂν μὴ αὖθις τὸ σῶμα ἀπολάβῃ. ὅθεν ἀνάγκη μοι διὰ ταῦτα μήτε ἐμαυτοῦ μήτε ἄλλου ἀποδέχεσθαι λέγοντος, τοὺς δερματίνους χιτῶνας εἶναι τὰ σώματα. εἰ δὲ ἀποδεξαίμην. ὁμολογεῖν χρή μὲ καὶ τὰ εἰρημένα. ### English translation (Claude) Methodius: "Was it not said, then (for let us examine Aglaophon's meaning in order, from the beginning), that the soul put on this body which we wear because of the transgression, having passed the earlier ages blessedly without it? For the garments of skins, you said, are bodies, in which the souls came to be wrapped, so that by carrying corpses about they might pay the penalty for what they did. Or were these not the first things said by you at the beginning, physician? Come, remind me, if I seem to you not to remember something." Aglaophon: "There is no need of reminding about this now; these very things were among the first we said." Methodius: "What then? Was not this also said by you, in many ways, in what followed: that the body is a hindrance to our apprehension and knowledge of the things that truly are, because of the occupations of adorning it and caring for it and the other assaults of the desire of the belly; and further that it is the cause of blasphemies and of sins of every kind, because the soul by itself, apart from the body, cannot sin at all; and that therefore, so that after its departure from here it may be free of sin and disobedience in the heavens, where it will have its dwelling with the angels, it must remain free and naked of the body, since the body becomes the soul's accomplice and fellow-worker in being defiled and sinning (for without a body it is impossible for the soul to sin); and hence, so that it may be kept sinless for the infinite age, it will no longer take the wretched body that drags it down to corruption and injustice?" Aglaophon: "This too was said." Methodius: "What then? Do you think," I said, "that this was said well and rightly?" Aglaophon: "And what difference does that make to you?" he said. "Why do you not refute the argument?" Methodius: "None," I said, "but I ask because of what you have said, so that the argument may be examined." Aglaophon: "Well and rightly," he said. Methodius: "And does one who says things that are contrary to themselves and discordant seem to you to lay them down well and rightly?" Aglaophon: "Not in the least." Methodius: "For he seems to you to play the part of truth unmusically?" Aglaophon: "Most of all," he said. Methodius: "Then you do not accept one who tunes his harmonies to the false melody of arguments?" Aglaophon: "Not in the least." Methodius: "Then neither will you accept yourself in the least when you speak unmusically. For you granted that souls sinned without bodies, having fallen away from the commandment, and you said that because of the lawlessness God later gave them the garments of skins, so that by carrying corpses about they might pay the penalty, calling the garments the bodies; yet as the argument went on you forgot what you first laid down, and you say that the soul cannot sin by itself (for it is not disposed to this by nature at all, but the body has become for it the accomplice of all kinds of evils), so that, in order that the soul may not be drawn to injustice by the body as before, it will be without the body for the ages. And yet you said first that the soul sinned in paradise before the body, while it was still blessed and free of pain; for when it had transgressed the commandment, sin having already been strengthened by its being persuaded by the serpent, the body was given to it as a punishing fetter. So either the former statement or the latter is not right. Either the soul sinned before the body, and then it will sin no less even if it does not receive a body, and all the superfluous talk about the body's not rising is futile; or it sinned with the body, and then the garments of skins cannot be held to be the body. For man is found to have set aside the divine commandment before they were made; and that is why the garments are made, to cover the nakedness that had come upon them from their sin. But do I persuade you? Do you see that you laid down things that fight against each other, and has this become clear to you? Or do you not yet understand what I say, Aglaophon?" I said. Aglaophon: "I understand," he said, "and I do not need to hear it a second time; I did not notice that I had spoken incorrectly. For having granted that the garments of skins are the bodies, I must admit that the soul sinned even before it came into the body, since the transgression happened before they were made (for the garments are made for them because of the transgression; the transgression does not happen because of the garments); and from this admission I must agree that it is not this body that is the accomplice of evil, but the soul itself, in itself. So even if it does not receive the body it will sin, since it sinned before without a body. And it is foolish to say that the body cannot come back to life for this reason, so that it may not become the soul's accomplice in sinning. For it will sin after laying the body aside, just as it sinned before the body, even if it does not take the body back again. Hence, for these reasons, I must accept neither myself nor anyone else who says that the garments of skins are the bodies. If I did accept it, I would also have to admit what has just been said." ### Scripture references - Gen 3:21: allusion, high confidence - Gen 3:7: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The Greek of chapters 29 and following is preserved in excerpts (Photius, Bibliotheca, cod. 234; Epiphanius, Panarion 64) and printed by Bonwetsch with the Slavonic. The OCR of this page is poor; one clause ('so that, in order that the soul may not be drawn ... for the ages') is garbled and is translated by sense, and the clearest slips are corrected. - Gen 3:21 (garments of skins); Gen 3:1-7 (the serpent and the nakedness). ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.29 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:258; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-25/#p-1-29). ## Res. 1.30 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-25/#p-1-30 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:261 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The narrator presses Aglaophon to defend his claim that the body is a fetter and prison of the soul, restating his charges against the body before refuting them. ### Greek text ΜΕΘ. Τί δέ; οὐχὶ κἀκεῖνο, ἔφην, ὦ Αγλαοφῶν, δοκεῖ σοι μὴ ὀρθῶς ἔχειν; ΑΓΛ. Τὸ ποῖον; ΜΕΘ. To δὴ λέγειν, ἢν δὲ ἐγώ, δεσμὸν καὶ πέδας τὸ σῶμα μεμηχανῆσθαι κατὰ τῆς ψυχῆς. καὶ ὅτε καὶ ὁ προφήτης »δεσμίους γῆς« ἔφη ἡμᾶς διὰ τοῦτο, καὶ ὁ Δαυὶδ »πεπεδημένους«. ΑΓΛ. Καὶ ὅς, Οὐχ ἔχω σοι προχείρως ἀποκρίνασθαι, ἔφη· ἀλλ᾽ ἐν τί ἄλλῳ οὐ διαλέγει; ΜΕΘ. Καὶ ἐγὼ (ᾐσθόμην γὰρ ἐρυθριᾶν αὐτόν. φεύγοντα ἐλεγχθῆναι τὸν λόγον) Οἴει γάρ μὲ κατὰ φθόνον ἐπιχειρεῖν σε ἐλέγξαι. ἔφην, καὶ μὴ τὸ προκείμενον καταφανὲς φιλονεικεῖν ποιῆσαι; ἀλλ᾽. ὦ ἀγαθέ. μὴ ἀποκάμῃς ἀνερωτώμενος. ὁρᾷς γὰρ ὡς οὐ περὶ μικρῶν ἡμῖν εἰσιν οἱ λόγοι, ἀλλ᾽ ὅντινα χρὴ τρόπον πεπιστευκέναι· καὶ γὰρ οὐδὲν οἶμαι τοσοῦτον κακὸν ἀνθρώπῳ γενέσθαι. ὅσον ὁπόταν ψευδῆ περὶ τῶν ἀναγκαίων δοξάζοι. ἴθι οὖν προθύμως πρὸς τὰ ἐρωτώμενα ἀποσάφει. καὶ ἐάν τί σοι λέγειν ἀληθὲς μὴ δοκῶ, μᾶλλον τῆς ἀληθείας φροντίσας ἢ ἐμοῦ ἔλεγξον. μεῖζον γὰρ ἀγαθὸν τὸ ἐλεγχθῆναι τοῦ ἐλέγξαι νομίζω, ὅσῳ μεῖζόν ἐστι τὸ αὐτὸν ἀπαλλαγῆναι κακοῦ τοῦ ἄλλον ἀπαλλάξαι. φέρε οὖν παρ᾿ ἀλλήλους παραβάλλοντες τοὺς λόγους σκεπτώμεθα εἴ τι διοίσουσιν ἀλλήλων. καὶ γὰρ τυγχάνει περὶ ὧν ἀμφισβητοῦμεν οὐ πάνυ σμικρὰ ὄντα, ἀλλὰ περὶ ὧν εἰδέναι τε κάλλιστον, μὴ εἰδέναι τε αἴσχιστον. οὐκοῦν σὺ μὲν. οὐ νομίζεις ἀναβιῶναι τὸ σῶμα, νομίζω δὲ ἐγώ. ἌΓΛ. Πάνυ μὲν οὖν, ἔφη, καὶ δι᾿ ἃ εἴρηκα. ΜΕΘ. Καὶ σὺ δέ, ἡν δὲ ἐγώ. δεσμὸν αὐτὸ καὶ φυλακὴν καὶ σῆμα καὶ ἄχθος καὶ πέδας εἶναι ἔφης, ἐγὼ δὲ οὐ φημί. ΑΓΛ. Ἀληθῆ, ἔφη, μοι λέγεις. ΜΕΘ. Καὶ μὴν καὶ ἀκολασίας καὶ πλάνης καὶ λύπης καὶ θυμοῦ καὶ συλλήβδην τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων εἶναι παραίτιον αὐτὸ κακῶν ἔφης, ἃ ἐμποδίζουσιν ἡμῶν τὴν πρὸς τὸ κάλλιον ὁρμὴν τῆς ψυχῆς, μὴ ἐῶντα τῶν ὄντως ὄντων εἰς κατάληψιν ἡμᾶς καὶ γνῶσιν παρελθεῖν. κἂν γὰρ ἐπιχειρήσωμεν θηρεῦσαί τι τῶν ὄντων, ἀεὶ παρεμπίπτων ζόφος ζοφοῖ τὸν λογισμόν, μὴ ἐπιτρέπων ἡμᾶς ἐπισκοπῆσαι τὸ ἀληθὲς τρανῶς. ἀπάτης μὲν γὰρ ἡ διὰ τῶν ὤτων ἡμῶν πεπλήρωται αἴσθησις, ὡς ἔφης, ἀπάτης δὲ καὶ ἡ διὰ τῆς ὄψεως, ἀπάτης δὲ καὶ ἡ διὰ τῶν ἄλλων αἰσθήσεων. ΑΓΛ. Ὁρᾷς, ἔφη, ὦ Εὐβούλιε, ὡς ἐγὼ ἕτοιμός εἰμί σε ἐπαινεῖν. ὁπόταν ὀρθῶς διασαφῇς τοὺς λόγους; ### English translation (Claude) Methodius: "What then? Does not this too seem to you to be wrong, Aglaophon?" I said. Aglaophon: "Which?" Methodius: "To say," said I, "that the body was contrived as a fetter and shackles against the soul, and that this is why the prophet called us 'prisoners of the earth,' and David 'the shackled.'" Aglaophon: And he said, "I cannot answer you offhand. Why not argue with someone else?" Methodius: And I, noticing that he blushed and was trying to avoid having his argument refuted, said: "Do you think that I am trying to refute you out of envy, and not out of eagerness to make the matter before us plain? My good friend, do not tire of being questioned. You see that our discussion is not about small things, but about how one must believe; and I think that no evil so great can befall a man as holding false opinions about the necessary things. Come then, answer readily what you are asked; and if I seem to you to say anything untrue, care more for the truth than for me, and refute me. For I think that being refuted is a greater good than refuting, inasmuch as it is greater to be freed from evil oneself than to free another. Come then, let us set the arguments side by side and consider whether they differ from one another. For the things we dispute about happen to be not at all small, but things which it is finest to know and shameful not to know. You, then, do not believe that the body comes back to life, but I do." Aglaophon: "Quite so," he said, "for the reasons I gave." Methodius: "And you," said I, "said that it is a fetter and a prison and a tomb and a burden and shackles; but I do not say so." Aglaophon: "You state my view truly," he said. Methodius: "And moreover you said that it is the cause of licentiousness and error and grief and anger and, in short, of all the other evils, which hinder the impulse of our soul toward what is better, not allowing us to come to the apprehension and knowledge of the things that truly are. For even if we try to hunt down something of what is, a darkness always falls in and darkens our reasoning, not permitting us to examine the truth clearly. For perception through our ears is full of deception, as you said; full of deception, too, is perception through sight, and full of deception that through the other senses." Aglaophon: "Do you see, Eubulius," he said, "that I am ready to praise you whenever you set out the arguments correctly?" ### Scripture references - Lam 3:34: allusion, medium confidence - Ps 146:7 (145:7 LXX): allusion, low confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Gorg. 458a (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - 'Prisoners of the earth' (Lam 3:34) and 'the shackled' (Ps 146:7, LXX 145:7) take up Aglaophon's texts in 1.4. 'Being refuted is a greater good than refuting' is from Plato, Gorg. 458a; the list 'fetter, prison, tomb' recalls Plato (Phaed. 82e; Crat. 400c). The OCR has many slips; the clearest are corrected. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.30 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:261; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-25/#p-1-30). ## Res. 1.31 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-25/#p-1-31 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:264 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: By a Socratic exchange the narrator shows that a fetter prevents wrongdoing, whereas the body serves the soul for good or evil, so the body is not a punitive fetter; Scripture's appeal to free choice confirms it. ### Greek text ΜΕΘ. Ἆρ᾽ οὖν, ἵνα δή μὲ καὶ μᾶλλον ἐπαινέσῃς" εἰ δεσμὸς τὸ σῶμα καθ᾽ ὑμᾶς δοκεῖ, οὐ δύναται κακίας ὑπαίτιον εἶναι νομίζεσθαι τῇ ψυχῇ καὶ ἀδικίας ἔτι, ἀλλὰ σωφροσύνης ἀντιστρόφως καὶ παιδείας; ὧδε δὲ σκόπει· οὕτω γὰρ ἂν μᾶλλον ἀκολουθήσειας᾽ ποῖ ἄγομεν τοὺς τὰ σώματα κάμνοντας; οὐ παρὰ τοὺς ἰατρούς; ΑΓΛ. Δῆλον, ἔφη. MEO. Ποῖ δὲ τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας; οὐ παρὰ τοὺς δικαστάς; ΑΓΛ. ᾿Ανάγκη. ΜΕΘ. Οὐκοῦν δίκην ὧν ἔδρασαν δώσοντας, ἔφην, δικαίως; ΑΓΛ. Ναί. ΜΕΘ. Ὁ δὲ δίκαιον πᾶν καλόν; ATA. ὡμολόγει. ΜΕΘ. Ὁ δὲ δικαίως κρίνων καλῶς ποιεῖ, δικαίως γὰρ κρίνει; ATA. συνέφη. ΜΕΘ. Τὸ δὲ καλὸν ὠφέλιμον; ΑΓΛ. Φαίνεται. ΜΕΘ. Ὠφελοῦνται ἄρα οἱ κρινόμενοι· ἀναιρεῖται γὰρ αὐτῶν ταῖς βασάνοις ἡ πονηρία κωλυομένη, καθάπερ καὶ πρὸς τῶν ἰατρῶν τομαῖς καὶ φαρμάκοις αἱ νόσοι. τὸ γὰρ ἀδικοῦντα διδόναι δίκην ἐπανορθοῦσθαι τὴν ψυχήν ἐστιν, τὴν μεγάλην νόσον ἀδικίαν ἀποβάλλοντα. ΑΓΛ. ὡμολόγει. ΜΕΘ. Τί δέ; οὐ κατὰ ἀναλογίαν τῶν ἁμαρτηθέντων τὰς κολάσεις τοῖς κολαζομένοις δικαίως προσφέρεσθαι φῄς, καθάπερ καὶ τοῖς τετρωμένοις κατὰ ἀναλογίαν τῶν τραυμάτων τὰς χειρουργίας; ΑΓΛ. ἐπένευσεν. ΜΕΘ. Οὐκοῦν ὁ μὲν θανάτου δράσας ἄξια τιμᾶται θανάτῳ τὴν δίκην, ὁ δὲ πληγῶν πληγαῖς, ὁ δὲ δεσμῶν δεσμοῖς; ΑΓΛ. ὡμολόγει. ΜΕΘ. Ζημιοῦται δὲ ὁ ὀφλήσας, ἔφην, δεσμοῖς ἢ πληγαῖς ἢ ἄλλῃ τινὶ τοιαύτῃ τιμωρίᾳ, ὅπως παύσηται μεταγνοὺς τοῦ ἀδικεῖν, ξύλον καθάπερ διεστραμμένον βασάνοις εὐθυνόμενος; ΑΓΛ. Ἀληθέστατα, ἔφη, λέγεις. ΜΕΘ. Τιμωρεῖται δὲ αὐτὸν οὐ τοῦ παρεληλυθότος ἐγκλήματος ἕνεκα ὁ δικαστής, ἀλλὰ τοῦ μέλλοντος, ὅπως μὴ καὶ αὖθις ποιήσῃ τοῦτο. ΓΛ. Δῆλον, ἔφη. ΜΕΘ. Ὁ γὰρ δεσμὸς αὐτῷ δῆλον ὡς τὴν πρὸς τὸ ἀδικεῖν ὁρμὴν ἀναιρεῖ, μὴ ἐπιτρέπων ποιεῖν ἃ θέλει. ΑΓΛ. Ἀληθές. MEO. Οὐκοῦν εἴργεται τοῦ ἁμαρτάνειν, τῶν δεσμῶν μὴ ἐώντων ἐλευθεριάζοντα χρῆσθαι ταῖς ἡδοναῖς, ἀλλὰ συστελλόντων καὶ τὸ δίκαιον διδασκόντων τιμᾶν, ἔστ᾽ ἂν αὐτὸς μάθῃ νουθετούμενος σωφρονεῖν; ΑΓΔ. Φαίνεται, ἔφη. ΜΕΘ. Οὐδὲ τοίνυν παραίτιος ὃ δεσμὸς γίγνεται τοῦ πλημμελεῖν. ΑΓΛ. Ἔοικεν. ΜΕΘ. Σωφρονίζει γὰρ καὶ ποιεῖ δικαιοτέρους, ἀλεξιφάρμακον ὢν ψυχῆς, αὐστηρὸν μὲν καὶ δηκτικόν, ἀλλ᾽ ἰατικόν. ΑΓΛ. Δῆλον, ἔφη. ΜΕΘ. Τί γάρ; φέρε γὰρ ἐξετάζωμεν πάλιν τὰ ἔμπροσθεν. οὐ δεσμὸν τὸ σῶμα διὰ τὴν παράβασιν δέδωκας εἶναι τῆς ψυχῆς; ΑΓΛ. Καὶ δίδωμι, ἔφη. MEO. ἉἉμαρτάνειν δὲ τὴν ψυχὴν μετὰ σώματος, εἴπερ τὸ μοιχᾶσθαι, φονεύειν τε καὶ ἀσεβεῖν ἁμαρτία σοι δοκεῖ, ἃ μετὰ τοῦ σώματος ἡ ψυχὴ ποιεῖ; ΑΓΛ. ἐπένευσεν. ΜΕΘ. ᾿᾿ΙΙλλὰ τὸν δεσμώτην ὡμολογήσαμεν μὴ δύνασθαι ἀδικεῖν; ΑΓΛ. Ὡμολογήσαμεν, ἔφη. ΜΕΘ. Κωλύεσθαι δὲ ἀλγυνόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν δεσμῶν; ΑΓΛ. Ναί. ΜΕΘ. Δεσμὸς δὲ ἡ σὰρξ τῆς ψυχῆς; ΑΓΛ. ἐπένευσεν. ΜΕΘ. ᾿Ιλλὰ ἁμαρτάνομεν ὀντες ἐν σαρκί. ὁμοδοξούσης ἡμῖν εἰς τοῦτο τῆς σαρκός; ΑΓΛ. Ἁμαρτάνομεν, ἔφη. ΜΕΘ. Ὁ δὲ πεπεδημένος οὐ δύναται ἁμαρτάνειν; ΑΓΛ. καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἐπένευσεν. ΜΕΘ. Εἴργεται γάρ; ΑΓΛ. Ναί. ΜΕΘ. Μὴ ἐώμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ δεσμοῦ; ΑΓΛ. Δῆλον. ΜΕΘ. ᾿Ιλλὰ τὸ μὲν σῶμα πρὸς τὸ ἁμαρτῆσαι συνεργόν; ΜΕΘ. Εἴργει δὲ ὁ δεσμός; ΑΓΛ. συνέφη. ΜΕΘ. Οὐκ ἄρα τὸ σῶμα δεσμός, οὔτε κατὰ σὲ οὔτε κατὰ ἄλλον, ἔφην. ὦ ᾿γλαοφῶν, ἀλλὰ πρὸς ἑκάτερον τῇ ψυχῇ συνεργόν, εἴτε πρὸς τὸ ἀγαθὸν εἴτε πρὸς τὸ κακόν. ΑΓΛ. συνεχώρει. ΜΕΘ. Οὐκοῦν οὕτω δὴ τούτων ἐχόντων ἀπολόγησαι, ὦ Ἀγλαοφῶν. πρὸς ἃ πρῶτον ὑπέθου. ἔφης γὰρ δεσμὸν καὶ εἱρκτὴν καὶ πέδας τὸ σῶμα τῆς ψυχῆς ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν. καὶ ὁρᾷς ὡς οὐ συνᾴδουσι τούτοις ἃ ἔφης; πῶς γὰρ συνάδοιεν, εἴπερ γε ἀνάγκη, ὦ ἄριστε, δεσμὸν μὲν τὴν σάρκα νομίζεσθαι, τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν συνεργῷ πρὸς ἀδικίαν χρῆσθαι καὶ συμπράκτορι τῷ δεσμῷ. ὅπερ ἀδύνατον: εἰ γὰρ διὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν βασανιστήριον ἐδόθη. πρὸς τὸ ἀλγυνθεῖσαν εἰς τὸ τιμῶν τὸν θεὸν παιδευθῆναι τὴν ψυχήν, πῶς συνεργεῖ καὶ συναγωνίζεται τὸ σῶμα αὐτῇ πρὸς τὸ ἀδικεῖν; δεσμοὶ γὰρ καὶ φυλακαὶ καὶ πέδαι καὶ συλλήβδην αἱ τοιαῦται πᾶσαι πρὸς ἐπανόρθωσιν τιμωροὶ μηχαναὶ κωλυτικαὶ τοῦ ἀδικεῖν καὶ ἁμαρτάνειν τοῖς κολαζομένοις γίγνονται. οὐ γὰρ ὅπως ὁ ἀδικήσας ἀδικήσῃ πλέον συνεργὸς αὐτῷ πρὸς τὸ ἀδικεῖν ὁ δεσμὸς δίδοται, ἀλλ᾽ ὅπως λήξῃ τοῦ ἀδικεῖν, βασανιζόμενος διὰ τῶν δεσμῶν" καὶ γὰρ οἱ δικασταὶ ταύτῃ πεδοῦσι τοὺς φαύλους. κωλύονται γάρ, κἂν μὴ βούλωνται. κακοποιεῖν ὑπὸ τῶν δεσμῶν. ἐλευθεριαζόντων δὲ τὸ κακουργεῖν ἐστιν καὶ ζώντων ἀφυλάκτως, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ πεπεδημένων. ὁ δὲ ἄνθρωπος πρῶτον μὲν ἐφόνευσε, κατὰ τὸν Κάϊν, ηὐξήθη πρὸς ἀπιστίαν, εἰδώλοις προσέσχεν. ἀπεστάτησε θεοῦ. καὶ πῶς αὐτῷ δεσμὸς τὸ σῶμα ἐδόθη; ἢ πῶς ὁ θεὸς μετὰ τὸ πρὸ σώματος ἀνομῆσαι τὸν ἄνθρωπον συνεργὸν πρὸς ἀδικίαν αὐτῷ μείζονα τὸ σῶμα ἔδωκεν; πῶς δὲ καὶ μετὰ τὴν κατασκευὴν τοῦ δεσμοῦ τό »ἰδού, πρὸ προσώπου σου« λέγεται »τέθεικα τὴν ζωὴν καὶ τὸν θάνατον, ἔκλεξαι τὴν ζωήν, τὸ ἀγαθὸν καὶ τὸ πονηρόν. ἔκλεξαι τὸ ἀγαθόν«, καί »ἐὰν θέλητε καὶ εἰσακούσητέ μου«· ταῦτα γὰρ ὡς αὐτεξουσιάζοντι., καὶ οὐχ ὡς ὑπὸ δεσμὰ καὶ ἀνάγκην ἀγομένῳ ἐρρήθη. ὥστε ἐκ παντὸς συνίστασθαι μήτε πέδας ἢ φυλακὴν ἢ δεσμοὺς δεῖν νομίζειν τὸ σῶμα μήτε »δεσμώτιδας γῆς« διὰ ταῦτα τὰς ψυχάς. »χοϊκαῖς« κατακρίνοντος αὐτὰς τοῦ θεοῦ δεθῆναι »πέδαις«. πῶς γάρ. ὁπότε μὴ δύναται ἀποδειχθῆναι τοῦτο; ἄτοπον δὲ κἀκεῖνο προφανῶς τὸ οἴεσθαι τὸ σῶμα ἐν τῇ κατὰ τοὺς αἰῶνες διαγωγῇ μὴ συνέσεσθαι τῇ ψυχῇ διὰ τὸ δεσμὸν αὐτὸ καὶ πέδας εἶναι. ἵνα μὴ αἰώνιοι γενώμεθα κατάκριτοι δεσμῶται κατ᾽ αὐτοὺς φθορᾶς, ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ φωτὸς ἐσόμενοι. λελυμένου γὰρ ἱκανῶς καὶ ἐξελεγχθέντος τοῦ λόγου. ἐν ᾧ δεσμὸν τῆς ψυχῆς ὠὡρίσαντο εἶναι τὴν σάρκα, λέλυται καὶ τὸ ἵνα μὴ δεσμῶται, ἐὰν αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ φωτὸς ἀπολαμβάνωμεν, ἐσόμεθα, διὰ τοῦτο οὐχ ἀναστήσεται. Ποταπὸν γὰρ λοιπὸν εἰς πειθὼ τοῖς δυσχεραίνουσιν ἕτερον ἀλήθευμα χρὴ δεικνύναι, τῶν εἰρημένων ἐναργέστερον. οὗ ἀνέξονται; ἀλλὰ ταύτην μὲν αὐτῶν τὴν φιλονεικίαν καὶ ἐκ τούτων ἄν τις καὶ ἐξ ἑτέρων ἐλέγχοι πλειόνων. ἀπεδείξαμεν γάρ καὶ ἀποδείξομεν ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς προβαίνοντος τοῦ λόγου φύσεως ἀληθεύμασι καὶ οὐχ εἰκασίαις μήτε τὸν Ἱερεμίαν »δεσμίους« ἡμᾶς »γῆς« διὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸ σῶμα κοινωνίαν εἰρηκέναι μήτε τὸν Δαυὶδ κατὰ τοῦτο »πεπεδημένους«. ἄξιον γὰρ καὶ ταῦτα προσφέρειν ἐν οἷς μάλιστα φαίνωνται διαπίπτοντες. περὶ μὲν οὖν τῶν »δερματίνων χιτώνων«, καὶ ὅτι πρὸ τῆς κατασκευῆς αὐτῶν οἱ πρωτόπλαστοι διῆγον μετὰ σώματος, ἀθανασίας ἀπολαύοντες, ἔτι τε καὶ ὡς οὐ δύναται τὸ σῶμα δεσμὸς καὶ εἱρκτὴ νομίζεσθαι, τὰ προσήκοντα εἰπών, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί (δικαστὰς γὰρ ὑμᾶς τῶν λόγων {τῶν προκειμένων), ὦ κράτιστε Θεόφιλε, καλῶ), τρέψομαι λοιπὸν ἐπὶ τὰ ἀκόλουθα, καθάπερ ὑπεσχόμην, [τῶν προκειμένων] ἵν᾿ εὐκρινέστερον ἴδωμεν ὃ βουλόμεθα. ### English translation (Claude) Methodius: "Then, so that you may praise me still more: if the body is a fetter in your view, can it not be considered the cause of vice and injustice for the soul, but, on the contrary, of self-control and discipline? Consider it this way, for so you may follow better. Where do we take those who are sick in body? Not to the physicians?" Aglaophon: "Clearly," he said. Methodius: "And where do we take wrongdoers? Not to the judges?" Aglaophon: "Necessarily." Methodius: "So that they may justly pay the penalty for what they did?" I said. Aglaophon: "Yes." Methodius: "And everything just is good?" Aglaophon agreed. Methodius: "And one who judges justly does well, for he judges justly?" Aglaophon assented. Methodius: "And the good is beneficial?" Aglaophon: "It seems so." Methodius: "Then those who are judged are benefited; for their wickedness is checked and removed by the punishments, just as diseases are by the surgeons' cutting and medicines. For a wrongdoer to pay the penalty is for his soul to be set right, casting off that great disease, injustice." Aglaophon agreed. Methodius: "What then? Do you not say that punishments are justly applied to those who are punished in proportion to their offences, as surgery is applied to the wounded in proportion to their wounds?" Aglaophon nodded. Methodius: "So the man who has done what deserves death is punished with death, the one who deserves blows with blows, the one who deserves fetters with fetters?" Aglaophon agreed. Methodius: "And the guilty man is penalized," I said, "with fetters or blows or some other such punishment, so that he may repent and cease from wrongdoing, being straightened by punishments like crooked wood?" Aglaophon: "What you say is most true," he said. Methodius: "The judge punishes the man not for the sake of the past offence but for the future, so that he may not do it again." Aglaophon: "Clearly," he said. Methodius: "For the fetter clearly removes his impulse to do wrong, not permitting him to do what he wishes." Aglaophon: "True." Methodius: "Then he is kept from sinning, since the fetters do not allow him to indulge in pleasures freely, but restrain him and teach him to honour justice, until, being admonished, he himself learns to be self-controlled?" Aglaophon: "It seems so," he said. Methodius: "Then neither does the fetter become an accomplice of wrongdoing." Aglaophon: "Apparently not." Methodius: "For it disciplines men and makes them more just, being a remedy for the soul, harsh and stinging, but healing." Aglaophon: "Clearly," he said. Methodius: "What then? Come, let us examine again what came before. Did you not grant that the body is the soul's fetter because of the transgression?" Aglaophon: "I grant it," he said. Methodius: "And that the soul sins with the body, if adultery, murder and impiety seem to you sins, which the soul commits with the body?" Aglaophon nodded. Methodius: "But we agreed that the prisoner cannot do wrong?" Aglaophon: "We agreed," he said. Methodius: "Since he is prevented by the fetters, which cause him pain?" Aglaophon: "Yes." Methodius: "And the flesh is the soul's fetter?" Aglaophon nodded. Methodius: "But we sin while we are in the flesh, the flesh agreeing with us in this?" Aglaophon: "We sin," he said. Methodius: "But one who is shackled cannot sin?" Aglaophon nodded here too. Methodius: "For he is restrained?" Aglaophon: "Yes." Methodius: "Not being permitted by the fetter?" Aglaophon: "Clearly." Methodius: "But the body is a fellow-worker toward sinning? And the fetter prevents it?" Aglaophon assented. Methodius: "Then the body is not a fetter, either in your view or in anyone else's, Aglaophon," I said, "but a fellow-worker with the soul toward either, whether toward good or toward evil." Aglaophon conceded. [32] Methodius: "Since this is so, then, Aglaophon, make your defence regarding what you first laid down. For you said earlier that the body is the soul's fetter and prison and shackles. Do you see that what you said does not agree with these conclusions? How could they agree, my excellent friend, if one had to consider the flesh a fetter, while the soul used the fetter as its fellow-worker and accomplice in injustice? That is impossible. For if the body was given as an instrument of torture because of sin, so that the soul, being pained, might be trained to honour God, how does the body work with it and fight alongside it in wrongdoing? Fetters and prisons and shackles and, in short, all such punitive devices for correction serve to prevent those who are punished from doing wrong and sinning. The fetter is not given to the wrongdoer as a fellow-worker in wrongdoing so that he may do more wrong, but so that, tormented by the fetters, he may cease from wrongdoing; and that is why judges bind the wicked. For by the fetters they are prevented from doing evil even if they do not wish it. Evil-doing belongs to those who are free and live unguarded, not to those who are shackled. But man first committed murder, as Cain did; he grew in unbelief, turned to idols, and fell away from God. How, then, was the body given to him as a fetter? Or how did God, after man had transgressed before having a body, give him the body as a still greater fellow-worker in injustice? And how, after the fetter was made, is it said, 'Behold, I have set before your face life and death; choose life; good and evil; choose the good,' and 'If you are willing and listen to me'? For these words were spoken as to one who has free will, and not as to one led under fetters and necessity. So it is established on every ground that one must not consider the body to be shackles or a prison or fetters, nor souls on this account to be 'prisoners of the earth,' as though God had condemned them to be bound with 'earthly shackles.' For how could this be, when it cannot be proved? And plainly absurd, too, is the notion that the body will not be with the soul in its life through the ages because it is a fetter and shackles, lest, as they say, we should become eternally condemned prisoners of corruption while we are in the kingdom of light. For since the argument by which they defined the flesh as the fetter of the soul has been sufficiently dissolved and refuted, the claim that the body will not rise for this reason, lest we be prisoners in the kingdom of light when we take it back, is dissolved too. [33] "What other truth, then, more evident than what has been said, must one show to persuade those who are hard to convince, which they will accept? But one could refute this contentiousness of theirs both from these arguments and from many others. For we have shown, and will show further as the argument proceeds, from the truths of nature and not from conjectures, that Jeremiah did not call us 'prisoners of the earth' because of our communion with the body, nor David 'the shackled' in this sense. It is worth bringing forward these points too, where they seem most of all to fail. Having said, then, what is fitting about the 'garments of skins,' and that before they were made the first-formed lived with a body, enjoying immortality, and further that the body cannot be considered a fetter and a prison, I shall now turn, gentlemen judges (for I call you judges of the arguments before us, most excellent Theophilus), to what follows, as I promised, so that we may see more clearly what we are seeking." ### Scripture references - Gen 4:8: allusion, high confidence - Deut 30:15: quotation, high confidence - Deut 30:19: quotation, high confidence - Isa 1:19: quotation, high confidence - Lam 3:34: allusion, high confidence - Ps 146:7 (145:7 LXX): allusion, medium confidence - Gen 3:21: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Gorg. 478d (Plato (works)): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The OCR lost the headings of chapters 32 and 33 (they survive as garbled numerals, removed by logged corrections); the chapters begin at "[32]" and "[33]". Several leaked line numbers are removed, and one speaker line ('Aglaophon assented', after 'fellow-worker toward sinning?') is missing in the OCR and supplied in the translation from the sense of the dialogue. - Gen 4:8 (Cain); Deut 30:15, 19; Isa 1:19; Lam 3:34; Ps 146:7 (LXX 145:7); Gen 3:21. The narrator's claim that the first-formed had bodies and enjoyed immortality before the 'garments of skins' answers Aglaophon in 1.4-1.5. - About eleven lines of page 265 (the argument that punishment heals the wrongdoer, after Plato, Gorg. 478d-480d) were lost in the staged text; they are restored from the OCR of the same page by a logged correction and translated. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.31 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:264; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-25/#p-1-31). ## Res. 1.34 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-25/#p-1-34 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:271 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The narrator argues that man, fashioned by God's own hands as a body-and-soul whole, was made immortal, since what immortality makes is immortal. ### Greek text Ὁ τῶν ὅλων δημιουργὸς θεὸς, ἐπειδὴ τὸ πᾶν εὐτάκτως συνεστήσατο, καθάπερ μεγάλην πόλιν, καὶ διεκόσμησεν προστάσσων τῷ λόγῳ. ἕκαστόν τε αὐτῷ συμφώνως ἡρμόσατο στοιχεῖον καὶ πάντα ζῴων πεπλήρωτο διαφοραῖς. ἵνα τελείως ὁ κόσμος εἰς κάλλος αὐξηθῇ, παντοίας φύσεως ζῳοτοκήσας μορφάς, ἄστρα μὲν κατὰ τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ πτηνὰ κατὰ τὸν ἀέρα. τετράποδα δὲ κατὰ τὴν γῆν καὶ νηκτὰ κατὰ τὸ ὕδωρ. τελευταῖον τὸν ἄνθρωπον, προετοιμάσας ὡς οἰκίαν αὐτῷ καλλίστην τὸ πᾶν, μίμημα τῆς ἰδίας εἰκόνος ἐμφερὲς εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἄγαλμα ὡς ἐν ναῷ καλῷ φαιδρὸν ταῖς ἑαυτοῦ χερσὶ κατασκευάσας· ἠπίστατο γὰρ ὅτι πάντως, ὅπερ ἂν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ τεχνήσηται χειρί. ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἔσται ἀθάνατον. ἅτε ἀθανασίας ἔργον. ἀθανασίᾳ γὰρ ἀθάνατα τὰ ἀθάνατα γίγνεται, καθάπερ καὶ τὰ κακὰ κακίᾳ κακά, καὶ τὰ ἄδικα ἀδικίᾳ ἄδικα. οὐ γὰρ δικαιοσύνης ἔργον τὸ ἀδικεῖν. ἀλλὰ ἀδικίας. οὐδ᾽ αὖ ἀδικίας ἀντιστρόφως τὸ δικαιοπραγεῖν ἔργον. ἀλλὰ δικαιοσύνης, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ ἀφθαρσίας τὸ φθείρεσθαι ποιεῖν, ἀλλὰ φθορᾶς, οὐδὲ φθορᾶς τὸ ἀθανατίζειν, ἀλλ᾽ ἀφθαρσίας. καὶ συλλήβδην, οἷον ἂν ᾖ τὸ ποιοῦν, κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον τοιοῦτον καὶ τὸ ποιούμενον ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἀπεργάζεσθαι συμβαίνει. ὁ δὲ θεὸς καὶ ἀθανασία καὶ ζωὴ καὶ ἀφθαρσία. ἔργον δὲ ἄνθρωπος θεοῦ· πᾶν δὲ τὸ ὑπὸ ἀθανασίας ἐργασθὲν ἀθάνατον· ἀθάνατος ἄρα ὁ ἄνθρωπος. διὸ δὴ τὸν μὲν ἄνθρωπον αὐτούργησεν αὐτός, τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ γένη τῶν ζώων ἀέρι καὶ γῇ καὶ ὕδατι προσέταξε φέρειν. ἄνθρωπος δὲ ἀληθέστατα λέγεται κατὰ φύσιν οὔτε ψυχὴ χωρὶς σώματος οὔτ᾽ αὖ πάλιν σῶμα χωρὶς ψυχῆς. ἀλλὰ τὸ ἐκ συστάσεως ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος εἰς μίαν τὴν τοῦ καλοῦ μορφὴν συντεθέν. ὅθεν ἐντεῦθεν ἀθάνατον δὴ τὸν ἄνθρωπον γεγονέναι φαίνεται, φθορᾶς τε ἁπάσης καὶ νόσων ἐκτός. μάθοι δ᾽ ἄν τις τοῦτο καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς γραφῆς ἱκανῶς. ἐπὶ μὲν γὰρ τῶν ἄλλων, ὁπόσα χρόνων μετακοσμοῦνται διαστολαῖς ἡβῶντα καὶ γηράσχοντα, λέγεται »ἐξαγαγέτω τὰ ὕδατα ἑρπετὰ ψυχῶν ζωσῶν, καὶ πετεινὰ πετόμενα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, κατὰ τὸ στερέωμα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ«, καί »ἐξαγαγέτω ἡ γῆ ψυχὴν ζῶσαν κατὰ γένος τετράποδα καὶ ἑρπετὰ καὶ θηρία τῆς γῆς κατὰ γένος«, ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ὡσαύτως ἐκείνοις οὐκέτι »ἐξαγαγέτω ἡ γῆ« ἢ »ἐξαγαγέτω τὰ ὕδατα« ἢ »γενηθήτωσαν φωστῆρες«, ἀλλά »ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ᾽ εἰκόνα καὶ καθ᾽ ὁμοίωσιν ἡμετέραν καὶ ἀρχέτωσαν τῶν ἰχθύων τῆς θαλάσσης καὶ τῶν πετεινῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ πάντων τῶν κτηνῶν«. καί »ἔλαβεν ὁ θεὸς χοῦν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἔπλασε τὸν ἄνθρωπον«. ### English translation (Claude) "God, the maker of all things, when he had set the universe in good order like a great city and arranged it by commanding with his word, fitted each element harmoniously to himself and filled all things with the varieties of living creatures, so that the world might grow perfectly into beauty, bringing forth the forms of every kind of nature: stars in the heaven and birds in the air, four-footed beasts on the earth and swimming creatures in the water. Last of all, having first prepared the whole universe as a most beautiful house for him, he fashioned man with his own hands, a likeness resembling his own image, bringing him into the world like a shining statue into a beautiful temple. For he knew that whatever he fashioned with his own hand would necessarily be immortal, as the work of immortality. For immortal things become immortal by immortality, just as evil things are evil by evil, and unjust things unjust by injustice. Doing injustice is not the work of justice but of injustice; nor, conversely, is acting justly the work of injustice but of justice; just as corrupting is not the work of incorruption but of corruption, nor making immortal the work of corruption but of incorruption; and, in a word, whatever the maker is, such, on the same principle, must necessarily be what it produces. But God is immortality and life and incorruption; and man is the work of God; and everything produced by immortality is immortal. Man, then, is immortal. That is why he fashioned man himself, with his own hands, but commanded the air, the earth and the water to bring forth the other kinds of living creatures. And man, most truly, is by nature neither soul without body nor again body without soul, but what is composed from the union of soul and body into one beautiful form. Hence it appears that man was made immortal, free of all corruption and disease. One could learn this sufficiently from Scripture too. For of the other creatures, which are transformed over intervals of time, growing young and growing old, it is said: 'Let the waters bring forth creeping things with living souls, and birds flying above the earth under the firmament of heaven,' and 'Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind, four-footed beasts and creeping things and wild beasts of the earth according to their kind'; but of man it is no longer said, as of them, 'Let the earth bring forth,' or 'Let the waters bring forth,' or 'Let there be lights,' but 'Let us make man according to our image and likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of heaven and all the cattle.' And 'God took dust from the earth and formed man.'" ### Scripture references - Gen 1:20: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:24: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:14: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:26: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:7: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Greek is preserved in excerpts (Epiphanius, Panarion 64; the Sacra Parallela) and printed by Bonwetsch beside the Slavonic. Two blocks of the edition's apparatus, which had leaked into the staged text, are removed by logged corrections; other OCR slips are corrected where clear. - Gen 1:20, 24, 14, 26; Gen 2:7. The definition of man as neither soul without body nor body without soul has a close parallel in Pseudo-Justin, On the Resurrection 8. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.34 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:271; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-25/#p-1-34). ## Res. 1.35 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-35/#p-1-35 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:273 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The narrator argues that man, made in the image of the only-begotten Image, was meant to be immortal, and takes up the objection about where death and the devil's envy come from. ### Greek text Καὶ ἵνα δὴ μᾶλλον καὶ ὑμεῖς τὴν διαφορὰν αἴσθησθε, ὡς ὅλῳ καὶ παντὶ τῶν ἄλλων διαφέρων καὶ ἐν δευτέρᾳ τιμῇ τῶν ἀγγέλων ἐγκαταλεχθεὶς ὁ ἄνθρωπος εὑρίσκεται ἀθάνατος ὦν, φέρε κατὰ τὸν ἀληθῆ πάλιν καὶ ὀρθόδοξον καὶ τοῦτο διαλάβωμεν λογισμόν. τοῖς μὲν γὰρ ἀπὸ τῆς εἰσπνοῆς τοῦ κατὰ τὸν ἀέρα πνεύματος (TO) ἐμψυχῶσθαι ἐδόθη καὶ ζῆν, τῷ δὲ ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς ἀθανάτου καὶ διαφερούσης οὐσίας. »ἐνεφύσησε« γὰρ ὁ θεὸς »εἰς τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ πνοὴν ζωῆς, καὶ ἐγένετο ὁ ἄνθρωπος εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν«. καὶ τοῖς μὲν δουλεύειν καὶ ἄρχεσθαι προσετάγη, τῷ δὲ ἄρχειν καὶ δεσπόζειν, καὶ τοῖς μὲν διάφορα σχήματα φύσεως δίδονται καὶ μορφαί, ὁπόσας ἡ {γῆς) στερέμνιος καὶ ὁρατὴ φύσις κελεύοντος θεοῦ ἐγέννησε, τῷ δὲ τὸ θεοειδὲς καὶ θεοείκελον καὶ πάντα πρὸς ἐκείνην ἀπηκριβωμένον τὴν πρωτότυπον τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ μονογενῆ εἰκόνα. »ἐποίησε γὰρ ὁ θεός« φησί »τὸν ἄνθρωπον, κατ᾽ εἰκόνα θεοῦ ἐποίησεν αὐτόν«᾽ διὸ καὶ ἐμέλησεν αὐτῷ τοῦ σφετέρου ἀγάλματος τῆς διαμονῆς, ἵνα μὴ εὐάλωτον ἢ πρὸς διαφθοράν, καθάπερ καὶ τῶν ἀνδριάντων τοῖς δημιουργοῖς. οὐ γὰρ μόνον κάλλους τῶν ἀγαλμάτων αὐτοῖς καὶ τῆς εὐπρεπείας αὐτῶν πεφρόντισται, ὅπως ᾖ περικαλλῆ μεγαλοπρεπῶς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς εἰς τὸ δυνατὸν σφίσιν αὐτοῖς ἀθανασίας τῶν δημιουργημάτων πρόνοιαν ποιοῦνται, (τοῦ) εἰς τὸν μακραίωνα χρόνον διασῴζεσθαι μὴ λυόμενα, καθάπερ καὶ Φειδίας. οὗτος γὰρ μετὰ τὸ χατασχευάσαι τὸ Πισαῖον εἴδωλον (ἐξ ἐλέφαντος δὲ τοῦτο Hp) ἔλαιον ἐκχεῖσθαι προσέταξεν ἀμφὶ τοὺς πόδας ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ ἀγάλματος, ἀθάνατον εἰς δύναμιν φυλάσσων αὐτό. καὶ τοίνυν εἰ τῶν χειροκμήτων οὕτως οἱ δημιουργοί, θεὸς ὁ ἀριστοτέχνας, ὃς πάντα δύναται καὶ ἐξ οὐχ ὄντων ποιεῖν, οὐ μᾶλλον τὸ ἄγαλμα τὸ λογικὸν ἑαυτοῦ, τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ἀνώλεθρον καὶ ἀθάνατον εἶναι τὸ παράπαν ἐξ ἁπάσης ἀνάγκης ἐμηχανήσατο; ἀλλ᾽ εἴασεν οὕτως ἀτιμότατα λυόμενον ὀλέθρῳ παραδοῦναι καὶ φθορᾷ, ὃ διαφερόντως ἠξίωσε ταῖς ἑαυτοῦ ποιῆσαι χερσίν, »κατ᾽ εἰκόνα« μορφοποιήσας αὐτὸ »καὶ καθ' ὁμοίωσιν« τὴν ἑαυτοῦ, τὸν κόσμον τοῦ κόσμου, δι᾿ ὃ καὶ ὁ κόσμος ἐγένετο; οὐκ ἔστιν εἰπεῖν: ἀπήει γὰρ εἰς ἀφροσύνην ἐπαρθέντα φρονῆσαι τοῦτο. Ἴσως μὲν ἐπιστήσαντες ἑαυτοὺς πρὸς τὰ λεχθέντα νῦν, ὦ Ἀγλαοφῶν, λέξετε, Καὶ πῶς, εἰ ἀθάνατον ἦν ἐκ γενέσεως καθ' ὑμᾶς τὸ ζῷον, γεγένηται θνητόν, ὁπότε τὸ ἀθάνατον ἀμεταστρόφως τοῦτο ὁ ἐστιν εἶναι χρή, μὴ μεταπίπτον ἢ ἐξιστανόμενον εἰς τὴν αἰσχίονα καὶ θνητὴν φύσιν; ἀμήχανον γάρ, ἐπεὶ οὐκέτι ἔσται ἀθάνατον. Ἐπειδή, λέξω, γενόμενον αὐτεξούσιον πρὸς τὴν αἵρεσιν τοῦ καλοῦ, καὶ τοῦτον τὸν θεσμὸν εἰληφός, ὁ διάβολος ἐπιστὰς ἐβάσκανε φθονῶν. »ὁ γὰρ θεὸς ἔκτισε τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐπ᾽ ἀφθαρσίᾳ καὶ εἰκόνα τῆς ἰδίας ἀϊδιότητος ἐποίησεν αὐτόν«. καὶ »ὁ θεὸς θάνατον οὐκ ἐποίησεν, οὐδὲ τέρπεται ἐπ᾿ ἀπωλείᾳ ζώντων«· »φθόνῳ δὲ διαβόλου θάνατος εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον«, καθάπερ καὶ ἡ σοφία διὰ Σολομῶνος μαρτυρεῖ. πόθεν οὖν ὁ θάνατος πάλιν δὴ λέγεσθαι ἀνάγκη, εἰ μὴ θάνατον ἐποίησεν ὁ θεός. εἰ ἀπὸ τοῦ φθόνου, καὶ πῶς ὁ φθόνος τῆς βουλήσεως μᾶλλον ἴσχυσε τοῦ θεοῦ; ἀλλὰ τοῦτο δύσφημον λέξομεν. Πόθεν οὖν ὁ φθόνος; ὁ ἀντιλέγων ἐρεῖ. εἰ γὰρ ἀπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου, καὶ διὰ τί διάβολος ἐγένετο, εἰ ἐγένετο, καὶ ὁ ποιήσας αὐτὸν ἐστιν αἴτιος τοῦ εἶναι κακόν; ἀλλὰ ἀναίτιος παντάπασι κακῶν πᾶσιν ὁ θεός. ἀγένητος ἄρα ὁ διάβολος, καὶ εἰ ἀγένητος, καὶ ἀπαθὴς καὶ ἀνώλεθρος καὶ ἀνενδεής. τῷ γὰρ ἀγενήτῳ ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἀπάσης ταῦτα ὑπάρχειν δεῖ. ὁ δὲ διάβολος καταργεῖται καὶ κολάζεται· τὸ δὲ κολαζόμενον ἀλλοιοῦται καὶ πάσχει, ἀπαθὲς δὲ τὸ ἀγένητον. οὐχ ἄρα ἀγένητος, ἀλλὰ γενητὸς ὁ διάβολος. εἰ δὲ γενητὸς καὶ πᾶν τὸ γεγενημένον ἀπὸ τινος ἀρχῆς ἐγένετο καὶ ἔστιν αὐτοῦ δημιουργός, ἔστιν ἄρα τις δημιουργὸς τοῦ διαβόλου. καὶ πότερον κἀκεῖνος ἀγένητός ἐστιν ἢ γενητός; ἀλλὰ τὸ ἀγένητον. ἕν εἶναι μόνον νοεῖσθαι χρὴ τὸν θεὸν" οὐδὲ γὰρ εἶναι τὸ σύνολον ὅλως ἐκ παντὸς τὸ παράπαν ἕτερος δημιουργὸς δύναται πλὴν αὐτοῦ (»ἐγώ« φησὶ »πρῶτος, καὶ ἐγὼ μετὰ ταῦτα, καὶ πλὴν ἐμοῦ ἄλλος οὐκ ἔστιν θεός«), οὐδὲ μετασκευάζεσθαί τι ἢ κτίζεσθαι παρὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ δύναται βουλήν. καὶ γὰρ »υἱὸς οὐδὲν ἀφ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ δύνασθαι ποιεῖν« ὁμολογήσει, »ἐὰν μή τι βλέπῃ τὸν πατέρα ποιοῦντα" ἃ γὰρ ἄν« φησίν »ὁ πατὴρ ποιῇ, ταῦτα καὶ ὁ υἱὸς ὁμοίως ποιεῖ«. οὐδὲ μὴν τι πολέμιον ἢ ἀντίξουν αὐτῷ ἢ ἀντίθεόν ἐστιν ἐπεὶ κἂν εἰ ἀντέπρασσέ τι τῷ θεῷ, ἐπαύσατο ἂν τοῦ εἶναι, λυθείσης αὐτοῦ τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ δυνάμει καὶ ἰσχύϊ τῆς συστάσεως. τῷ γὰρ ποιήσαντι λῦσαι μόνῳ καὶ τὰ ἀθάνατα δυνατόν. ### English translation (Claude) "And so that you too may perceive the difference more clearly, how man, differing wholly and entirely from the other creatures and enrolled in honour second only to the angels, is found to be immortal, come, let us take up this point too according to true and orthodox reasoning. To the other creatures it was given to be animated and to live from breathing in the spirit that is in the air; but to man, from the immortal and superior essence itself. For 'God breathed into his face the breath of life, and the man became a living soul.' And the others were commanded to serve and to be ruled, but he to rule and to be master. To them were given different shapes and forms of nature, as many as the solid and visible nature of the earth brought forth at God's command; but to him what is godlike and like God, in all things exactly fashioned after that archetypal and only-begotten image of the Father. For 'God made man,' it says, 'according to the image of God he made him.' That is why he took care for the permanence of his own statue, that it might not easily fall prey to corruption, as sculptors also do for their statues. For they take thought not only for the beauty and comeliness of their statues, that they may be magnificently beautiful, but they also provide, as far as they can, for the immortality of their works, so that they may be preserved for a very long time without being dissolved; as Phidias did. For he, after making the image at Pisa (it was of ivory), ordered oil to be poured out before the feet of the statue, keeping it as nearly immortal as he could. And so, if the makers of things made with hands act in this way, did not God, the best of artists, who can make all things even out of what is not, much more contrive by every necessity that his rational statue, man, should be altogether indestructible and immortal? Or did he allow what he had specially deemed worthy to make with his own hands, forming it 'according to his image and likeness,' the adornment of the world, for whose sake the world itself came into being, to be dissolved so dishonourably and handed over to destruction and corruption? It cannot be said; to think this is to be carried away into folly. [36] "Perhaps, attending to what has now been said, you will say, Aglaophon: 'And how, if according to you the living creature was immortal from its origin, has it become mortal, since what is immortal must be what it is unchangeably, not falling away or departing into the baser and mortal nature? That is impossible, since it will no longer be immortal.' Because, I shall say, it had been made free to choose the good, and had received this law; and the devil, wickedly standing by, envied it. 'For God created man for incorruption and made him an image of his own eternity'; and 'God did not make death, nor does he delight in the destruction of the living'; 'but through the envy of the devil death entered into the world,' as Wisdom, written by Solomon, also testifies. From where, then, must death be said to come, if God did not make death? If from envy, how then did envy prove stronger than the will of God? But we shall say that this is blasphemous. 'From where, then, does envy come?' the objector will say. 'For if from the devil, why did the devil come to be, if he came to be at all, and is not the one who made him the cause of his being evil? Yet God is wholly blameless of all evils for all. The devil, then, is unoriginate; and if unoriginate, he is also impassible, indestructible and without need, for these must of every necessity belong to the unoriginate. But the devil is brought to nothing and punished; and what is punished is altered and suffers, whereas the unoriginate is impassible. The devil, then, is not unoriginate but originate. And if he is originate, and everything that has come into being came to be from some beginning and has a maker, then there is some maker of the devil. And is that maker unoriginate or originate? But only one must be understood to be unoriginate, God; for there can be no other maker at all besides him ("I," he says, "am the first, and I am after these things, and besides me there is no other God"), nor can anything be reshaped or created contrary to his will. For the Son too will confess that "he can do nothing of himself, unless he sees the Father doing something; for whatever the Father does," he says, "the Son also does likewise." Nor indeed is anything hostile or opposed or contrary to God; for if anything acted against God, it would cease to exist, its constitution dissolved by God's power and strength. For he alone who made them can dissolve even immortal things.'" ### Scripture references - Gen 2:7: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:27: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:26: quotation, high confidence - Isa 44:6: quotation, high confidence - John 5:19: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 2:23-24 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence - Wis 1:13 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The OCR lost the heading of chapter 36 (a garbled numeral is removed by a logged correction); the chapter begins at "[36]". A block of the edition's apparatus and several clusters of stray marks are removed by logged corrections. - Gen 2:7; Gen 1:27; Gen 1:26; Wis 2:23-24 and 1:13; Isa 44:6 (Septuagint wording); John 5:19. Phidias's ivory Zeus at Olympia (Pisa) and the oil poured before it are reported by Pausanias, Descr. 5.11.10. 'Unoriginate' (ἀγένητος) and 'originate' (γενητός) are kept distinct from 'unbegotten'. The objector's argument runs to the end of the chapter and is answered in chapter 37. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.35 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:273; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-35/#p-1-35). ## Res. 1.37 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-35/#p-1-37 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:277 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The narrator explains that the devil was an angel entrusted with governing matter who fell through pride and envy, and closes with lines of verse against the serpent and Error. ### Greek text Τί οὖν ὁ διάβολος; λέξετε. πνεῦμα περὶ τὴν ὕλην ἔχον, καθάπερ ἐλέχθη καὶ Ἀθηναγόρᾳ, γενόμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, ὡς δὴ καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ γεγόνασιν ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ ἄγγελοι, καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τῇ ὕλῃ καὶ τοῖς τῆς ὕλης εἴδεσι πεπιστευμένον διοίκησιν. τοῦτο γὰρ ἦν ἡ τῶν ἀγγέλων σύστασις, τῷ θεῷ ἐπὶ προνοίᾳ γεγονέναι τοῖς ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ διακεκοσμημένοις, ἵνα τὴν μὲν παντελικὴν καὶ γενικὴν ὁ θεὸς ἔχων τῶν ὅλων πρόνοιαν ᾖ, τὸ κῦρος καὶ τὸ κράτος ἁπάντων αὐτὸς ἀνηρτημένος καὶ ὥσπερ σκάφος τῷ τῆς σοφίας οἴακι διευθύνων ἀκλινῶς τὸ πᾶν, τὴν δὲ διὰ μέρους οἱ ἐπὶ τούτῳ ταχθέντες ἄγγελοι. ἀλλ᾽ οἱ μὲν λοιποὶ ἐφ᾽ οἷς αὐτοὺς ἐποίησε καὶ διέταξεν ὁ θεὸς ἔμειναν. ὁ δὲ ἐνύβρισε καὶ πονηρὸς περὶ τὴν τῶν πεπιστευμένων ἐγένετο διοίκησιν, φθόνον ἐγκισσήσας καθ' ἡμῶν, ὥσπερ καὶ οἱ μετὰ ταῦτα σαρκῶν ἐρασθέντες καὶ ταῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων εἰς φιληδονίαν ἐνομιλήσαντες θυγατράσιν. αὐθαίρετον γὰρ καὶ αὐτοῖς ἔχειν πρὸς ἑκάτερα διετάξατο βούλησιν ὁ θεὸς, οἷα καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἵν᾿ ἢ πειθόμενοι τῷ λόγῳ συνῶσιν αὐτῷ καὶ ἀπολαύωσι μακαριότητος, ἢ μὴ πειθόμενοι κρίνωνται. ἦν δὲ καὶ ὁ διάβολος ἀστὴρ ἑωσφόρος. »πῶς ἐξέπεσεν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ὁ ἑωσφόρος, ὁ πρωὶ ἀνατέλλων;« ἦν μετὰ τῶν ἀγγέλων ἀνατέλλων τοῦ φωτός, ὡς ἄστρον πρωϊνόν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐξέπεσε καὶ »εἰς τὴν γῆν συνετρίβη«, ἐπιβουλεύσας τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ. τὸ γὰρ θεῖον νεμεσᾷ ἀεὶ »τοῖς ὑπερηφάνοις« καὶ τὰ αὐθάδη φρονήματα κολούει. ἐπέρχεται δέ μοι καὶ ἔμμετρόν τι εἰπεῖν, ὦ πᾶσιν ἀρχὴ καὶ πέρας κακῶν ὄφις, σύ τ᾽ ὦ βαρὺν τίκτουσα θησαυρὸν κακῶν πλάνη, τυφλοῦ ποδηγὲ κἀγνοίας βίου, χαίρουσα θρήνοις καὶ στενάγμασι βροτῶν, ὑμεῖς ἀθέσμους εἰς ὕβρεις ὁμοσπόρων τὰς μισαδέλφους ὁπλίσαντες ὠλένας Κάιν μολῦναι φοινίῳ πρῶτον λύθρῳ ἐπείσατον γῆν, καὶ τὸν ἐξ ἀκηράτων ἐκπεσεῖν αἰώνων πρωτόπλαστον εἰς χθόνα ὑμεῖς ἐτεκτήνασθε. ### English translation (Claude) "What then is the devil?" you will say. A spirit concerned with matter, as Athenagoras too said, made by God, just as the other angels were made by him, and entrusted with the administration of matter and of the forms of matter. For this was how the angels were constituted: they were made by God to exercise providence over the things he had ordered, so that God might hold the universal and general providence over all things, himself keeping the authority and power over everything and steering the universe unswervingly, like a ship, with the helm of his wisdom, while the angels appointed to this task held the providence over particular things. The others remained in the tasks for which God made and appointed them; but he grew insolent and became wicked in the administration of what had been entrusted to him, conceiving envy against us, as did also those who afterwards fell in love with flesh and consorted with the daughters of men for pleasure. For God ordained that they too should have a will of their own choosing, inclined to either side, as with men, so that either, obeying the Word, they might be with him and enjoy blessedness, or, not obeying, they might be judged. The devil, too, was a morning star, a light-bringer. 'How has the morning star fallen from heaven, he that rose early?' He rose with the angels of light, like a morning star; but he fell and 'was crushed to the earth,' having plotted against man. For the divine always resents 'the proud' and cuts down arrogant thoughts. And it occurs to me to say something in verse too: O serpent, beginning and end of all evils for all, and you, Error, who bear a heavy treasure of evils, guide of a blind and ignorant life, who rejoice in the laments and groans of mortals: you armed the brother-hating arms of kinsmen for lawless outrages, and persuaded Cain to be the first to defile the earth with murderous gore; and you contrived that the first-formed man should fall from undefiled ages to the ground. ### Scripture references - Gen 6:2: allusion, high confidence - Isa 14:12: quotation, high confidence - Prov 3:34: echo, medium confidence - Gen 4:8: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Athenagoras, Leg. 24 (A Plea for the Christians): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - This staged unit is really chapter 37 of Book 1 in Bonwetsch (page 277, numeral printed XXXVII), not chapter 36; chapter 36 begins inside ref 1.35. It should be renumbered before publishing. - 'A spirit concerned with matter' is from Athenagoras, Plea 24-25. Gen 6:2 (the sons of God and the daughters of men); Isa 14:12 (Septuagint); Prov 3:34 (cf. Jas 4:6; 1 Pet 5:5); Gen 4:8 (Cain). The phrase rendered 'having plotted against man' is garbled in the OCR and is translated by sense. The verses are iambic trimeters, apparently Methodius's own. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.37 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:277; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-35/#p-1-37). ## Res. 1.38 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-35/#p-1-38 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:280 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The narrator argues that death was given as a remedy, the 'garments of skins' being mortality rather than bodies, so that sin might be destroyed root and all in the body's dissolution and the body raised pure, like a temple freed of a fig tree. ### Greek text Καὶ ὁ μὲν διάβολος οὕτως· ὁ δὲ θάνατος πρὸς ἐπιστροφὴν εὐρέθη, καθάπερ καὶ τοῖς ἀρτιμαθέσι γραμμάτων παιδίοις πρὸς ἐπανόρθωσιν αἱ πληγαί. οὐδὲν γὰρ ἄλλο ὁ θάνατος ἢ διάκρισις καὶ διαχωρισμὸς ψυχῆς ἀπὸ σώματος. Τί οὖν; παραίτιος ὁ θεὸς θανάτου; λέξετε. πάλιν γὰρ ὁ αὐτὸς ἡμῖν ἥκει λόγος. μὴ γένοιτο, ἐπεὶ μηδὲ οἱ διδάσκαλοι προκαθηγουμένως τοῦ ἀλγύνεσθαι ταῖς πληγαῖς τοὺς παῖδας αἴτιοι. καλὸν οὖν ὁ θάνατος, εἰ καθάπερ παισὶ πρὸς ἐπιστροφὴν δίκην πληγῶν εὐρέθη, οὐχ ὁ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ὦ σοφώτατοι, ἀλλ᾽ ὃ τῆς διαζεύξεως τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ τοῦ χωρισμοῦ. αὐτεξούσιος γὰρ ὧν καὶ αὐτοκράτωρ ὁ ἄνθρωπος, καὶ αὐτοδέσποτον βούλησιν καὶ αὐτοπροαίρετον πρὸς τὴν αἵρεσιν, ὡς ἔφην, τοῦ καλοῦ λαβών, ἀκούσας τε »ἀπὸ παντὸς ξύλου τοῦ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ φάγεσθε, ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ ξύλου τοῦ γινώσκειν καλὸν καὶ πονηρὸν οὐ φάγεσθε ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ· ᾗ δ᾽ ἂν ἡμέρᾳ φάγητε ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ, θανάτῳ ἀποθανεῖσθε«, ἐνδοὺς ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ φαγεῖν τῷ διαβόλῳ δεδελεασμένῃ σοφίᾳ ποικίλως πρὸς παρακοὴν πείθοντι, ἠθέτησε τὴν ἐντολὴν τοῦ θεοῦ· καὶ ἐγένετο τοῦτο αὐτῷ εἰς σκάνδαλον καὶ παγίδα καὶ σκῶλον. οὐ γὰρ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς κακόν, οὐδέ ἐστιν τὸ σύνολον ὅλως ἐκ παντὸς εἰς τὸ παράπαν αἴτιος κακοῦ" ἀλλὰ πᾶν ὅπερ ἂν αὐτεξούσιον οὕτως ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ γεγονὸς ἢ πρὸς τὸ φυλάξασθαι καὶ τηρῆσαι νόμον, ὃν αὐτὸς δικαίως διεστείλατο, μὴ τηρῆσαν λέγεται κακόν. βαρυτάτη δὲ βλάβη τὸ παρακοῦσαι θεοῦ, τοὺς ὅρους τῆς κατὰ τὸ αὐτεξούσιον ὑπερβάντα δικαιοσύνης. ὅθεν ἐπειδὴ κατερρυπώθη καὶ κατεμιάνθη τῆς ἀποφάσεως ἀποστατήσας ὁ ἄνθρωπος τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ κηλῖδας ἐναπεμάξατο κακίας πολλῆς. ἃς ὁ ἄρχων τοῦ σκότους ἀπεκύησε καὶ πατὴρ τῆς πλάνης, »πόνον« κατὰ τὴν γραφὴν συλλαβών, ἵνα τὸν ἄνθρωπον φαντάζειν ἀεὶ πρὸς ἀδικίαν ἔχῃ καὶ κινεῖν, ὁ θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ, ἀθάνατον κακὸν ἐξ ἐπιβουλῆς τοῦ διαβόλου ἰδὼν αὐτὸν γεγενημένον, καθάπερ καὶ ὁ διάβολος πλάνος ἦν, τοὺς δερματίνους χιτῶνας διὰ τοῦτο κατεσκεύασεν, οἱονεὶ νεκρότητι (τινὶ) περιβαλὼν αὐτόν, ὅπως διὰ τῆς λύσεως τοῦ σώματος πᾶν τὸ ἐν αὐτῷ γεννηθὲν κακὸν ἀποθάνῃ. Προηπόρηται δὲ ἤδη καὶ ἀπεδείχθη τοὺς δερματίνους χιτῶνας μὴ εἶναι τὰ σώματα. ὅμως δὲ καὶ πάλιν (οὐ γὰρ ἅπαξ ῥητέον) φράζωμεν. αὐτὸς πρὸ τῆς κατασκευῆς αὐτῶν ὁ πρωτόπλαστος ὁμολογεῖ καὶ ὀστᾶ ἔχειν καὶ σάρκας, ὁπότε δὴ τὴν γυναῖκα προσενεχθεῖσαν αὐτῷ θεασάμενος »τοῦτο νῦν ὀστοῦν« ἐφώνησεν »ἐκ τῶν ὀστῶν μου καὶ σὰρξ ἐκ τῆς σαρκός μου· αὕτη κληθήσεται γυνή. ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς αὐτῆς ἐλήφθη. ἕνεκεν τούτου καταλείψει ἄνθρωπος τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν μητέρα, καὶ προσκολληθήσεται τῇ γυναικὶ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἔσονται οἱ δύο εἰς σάρκα μίαν«. οὐ γὰρ δὴ ἀνέξομαι φληναφώντων τινῶν καὶ βιαζομένων ἀπηρυθριασμένως τὴν γραφήν, ἵνα αὐτοῖς δὴ σαρκὸς μὴ εἶναι προχορήσῃ ἡ ἀνάστασις, ὀστᾶ νοητὰ καὶ σάρκας ὑποτιθεμένων, καὶ ἄλλοτε ἄλλως ἄνω καὶ κάτω μεταβαλλομένων ἀλληγορίαις, καὶ ταῦτα οὕτως ὡς γέγραπται παραλαμβάνεσθαι κρατύνοντος τοῦ Χριστοῦ τὴν γραφήν, ἔνθα πυνθανομένοις τοῖς Φαρισαίοις περὶ χωρισμοῦ γυναικὸς ἀποκρίνεται· »οὐκ ἀνέγνωτε ὅτι ἀπ᾿ ἀρχῆς ὁ κτίσας ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ ἐποίησε; καὶ εἶπεν, ἕνεκεν τούτου καταλείψει ἄνθρωπος τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὴν μητέρα« καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. πῶς γὰρ ἐπὶ ψυχῶν μόνων τὸ »αὐξάνεσθε καὶ πληθύνεσθε καὶ πληρώσατε τὴν γῆν« παραληπτέον, ἢ τὸ »ἔλαβε χοῦν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ὁ θεὸς καὶ ἔπλασε τὸν ἄνθρωπον«, ὃ κυρίως ἐπὶ τοῦ σώματος λελέχθαι φαίνεται; οὐ γὰρ ἀπὸ τοῦ χοὸς καὶ τῶν βαρυτέρων τὴν οὐσίαν ἐκτήσατο ἡ ψυχή. ὥστε συνέστηκεν ἐκ παντὸς ἀληθέστατα πρὸ τῶν δερματίνων σεσωματοποιῆσθαι χιτώνων τὸν ἄνθρωπον. ταῦτα γὰρ πρὸ τοῦ ἐκπεσεῖν αὐτὸν ἅπαντα εἴρηται, τὰ δὲ κατὰ τοὺς χιτῶνας μετὰ τὸ ἐκπεσεῖν. Ὅθεν ἴωμεν πάλιν ἐπισκεψόμενοι τὰ ἐν χερσίν, ἱκανῶς ἀποδείξαντες μὴ εἶναι τοὺς δερματίνους χιτῶνας τὰ σώματα, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀλόγου τῶν ζῴων νεκρότητα κατεσκευασμένην· τοῦτο γὰρ λείπεται. ἀμέλει τῶν ὅρων ἕξω τοῦ παραδείσου κατὰ ταύτην ἐξοικίζεται τὴν αἰτίαν" οὐ γάρ, ὅτι μὴ θέλων ὁ θεὸς ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου ὀρέξασθαι τῆς ζωῆς αὐτὸν καὶ φαγεῖν ἐξέβαλεν (ἐδύνατο γὰρ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ζῆν, αὖθις φαγὼν ἀπὸ τῆς ζωῆς), ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα μὴ ἀθάνατον, ὡς ὑπεθέμεθα, γενηθῇ τὸ κακόν. ἐπεὶ διὰ τί τὸν Χριστὸν ἀπὸ τῶν οὐρανῶν ἀπέστειλεν εἰς τὴν γῆν, εἰ ὅλως ἤθελε ζωῆς τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἄγευστον ἀποθανεῖν εἰς τὸ παντελές; εἰ δὲ ἐκ μεταμελείας φαίη τοῦτο πεποιηκέναι τὸν θεὸν ὁ ἀντιλέγων, ἀσθενὴς αὐτῷ ὁ λόγος, μεταγινώσκοντα τὸν θεὸν εἰσάγων. ἀλλ᾽ οὔτε ἀσύνετος τοῦ μέλλοντος ὁ θεὸς οὔτε κακοποιός, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄκρως ἀγαθὸς καὶ προγινώσκων τὰ μέλλοντα. ὥστε οὐκ ἄρα διὰ τὸ μὴ σῴζεσθαι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα φαγόντα αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς ἐξέβαλεν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ νεκρωθῆναι πρῶτον θανάτῳ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, ἵν οὕτως μετὰ τὸ ἀποθανεῖν ἐκτακείσης τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐγερθεὶς ὁ ἄνθρωπος καθαρὸς φάγῃ τῆς ζωῆς. Μηδεὶς δὲ ἀβέλτερος ὧν παρακινδυνευέτο ὡς τούτων ἑτέρως λεχθέντων. ὁ γὰρ ὅλως ὁριζόμενος τὴν σάρκα μὴ εἶναι ταύτην ἀθανασίας δεκτικήν, ὄντως ἀνοίας ὑπεύθυνος ὢν ὅσῳ βλασφημεῖ. διὰ τί γὰρ μετὰ τὴν τῶν χιτώνων τῶν δερματίνων ὁ ᾿Αδὰμ κατασκευὴν ἐκβάλλεται, κωλυόμενος φαγεῖν ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς καὶ ζῆσαι, εἰ ὅλως ἀδύνατον ἦν μετὰ σώματος εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ζῆσαι τὸν ἀνθρωπον; ὡς δυναμένου γὰρ αὐτοῦ μὴ ἀποθανεῖν, ἐὰν ἀπὸ τῆς ζωῆς γεύσηται λαβών, ἡ κώλυσις γίγνεται. φησὶ γάρ᾽ »καὶ ἐποίησε κύριος ὁ θεὸς τῷ ᾿Αδὰμ καὶ τῇ γυναικὶ αὐτοῦ χιτῶνας δερματίνους καὶ ἐνέδυσεν αὐτούς. καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός" ἰδού, γέγονεν ᾿Αδὰμ ὡς εἷς ἐξ ἡμῶν, τοῦ γινώσκειν καλὸν καὶ πονηρόν· καὶ νῦν μή ποτε ἐκτείνῃ τὴν χεῖρα καὶ λάβῃ τοῦ ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς καὶ φάγῃ καὶ ζήσεται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. καὶ ἐξαπέστειλεν αὐτὸν κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἐκ τοῦ παραδείσου τῆς τρυφῆς ἐργάζεσθαι τὴν γῆν, ἐξ ἧς ἐλήφθη, καὶ ἐξέβαλε τὸν Ἀδάμ«. οὐκοῦν ἐδύνατο ζῆν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τὸ σῶμα καὶ ἀθάνατον ἔσεσθαι, εἰ μὴ κεκώλυτο γεύσασθαι τῆς ζωῆς. ἐκωλύθη δέ, ὅπως ἡ μὲν ἁμαρτία συναποκτανθεῖσα τῷ σώματι θάνῃ, τὸ δὲ σῶμα ἀνασταθῇ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἀπολομένης. ἵνα τοίνυν μὴ ἢ κακὸν ἀθάνατον ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ὡς ἔφην. ἢ ἀείζῳον, ἔχων ἐν ἑαυτῷ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν κρατιστεύουσαν, ἅτε ἐν ἀθανάτῳ βλαστήσασαν σώματι καὶ ἀθάνατον ἔχουσαν τὴν τροφήν, ὁ θεὸς αὐτὸν διὰ τοῦτο θνητὸν ἀπεφήνατο νεκρότητι περιβαλών. τοῦτο γὰρ οἱ δερμάτινοι χιτῶνες ἐβούλοντο, ἵνα δὴ διὰ τῆς λύσεως τοῦ σώματος καὶ τῆς διαιρέσεως ἡ ἁμαρτία κάτωθεν αὐτόπρεμνος πᾶσα διαφθαρῇ, ὡς μηδὲ κἂν βραχύτατον ῥίζης ἐαθῆναι μέρος, ἀφ᾽ οὗ νέαι βλάσται πάλιν ἁμαρτημάτων ἀναβήσονται. Καθάπερ γὰρ ὁπότ᾽ ἂν ἐν οἰκοδομήμασι ναῶν καλοῖς συκῆ (ἢ) γεννηθεῖσα καὶ εἰς ἔκτασιν καὶ μέγεθος εὐτροφήσασα, καὶ περὶ πάσας τὰς ἁρμονίας πολυκλημάτοις ῥίζαις τῶν λίθων κεχυμένη, οὐ πρότερον τοῦ φύειν στέλλεται, ἔστ᾽ ἂν πᾶσα ἀποσπασθῇ, λυθέντων τῶν καθ᾽ οὓς ἐβλάστησε τόπους τῶν λίθων (δυνατὸν γὰρ πάλιν εἰς τοὺς ἑαυτῶν ἐναρμοσθῆναι τόπους τοὺς λίθους, τῆς συκῆς ἀφῃρημένης, πῶς ὁ μὲν ναὺς σῴζηται, μηδὲν τῶν ἀφανιζόντων αὐτὴν κακῶν ἐν ἑαυτῷ μηκέτι φέρων, ἡ δὲ συκῆ πᾶσα προθέλυμνος ἀποσπασθεῖσα ἀποθάνῃ), κατὰ ταὐτὰ καὶ ὁ θεὸς ὁ τεχνίτης τὸν ἑαυτοῦ νεὼν τὸν ἄνθρωπον, δίκην ἀγρίας συκῆς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν βλαστήσαντα, διέλυσε θανάτου προσκαίροις προσβολαῖς »ἀποκτέννων«, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον, »καὶ ζῳοποιῶν«, ἵνα πάλιν τῶν αὐτῶν ἡ σὰρξ μερῶν, μετὰ τὸ ξηρανθῆναι καὶ ἀποθανεῖν τὸ ἁμάρτημα, δίκην ἀνακαινοποιηθέντος ναοῦ ἀθάνατος καὶ ἀπήμων ἐγερθῇ, τελέως ἐκ βάθρων ἀπολομένης τῆς ἁμαρτίας. ζῶντος γὰρ ἔτι τοῦ σώματος πρὸ τοῦ τεθνήξεσθαι συζῆν ἀνάγκη καὶ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, ἔνδον τὰς ῥίζας αὐτῆς ἐν ἡμῖν ἀποκρύπτουσαν, εἰ καὶ ἔξωθεν τομαῖς ταῖς ἀπὸ τῶν σωφρονισμῶν καὶ τῶν νουθετήσεων ἀνεστέλλετο, ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἂν ἔτι μετὰ τὸ φωτισθῆναι συνέβαινεν ἀδικεῖν, ἅτε παντάπασιν εἰλικρινῶς ἀφῃρημένης ἀφ᾽ ἡμῶν τῆς ἁμαρτίας. νῦν δὲ καὶ μετὰ τὸ πιστεῦσαι καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ὕδωρ ἐλθεῖν τοῦ ἁγνισμοῦ πολλάκις ἐν ἁμαρτίαις ὄντες εὑρισκόμεθα. οὐδεὶς γὰρ οὕτως ἁμαρτίας ἐκτὸς εἶναι ἑαυτὸν καυχήσεται, ὡς μηδὲ κἂν ἐνθυμηθῆναι τὸ σύνολον ὅλως τὴν ἀδικίαν. ὥστε συνέστηκε συστέλλεσθαι μὲν καὶ κατευνάζεσθαι τῇ πίστει νῦν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν εἰς τὸ μὴ οἶσαι καρποὺς βλαβοποιούς, οὐ μὴν ἀνῃρῆσθαι καὶ τῶν ῥιζῶν ἄχρις. νῦν μὲν γὰρ ἐνταῦθα τὰς βλάστας αὐτῆς, οἷον τὰς ἐνθυμήσεις τὰς πονηράς, συστέλλομεν, »μή τις ῥίζα πικρίας ἄνω φύουσα ἐνοχλῇ«, μὴ ἐῶντες ἀναμύειν καὶ διοίγνυσθαι τὰ μεμυχότα στόμια πρὸς τὰς ἐκφύσεις, τοῦ λόγου δίκην ἀξίνης τὰς ῥίζας αὐτῆς τὰς κάτω φυομένας τέμνοντος" τότε δὲ καὶ τὸ ὅλως ἐνθυμηθήσεσθαι περὶ κακίας ἀφανισθήσεται. ### English translation (Claude) "So much for the devil. But death was devised for conversion, just as blows are for the correction of children who have newly begun to learn their letters. For death is nothing other than the separation and parting of the soul from the body. 'What then? Is God the cause of death?' you will say; for the same argument comes round to us again. God forbid; for teachers too are not primarily the cause of children's being pained by blows. Death, then, is good, if it was devised for conversion, like blows for children: not the death of sin, most wise friends, but the death that is the separation and parting of the flesh. For man was free and his own master, and had received, as I said, a will of his own and self-chosen for the choice of the good. He heard, 'From every tree that is in the paradise you shall eat; but from the tree of knowing good and evil you shall not eat of it; in the day you eat of it, you shall surely die.' Yet he gave in to the devil, who persuaded him in various ways to disobedience with a beguiling wisdom, so that he ate of it; and he set aside God's commandment, and this became for him a stumbling-block and a snare and an offence. For God did not make evil, nor is he in any way at all the cause of evil; but whatever has been made free by him in this way, for keeping and guarding the law that he justly ordained, and does not keep it, is called evil. And the gravest harm is to disobey God, overstepping the bounds of the justice that belongs to free will. Hence, since man had been defiled and polluted by turning away from God's decree, and had taken on the stains of much wickedness which the ruler of darkness and father of error brought forth, having 'conceived toil,' as Scripture says, so as always to have the means of stirring up and moving man toward injustice, God the Almighty, seeing that by the devil's plot he had become an immortal evil, as the devil too was a deceiver, made the garments of skins for this reason, clothing him as it were with mortality, so that through the dissolution of the body all the evil begotten in him might die. [39] "It has already been raised as a question and shown that the garments of skins are not the bodies. Nevertheless let us speak of it again, for it must not be said only once. Before they were made, the first-formed man himself acknowledges that he has both bones and flesh, when, seeing the woman brought to him, he cried out: 'This now is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken from her man. For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' I will not put up with some who talk nonsense and shamelessly do violence to Scripture, so that their notion that the resurrection is not of the flesh may succeed: they suppose bones and flesh to be only figurative, and turn them now one way and now another, up and down, by allegories. Yet Christ confirms that these words are to be taken as they are written, where, when the Pharisees ask him about the putting away of a wife, he answers: 'Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother,' and so on. For how could 'Increase and multiply and fill the earth' be understood of souls alone, or 'God took dust from the earth and formed man,' which plainly refers properly to the body? For the soul did not get its substance from dust and the heavier elements. So it is established most truly on every ground that man was embodied before the garments of skins. For all these things were said before his fall, and what concerns the garments after the fall. Let us go, then, to consider again the matter in hand, having sufficiently shown that the garments of skins are not the bodies but the mortality made from the irrational animals; for that is what remains. It is indeed for this reason that he is moved out beyond the bounds of paradise. For it was not because God did not want him to reach out to the tree of life and eat that he cast him out (for he could have lived forever, if he had eaten again of the tree of life), but so that evil might not become immortal, as we have laid down. Otherwise why did he send Christ from heaven to earth, if he wanted man to die altogether without tasting life? And if the objector should say that God did this out of repentance, his argument is weak, since it brings in a God who changes his mind. But God is neither ignorant of the future nor a doer of evil; he is supremely good and foreknows what is to come. So it was not to keep him from being preserved forever by eating from the tree of life that he cast him out, but so that sin might first be put to death by death, and that thus, after sin had wasted away in death, man might be raised pure and eat of life. [40] "Let no one, in his foolishness, run the risk of thinking that these things were said in any other sense. For whoever altogether defines this flesh as incapable of immortality is truly guilty of folly, and how great is his blasphemy! For why is Adam cast out after the making of the garments of skins, prevented from eating of the tree of life and living, if it was altogether impossible for man to live forever with a body? The prohibition is made because he could have escaped death, if he had taken and tasted of life. For it says: 'And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife garments of skins and clothed them. And God said, Behold, Adam has become like one of us, in knowing good and evil; and now, lest he stretch out his hand and take of the tree of life and eat and live forever. And the Lord God sent him out of the paradise of delight to till the earth from which he was taken, and he cast Adam out.' The body, then, could have lived forever and been immortal, if it had not been prevented from tasting of life. But it was prevented so that sin, being killed together with the body, might die, and the body might be raised after sin had perished. So, in order that man might not be an immortal or ever-living evil, as I said, having sin prevailing in him, since it had sprung up in an immortal body and had immortal nourishment, God for this reason pronounced him mortal, clothing him with mortality. For this is what the garments of skins were meant for: that through the dissolution and division of the body, sin might be wholly destroyed from below, root and all, so that not even the smallest part of a root might be left from which new shoots of sins might spring up again. [41] "For just as, when a fig tree has sprung up in the beautiful buildings of a temple and has grown well in extent and size, and has spread with many-branched roots over all the joints of the stones, it does not stop growing until it is entirely torn out, the stones in the places where it sprouted being loosened (for once the fig tree is removed the stones can be fitted again into their own places, so that the temple is preserved, no longer bearing within itself any of the evils that would destroy it, while the fig tree, torn out root and all, dies), in the same way God the craftsman dissolved his own temple, man, when he had sprouted sin like a wild fig tree, by the temporary assaults of death, 'killing,' as it is written, 'and making alive,' so that the flesh, after sin has withered and died, may be raised again from the same parts, like a renewed temple, immortal and unharmed, sin having perished completely from its foundations. For while the body is still living, before it has died, sin must live along with it, hiding its roots within us, even if outwardly it is checked by the prunings of corrections and admonitions; otherwise it would not happen that we do wrong after being enlightened, since sin would have been taken away from us altogether and completely. But now, even after believing and coming to the water of purification, we are often found in sins. For no one will boast of being so free from sin as not even to think of injustice at all. So it is established that sin is now restrained and lulled to sleep by faith, so that it does not bear harmful fruits, but it is not taken away down to the roots. For now we restrain its shoots here, such as evil thoughts, 'lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble,' not allowing the closed mouths of its buds to open and unclose into shoots, while the Word, like an axe, cuts its roots that grow below; but then even thinking about evil at all will disappear." ### Scripture references - Gen 2:16: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:17: quotation, high confidence - Rom 11:9: echo, medium confidence - Ps 7:14 (7:15 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:21: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:23: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:24: quotation, high confidence - Matt 19:4: quotation, high confidence - Matt 19:5: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:28: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:7: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:22: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:23: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:24: quotation, high confidence - Deut 32:39: quotation, high confidence - Heb 12:15: quotation, high confidence - Matt 3:10: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - This staged unit begins with chapter 38 of Book 1 in Bonwetsch (page 280, numeral printed XXXVIII), not chapter 37; staged '1.36' is chapter 37. The OCR lost the headings of chapters 39, 40 and 41 (garbled numerals are removed by logged corrections); they begin at "[39]", "[40]" and "[41]". - 'Being enlightened' and 'the water of purification' refer to baptism. Gen 2:16-17; Rom 11:9 (Ps 69:22); Ps 7:14 (LXX 7:15); Gen 3:21; Gen 2:23-24; Matt 19:4-5; Gen 1:28; Gen 2:7; Gen 3:21-24; Deut 32:39 (cf. 1 Sam 2:6); Heb 12:15; Matt 3:10. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.38 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:280; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-35/#p-1-38). ## Res. 1.42 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-35/#p-1-42 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:287 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The narrator cites Paul's struggle with indwelling sin to show that sin's root remains until death, and compares death and resurrection to a craftsman recasting a damaged statue or a potter remaking a vessel. ### Greek text Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀμάρτυρος ὃ λόγος γραφῶν τοῖς βουλομένοις εἰλικρινῶς τὸ ἀληθὲς λέγειν, ἐπεὶ οἶδεν ὁ ἀπόστολος μηδέπω τὴν ῥίζαν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὁλοσχερῶς ἀνῃρημένην, ὁτὲ μὲν φράζων »οἶδα γὰρ ὅτι οὐκ οἰκεῖ ἐν ἐμοί, τουτέστιν ἐν τῇ σαρκί μου, τὸ ἀγαθόν· τὸ γὰρ θέλειν παράκειταί μοι, τὸ δὲ κατεργάζεσθαι τὸ καλὸν οὔ. οὐ γὰρ ὃ θέλω ποιῶ ἀγαθόν, ἀλλ᾽ ὃ οὐ θέλω κακὸν τοῦτο πράσσω. εἰ δὲ ὃ οὐ θέλω τοῦτο ποιῶ, οὐκέτι κατεργάζομαι αὐτό, ἀλλ᾽ ἡ οἰκοῦσα ἐν ἐμοὶ ἁμαρτία«, ὁτὲ δέ »συνήδομαι τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ θεοῦ κατὰ τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον· βλέπω δὲ ἕτερον νόμον ἐν τοῖς μέλεσί μου, ἀντιστρατευόμενον τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ νοός μου, καὶ ἐκ παντὸς αἰχμαλωτίζοντά με τῷ νόμῳ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τῷ ὄντι ἐν τοῖς μέλεσί μου«. οὕτως οὐδέπω τὴν ἁμαρτίαν αὐτόπρεμνον ἐκ ῥιζῶν διακοπῆναι συνέβη, ἀλλὰ ζῆν (οὐ γὰρ εἰς τέλος ἀπέθανεν· πῶς γὰρ πρὸ τοῦ περιβεβλῆσθαι θανάτῳ τὸν ἄνθρωπον;), ἵνα αὐτῷ συμμαρανθεῖσα καὶ συμφθινήσασα αὐτὴ μὲν εἰς ἄρδην ἀπόληται καὶ διαφθαρῇ καθάπερ φυτόν, λυθέντος ἐν ᾧ κρύπτουσα τὰς ῥίζας, ὡς ἔφην, ἑαυτῆς διεσῴζετο, ὁ δὲ ἄνθρωπος αὖθις μηκέτι »ῥίζαν« ἐνθωπεύουσαν »πικρίας« ἔχων ἐξεγερθῇ ὥσπερ ναός. ἀλεξιφαρμάκου γὰρ τρόπον ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀλεξητῆρος ἡμῶν ἀληθῶς καὶ ἰατροῦ θεοῦ πρὸς ἐκρίζωσιν τῆς ἁμαρτίας παρελήφθη ὃ θάνατος καὶ ἀφανισμόν. ἵνα μὴ διαιωνίζον ἐν ἡμῖν εἴη τὸ κακὸν ἀθάνατον ἅτε ἐν ἀθανάτοις ἀνατεῖλαν, αὐτοὶ δὲ λελωβημένοι καὶ ἐκστάντες, νοσούντων τρόπον, τῆς οἰκείας ἀρετῆς ἐπὶ πολὺ διατρίβωμεν, ἅτε ἐν ὑφεστηκόσιν ἀεὶ καὶ ἀθανάτοις σώμασι τὴν κατὰ τὸ ἁμάρτημα μεγάλην τρέφοντες νόσον. διὸ δὴ καλῶς ταύτην πρὸς ἄμφω σωτηρίαν καὶ ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος, φαρμακευτικῆς τρόπον καθάρσεως, τὸν θάνατον ὁ θεὸς ἐμηχανήσατο, ἵνα πανάμωμοι καὶ ἀσινεῖς οὕτως ἐξεργασθῶμεν. Φέρε γάρ, ἐπειδὴ πολλῶν δεῖ τῶν περὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα παραδειγμάτων, ἐντεῦθεν αὐτὰ μάλιστα σκεπτώμεθα, μὴ ἀφιστάμενοι, πρὶν ἂν πρῶτον εἰς εὐδηλοτέραν ἑρμηνείαν ἀποτελευτήσῃ καὶ ἀπόδειξιν ὁ λόγος. φαίνεται τοίνυν, ὥσπερ εἴ τις δημιουργὸς ἄκρος ἄγαλμα καλόν, ἀπὸ χρυσοῦ κατεσκευασμένον ἢ ὕλης ἑτέρας αὐτῷ καὶ πάντα τὰ μέλη συμμέτρως εἰς κάλλος διακεκοσμημένον, πάλιν χωνεύοι, λελωβημένον ἄφνω θεασάμενος ὑπό τινος ἀνθρώπου πονηροτάτου, ὃς οὐκ ἐνεγκὼν ὑπὸ βασκανίας εὐπρεπὲς εἶναι τὸ ἄγαλμα, ἐσίνατο, ματαίαν ἡδονὴν καρπιζόμενος τοῦ φθόνου (πρόσσχες γάρ, ὦ σοφώτατε Ἀγλαοφῶν, ὅτι, εἰ βούλοιτο μὴ εἶναι σεσινωμένον ὅλως ὁ δημιουργὸς καὶ ψεκτὸν τὸ μετὰ τοσαύτης αὐτῷ σπουδῆς τε καὶ φροντίδος πεπονημένον, πάλιν προτραπήσεται συγχωνεύσας αὐτὸ τοιοῦτο ποιεῖν οἷον καὶ πρόσθεν ἦν. εἰ δὲ μὴ ἀναχωνεύοι μηδὲ ἀνασκευάζοι --- ἐῴη δὲ μένειν --- θεραπεύων αὐτὸ καὶ ἐπανορθούμενος, ἀνάγκη δὴ πυρακτούμενον καὶ χαλκευόμενον τὸ ἄγαλμα μηκέτι δύνασθαι διατηρηθῆναι τὸ αὐτό, ἀλλὰ διηλλαγμένον ἔσεσθαι καὶ ὑπεσπασμένον) διὰ τοῦτο, εἰ βούλοιτο ὅλον καλὸν αὐτὸ καὶ ἄμωμον εἶναι τὸ ἔργον, ἀναθλᾶσθαι αὐτὸ καὶ ἀναχωνεύεσθαι δεῖ, ὅπως τὰ μὲν αἴσχη καὶ τὰ ἀλλοιώματα πάντα τὰ ἐξ ἐπιβουλῆς αὐτῷ καὶ φθόνου ὑπάρξαντα αὐτὰ μὲν διὰ τῆς ἀνασκευῆς καὶ ἀναχωνεύσεως ἀπόληται, τὸ δὲ εἰς τὸ ἑαυτοῦ εἶδος ἀσινὲς καὶ ἀκίβδηλον τὸ ἄγαλμα ὁμοιότατον ἑαυτῷ κατασταθῇ (τῷ μὲν γὰρ ἀγάλματι ἀπολέσθαι μὲν οὐκ ἔστιν ὑπὸ τῷ αὐτῷ τεχνίτῃ, κἂν πάλιν εἰς ὕλην χυθῇ, ἀποκατασταθῆναι δὲ ἔστιν· τοῖς δὲ αἴσχεσι καὶ λωβήμασιν ἀπολέσθαι μὲν ἔστιν --- τήκονται γάρ --- ἀποκατασταθῆναι δὲ οὐκ ἔστιν, διὰ τὸ ἐν πάσῃ τέχνῃ τὸν ἄριστον δημιουργὸν μὴ πρὸς τὸ αἴσχιον ἢ ἀπηχθημένον ὁρᾶν, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ σύμμετρον καὶ εὐθὲς τοῦ δημιουργουμένου) — ταὐτὸν ἄρα φαίνεται δή μοι καὶ ἐφ᾽ ἡμῶν ὁ θεὸς διῳκονομηκέναι. τὸν γὰρ ἄνθρωπον, τὸ εὐπρεπέστατον ἑαυτοῦ τέχνημα, βασκάνοις ἐπιβουλαῖς φθόνου κεκακωμένον ἰδὼν οὐχ ἠνέσχετο τοιοῦτον καταλεῖψαι, φιλάνθρωπος ὤν, ὅπως μὴ δι αἰῶνος εἴη μεμωμημένος, ἀθάνατον ἔχων ἐν ἑαυτῷ τὸν ψόγον, ἀλλὰ διέλυσεν εἰς ὕλην πάλιν, ἵνα διὰ τῆς ἀναπλάσεως ἐκτακῶσι καὶ ἐξαφανισθῶσι πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ μωμήματα. τὸ γὰρ ἐκεῖ ἀναχωνευθῆναι τὸν ἀνδριάντα τοῦτο ἐνταῦθα ἀποθανεῖν καὶ διαλυθῆναι τὸ σῶμα· τὸ δὲ ἐκεῖ ἀναμορφοποιηθῆναι τὴν ὕλην ἢ ἀνακοσμηθῆναι, τοῦτο ἐνταῦθα τὸ ἀναστῆναι. ὥσπερ καὶ ὁ προφήτης Ἱερεμίας· τούτοις γὰρ ἤδη καὶ αὐτὸς ὧδε τὰ αὐτὰ παρεγγυᾷ, »καὶ κατέβην« λέγων »εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ κεραμέως· καὶ ἰδού, αὐτὸς ἐποίει ἔργον ἐπὶ τῶν λίθων, καὶ διέπεσε τὸ ἀγγεῖον ὁ αὐτὸς ἐποίει ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτοῦ, καὶ πάλιν ἐποίησεν αὐτὸ ἀγγεῖον ἕτερον, καθὼς ἤρεσεν ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ τοῦ ποιῆσαι. καὶ ἐγένετο λόγος κυρίου πρός με λέγων· εἰ καθὼς ὁ κεραμεὺς οὗτος οὐ δυνήσομαι τοῦτο ποιῆσαι ὑμᾶς, οἶκος τοῦ Ἰσραήλ; ἰδού, ὡς ὁ πηλὸς τοῦ κεραμέως ὑμεῖς ἐστε ἐν ταῖς χερσί μου.« ### English translation (Claude) "For the argument is not without the witness of the Scriptures for those who wish to speak the truth sincerely, since the apostle too knew that the root of sin had not yet been wholly removed from men, saying at one time, 'For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but to accomplish the good is not. For the good that I will, I do not do; but the evil that I do not will, that I practise. But if I do what I do not will, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me'; and at another, 'I delight in the law of God according to the inner man; but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and taking me captive to the law of sin that is in my members.' So it has not yet come about that sin is cut off root and all, from its roots; it lives (for it has not died completely; how could it, before man was clothed with death?), so that, withering and wasting away together with him, it may itself be utterly destroyed and perish like a plant once that in which it was preserved, hiding its roots, as I said, has been dissolved, and man may be raised up again like a temple, no longer having 'a root of bitterness' lurking within him. For death was adopted by God, our true helper and physician, like a remedy, for the uprooting and destruction of sin, so that evil might not be everlasting and immortal in us, having sprung up in immortal beings, and so that we ourselves, maimed and fallen away from our own virtue like the sick, might not spend a long time nursing the great disease of sin in bodies that always subsist and are immortal. That is why God fittingly devised this death for the salvation of both soul and body, like a medicinal purging, so that we might thus be made entirely blameless and unharmed. [43] "Come, then, since many examples are needed in such matters, let us consider them from this point especially, not desisting until the argument first arrives at a clearer explanation and proof. It appears, then, as if a master craftsman were to melt down again a beautiful statue, made by him of gold or some other material and with all its members proportionately arranged for beauty, upon suddenly seeing it mutilated by some most wicked man who, unable from envy to bear that the statue should be beautiful, damaged it, reaping the vain pleasure of his envy. (For note, most wise Aglaophon, that if the craftsman wished that what he had laboured on with such zeal and care should not be damaged at all or open to blame, he will be impelled to melt it down and make it such as it was before. But if he did not recast it or remake it, but let it remain, repairing and mending it, then the statue, heated in the fire and hammered, could no longer be kept the same, but would be altered and diminished.) For this reason, if he wished the work to be wholly beautiful and blameless, it must be broken up and recast, so that all the disfigurements and alterations that came upon it from plotting and envy may perish through the remaking and recasting, while the statue is restored to its own form, unharmed and unalloyed, as like itself as possible. (For the statue cannot perish under the same craftsman, even if it is poured back into its material, but it can be restored; whereas the disfigurements and injuries can perish, for they melt away, but cannot be restored, because in every art the best craftsman looks not at what is ugly or hateful but at what is proportionate and right in the thing he makes.) This, then, seems to me to be what God has also arranged in our case. For seeing man, his most comely work, damaged by the envious plots of jealousy, he could not bear, being a lover of man, to leave him so, lest he be blemished forever, having the blame in himself immortal; but he dissolved him again into his material, so that through the remoulding all the blemishes in him might melt away and vanish. For the recasting of the statue there corresponds to the death and dissolution of the body here; and the reshaping or re-adorning of the material there to the rising here. So the prophet Jeremiah too, who already recommends the same things in these words: 'And I went down,' he says, 'to the potter's house; and behold, he was making a work on the stones, and the vessel which he was making fell apart in his hands, and he made it again into another vessel, as it pleased him to make it. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Shall I not be able to do to you as this potter does, house of Israel? Behold, as the clay of the potter, so are you in my hands.'" ### Scripture references - Rom 7:18: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:19: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:20: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:22: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:23: quotation, high confidence - Heb 12:15: quotation, high confidence - Jer 18:3: quotation, high confidence - Jer 18:4: quotation, high confidence - Jer 18:5: quotation, high confidence - Jer 18:6: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The OCR lost the heading of chapter 43 (a garbled numeral is removed by a logged correction); the chapter begins at "[43]". - Rom 7:18-20; Rom 7:22-23; Heb 12:15; Jer 18:3-6 (Septuagint). ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.42 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:287; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-35/#p-1-42). ## Res. 1.44 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-35/#p-1-44 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:292 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God, like a potter, remoulds man through death to raise each to honour or dishonour, while our part is to keep the root of sin from bearing fruit, for which we are answerable. ### Greek text Πρόσσχες γὰρ ὅπως, ὡς ἔφην, μετὰ τὸ παραβῆναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἡ μεγάλη χεὶρ εἰς νῖκος καταλεῖψαι τὸ ἑαυτῆς ἔργον οὐκ ηὐδόκησεν ὡς κίβδηλον τῷ πονηρῷ ἀδίκως αὐτὸ λυμηναμένῳ βασκάνοις αἰτίαις, ἀλλὰ ἀνατήξας ἀνέδευσεν αὖθις εἰς πηλόν, οἷα κεραμεὺς ὁ ἀναπλάσσων ἄγγος, πρὸς τὸ ἀφανισθῆναι μὲν διὰ τῆς ἀναπλάσεως πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ αἴσχη καὶ θλάσματα, γενηθῆναι δὲ τὸ πᾶν ἄνωθεν ἀμέμπτως ἀρεστόν. ἢ »οὐκ ἔχει ἐξουσίαν ὁ κεραμεὺς τοῦ πηλοῦ ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ φυράματος ποιῆσαι σκεῦος, ὃ μὲν εἰς τιμήν, ὃ δὲ εἰς ἀτιμίαν;« ὃ δή ἐστι (τοῦτο γὰρ παντάπασιν ὁ ἀπόστολός μοι δηλοῦν φαίνεται) μή τι ἐξουσίαν οὐκ ἔχει ὁ θεὸς ἀπὸ τῆς ὕλης ἑκάστου τῆς αὐτῆς ἀναπλάσας καὶ ἀνακοσμήσας ἰδίως ἕκαστον ἡμῶν ἢ εἰς τιμὴν ἀναστῆσαι καὶ δόξαν, ἢ εἰς ἀτιμίαν καὶ κατάκρισιν; εἰς ἀτιμίαν μὲν τὸν ἐν ἁμαρτίαις φαύλως βιώσαντα, εἰς τιμὴν δὲ τὸν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ. καθάπερ ἐδηλώθη καὶ τῷ Δανιήλ, »καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν καθευδόντων ἐν γῆς χώματι« λέγοντι »ἐξεγερθήσονται, οὗτοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον. καὶ οὗτοι εἰς ὀνειδισμὸν καὶ αἰσχύνην αἰώνιον, καὶ οἱ συνιέντες ἐκλάμψουσιν ὡς ἡ λαμπρότης τοῦ στερεώματος«. ἐφ᾽ ἡμῖν γὰρ οὐ τὸ ἀφανίσαι τὴν ῥίζαν τελείως τῆς πονηρίας, ἀλλὰ τὸ μὴ πρὸς ἔκτασιν αὐτὴν ἐᾶσαι φῦναι καὶ καρποφορεῖν. ἡ μὲν γὰρ καθόλου καὶ παντελικὴ αὐταῖς ῥίζαις αὐτῆς ἀναίρεσίς τε καὶ ἀπώλεια ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ σώματος, ὡς εἴρηται, διάλυσιν γίγνεται, ἡ δὲ ἐκ μέρους πρὸς τὸ μὴ οἶσαι βλαστὸν ὑφ᾽ ἡμῶν. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τὸν ἐκθρέψαντα πρὸς αὔξησιν αὐτὴν μᾶλλον καὶ μέγεθος, ἀλλὰ μὴ στειρώσαντα τὸ ὅσον ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ καὶ συμπιλήσαντα ἀνάγκη διδόναι δίκην, ὅτι δυνάμενος καὶ ἔχων πρὸς τοῦτο τὴν ἐξουσίαν εἵλατο τὸ βλάπτον πρὸ τοῦ συμφέροντος μᾶλλον τιμῆσαι. ### English translation (Claude) "For observe how, as I said, after man had transgressed, the great Hand did not consent to leave its own work as a trophy of victory to the wicked one, who had unjustly damaged it for envious reasons, as something counterfeit; but it melted it down and turned it back again into clay, as a potter remoulds a vessel, so that through the remoulding all the disfigurements and bruises in it might vanish, and the whole might be made anew, blamelessly pleasing. 'Or does the potter not have authority over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honour and another for dishonour?' That is to say (for this is plainly what the apostle seems to me to show): has God no authority, having remoulded and re-adorned each of us individually from the same material of each, to raise us either to honour and glory or to dishonour and condemnation? To dishonour the one who lived wickedly in sins, and to honour the one who lived in righteousness. As was revealed to Daniel too: 'And many of those who sleep in the mound of the earth,' he says, 'will awake, these to everlasting life, and these to reproach and everlasting shame; and those who understand will shine like the brightness of the firmament.' For it is not in our power to destroy the root of wickedness completely, but only not to let it grow to its full extent and bear fruit. For its general and total removal and destruction, roots and all, is brought about by God at the dissolution of the body, as has been said; but the partial removal, so that it may not put out a shoot, is brought about by us. And for this reason the one who has nourished it to growth and size, instead of making it barren and keeping it down as far as lay in him, must pay the penalty, because, being able to do so and having the authority, he chose to honour what harms rather than what profits." ### Scripture references - Rom 9:21: quotation, high confidence - Dan 12:2: quotation, high confidence - Dan 12:3: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Rom 9:21; Dan 12:2-3 (in the form of Theodotion's Greek, 'the mound of the earth'). The interpretation of Rom 9:21 as a remoulding of each person from his own material is Methodius's. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.44 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-35/#p-1-44). ## Res. 1.45 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-35/#p-1-45 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:294 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: No one may blame God for the punishment he chose by his own free will; death, like bitter medicine, serves our good, as the song of Deuteronomy confirms. ### Greek text Ὥστε μηδείς, αὐτὸς αἴτιος ὧν, ἀκολάστῳ γλώσσῃ μεμφέσθω τὴν θείαν φύσιν, ὡς οὐκ ἐν δίκῃ διανέμουσαν ἑκάστῳ κακίας καὶ ἀρετῆς τὰ ἀμοιβαῖα. »τίς γὰρ εἰ, ὦ ἄνθρωπε, ὁ ἀνταποκρινόμενος τῷ θεῷ; μὴ ἐρεῖ τὸ πλάσμα τῷ πλάσαντι· τί με ἐποίησας οὕτως ἢ οὕτως;« πῶς γάρ, ὁπότε αὐτοδεσπότῳ βουλῇ κακίαν εἵλατο; διὸ καὶ οὐ λέξει δικαιοσύνης δόγμασιν ἀπαραλλάκτοις κρίνοντι τῷ θεῷ· »τί με ἐποίησας οὕτως« κατακριθέντα εἰς τὸ ἀλγύνεσθαι; πρόσσχες γὰρ ὅπως ὥσπερ ἀκοντιστὴς ὁ ἀπόστολος δεινὸς συνεστραμμένα ῥήματα τῶν λόγων εἰς μέσον ἐμβαλὼν ἀσαφῆ μὲν καὶ ἐπικεκαλυμμένην ποιεῖται εἰς βάθος τῶν ἀναγνωσμάτων τὴν ἐξεργασίαν, ἀληθεστάτην δὲ καὶ ὀρθόδοξον καὶ μηδὲν ἔχουσαν ἀπημελημένον ἢ δύσφημον. τοῖς μὲν γὰρ μὴ μετὰ σπουδῆς ἀλλὰ ἀγεννῶς ἐγκύπτουσι τοῖς λόγοις ἀσυνάρτητα ἔσθ᾽ ὅτε δοκεῖ καὶ ἀσύμφωνα λέγειν, τοῖς δ᾽ αὖ σπουδαίως καὶ λογισμῷ νήφοντι ὁπόσης τάξεως ἔμπλεα καὶ ἀληθείας. μετ᾽ ἀκριβείας μὲν οὖν περὶ τούτων διεξιέναι τὰ νῦν ἱκανὸν ἂν γένοιτο αὐτὸ καθ' ἑαυτὸ μόνον ἔργον. καὶ γὰρ γελοῖον καταλείψαντας τὴν σκέψιν, ἧς ἕνεκα ταύτην ἐστειλάμεθα, εἰς ἄλλα μετιέναι. ταῦτα γὰρ ἡμῖν εἴρηται διὰ τὴν τῶν ἐθελοκακούντων τιμωρὸν δίκην. ἀποδειχθέντος τοίνυν ἐνδηλότατα τὸν θάνατον τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ μεμηχανῆσθαι μὴ ἐπὶ κακῷ τινι, ἀλλὰ ἐπ᾿ ἀγαθῷ, χρὴ λοιπὸν τὸν μὴ φαύλως τούτοις ἐγκύπτοντα περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως νοεῖν τοῦ σώματος. πῶς γὰρ οὐκ ὠφέλιμος ὁ θάνατος, διαφθείρων ἡμῶν τὰ ληΐζοντα τὴν φύσιν, εἰ καὶ παρὰ τὸν καιρὸν ἐπεχθής. καθ'᾽ ὃν προσφέρεσθαι δοκεῖ καθάπερ αὐστηρότατον τῷ νοσοῦντι φάρμακον; καὶ ἵνα μὴ πολλάκις τὰ αὐτὰ περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν διαλεγώμεθα. φέρε καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ᾠδῆς ἔτι τοῦ Δευτερονομίου βεβαιώσαντες τὸν λόγον ἴωμεν τὰ ἑξῆς διαληφόμενοι. ### English translation (Claude) "So let no one, being himself the cause, blame the divine nature with unbridled tongue, as though it did not justly distribute to each the wages of vice and virtue. 'For who are you, O man, who answer back to God? Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, Why did you make me thus or thus?' How could it, when it chose evil by its own self-governing will? Therefore it will not say to God, who judges by the unvarying decrees of justice, 'Why did you make me thus,' when it has been condemned to suffer pain. For observe how the apostle, like a skilled javelin-thrower, casting compact words into the midst, makes the working-out of what he writes obscure and veiled in depth, yet most true and orthodox, with nothing in it careless or ill-spoken. To those who stoop over his words not earnestly but carelessly he sometimes seems to say things disconnected and discordant; but to those who read earnestly and with sober reason, how full of order and truth they are! To go through these matters with exactness now would be a sufficient task by itself; and it would be ridiculous to leave the inquiry for whose sake we set out and to pass on to other things. These things have been said by us because of the punishment that justice inflicts on those who choose to be evil. Since, then, it has been shown most clearly that death was devised for man not for any evil but for good, whoever studies these matters without carelessness must now consider the resurrection of the body. For how is death not beneficial, since it destroys what plunders our nature, even if it is hateful at the time when it seems to be applied, like a most bitter medicine to the sick? And so that we may not discuss the same things often about the same matters, come, let us confirm the argument from the song in Deuteronomy as well, and go on to take up what follows." ### Scripture references - Rom 9:20: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Rom 9:20 (cf. Isa 29:16; 45:9). 'The song in Deuteronomy' is Deut 32, whose verse 39 is quoted in the next chapter. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.45 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:294; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-35/#p-1-45). ## Res. 1.46 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-35/#p-1-46 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:295 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God's word 'I will kill and I will make alive' shows that the body dies in order to rise again, and nothing can snatch it from his hand, as Paul says in Romans 8. ### Greek text Τὸ γάρ »ἐγὼ ἀποκτενῶ καὶ ζῆν ποιήσω, πατάξω κἀγὼ ἰάσομαι. καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὃς ἐξελεῖται ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν μου« λεγόμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ τί ἄλλο διδάσκειν βούλεται ἢ ὅτι διὰ τοῦτο τὸ σῶμα πρῶτον ἀποκτέννυται καὶ θνήσκει, ἵνα αὖθις ἀνασταθῇ καὶ ζήσῃ; πατάσσεται πρῶτον καὶ θραύεται, ἵνα σῶον αὖθις πλασθῇ καὶ ὑγιές, καὶ οὐδὲν ἐξελέσθαι ὅλως τὸ σύνολον τῆς μεγάλης καὶ κραταιᾶς αὐτοῦ χειρὸς πρὸς ἀπώλειαν καὶ ὄλεθρον σθένει, οὐ πῦρ, οὐ θάνατος, οὐ σκότος. οὐ χάος, οὐ φθορά. »τίς γὰρ ἡμᾶς« φησίν »χωρίσει ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Χριστοῦ;« ὃς ἑρμηνεύεται χεὶρ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ λόγος — »θλῖψις; ἢ στενοχωρία; ἢ διωγμός; ἢ λιμός; ἢ γυμνότης; ἢ κίνδυνος; ἢ μάχαιρα; καθὼς γέγραπται ὅτι ἕνεκεν σοῦ θανατούμεθα ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν, ἐλογίσθημεν ὡς πρόβατα σφαγῆς. ἀλλ᾽ ἐν τούτοις πᾶσιν ὑπερνικῶμεν διὰ τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντος ἡμᾶς«, ἀληθέστατα, ἵνα πληρωθῇ, καθὼς ἔφην, τό »ἐγὼ ἀποκτενῶ καὶ ζῆν ποιήσω, πατάξω καὶ ἰάσομαι, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὃς ἐξελεῖται« »ἡμᾶς« »ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ θεοῦ τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ« πρὸς ἀπώλειαν. διὸ καὶ »ἐλογίσθημεν ὡς πρόβατα σφαγῆς, ἵνα ἀποθανόντες »τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ« ζήσωμεν »τῷ θεῷ«. — καὶ ταῦτα μὲν μέχρι τοσούτου διεσκέφθω· τὰ δὲ συνεχῆ τούτοις ὧδε πάλιν προχειριστέον. ### English translation (Claude) "For the saying of God, 'I will kill and I will make alive; I will strike and I will heal; and there is no one who will deliver out of my hands,' what else does it mean to teach than that the body is first killed and dies for this reason, so that it may rise again and live? It is first struck and shattered, so that it may be formed again whole and sound; and nothing at all has the strength to snatch it out of his great and mighty hand for destruction and ruin: not fire, not death, not darkness, not chaos, not corruption. 'For who,' he says, 'will separate us from the love of Christ?' (who is interpreted as the Father's hand and Word) 'Tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, For your sake we are being put to death all the day long; we are reckoned as sheep for slaughter. But in all these things we more than conquer through him who loved us.' Most truly, so that, as I said, the saying may be fulfilled, 'I will kill and I will make alive; I will strike and I will heal; and there is no one who will deliver' us 'from the love of God which is in Christ' for destruction. That is why 'we are reckoned as sheep for slaughter,' so that, having died 'to sin,' we may live 'to God.' Let these things be considered thus far; what follows from them must be taken up again as follows." ### Scripture references - Deut 32:39: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:35: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:36: quotation, high confidence - Ps 44:22 (43:23 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:37: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:39: quotation, high confidence - Rom 6:10: allusion, medium confidence - Rom 6:11: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Deut 32:39; Rom 8:35-37 (quoting Ps 44:22, LXX 43:23); Rom 8:39; Rom 6:10-11. Christ as 'the Father's hand' is a traditional title (cf. Irenaeus, Against Heresies 4.20.1). ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.46 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:295; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-35/#p-1-46). ## Res. 1.47 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-47/#p-1-47 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:296 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The narrator refutes the argument that whatever is born must perish, and maintains that the world will be purified by fire and renewed, not destroyed, citing Wisdom, Romans 8 and Isaiah. ### Greek text Εἰ πᾶν τὸ γεννώμενον νοσεῖ --- προτείνει γὰρ οὕτως ὁ ἐξ ἐναντίας — καὶ κατὰ τὴν γένεσιν καὶ κατὰ τὴν τροφὴν (ἀπὸ τῶν προσιόντων γάρ, φησίν, αὔξεται, καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀπιόντων ἐλαττοῦται), τὰ δὲ μὴ γεννώμενα ὑγιαίνει, ὅτι μὴ νοσεῖ μηδὲ προσδεῖται ἢ ἐπιθυμεῖ, ἐπιθυμεῖ δὲ τὰ γεννώμενα καὶ συνουσίας καὶ τροφῆς, τὸ δὲ ἐπιθυμεῖν νοσεῖν ἔστι, τὸ δὲ μὴ δεῖσθαι μηδὲ ἐπιθυμεῖν ὑγιαίνειν, νοσεῖ δὲ τὰ γεννώμενα, ὅτι ἐπιθυμεῖ, τὰ δὲ μὴ γεννώμενα οὐ νοσεῖ, πάσχει δὲ τὰ νοσοῦντα ἢ κατὰ πλῆθος ἢ ἔνδειαν τῶν προσγινομένων καὶ ἀπογινομένων, τὸ δὲ πάσχον καὶ φθίνει καὶ ἀπόλλυται, διόπερ καὶ γεννᾶται, γεννᾶται δὲ ὁ ἄνθρωπος, — οὐ δύναται ἄρα ἀπαθὴς εἶναι ὁ ἄνθρωπος καὶ ἀθάνατος. --- καταπίπτει μὲν οὖν καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις αὐτοῖς ὁ λόγος. εἰ γὰρ πᾶν τὸ γιγνόμενον ἢ γεννώμενον ἀπόλλυται (διαφέρει γὰρ οὐδὲν οὕτως εἰπεῖν, ἐπειδὴ καὶ οἱ πρωτόπλαστοι οὐχ ἐγεννήθησαν, ἀλλ ἐγενήθησαν), γενητοὶ δὲ καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι καὶ αἱ ψυχαί (ὁ »ποιῶν τοὺς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ πνεύματα«), ἀπόλλυνται ἄρα οἱ ἄγγελοι κατ᾽ αὐτοὺς καὶ αἱ ψυχαί. ἀλλ᾽ οὔτε οἱ ἄγγελοι οὔτε αἱ ψυχαὶ ἀπόλλυνται· ἀθάνατα γὰρ ταῦτα καὶ ἀδάμαστα, καθὼς ὁ ποιήσας εἶναι βεβούλευται. ἀθάνατος ἄρα καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος. οὐκ ἀρεστὸν δὲ οὐδ᾽ ἐκεῖνο, τὸ λέγειν εἰς ἄρδην ἀπολεῖσθαι τὸ πᾶν, καὶ γῆν καὶ ἀέρα καὶ οὐρανὸν μὴ ἔσεσθαι. ἐκπυρωθήσεται μὲν γὰρ πρὸς κάθαρσιν καὶ ἀνακαινισμὸν καταβασίῳ πᾶς ὁ κόσμος κατακλυζόμενος πυρί, οὐ μὴν εἰς ἀπώλειαν ἐλεύσεται παντελῆ καὶ φθοράν. εἰ γὰρ ἦν κρεῖττον τὸ μὴ εἶναι τοῦ εἶναι τὸν κόσμον, διὰ τί τὸ χεῖρον ᾑρεῖτο ποιήσας τὸν κόσμον ὁ θεός; ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲν ὁ θεὸς ματαίως ἢ χεῖρον ἐποίει. οὐκοῦν εἰς τὸ εἶναι καὶ μένειν τὴν κτίσιν ὁ θεὸς διεκοσμήσατο, καθάπερ καὶ ἡ Σοφία συνίστησιν· »ἔκτισε γὰρ εἰς τὸ εἶναι« λέγουσα »τὰ πάντα ὁ θεός, καὶ σωτήριοι αἱ γενέσεις τοῦ κόσμου, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν αὐταῖς φάρμακον ὀλέθρου«. καὶ ὁ Παῦλος δὲ σαφῶς μαρτυρεῖ λέγων· »ἡ γὰρ ἀποκαραδοκία τῆς κτίσεως τὴν ἀποκάλυψιν τῶν υἱῶν τοῦ θεοῦ ἀπεκδέχεται. τῇ γὰρ ματαιότητι ἡ κτίσις ὑπετάγη, οὐχ ἑκοῦσα, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸν ὑποτάξαντα ἐπ᾽ ἐλπίδι, ὅτι καὶ αὐτὴ ἡ κτίσις ἐλευθερωθήσεται ἀπὸ τῆς δουλείας τῆς φθορᾶς εἰς τὴν ἐλευθερίαν τῆς δόξης τῶν τέκνων τοῦ θεοῦ«. »τῇ γὰρ ματαιότητι« φησίν »ἡ κτίσις ὑπετάγη«, »ἐλευθερωθήσεσθαι« δὲ »τῆς« τοιαύτης »δουλείας« προσδοκᾷ, κτίσιν τὸν κόσμον τοῦτον βουλόμενος νῦν καλεῖν. οὐ γὰρ τὰ μὴ βλεπόμενα τῇ φθορᾷ δουλεύει, ἀλλὰ ταῦτα δὴ »τὰ βλεπόμενα«. μένει ἄρα ἡ κτίσις εἰς τὸ ἄμεινον ἀνακαινοποιηθεῖσα καὶ εὐπρεπέστερον, ἀγαλλομένη καὶ χαίρουσα ἐπὶ τοῖς τέκνοις τοῦ θεοῦ τῇ ἀναστάσει, δι᾽ οὓς στενάζει καὶ συνωδίνει νῦν, τὴν ἀπολύτρωσιν ἡμῶν ἀπὸ τῆς φθορᾶς καὶ αὐτὴ τοῦ σώματος ἐκδεχομένη, ὅπως ἡμῶν ἐγερθέντων καὶ ἀποτιναξαμένων τὴν νεκρότητα τῆς σαρκός, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον »ἐκτίναξαι τὸν χοῦν καὶ ἀνάστηθι καὶ κάθισον, Ἱερουσαλήμ«, ἐλευθερωθέντων τε τῆς ἁμαρτίας »ἐλευθερωθήσεται« καὶ αὐτὴ »τῆς φθορᾶς«, μηκέτι τῇ ματαιότητι δουλεύουσα, ἀλλὰ τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ. »οἴδαμεν γάρ«, φησίν, »ὅτι πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις συστενάζει καὶ συνωδίνει ἄχρι τοῦ νῦν. οὐ μόνον δέ, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτοὶ τὴν ἀπαρχὴν τοῦ πνεύματος ἔχοντες, καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐν ἑαυτοῖς στενάζομεν τὴν υἱοθεσίαν ἀπεκδεχόμενοι, τὴν ἀπολύτρωσιν τοῦ σώματος ἡμῶν«. καὶ ὁ Ἡσαίας δέ· »ὃν τρόπον γὰρ ὁ οὐρανὸς καινὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ καινή, ἃ ἐγὼ (φησί) ποιῶ, μένει ἐνώπιόν μου, λέγει κύριος, οὕτως ἔσται τὸ σπέρμα ὑμῶν καὶ τὸ ὄνομα ὑμῶν. καὶ πάλιν" »οὕτως λέγει κύριος ὁ ποιήσας τὸν οὐρανόν, οὗτος θεὸς ὁ κατασκευάσας τὴν γῆν καὶ ποιήσας αὐτήν· αὐτὸς διώρισεν αὐτήν, οὐχ εἰς κενὸν ἐποίησεν αὐτήν, ἀλλὰ κατοικεῖσθαι«. ὄντως γὰρ οὐχ εἰς κενὸν οὐδὲ εἰς μάτην πρὸς ἀπώλειαν ἔκτισε, κατὰ τοὺς φρονοῦντας μάταια, τὸ πᾶν ὁ θεός, ἀλλὰ εἰς τὸ εἶναί τε καὶ οἰκεῖσθαι καὶ διαμένειν. διὸ ἀνάγκη δὴ καὶ τὴν γῆν αὖθις καὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν μετὰ τὴν ἐκφλόγωσιν ἔσεσθαι πάντων καὶ τὸν βρασμόν. διὰ τί δὲ τοῦτο ἀνάγκη, λόγος ἂν ἔτι πλείων τῶν εἰρημένων γίγνοιτο. οὔτε γὰρ εἰς ὕλην ἀργὴν καὶ τοιαύτην ἔτι κατάστασιν, οἵα καὶ πρὸ τῆς διακοσμήσεως ἦν, διαλυθὲν ἀναστοιχειωθήσεται τὸ πᾶν. οὔτ᾽ αὖ εἰς ἀπώλειαν παντελῆ καὶ φθοράν. ### English translation (Claude) "'If everything that is born is sick,' so the opponent argues, 'both in its birth and in its nourishment (for it grows, he says, by what comes in and diminishes by what goes out); and if the things that are not born are healthy, because they are not sick, nor in need, nor desire; and if the things that are born desire both intercourse and food, and to desire is to be sick, while not to need or desire is to be healthy; and if the things that are born are sick because they desire, while the things not born are not sick; and if sick things suffer, either by excess or by deficiency of what is added and taken away, and what suffers both wastes away and perishes, and so does whatever is born; and if man is born: then man cannot be impassible and immortal.' But even on these points their argument collapses. For if everything that comes into being or is born perishes (it makes no difference to put it so, since the first-formed too were not born but came into being), and the angels and the souls too came into being ('who makes his angels spirits'), then according to them the angels and the souls perish. But neither the angels nor the souls perish; for they are immortal and indomitable, as the one who made them willed them to be. Man too, then, is immortal. "Nor is that view acceptable either, which says that the universe will be utterly destroyed, and that there will be no earth or air or heaven. For the whole world will indeed be deluged with fire coming down from above for purification and renewal, but it will not come to complete destruction and corruption. For if it were better for the world not to be than to be, why did God, in making the world, choose the worse? But God made nothing in vain or worse. So God ordered the creation for being and abiding, as Wisdom too confirms, saying, 'For God created all things for being, and the generations of the world are wholesome, and there is no poison of destruction in them.' And Paul clearly testifies, saying, 'For the eager expectation of the creation waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope, because the creation itself also will be set free from the bondage of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.' 'For the creation was subjected to futility,' he says, and it expects to be 'set free' from such 'bondage'; by 'creation' he means here this world. For it is not what is unseen that is in bondage to corruption, but these 'things that are seen.' The creation, then, remains, renewed to a better and more seemly state, rejoicing and exulting over the children of God at the resurrection, for whose sake it now groans and travails, itself also awaiting our redemption from the corruption of the body, so that, when we have risen and shaken off the deadness of the flesh, according to what is written, 'Shake off the dust, and arise and sit, Jerusalem,' and have been set free from sin, it too 'will be set free from corruption,' no longer in bondage to futility but to righteousness. 'For we know,' he says, 'that the whole creation groans together and travails together until now; and not only so, but we ourselves too, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan within ourselves, awaiting the adoption, the redemption of our body.' And Isaiah: 'For as the new heaven and the new earth which I make,' he says, 'remain before me, says the Lord, so will your seed and your name be.' And again: 'Thus says the Lord who made the heaven, this God who prepared the earth and made it; he marked it out; he did not make it for nothing, but to be inhabited.' For truly God did not create the universe for nothing or in vain, for destruction, as those who think vain things say, but to exist and to be inhabited and to abide. Therefore the earth and the heaven too must exist again after the conflagration and the shaking of all things. Why this is necessary would take still more words than have been said. For the universe will not be dissolved and resolved into its elements as formless matter, into such a state as it was in before its ordering, nor, again, will it come to complete destruction and corruption." ### Scripture references - Ps 104:4 (103:4 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:19: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:20: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:21: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 4:18: allusion, high confidence - Isa 52:2: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:22: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:23: quotation, high confidence - Isa 66:22: quotation, high confidence - Isa 45:18: quotation, high confidence - 2 Pet 3:10: echo, low confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 1:14 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Four lines at the foot of page 297 and two at the foot of page 299 had been lost in the staged text (from 'perish; for they are immortal' to 'for purification', and from 'but to exist and to be inhabited' to 'all things'); they are restored from the OCR of the same pages by logged corrections. The opponent's syllogism is partly garbled in the OCR; its conclusion is translated by sense. - Ps 104:4 (LXX 103:4; cf. Heb 1:7); Wis 1:14; Rom 8:19-21; 2 Cor 4:18; Isa 52:2; Rom 8:22-23; Isa 66:22; Isa 45:18. 'Coming down from above' renders a doubtful word (καταβασίῳ). ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.47 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:296; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-47/#p-1-47). ## Res. 1.48 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-47/#p-1-48 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:300 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The narrator explains that Scripture calls the world's renewal 'passing away', and that the risen will be 'as angels' in incorruption without ceasing to be men, since each order of creatures keeps its own nature. ### Greek text Ἐὰν δέ, Πῶς οὖν, εἰ μὴ ἀπόλλυνται τὸ πᾶν, οἱ ἐξ ἐναντίας εἴπωσιν, ὁ μὲν Χριστὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν παρελεύσεσθαι ἔφη καὶ τὴν γῆν, ὁ δὲ προφήτης ἀπολεῖσθαι μὲν τὸν οὐρανὸν ὡς καπνόν, τὴν δὲ γῆν »ὡς ἱμάτιον« παλαιωθήσεσθαι; Ἐπειδήπερ ἔθος ταῖς γραφαῖς, λέξομεν, τὴν εἰς τὸ κρεῖττον καὶ ἐνδοξότερον ἀπὸ ταύτης τῆς καταστάσεως τοῦ κόσμου μεταβολὴν ἀπώλειαν λέγειν, οἷον τοῦ πρόσθεν σχήματος ἀπολλυμένου κατὰ τὴν εἰς τὸ φαιδρότερον ἁπάντων ἐξαλλαγήν· ὅτι μηδεμία ὑπεναντίωσις ἢ ἀτοπία ἐν τοῖς θείοις λόγοις. »παράγει γὰρ τὸ σχῆμα τοῦ κόσμου τούτου«, καὶ οὐχ ὁ κόσμος εἴρηται. οὕτως ἔθος ἀπώλειαν καλεῖν τὰς γραφὰς τὴν πρὸς τὸ ἄμεινον ἔσθ᾽ ὅτε καὶ εὐμορφότερον τροπὴν τοῦ πρόσθεν σχήματος, οἷον ὥσπερ ὁπόταν τις ἀπώλειαν λέγοι τοῦ κατὰ τὸν νήπιον σχήματος τὴν »εἰς« τὸν »ἄνδρα« τὸν »τέλειον« μεταλλαγήν, τρεπομένης εἰς μέγεθος καὶ κάλλος τῆς ἡλικίας τοῦ νηπίου. »ὅτε γὰρ ἤμην νήπιος, ὡς νήπιος ἐλάλουν, ὡς νήπιος ἐφρόνουν, ὡς νήπιος ἐλογιζόμην· ὅτε δὲ γέγονα ἀνήρ, κατήργηκα τὰ τοῦ νηπίου«. ταραχθήσεσθαι μὲν γὰρ τὴν κτίσιν, ὥσπερ τεθνηξομένην κατὰ τὴν ἐκπύρωσιν, ἵνα καὶ ἀνακτισθῇ, οὐ μὴν ἀπολεῖσθαι προσδοκητέον, ὅπως οἱ ἀνακαινοποιηθέντες ἐν ἀνακαινοποιηθέντι τῷ κόσμῳ ἄγευστοι λύπης κατοικήσωμεν, κατὰ τὸ λεχθὲν »ἐξαποστελεῖς τὸ πνεῦμά σου, καὶ κτισθήσονται« ἐν ἑκατοστῷ τρίτῳ ψαλμῷ »καὶ ἀνακαινιεῖς τὸ πρόσωπον τῆς γῆς«, τοῦ περιέχοντος τῆς εὐκρασίας ἐπιτροπεύοντος λοιπὸν τοῦ θεοῦ. ἐσομένης γὰρ καὶ μετὰ τοῦτον τὸν αἰῶνα γῆς ἀνάγκη πᾶσα ἔσεσθαι καὶ τοὺς οἰκήσοντας, οὐκέτι τεθνηξομένους ἢ γαμήσοντας καὶ γεννησομένους, ἀλλ᾿ ὡς ἀγγέλους ἀμεταστρόφως ἐν ἀφθαρσίᾳ τὰ ἄριστα πράξοντας. διὸ ληρῶδες τὸ Ἐν ποίᾳ διαγωγῇ τότε δὴ τὰ σώματα ἔσονται λέγεσθαι, μήτε ἀέρος μήτε γῆς μήτε τῶν ἄλλων ἐσομένων. Ἄξιον δὲ κἀκεῖνο πρὸς τοῖς εἰρημένοις ἐπισκοπεῖν, ὡς ἔχει πολλὴν διάπτωσιν, εἰ δεῖ παρρησίαν ἄγειν περὶ τηλικούτων, ὦ Ἀγλαοφῶν, διαλεγομένους πραγμάτων. φράσας γὰρ ἀποφήνασθαι τὸν κύριον ὡς οἱ τῆς ἀναστάσεως τευξόμενοι ἔσονται τότε »ὡς ἄγγελοι«, ἔνθα πειράζουσιν αὐτὸν οἱ Σαδδουκαῖοι, ἐπέφερες Οἱ δὲ ἄγγελοι ἐκτὸς ὄντες σαρκὸς ἐν μακαριότητος ἀκρότητι διὰ τοῦτο καὶ δόξης εἰσίν, καὶ ἡμᾶς δὲ ἄρα ἐξισάζεσθαι μέλλοντας ἀγγέλοις ἀνάγκη δὴ σαρκῶν ὡσαύτως ἐκείνοις γυμνοὺς ἔσεσθαι δεῖν, οὐκ ἐπιστήσας, ὦ ἄριστε, ὡς ὁ ποιήσας καὶ διακοσμήσας ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων τὸ πᾶν τὴν τῶν ἀθανάτων φύσιν οὐ μόνον εἰς ἀγγέλους καὶ λειτουργοὺς διανείμας διεκόσμησεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰς ἀρχὰς καὶ θρόνους καὶ ἐξουσίας. ἄλλο γὰρ γένος τὸ τῶν ἀγγέλων καὶ ἄλλο τὸ τῶν ἀρχῶν καὶ ἐξουσιῶν, ὅτι μὴ τάγμα ἕν καὶ μία σύστασις καὶ φυλὴ καὶ πατριὰ τῶν ἀθανάτων, ἀλλὰ γένη καὶ φυλαὶ καὶ διαφοραί. καὶ οὔτε τὰ Χερουβὶμ τῆς ἰδίας ἐξιστάμενα φύσεως εἰς τὴν τῶν ἀγγέλων ἰδέαν μετασκευάζονται, οὔτε εἰς ἑτέραν πάλιν οἱ ἄγγελοι. εἶναι γὰρ αὐτὰ χρὴ καὶ ὃ εἰσὶ καὶ ὃ γεγόνασιν. ἀτὰρ καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος τὸν κόσμον οἰκεῖν καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ πάντων ἡγεμονεύειν κατασταθείς, τῆς ἐξ ἀρχῆς διακοσμήσεως, ἀθάνατος ὤν, τοῦ εἶναι ἄνθρωπος οὔποτε μεταβληθήσεται, οὔτε εἰς τὴν τῶν ἀγγέλων οὔτε εἰς τὴν τῶν ἑτέρων μορφῆν, ὅτι μηδὲ οἱ ἄγγελοι εἰς τὴν τῶν ἄλλων τῆς ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἰδέας μετακοσμούμενοι μεταβάλλονται. ὁ γὰρ Χριστὸς ἧκεν οὐχ εἰς ἑτέραν μορφὴν πλασθῆναι κηρύσσων ἢ μετασκευασθῆναι τὴν ἀνθρωπείαν φύσιν, ἀλλὰ εἰς ὃ ἦν ἐξ ἀρχῆς πρὸ τοῦ ἐκπεσεῖν, ἀθάνατος ὤν. χρὴ γὰρ ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ τῆς ἕξεως αὐτοῦ τύπῳ τῶν γενητῶν ἕκαστον μένειν, ἵνα πάντα πάντων ὦσι πεπληρωμένα, οὐρανοὶ μὲν ἀγγέλων, θρόνοι δὲ ἐξουσιῶν, φῶτα δὲ λειτουργῶν, καὶ οἱ θειότεροι τόποι καὶ τὰ ἄχραντα καὶ ἀκραιφνῆ φῶτα τῶν Σεραφίμ, ἃ παρεστήκασι τῇ μεγάλῃ βουλῇ διακρατούσῃ τὸ πᾶν, ὁ δὲ κόσμος ἀνθρώπων. [ἐὰν δὲ μεταβάλλεσθαι δῶμεν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους εἰς ἀγγέλους, ὥρα μεταβάλλεσθαι λέγειν καὶ τοὺς ἀγγέλους εἰς ἐξουσίας, καὶ ταύτας εἰς ἄλλο καὶ ἄλλο, ἔστ᾽ ἂν ὁ λόγος ἀναβὰς εἰς κίνδυνον ἐμπέσῃ. ] ### English translation (Claude) "But if the opponents say, 'How then, if the universe does not perish, did Christ say that heaven and earth would pass away, and the prophet that the heaven would perish like smoke and the earth grow old like a garment?' we shall say: because it is the custom of the Scriptures to call destruction the change of the world from its present state to a better and more glorious one, its former shape being destroyed in the change of all things into something brighter; for there is no contradiction or absurdity in the divine words. For 'the form of this world passes away,' it is said, not the world itself. So it is the custom of the Scriptures to call destruction the change from a former shape to a better and sometimes more comely one; as when someone should call destruction the change from the shape of an infant into 'the perfect man,' when the infant's stature turns to size and beauty. 'For when I was a child, I spoke as a child, I thought as a child, I reasoned as a child; but when I became a man, I put away the things of the child.' For we must expect that the creation will be thrown into turmoil, as though about to die in the conflagration, so that it may be created anew, but not that it will perish, so that we who have been renewed may dwell in a renewed world without tasting grief, according to what is said in the hundred and third psalm, 'You will send forth your Spirit, and they will be created, and you will renew the face of the earth,' God thenceforth regulating the good temperature of the surrounding air. For since there will be an earth even after this age, there must by all necessity be those who will dwell on it, who will no longer die, or marry, or beget, but, like angels, will unchangeably do what is best in incorruption. Therefore it is silly to ask in what manner of life our bodies will then exist, if there will be neither air nor earth nor anything else. [49] "In addition to what has been said, this too is worth considering, since it contains a great error, if we are to speak freely, Aglaophon, when discussing matters of such importance. For having said that the Lord declared that those who attain the resurrection will then be 'as angels,' when the Sadducees were testing him, you went on: 'The angels, being without flesh, are on this account in the height of blessedness and glory; and we too, then, since we are to be made equal to angels, must necessarily be stripped of flesh as they are.' You did not consider, my excellent friend, that he who made and ordered the universe out of nothing ordered the nature of immortal beings, distributing it not only into angels and ministers, but also into principalities and thrones and powers. For the race of angels is one thing and that of principalities and powers another, because there is not one rank and one constitution and tribe and family of immortals, but kinds and tribes and differences. Neither do the cherubim depart from their own nature and get transformed into the form of angels, nor again the angels into another. For they must be what they are and what they were made. And man too, appointed by the original ordering to inhabit the world and to rule over all things in it, being immortal, will never be changed from being man, either into the form of angels or into that of the others; for the angels too are not changed from their original form by being transformed into that of the others. For Christ came proclaiming not that human nature would be formed or remade into another form, but into what it was from the beginning before the fall, when it was immortal. For each of the things that have come into being must remain in its own proper type, so that all things may be filled with all: the heavens with angels, the thrones with powers, the lights with ministers, the more divine places and the undefiled and pure lights with the seraphim, who stand beside the great counsel that governs the universe, and the world with men. [But if we grant that men are changed into angels, it is time to say that the angels too are changed into powers, and these into one thing and another, until the argument climbs up and falls into danger.]" ### Scripture references - Matt 24:35: allusion, high confidence - Isa 51:6: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:31: quotation, high confidence - Eph 4:13: quotation, medium confidence - 1 Cor 13:11: quotation, high confidence - Ps 104:30 (103:30 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Matt 22:30: quotation, high confidence - Col 1:16: allusion, medium confidence - Isa 6:2: allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - The OCR lost the heading of chapter 49 (a garbled numeral is removed by a logged correction); the chapter begins at "[49]". A block of the edition's apparatus that had leaked into the text, and stray marks at the end, are removed by logged corrections. The last sentence stands in square brackets in the edition, as it is printed in the OCR; it is translated and kept in brackets. - Matt 24:35; Isa 51:6 (Ps 102:26); 1 Cor 7:31; Eph 4:13; 1 Cor 13:11; Ps 104:30 (LXX 103:30); Matt 22:30; Col 1:16; Eph 1:21; Isa 6:2. 'Being stripped of flesh' answers Aglaophon in 1.7. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.48 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:300; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-47/#p-1-48). ## Res. 1.50 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-47/#p-1-50 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:303 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God did not make man by mistake or intend him to become an angel; he made man body and soul, and since man is immortal, the body does not perish. ### Greek text Ἀλλ᾽ οὔτε ὡς φαῦλον τεχνησάμενος ὁ θεὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ἢ διαμαρτήσας αὐτοῦ περὶ τὴν διάπλασιν, ἄγγελον αὐτὸν ὕστερον ἐπενόησε ποιῆσαι, μεταγνούς, ὥσπερ οἱ φαυλότατοι τῶν δημιουργῶν, οὔτε ἄγγελον κατ᾽ ἀρχὰς θελήσας ποιῆσαι καὶ μὴ δυνηθεὶς ἄνθρωπον ἔπλασεν. ἀσθενὲς τοῦτο γάρ. τί δήποτε οὖν τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἄνθρωπον ἐποίει καὶ οὐκ ἄγγελον, εἴ γε ἄγγελον τὸν ἄνθρωπον καὶ οὐκ ἄνθρωπον γενέσθαι ἤθελεν; ὡς οὐ δυνάμενος; βλάσφημον. ἀλλὰ ἀνεβάλλετο περὶ τοῦ κρείττονος τὸ χεῖρον ποιῶν; καὶ τοῦτο ἄτοπον. οὔτε γὰρ διασφάλλεται περὶ τὸ ποιεῖν τὸ καλὸν οὔτε ἀναβάλλεται οὔτε ἀδυνατεῖ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὡς θέλει καὶ ὅτε θέλει τὸ δύνασθαι ἔχει, δύναμις ὤν. οὐκοῦν εἶναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἄνθρωπον θέλων ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἔκτισεν. εἰ δὲ θέλων, θέλει δὲ τὸ καλόν, καλὸν δὲ ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ἄνθρωπος δὲ τὸ ἐκ ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος λέγεται συντεθέν, οὐκ ἔσται ἄρα ἐκτὸς σώματος ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλὰ μετὰ σώματος, ἵνα μὴ ἄλλος ἄνθρωπος παρὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπον γενηθῇ. δεῖ γὰρ τῷ θεῷ τὰ ἀθάνατα γένη πάντα σῴζεσθαι, ἀθάνατον δὲ καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος· »ἔκτισε« γάρ φησιν ἡ Σοφία »τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὁ θεὸς ἐπὶ ἀφθαρσίᾳ, καὶ εἰκόνα τῆς ἰδίας ἀϊδιότητος ἐποίησεν αὐτόν«. οὐκ ἄρα ἀπόλλυται τὸ σῶμα· ὁ γὰρ ἄνθρωπος ἐκ ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος. ### English translation (Claude) "Nor did God, as though he had made man badly or had erred in fashioning him, decide afterwards to make him an angel, changing his mind like the worst of craftsmen; nor did he want at the beginning to make an angel and, being unable, form a man instead. For that would be weakness. Why then did he make man a man and not an angel, if he wanted man to become an angel and not a man? Because he was unable? That is blasphemous. Or did he put off the better while making the worse? That too is absurd. For he neither fails in making what is good, nor puts it off, nor is unable, but has the power both as he wills and when he wills, being himself power. So it was because he willed man to be man that he created him so from the beginning. And if he willed it, and he wills what is good, then man is good; and man is said to be what is composed of soul and body. Man, then, will not be without a body, but with a body, lest another man come into being besides the man. For all the immortal kinds must be preserved by God, and man too is immortal: 'For God created man for incorruption,' says Wisdom, 'and made him an image of his own eternity.' The body, then, does not perish; for man is of soul and body." ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 2:23 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Wis 2:23. The definition of man as composed of soul and body takes up 1.34. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.50 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:303; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-47/#p-1-50). ## Res. 1.51 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-47/#p-1-51 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:304 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christ's answer to the Sadducees shows that the risen will be 'as angels' in not marrying, not in lacking flesh; 'resurrection' itself means the rising of what has fallen, the body. ### Greek text Διὸ ἐπίστησον ὡς καὶ ὁ κύριος τὰ αὐτὰ ταῦτα διδάσκειν θέλων, μὴ πιστευόντων Σαδδουκαίων εἰς τὴν ἀνάστασιν τῆς σαρκός· δόγμα γὰρ τοῦτο Σαδδουκαίων. ὅθεν συσκευασάμενοι τὴν κατὰ τὴν γυναῖκα καὶ τοὺς ἑπτὰ ἀδελφοὺς παραβολήν, ἵνα τὸν περὶ ἀναστάσεως τῆς σαρκὸς λόγον ἀπορήσωσι, προσῆλθον αὐτῷ ἀμέλει αὐτὸς ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς ἐπεσημήνατο »προσῆλθον δὲ αὐτῷ« εἰπὼν »καὶ Σαδδουκαῖοι, λέγοντες μὴ εἶναι ἀνάστασιν«. ὁ οὖν Χριστός, εἰ μὴ ἦν ἀνάστασις σαρκός. ἀλλὰ μόνον ἐσώζετο ἡ ψυχή, συνέθετο ἂν αὐτοῖς ὡς καλῶς καὶ ὀρθῶς φρονοῦσι. νυνὶ δὲ ἀποκρούεται λέγων »ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει οὔτε γαμοῦσιν οὔτε γαμίσκονται, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς ἄγγελοι ἐν οὐρανῷ εἰσιν«, οὐ τῷ σάρκα μὴ ἔχειν. ἀλλὰ τῷ μὴ γαμεῖν καὶ γαμεῖσθαι. ἀλλ᾽ εἶναι λοιπὸν ἐν ἀφθαρσίᾳ καὶ φωτί ἀγγέλοις κατὰ τοῦτο παραπλησιάζοντες, ἵν᾽ ὥσπερ οἱ ἄγγελοι ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, οὕτως καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ. μὴ γάμοις ἢ εἰλαπίναις ἔτι σχολάζοντες, ἀλλὰ τῷ βλέπειν τὸν θεὸν καὶ γεωργεῖν τὴν ζωὴν πρυτανεύοντος ἡμῖν τοῦ Χριστοῦ. οὐ γὰρ εἶπεν »ἔσονται ἄγγελοι«, ἀλλ᾽ »ὡς ἄγγελοι«, οἷον »δόξῃ« μὲν »καὶ τιμῇ« κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον. »ἐστεφανωμένοι, βραχὺ δέ τι παρὰ τοὺς ἀγγέλους« διαλλάσσοντες καὶ ἐγγὺς ὄντες τοῦ εἶναι ἄγγελοι. καθάπερ εἰ ἔλεγεν. οὔσης εὐταξίας κατὰ τὸν ἀέρα καὶ γαλήνης νυκτὸς καὶ πάντων τῷ τῆς σελήνης αἰθερίῳ φωτὶ κεκοσμημένων, ἡ σελήνη φαίνει ὡς ὁ ἥλιος, καὶ οὐ πάντως ἂν ἥλιον εἶναι τὴν σελήνην ἀπομαρτυρεῖν αὐτὸν ἐλέγομεν, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς ἥλιον· ὥσπερ καὶ τὸ μὴ ὑπάρχον χρυσός, ἐγγὺς δὲ τοῦ εἶναι χρυσὸς πεφυκός, ὡς χρυσὸς λέγεται καὶ οὐ χρυσός (εἰ δὲ ἦν χρυσός, οὐκ ἐλέγετο ἂν ὡς χρυσός, ἀλλὰ χρυσός" ἐπεὶ δὲ μὴ ἔστι χρυσός, ἀλλὰ ἐγγὺς τοῦ εἶναι χρυσὸς καὶ φαντάζεσθαι τὸν χρυσόν, οὐ χρυσός, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς χρυσὸς λέγεται)· οὕτως καὶ ὡς ἀγγέλους ἔσεσθαι λέγοντος τοὺς ἀγίους ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει, οὐκ αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἀγγέλους αὐτὸν ἐπαγγέλλεσθαι ἀκούομεν τοὺς ἁγίους ἔσεσθαι ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει, ἀλλὰ ἐγγὺς τοῦ εἶναι ἀγγέλους. ὥστε ἀλογώτατον λέγειν, ἐπειδὴ ὁ Χριστὸς ἀπεφήνατο τοὺς ἁγίους ὀφθῆναι ὡς ἀγγέλους ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει, τὰ σώματα διὰ τοῦτο ταῦτα μὴ ἀνίστασθαι, καίτοι τῆς λέξεως αὐτὴν τὴν τάξιν δηλούσης σαφῶς τοῦ συμβαίνοντος. ἀνάστασις γὰρ οὐκ ἐπὶ τοῦ μὴ πεπτωκότος, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ τοῦ πεπτωκότος λέγεται καὶ ἀνισταμένου ὥσπερ ὁπόταν λέγῃ καὶ ὁ προφήτης »καὶ ἀναστήσω τὴν σκηνὴν Δαυὶδ τὴν πεπτωκυῖαν«. ἔπεσε δὲ ὀκλάσασα ἡ ποθητὴ σκηνὴ τῆς ψυχῆς »εἰς γῆν χώματος«. οὐ γὰρ τὸ μὴ θνῇσκον, ἀλλὰ τὸ θνῇσκον κλίνεται. θνῄσκει δὲ σάρξ· ψυχὴ γὰρ ἀθάνατος. καὶ τοίνυν εἰ ἡ ψυχὴ ἀθάνατος, σῶμα δὲ ὁ νεκρός, οἱ λέγοντες ἀνάστασιν μὲν εἶναι, σαρκὸς δὲ μὴ εἶναι, ἀρνοῦνται μὴ εἶναι ἀνάστασιν. ὅτι μὴ τὸ ἑστὸς ἀλλὰ τὸ πεπτωκὸς καὶ κλιθὲν διανίσταται, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον »μὴ ὁ πίπτων οὐκ ἀνίσταται, ἢ ὁ ἀποστρέφων οὐκ ἀναστρέψει;« ### English translation (Claude) "Notice, then, how the Lord too wished to teach these very things, when the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the flesh; for that was a doctrine of the Sadducees. That is why they contrived the parable about the woman and the seven brothers, to cast doubt on the teaching of the resurrection of the flesh, and came to him; indeed the evangelist himself noted it, saying, 'And there came to him Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection.' If, then, there were no resurrection of the flesh, but only the soul were saved, Christ would have agreed with them that they thought rightly and well. But as it is he rebuffs them, saying, 'In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as angels in heaven': not by having no flesh, but by not marrying and being given in marriage, but being from then on in incorruption and light, and coming near to the angels in this respect, so that, as the angels are in heaven, so we too are in paradise, no longer occupied with weddings or feasts, but with seeing God and cultivating life, with Christ presiding over us. For he did not say 'they will be angels,' but 'as angels,' that is, 'crowned' with 'glory' and 'honour,' according to what is written, differing 'a little from the angels' and near to being angels. It is as if someone said, when the air is calm and the night still and everything is adorned with the ethereal light of the moon, that the moon shines like the sun; we would not say that he was testifying that the moon is altogether the sun, but like the sun. So too what is not gold, but is by nature near to being gold, is called 'like gold' and not gold (if it were gold, it would not be called 'like gold' but 'gold'; but since it is not gold, but near to being gold and resembling gold, it is called not gold but like gold). In the same way, when he says that the saints will be as angels in the resurrection, we do not hear him promising that the saints will be angels in the resurrection, but near to being angels. So it is most unreasonable to say that, because Christ declared that the saints will appear as angels in the resurrection, these bodies do not rise; and yet the very word clearly shows the order of what happens. For 'resurrection' is said not of what has not fallen, but of what has fallen and rises again, as when the prophet too says, 'And I will raise up the tent of David that has fallen.' And the longed-for tent of the soul fell, sinking down 'to the earth of dust.' For it is not what does not die that sinks down, but what dies. And it is the flesh that dies; for the soul is immortal. And so, if the soul is immortal and the body is the dead thing, those who say that there is a resurrection, but not of the flesh, deny that there is a resurrection, since it is not what stands that rises again but what has fallen and sunk down, according to what is written, 'Does not he who falls rise again, or he who turns away return?'" ### Scripture references - Matt 22:23: quotation, high confidence - Matt 22:30: quotation, high confidence - Ps 8:5: quotation, high confidence - Amos 9:11: quotation, high confidence - Dan 12:2: echo, medium confidence - Jer 8:4: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Matt 22:23-30 (Mark 12:18-25); Ps 8:5 (cf. Heb 2:7); Amos 9:11; Dan 12:2 ('the earth of dust'); Jer 8:4. 'Tent' renders σκηνή, the body as the dwelling of the soul. Some OCR slips are corrected by logged corrections. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.51 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:304; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-47/#p-1-51). ## Res. 1.52 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-47/#p-1-52 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:307 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christ taught the soul's immortality in the story of the rich man and Lazarus and at the transfiguration, as does Wisdom 3; therefore 'resurrection' must refer to the body, which falls, not to the soul. ### Greek text Ὅτι δὲ ἀθάνατος ἡ ψυχὴ ἐδίδαξεν ἀναφανδὸν Χριστὸς καὶ δι ἑαυτοῦ καὶ διὰ Σολομῶνος εἰπών· δι᾽ ἑαυτοῦ μὲν ἐν τῇ κατὰ τὸν πλούσιον καὶ τὸν πένητα Λάζαρον ἱστορίᾳ, τὸν μὲν ἐν κόλποις Ἀβραὰμ δοὺς ἀναπαύεσθαι μετὰ τὴν ἀπόθεσιν τοῦ σώματος, τὸν δὲ ἐν ἀλγηδόσιν, οἷς διαλεγόμενον τὸν ᾿Αβραὰμ εἰσήγαγε' διὰ Σολομῶνος δὲ ἐν τῇ ἐπιγραφομένῃ Σοφίᾳ, ἔνθα »δικαίων αἱ ψυχαὶ ἐν χειρί« γέγραπται »θεοῦ, καὶ οὐ μὴ ἅψηται αὐτῶν βάσανος. ἔδοξαν ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἀφρόνων τεθνάναι, καὶ ἐλογίσθη κάκωσις ἡ ἔξοδος αὐτῶν, καὶ ἡ ἀφ᾽ ἡμῶν πορεία σύντριμμα· οἱ δέ εἰσιν ἐν εἰρήνῃ, καὶ ἡ ἐλπὶς αὐτῶν ἀθανασίας πλήρης«. ὅθεν σώματος ἡ ἀνάστασις, καὶ οὐ ψυχῆς. οὐ γὰρ τὸν ἑστῶτά τις ἀνίστησιν, ἀλλὰ τὸν κείμενον, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ τὸν ὑγιαίνοντα θεραπεύουσιν, ἀλλὰ τὸν πάσχοντα. εἰ δέ τις τὴν ἀνάστασιν ἐπὶ τῆς ψυχῆς, καὶ μὴ ἐπὶ τῆς σαρκὸς βιάζεται λέγειν ἔσεσθαι, πολλὴ μὲν μωρία τοῦτο καὶ ἀλογία. δεῖ γὰρ φθορὰν πρῶτον καὶ λύσιν τὼν τοιοῖτωον τῆς εχῆς δειχνέες ru δείξη ὁὴ χὰ τὴν ἀνύστασιν (αὐτῆς. μήτοι ληροῦντώ γε, ἀλλὰ σαφῶς λέγοντά τι «φαίνεσθαι, ὑμῶς γοῦν θοτέον σύ το θυητὴ» ὁρίσασθαι τὴν χήν». ὁυοῖν γάω TOL θότερον ταύτῃ θετέον. " ἀληθῆ τὸν κύριον ἀποφήνασθαι ἀθάνατον τὴν ψυχὴν διδάσκοντα, καὶ ψεῦδος τὸ φθείρεσθαι αὐτὴν λέγειν, ἢ φθείρεσθαι, καὶ ψεύδεσθαι τὸ ἀνώλεθρον αὐτὴν καὶ ἀθάνατον εἶναι διδάσκειν τὸν Χριστόν, καὶ ἐν τῇ κατὰ τὸν πλούσιον καὶ τὸν πένητα φράσει, καὶ ἐν τῇ κατὰ τὸν Μωυσέα καὶ τὸν Ἠλίαν ὀπτασίᾳ. ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲν ὁ Χριστὸς ἄλλως ἐφθέγξατο ἢ ἐψεύσατο. οὐ γὰρ εἴδωλον ἢ φάσμα, τοὺς ἀποστόλους βουλόμενος ἀπατᾶν, ἐδείκνυεν αὐτοῖς ἐν τῷ ὄρει τὸν Ἠλίαν καὶ τὸν Μωυσέα, ἀλλὰ ἀψευδῶς, ὥστε, ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν. καὶ τὸν δυσμαθέστατον μαθεῖν ἀθάνατον αὐτὴν εἶναι καὶ ἀνώλεθρον διαβεβαιοῦσθαι τὴν ψυχήν. ### English translation (Claude) "That the soul is immortal Christ taught openly, speaking both himself and through Solomon: himself in the story of the rich man and the poor man Lazarus, where he grants the one rest in the bosom of Abraham after laying aside the body, and puts the other in torments, and brings him in conversing with Abraham; and through Solomon in the book entitled Wisdom, where it is written, 'The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their departure was thought an affliction, and their going from us a ruin; but they are in peace, and their hope is full of immortality.' So the resurrection is of the body, not of the soul. For no one raises up someone who is standing, but someone who is lying down, just as no one treats the healthy, but the sick. If anyone forcibly maintains that the resurrection will be of the soul and not of the flesh, this is great folly and unreason. For he must first show the corruption and dissolution of the soul, and so show its resurrection too, if he is not to talk nonsense but to be seen to say something clear; and so he must define the soul as mortal. For one of two things must be held here: either the Lord declared the truth when he taught that the soul is immortal, and it is false to say that it perishes; or it perishes, and Christ lied when he taught that it is indestructible and immortal, both in the account of the rich man and the poor man and in the vision of Moses and Elijah. But Christ said nothing otherwise than as it is, nor did he lie. For it was not an image or a phantom that he showed the apostles on the mountain, Elijah and Moses, wishing to deceive them; he showed them truly, so that, so to speak, even the slowest to learn might learn that the soul is immortal and be firmly assured that it is indestructible." ### Scripture references - Luke 16:22: allusion, high confidence - Luke 16:23: allusion, high confidence - Matt 17:3: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 3:1-4 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The second half of this chapter (from 'If anyone forcibly maintains') is badly garbled in the OCR; the clearest slips are corrected, and the rest is translated by its evident sense, which the argument makes plain. - Luke 16:19-31; Wis 3:1-4; Matt 17:1-3. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.52 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:307; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-47/#p-1-52). ## Res. 1.53 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-47/#p-1-53 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:308 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The resurrection is of the fallen flesh, the 'tent' of the soul, as the images of sleeping and waking and of seeds that die and spring up again show. ### Greek text Οὐκοῦν σαρκὸς ἡ ἀνάστασις γίγνεται καὶ οὐ ψυχῆς, ὅπως »ἡ πεπτωκυῖα« τοῦ Δαυὶδ εἰς τὴν φθορὰν ἀνασταίη »σκηνή«, καὶ ἀναστᾶσα καὶ ἀνοικοδομηθεῖσα, »καθὼς αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ αἰῶνος«, ἀπήμων λοιπὸν καὶ ἀδιάπτωτος διαμένοι. οὐ γὰρ τῷ θεῷ τὴν λιθίνην οἰκίαν δείμασθαι τοῦ Δαυὶδ εἰς τὸ μέλλον, ἵν᾽ ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν οἰκίαν σχῇ καλήν, ἀλλὰ τὴν σάρκα, τὸ σκῆνος τῆς ψυχῆς, ἣν αὐτὸς ταῖς ἑαυτοῦ χερσὶν ἐτεκτήνατο. σκοπεῖσθαι δέ σε, ὦ σοφώτατε Ἀγλαοφῶν, οὑτωσὶ χρή. πάντων δὲ ῥᾷστα μαθήσῃ τοῦτο, ἐὰν ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ καθεύδειν εἰκόνα πρόσσχῃς καὶ ἀνίστασθαι. εἰ γὰρ τὸ ὑπνοῦν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐγρηγορέναι καὶ τὸ ἀνίστασθαι ἀπὸ τοῦ καθεύδειν γίγνεται, καὶ τοῦτο θανάτου καὶ ἀναστάσεως μελέτη ὕπνῳ (γὰρ) καὶ θανάτῳ διδυμάοσιν·, ἀνάγκη δὴ καὶ τὸ ἀναβιώσκεσθαι εἶναι ἐκ τοῦ τεθνάναι, εἰς τὸ ζῆν τὴν σάρκα, εἴπερ καὶ τὸ ἀνεγείρεσθαι ἐκ τῶν καθευδόντων. ὡς γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ καθεύδειν τὸ ἐγρηγορέναι γίγνεται, καὶ οὐ πάντως ὁ καθεύδων ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ διαμένει σχήματι καθεύδον ἀεί, ἀλλ᾽ αὖθις ἀνίσταται. οὕτως καὶ τὸ ζῆν ἐκ τοῦ ἀποθανεῖν συμβήσεται, καὶ οὐ πάντως ὁ ἀποθανών, ἐπειδὰν ἀποθάνοι, ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ μένει. εἰ γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ κοιμᾶσθαι τὸ ἐγρηγορέναι καὶ ἐκ τοῦ πεσεῖν τὸ ἀνεγερθῆναι καὶ ἐκ τοῦ καταβληθῆναι τὸ ἀνοικοδομηθῆναι, τίς μηχανὴ καὶ ἐκ τοῦ κλιθέντος μὴ οὐχὶ προσδοκᾶν τὸ ἀναστήσεσθαι καὶ ἐκ τοῦ θανόντος τὸ ἀναβιώσκεσθαι; καὶ γὰρ ἡμεῖς ταῦτα οὐκ ἐξαπατώμενοι ὁμολογοῦμεν, ἐκ τῶν τεθνεώτων σωμάτων τὸ ἀναβιώσκεσθαι συμβαίνειν. καὶ μὴ μόνον τοῦτο, εἰ βούλει, ἀπὸ τοῦ καθεύδειν σκόπει καὶ ἀνίστασθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν σπερμάτων καὶ φυτῶν, ὡς ἐν πᾶσιν αὐτοῖς ἡ ἀνάστασις καταγγέλλεται. καταμάθετε γὰρ τὰ σπέρματα, πῶς »γυμνά« φησι καὶ ἄσαρκα βάλλεται εἰς τὴν γῆν, καὶ τελεσφορούμενα πάλιν (τὰ αὐτὰ) ἀποδίδοται. ἐπεὶ εἰ θνήσκοι μὲν καὶ σήποιτο τὰ σπέρματα, ἐκ δὲ τῶν σπερμάτων μηκέτι τὸ ἀναζῆν καὶ φύειν γένοιτο, τίς ἡ ἀποκλήρωσις μὴ οὐχὶ πάντα καταναλωθῆναι εἰς τὸ τεθνάναι; ### English translation (Claude) "So the resurrection is of the flesh and not of the soul, so that 'the fallen tent' of David, which fell into corruption, may rise, and, having risen and been rebuilt 'as in the days of old,' may remain thereafter unharmed and unfallen. For God is not going to build the stone house of David in the future, so that he may have a fine house in the kingdom of heaven, but the flesh, the tent of the soul, which he himself fashioned with his own hands. You should consider it in this way, most wise Aglaophon. You will learn this most easily of all if you attend to the image of sleeping and rising. For if sleeping comes from being awake, and rising from sleeping, and this is a rehearsal of death and resurrection (for sleep and death are twins), then the flesh's coming back to life must also come from being dead into living, just as waking comes from those who are asleep. For as waking comes from sleeping, and the sleeper does not by any means remain always in the same posture asleep, but rises again, so living too will come from dying, and the one who has died does not by any means remain in that state once he has died. For if waking comes from sleeping, and being raised up from falling, and being rebuilt from being thrown down, by what reasoning can we fail to expect that what has sunk down will rise and what has died will come back to life? Indeed we, without being deceived, confess this: that coming back to life happens from dead bodies. And consider this, if you like, not only from sleeping and rising, but also from seeds and plants, how the resurrection is proclaimed in them all. Learn from the seeds how they are cast into the earth 'bare,' as he says, and fleshless, and when they come to fruit are given back again, the same. For if the seeds died and rotted, but no living again and growing came from the seeds, what other lot would there be than that all things should be consumed into death?" ### Scripture references - Amos 9:11: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:37: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 16.672 (Homer, Iliad): allusion, high confidence - Plato, Phaed. 71c (Plato (works)): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Amos 9:11 (quoted again from 1.51); 1 Cor 15:37. Sleep and death as twins is Homer, Il. 16.672; the argument that opposites come from opposites (waking from sleeping, living from dying) follows Plato, Phaed. 71c-d. The clearest OCR slips are corrected. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.53 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:308; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-47/#p-1-53). ## Res. 1.54 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-47/#p-1-54 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:310 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The narrator rejects the reading of Psalm 66 as souls falling from heaven into bodies, argues from Paul's two raptures that paradise is on earth, and reads the psalm as the thanksgiving of the martyrs tested by fire. ### Greek text ᾿Αλλὰ γὰρ περὶ τούτων πλείω λέγειν τὰ νῦν, ὦ κράτιστε Θεόφιλε, παρήσομεν, καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ κριταὶ τῶν λόγων. λάβωμεν δὲ καὶ τὰ τούτοις ἐφεξῆς ἀκόλουθα, ὡς ἀφέστηκε τοῦ δέοντος μακράν. ὁ θεὸς γὰρ αὐτῷ πάλιν τὰς ψυχὰς ἐν τῇ κατὰ τὸν ἑξηκοστὸν πέμπτον ψαλμὸν προφητείᾳ, βεβιασμένως αὐτὴν καὶ ἀνοικείως ἐκτιθέμενος, ὡς εἰς παγίδα τὴν σάρκα δίκην ὑφεξούσας τῶν ἡμαρτημένων ἐμβιβάζει, ὅπερ ἀτοπίας μᾶλλον ἢ ὀρθοδοξίας ἐστίν. εἶ γὰρ πρὸ τῆς παραβάσεως, καθάπερ ἤδη καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν ἐξεθέμεθα, σῶμα ἐκέκτηντο αἱ ψυχαί, πῶς ὡς εἰς παγίδα ὕστερον, μετὰ τὴν παράβασιν, εἰς (τὸ σῶμα ἐμβιβάζονται. οὐκ ὄντος χρόνου, ἐν ᾧ πρὶν αὐτὰς τὸ σῶμα λαβεῖν ἐξημάρτοσαν; οὐ γὰρ ἔμφρονος, ὁτὲ μὲν διὰ τὸ σῶμα λέγειν τὰς ψυχὰς ἡμαρτηκέναι, ὁτὲ δέ, ἐπειδήπερ ἡμάρτοσαν, διὰ τοῦτο δεσμὸν αὐτὸ καὶ παγίδα πρὸς κατάκρισιν γεγονέναι. εἰ γὰρ διὰ τὸ σῶμα ἥμαρτον, συνῆν ἄρα ἐξ ἀρχῆς αὐταῖς καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὸ σῶμα. πῶς γὰρ διὰ τοῦτο ἡμάρτανον, ὃ μὴ ἦν μηδέπω; εἰ δὲ παγὶς πάλιν αὐτὸ τὸ σῶμα καὶ πέδαι νομίζεται καὶ δεσμός, οὐκέτι τὸ συναμφότερον αἴτιον, ἀλλὰ ψυχὴ μόνη· ἁμαρτήσαντι γὰρ μετὰ τὸ ἁμαρτῆσαι [τῷ ἁμαρτήσαντι] δεσμὰ καὶ παγίδες καὶ πέδαι κατασκευάζονται. ἀλλὰ μὲν δὴ ὡμολογήσαμεν μὴ δύνασθαι δεσμὸν εἶναι τὸ σῶμα τῆς ψυχῆς, ἐπειδὴ τὸ μὲν σῶμα πρὸς ἑκάτερα, καὶ πρὸς τὸ δίκαιον καὶ ἄδικον, συνεργεῖ, ὁ δὲ δεσμὸς εἴργει τοῦ ἀδικεῖν. ὥστε ὅπερ λέγω δυοῖν θάτερον· ἢ γὰρ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἡμάρτομεν μετὰ σώματος, καὶ οὐ φαίνεται χρόνος. ἐν ᾧ ἐκτὸς ὑπήρξαμεν σώματος, καὶ συναίτιον τὸ σῶμα καὶ ἀγαθῶν τῇ ψυχῇ καὶ κακῶν, ἢ χωρὶς σώματος διάγοντες ἡμάρτομεν, καὶ ἀναίτιον τὸ σῶμα κακίας ἐκ παντός· ἀλλὰ χωρὶς σώματος ὑπὸ ἀλόγου ἡδονῆς οὐ κρατεῖται ἡ ψυχή. ἐκρατήθησαν δὲ οἱ πρωτόπλαστοι ἀλόγῳ δελεασθέντες ἡδονῇ. ἦν ἄρα ἡ ψυχὴ μετὰ σώματος καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας. περὶ γὰρ δὴ τοῦ μὴ ἐγχωρεῖν αὐτὸ νομίζειν μετὰ τὴν παράβασιν δεσμὸν ἐπὶ τιμωρίᾳ γεγονότα, ἵν᾽ ἀκήρατον ἡ ψυχὴ καὶ συνεχῆ κατ᾽ αὐτοὺς βάσανον ἔχῃ νεκροφοροῦσα, δοκῶ μοι πλήρη ταῦτα ἤδη μετὰ πάσης ἀποδείξεως δεδηλωκέναι. ὅθεν ἀσύστατον καὶ ἀνένδικτον τὼ μὲν σῶμα παγίδα τίθεσθαι καὶ δεσμά, τὸν δὲ θεὸν εἰσάγειν τὰς ψυχὰς εἰς τὴν παγίδα δίκην ὑφεξούσας, ἄνωθεν ἐκ τοῦ τρίτον ἐκβάλλοντα οὐρανοῦ ἀνθ᾽ ὧν παρήκουσαν τῆς ἐντολῆς. πρὸς τί γάρ τις πιστεύσει τοῖς οὕτως ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν προπετῶς εἰρημένοις; καίπερ οὐχ ἔχοντος οὕτως τοῦ ψαλμοῦ, κἂν βεβιασμένως αὐτὸν ἐκτίθωνται. αὐτὰ δὲ προοίσω τὰ ἐγκείμενα, ἵνα δὴ καὶ τὸ μυθῶδες αὐτῶν τῆς ἐξηγήσεως φανῇ, ὀρθῶς μὴ θελόντων νοεῖν τὰς γραφάς. εἰσὶ γὰρ οὕτω πως δήπου τὰ λεχθέντα· »ἐδοκίμασας ἡμᾶς ὁ θεός, ἐπύρωσας ἡμᾶς, ὡς πυροῦται τὸ ἀργύριον. εἰσήγαγες ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν παγίδα, ἔθου θλίψεις ἐπὶ τὸν νῶτον ἡμῶν. ἐπεβίβασας ἀνθρώπους ἐπὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς ἡμῶν. διήλθομεν διὰ πυρὸς καὶ ὕδατος, καὶ ἐξήγαγες ἡμᾶς εἰς ἀναψυχήν.« καὶ εὐθέως ἐπιφέρουσι, Ταῦτα δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν ψυχῶν εἴρηται τῶν εἰς τὴν παγίδα τὸ σῶμα, ὡς εἰς ἀγώνισμα, κατενεχθεισῶν ἐκ τοῦ τρίτου οὐρανοῦ, ἔνθα ὁ παράδεισος. τὸ γὰρ »διήλθομεν διὰ πυρὸς καὶ ὕδατος« ἤτοι, φασί, τὴν διὰ μήτρας εἰς τὸν κόσμον τῆς ψυχῆς πάροδον δηλοῖ, ἐπειδήπερ ἐν φλογὶ τοσαύτῃ καὶ ὑγρασία κατεγίγνεται, ἢ τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν οὐρανῶν κατάπτωσιν εἰς τὸν βίον διερχομένης τὰς πηγὰς τοῦ πυρὸς καὶ τὰ ὑπὲρ τὰ νῶτα τοῦ στερεώματος ὕδατα«. πρὸς οὓς ἠξίουν ἐνίστασθαι. φέρε γὰρ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν, ὦ Ἀγλαοφῶν, αὐτὸς ποίησαι τὴν ἀπόκρισιν, τί λέξουσι. Πρῶτον γὰρ ὁ παράδεισος, ὅθεν καὶ ἐξεβλήθημεν ἐν τῷ πρωτοπλάστῳ. ἐκ ταύτης ἐστὶ τῆς γῆς προδήλως τόπος ἐξαίρετος. πρὸς ἄλυπον ἀνάπαυσιν καὶ διαγωγὴν τοῖς ἁγίοις ἀφωρισμένος, ὡς δῆλον ἀπὸ τοῦ καὶ τὸν Τίγριν καὶ τὸν Εὐφράτην καὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς ποταμοὺς τοὺς ἐκεῖθεν προχεομένους ἐνταῦθα φαίνεσθαι τῶν ῥευμάτων τὰς διεκβολὰς εἰς τὴν καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς ἤπειρον ἐπικλύζοντας. οὐ γὰρ ἀπὸ τῶν οὐρανῶν ἄνωθεν καταράσσονται χεόμενοι· ἐπεὶ οὐδὲ ὑπέστη ἂν ἡ γῆ ὄγκον τοσοῦτον ἀθρόως ἐξ ὕψους καταφερόμενον ὑποδέξασθαι ὕδατος. ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ ὁ ἀπόστολος ὑποτίθεται τὸν παράδεισον εἶναι ἐν τρίτῳ οὐρανῷ τοῖς λεπτῶν ἀκροᾶσθαι λόγων ἐπισταμένοις. »οἶδα« γάρ »τὸν τοιοῦτον ἁρπαγέντα ἕως τρίτου« λέγων »οὐρανοῦ· καὶ οἶδα τὸν τοιοῦτον ἄνθρωπον, εἴτε ἐν σώματι εἴτε χωρὶς σώματος, ὁ θεὸς οἶδεν, ὅτι ἡρπάγη εἰς τὸν παράδεισον« δύο ἀποκαλύψεις μεγάλας ἑωρακέναι μηνύει. δὶς ἀναληφθεὶς ἐναργῶς, ἅπαξ μὲν ἕως τρίτον οὐρανοῦ, ἅπαξ δὲ εἰς τὸν παράδεισον. τὸ γάρ »οἶδα ἁρπαγέντα τὸν τοιοῦτον ἕως τρίτου οὐρανοῦ« ἰδίως ἀποκάλυψιν αὐτῷ κατὰ τὸν τρίτον ἀναληφθέντι οὐρανὸν πεφηνέναι συνίστησι· τὸ δὲ »καὶ οἶδα« πάλιν ἐπιφερόμενον »τὸν τοιοῦτον ἄνθρωπον, εἴτε ἐν σώματι εἴτε ἐκτὸς τοῦ σώματος, ὁ θεὸς οἶδεν, ὅτι ἡρπάγη εἰς τὸν παράδεισον« αὖθις ἑτέραν αὐτῷ πεφανερῶσθαι κατὰ τὸν παράδεισον ἀποκάλυψιν δείκνυσι. τερετισμὸς οὖν ἐστι καὶ τραγικολογία τὸ καταβάλλεσθαι λέγειν τὰς ψυχὰς ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν καὶ διαβαίνειν τοῦ πυρὸς τὰς πηγὰς καὶ τὰ ὕδατα τὰ ὑπὲρ τὰ νῶτα τοῦ στερεώματος εἰς τὸν καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς φερομένας κόσμον, ἐπεὶ μηδὲ ὁ ᾿Αδὰμ ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν ἐξεβλήθη, ἀλλὰ ἀπὸ τοῦ »κατὰ ἀνατολὰς ἐν Ἐδέμ« πεφυτευμένου παραδείσου. οὐ γὰρ πρὸ τῆς ἐνσωματώσεως τὸ παράπτωμα, καθάπερ ἐδιδάξαμεν ἱκανῶς, οὐδ᾽ αὖ τὸ σῶμα παγὶς τοῦτο, ἀλλὰ μετὰ τὴν εἰς τὸ σῶμα σύμφυσιν τῆς ψυχῆς γίγνεται τὸ παράπτωμα, ὅτε τὸ συναμφότερον ὁ ἄνθρωπος, καὶ ἡ ἐκ τοῦ παραδείσου κατάπτωσις ἐνθάδε. ὁ δὲ ὅλως οὐ προσέσχεν ἐπιμελέστερον, Αγλαοφῶν, τῷ λόγῳ, ἀλλὰ διετείνατο περὶ πραγμάτων διανόησιν οὐκ ἐχόντων ἐπίγνωσιν, ἐπιχειρήσας κατὰ τὰς δόξας ἐξηγήσασθαι τῶν φαύλων τὸν ψαλμόν, περὶ ὧν λέγειν πλείω παρήσομεν. Βούλομαι γάρ, ἐπειδὴ ἅπαξ εἰς τὸ διευθῦναι τὴν μοχθηρίαν αὐτῶν ἥκαμεν, ἀπογυμνῶσαι καὶ ταύτης αὐτοῖς τῆς προφητείας τὴν πρόφασιν. »ἐδοκίμασας ἡμᾶς ὁ θεός, ἐπύρωσας ἡμᾶς, ὡς πυροῦται τὸ ἀργύριον.« δοκιμασθέντες διαρκῶς οἱ μάρτυρες ἐν ταῖς κατὰ τοὺς πειρασμοὺς τῶν βασάνων προσβολαῖς (τὰ πολλὰ γὰρ εἰς τὴν καθ' ἡμᾶς αἱ προφητεῖαι πίστιν πληροῦνται) καὶ εὐκλεῶς καὶ ἐρρωμενέστατα διαθλήσαντες εὐχαριστοῦσι τὸ »ἐδοκίμασας ἡμᾶς« λέγοντες τῷ θεῷ. ὡς ἵνα τὴν δόξαν παρ᾽ αὐτῷ κτήσωνται μείζονα, διὰ πολλῶν αὐτοὺς ἤλεγξε πόνων, τὸν ἀληθῶς Ὀλυμπικὸν ἀγῶνα νικῆσαι προθείς. καὶ ἐπισκέψασθε ὡς τούτοις συνῳδὰ σαφῶς τοῖς λόγοις περὶ τῶν μαρτύρων καὶ ὁ Σολομῶν ἀναφθέγγεται (οὐ γὰρ ἀμάρτυρος ὁ λόγος καὶ ἄλλων γραφῶν) ὅτι »ὁ θεὸς ἐπείρασεν αὐτούς, καὶ ηὗρεν αὐτοὺς ἀξίους ἑαυτοῦ. ὡς χρυσίον ἐν χωνευτηρίῳ ἐδοκίμασεν αὐτούς, καὶ ὡς ὁλοκάρπωμα εὐωδίας προσεδέξατο αὐτούς, καὶ ἐν καιρῷ ἐπισκοπῆς αὐτῶν«, πρόσθεν εἰπών »καὶ γὰρ ἐὰν ἐν ὄψει ἀνθρώπων κολασθῶσιν, ἡ ἐλπὶς αὐτῶν ἀθανασίας πλήρης, καὶ ὀλίγα παιδευθέντες μεγάλα εὐεργετηθήσονται«, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῷ ρκγ´ ψαλμῷ· »εἰ μὴ ὅτι κύριος ἦν ἐν ἡμῖν, ἐν τῷ ἐπαναστῆναι ἀνθρώπους ἐφ᾽ ἡμᾶς, ἄρα ζῶντας ἂν κατέπιον ἡμᾶς· ἄρα τὸ ὕδωρ ἂν κατεπόντισεν ἡμᾶς· χείμαρρον διῆλθεν ἡ ψυχὴ ἡμῶν, ἄρα διῆλθεν ἡ ψυχὴ ἡμῶν τὸ ὕδωρ τὸ ἀνυπόστατον. εὐλογητὸς κύριος, ὃς οὐκ ἔδωκεν ἡμᾶς εἰς θήραν τοῖς ὀδοῦσιν αὐτῶν. ἡ ψυχὴ ἡμῶν ὡς στρουθίον ἐρρύσθη ἐκ τῆς παγίδος τῶν θηρευόντων· ἡ παγὶς συνετρίβη, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐρρύσθημεν«. οἱ μάρτυρές εἰσιν οἱ ταῦτα λέγοντες. δύο δὲ τῶν καλλιγίχεων οἱ χοροὶ μαρτύρων, εἷς μὲν τῆς διαθήκης τῆς καινῆς, θάτερος δὲ τῆς παλαιᾶς, ἀντίφθογγον ὕμνον συμφώνως τῷ ὑπερμάχῳ θεῷ καὶ βασιλεῖ τῶν ὅλων ἀναπέμποντες »ἐδοκίμασας ἡμᾶς ὁ θεός, ἐπύρωσας ἡμᾶς ὡς πυροῦται τὸ ἀργύριον, εἰσήγαγες ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν παγίδα. ἔθου θλίψεις ἐπὶ τὸν νῶτον ἡμῶν«, τὸ δικαστήριον τῶν ἐθνῶν ἢ τοὺς πειρασμούς, καθ' οὖς ἐκθλιβέντες καὶ πυρωθέντες ἰσχυρῶς ἐδοκιμάσθησαν. καὶ πάλιν Δαυίδ· »δοκίμασόν με« φησί »κύριε, καὶ πείρασόν με. πύρωσον τοὺς νεφρούς μου καὶ τὴν καρδίαν μου«. λεγέτω δὴ καὶ ὁ Ἀβραὰμ ἐπὶ τῷ μονογενεῖ πυρωθεὶς τὰ σπλάγχνα. προτιμήσας τε τὸ τοῦ θεοῦ μᾶλλον πρόσταγμα, μετὰ τὸ ἀκοῦσαι »Ἀβραάμ«, »φεῖσαι τοῦ παιδός σου, ἀπορρίψας τὸ ξίφος, »ἐδοκίμασας ἡμᾶς ὁ θεός, ἐπύρωσας ἡμᾶς, ὡς πυροῦται τὸ ἀργύριον«. λεγέτω καὶ ὁ Ἰὼβ μετὰ τὸ ἀποξῦσαι τὴν σαπρίαν καὶ ὀνειδισθῆναί τε ὑπὸ τῶν φίλων καὶ ἀλγῆσαι τὸ σῶμα, »διὰ λαίλαπος« ἀκούσας λαλοῦντος αὐτῷ τοῦ θεοῦ »οἴει με ἄλλως σοι κεχρηματικέναι ἢ ἵνα ἀναφανῇς δίκαιος;« »ἔθου θλίψεις ἐναντίον ἡμῶν, κύριε, ἵνα ἡμᾶς ὡς χρυσίον ἐν χωνευτηρίῳ δοκιμάσῃς«. λεγέτωσαν καὶ οἱ τρεῖς ἐν τῇ καμίνῳ παῖδες δροσιζόμενοι, ἵνα μὴ καταφλεχθῶσιν ὑπὸ τοῦ πυρός, »ἐδοκίμασας ἡμᾶς ὁ θεός, ἐπύρωσας ἡμᾶς, ὡς πυροῦται τὸ ἀργύριον. διήλθομεν διὰ πυρὸς καὶ ὕδατος. καὶ ἐξήγαγες ἡμᾶς εἰς ἀναψυχήν«. δὸς εἰπεῖν κἀμοὶ τῷ Μεθοδίῳ, ὁ θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ, ὁ μέγας. ὁ αἰώνιος. ὁ πατὴρ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ σου διαβάντι τὸ πῦρ ἀναλγητί, καὶ τῶν ῥευμάτων εἰς τὴν καυστικὴν μεταβληθέντων φύσιν ὑπεξαλύξαντι τὰς ὁρμάς· »διῆλθον διὰ πυρὸς καὶ ὕδατος. καὶ ἐξήγαγές με εἰς ἀνάψυξιν«. σὴ γὰρ αὕτη τοῖς ἀγαπῶσί σε ἡ ἐπαγγελία· »ἐὰν διαβαίνῃς δι᾽ ὕδατος, μετὰ σοῦ εἰμι, καὶ ποταμοὶ οὐ συγκλύσουσί σε· κἂν διαβαίνῃς διὰ πυρός, οὐ μὴ κατακαυθῇς, φλὸξ οὐ κατακαύσει σε«. ἀλλὰ γὰρ περὶ τῆς κατὰ τὸν ψαλμὸν ἐξηγήσεως ἅλις ἔχει ταῦτα. ### English translation (Claude) "But we shall leave off saying more about these things for now, most excellent Theophilus, and you other judges of the discussion. Let us take up what follows next, and see how far it has strayed from what is right. For he again, in the prophecy of the sixty-fifth psalm, which he expounds forcibly and inappropriately, has God put the souls into the flesh as into a snare, to undergo punishment for their sins; and this belongs to absurdity rather than to orthodoxy. For if before the transgression, as we have already set out above, the souls possessed a body, how are they afterwards, after the transgression, put into the body as into a snare, when there was no time in which they sinned before receiving the body? For it is not the part of a sensible man to say at one time that the souls sinned because of the body, and at another that, because they had sinned, the body became a fetter and a snare for their condemnation. For if they sinned because of the body, then the body was with them from the beginning, even before sin; for how did they sin because of what did not yet exist? And if, again, the body itself is considered a snare and shackles and a fetter, then the cause is no longer both together, but the soul alone; for fetters and snares and shackles are prepared for one who has sinned, after the sinning. But we agreed that the body cannot be the soul's fetter, since the body works with it toward either, toward what is just and what is unjust, whereas a fetter keeps one from doing wrong. So, as I say, it is one of two things: either we sinned from the beginning with the body, and no time appears in which we existed outside the body, and the body is a joint cause with the soul of both good and evil; or we sinned while living without a body, and the body is entirely innocent of vice. But without a body the soul is not overcome by irrational pleasure; and the first-formed were overcome, enticed by irrational pleasure. The soul, then, was with a body even before sin. As for the claim that the body came into being after the transgression as a fetter for punishment, so that the soul, according to them, might have pure and continual torment carrying a corpse, I think I have already shown fully, with every proof, that it cannot be admitted. Hence it is incoherent and inadmissible to make the body a snare and a fetter, and to bring in God putting the souls into the snare to undergo punishment, casting them down from the third heaven above because they disobeyed the commandment. For why should anyone believe what they have said so rashly, when the psalm does not mean this, even if they expound it forcibly? I will set out the words themselves, so that the fabulous character of their interpretation may appear, since they will not understand the Scriptures rightly. The words are these: 'You have tested us, O God; you have tried us by fire as silver is tried by fire. You brought us into the snare; you laid afflictions on our back; you set men over our heads; we went through fire and water, and you brought us out into refreshment.' And at once they add: 'These things are said by the souls that were brought down from the third heaven, where paradise is, into the snare, the body, as into a contest. For "we went through fire and water" shows either the passage of the soul through the womb into the world, since it is formed in such great heat and moisture, or its fall from the heavens into this life, passing through the springs of fire and the waters above the back of the firmament.' I thought it right to oppose them. Come, Aglaophon, give the answer on their behalf yourself: what will they say? [55] "First, the paradise from which we were cast out in the first-formed man is plainly a special place of this earth, set apart for the saints for rest and life free from pain. This is clear from the fact that the Tigris and the Euphrates and the other rivers that flow out from there are seen here, flooding our continent with the outflows of their streams. For they do not pour down from the heavens above; the earth could not have endured to receive so great a mass of water borne down all at once from the height. Nor does the apostle suppose that paradise is in the third heaven, for those who know how to listen to subtle words. For in saying, 'I know such a man caught up to the third heaven; and I know such a man, whether in the body or out of the body, God knows, that he was caught up into paradise,' he indicates that he saw two great revelations, having been plainly taken up twice, once to the third heaven and once into paradise. For 'I know such a man caught up to the third heaven' establishes that a revelation appeared to him when he was taken up to the third heaven; and 'And I know,' added again, 'such a man, whether in the body or out of the body, God knows, that he was caught up into paradise' shows that another revelation was made to him in paradise. It is therefore twaddle and tragic bombast to say that the souls are cast down from the heavens and pass through the springs of fire and the waters above the back of the firmament as they are carried into our world; for not even Adam was cast out of the heavens, but out of the paradise 'planted in Eden toward the east.' For the transgression did not happen before embodiment, as we have sufficiently taught, nor is the body this snare; the transgression happens after the soul's union with the body, when man is both together, and the fall from paradise happens here. But Aglaophon did not attend to the argument at all carefully; he strained after matters that admit no understanding, trying to expound the psalm according to the opinions of the wicked, about which we shall say no more. [56] "For since we have once come to correcting their wickedness, I wish to strip them of the pretext of this prophecy too. 'You have tested us, O God; you have tried us by fire as silver is tried.' The martyrs, thoroughly tested in the assaults of torments in their trials (for the prophecies are fulfilled mostly in our faith), and having contended gloriously and most bravely, give thanks, saying to God, 'You have tested us,' because, so that they might gain greater glory with him, he exercised them through many labours, setting before them the winning of the truly Olympic contest. And observe how Solomon too clearly declares things in accord with these words about the martyrs (for the argument is not without the witness of other Scriptures too): 'God tested them and found them worthy of himself; as gold in the furnace he tried them, and as a whole burnt offering of sweet savour he accepted them, and in the time of their visitation…', having said before, 'For though in the sight of men they are punished, their hope is full of immortality; and having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good.' And also in the hundred and twenty-third psalm: 'If the Lord had not been among us when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive; then the water would have drowned us; our soul passed through a torrent; then our soul passed through the overwhelming water. Blessed be the Lord, who did not give us as prey to their teeth. Our soul was rescued like a sparrow from the snare of the hunters; the snare was broken, and we were rescued.' Those who say this are the martyrs. And there are two choirs of martyrs of fair renown, one of the new covenant and the other of the old, sending up in harmony an answering hymn to the Champion and King of all: 'You have tested us, O God; you have tried us by fire as silver is tried; you brought us into the snare; you laid afflictions on our back,' meaning the tribunal of the nations or the trials in which they were afflicted and tried by fire and strongly tested. And again David: 'Test me, O Lord,' he says, 'and try me; try by fire my kidneys and my heart.' Let Abraham too say it, whose inward parts were tried by fire over his only son, and who preferred the command of God, when, after hearing, 'Abraham, spare your child,' he threw away the sword: 'You have tested us, O God; you have tried us by fire as silver is tried.' Let Job say it too, after scraping off the putrid matter [of his sores], and being reproached by his friends and suffering pain in his body, when he heard God speaking to him 'through the whirlwind,' 'Do you think that I have dealt with you otherwise than so that you might be shown righteous?': 'You laid afflictions before us, Lord, so that you might test us as gold in a furnace.' Let the three youths in the furnace say it too, refreshed with dew so that they were not burned by the fire: 'You have tested us, O God; you have tried us by fire as silver is tried; we went through fire and water, and you brought us out into refreshment.' Grant me too, Methodius, O God almighty, great, eternal, Father of Christ, to say in your day, when I have passed through the fire without pain and escaped the onrush of the streams changed into a burning nature: 'I went through fire and water, and you brought me out into refreshment.' For this is your promise to those who love you: 'If you pass through water, I am with you, and rivers will not overwhelm you; if you pass through fire, you will not be burned; the flame will not burn you.' But this is enough about the interpretation of the psalm." ### Scripture references - Ps 66:10 (65:10 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 66:11 (65:11 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 66:12 (65:12 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:8: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:14: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 12:2: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 12:3: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 12:4: quotation, high confidence - Ps 124:1 (123:1 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 124:7 (123:7 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 26:2 (25:2 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Gen 22:12: allusion, high confidence - Job 38:1: quotation, high confidence - Job 40:8: quotation, high confidence - Isa 43:2: quotation, high confidence - Dan 3:25: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 3:4-6 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence - Pr Azar (Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Young Men): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The OCR lost the headings of chapters 55 and 56 (garbled numerals are removed by logged corrections); they begin at "[55]" and "[56]". The quotation of Ps 124 and parts of the following lines are badly garbled in the OCR; the clearest slips are corrected and the rest is translated from the evident wording of the Septuagint psalm. - Ps 66:10-12 (LXX 65:10-12), the text Aglaophon used in 1.6; Gen 2:8, 10-14; 2 Cor 12:2-4; Wis 3:5-6 and 3:4-5; Ps 124:1-7 (LXX 123:1-7); Ps 26:2 (LXX 25:2); Gen 22:12; Job 38:1; Job 40:8 (Septuagint); Isa 43:2. The youths' words echo the Prayer of Azariah (Dan 3:50 Greek, 'dew'). 'Grant me too, Methodius' is the author naming himself. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.54 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:310; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-47/#p-1-54). ## Res. 1.57 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-57/#p-1-57 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:317 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The narrator refutes the claim that Paul's 'I was once alive apart from the law' refers to souls living without bodies, and shows that Paul's 'flesh' in Romans 7-8 means a fleshly way of life, not the body. ### Greek text Ἔτι δὲ ἐκεῖνο διασκεπτέον, ἐν ᾧ πολυμόρφοις ἐμφανταζόμενοι ἀπάταις, καθευδόντων τρόπον, ἀποφαίνονται τὸν ἀπόστολον εἰρηκέναι »ἐγὼ δὲ ἔζων χωρὶς νόμου ποτέ«, καὶ βοῶσι, Τὴν πρὸ τῆς ἐντολῆς ἡμῶν ἐν τῷ πρωτοπλάστῳ διαγωγὴν πρὸ σώματος ἔφη, ὡς τὰ ἐπιφερόμενα συνίστησιν· »ἐγὼ δὲ σάρκινός εἰμι, πεπραμένος ὑπὸ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν«, ὅτι μὴ ἄλλως ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἄρχεσθαι ἠδύνατο καὶ κυριεύεσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ κακοῦ, πραθεὶς αὐτῷ διὰ τὴν παράβασιν, εἰ μὴ σάρκινος ἦν γεγονώς. ἄληπτος γὰρ καθ᾽ ἑαυτὴν ἡ ψυχή, φησί, τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ. διὸ δριμέως ἐπήγαγε τὸ »ἐγὼ δὲ σάρκινός εἰμι, πεπραμένος ὑπὸ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν«, πρόσθεν εἰπὼν τό »ἐγὼ δὲ ἔζων χωρὶς νόμου ποτέ«. --- θαῦμα μὲν οὖν τοῖς πολλοῖς ταῦτα λεγόντων αὐτῶν τότε ὑπεδύετο καὶ κατάπληξις· νῦν δὲ προκυψάσης εἰς τὸ φανερώτερον ἤδη τῆς ἀληθείας οὐ μόνον μακρῷ πλανώμενοι καταφαίνονται, ἀλλὰ καὶ μέχρι τῆς ἄκρας ἀναβαίνοντες βλασφημίας. δόντες γὰρ ἀσωμάτως τὰς ψυχὰς πρὸ τῆς ἐντολῆς βεβιωκέναι, ἀλήπτους τε εἶναι καθ' ἑαυτὰς ἐκ παντὸς τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, διανοηθέντες πάλιν ἀνέτρεψαν τὸν λόγον, ἑαυτοὺς δὲ πολὺ μᾶλλον. τὰ γὰρ δὴ σώματα κατασκευάζουσιν αὐταῖς ὕστερον ἐπὶ τιμωρίᾳ (δοθῆναι), διὰ τὸ πρὸ σώματος αὐτὰς ἡμαρτηκέναι. καὶ δὴ καὶ λοιδορήσεις τε ἐπῆλθον αὐτοῖς, δεσμοῖς ἀπεικάζουσι καὶ πέδαις τὸ σῶμα, ἄλλα τε ἀνόητα εἰπεῖν. νῦν δέ, ὅπερ εἴρηται, πᾶν τοὐναντίον ἔχει· χρὴ γὰρ πρὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὴν ψυχὴν ὑπάρχειν μετὰ σώματος. ἐπεὶ εἰ ἄληπτος ἡ ψυχὴ καθ᾽ ἑαυτὴν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, οὐκ ἂν ἥμαρτεν ὅλως πρὸ τοῦ σώματος· εἰ δὲ ἥμαρτεν, οὐκέτι ἄληπτος καθ'᾽ ἑαυτὴν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ. ἀλλὰ καὶ εὐάλωτος μᾶλλον καὶ εὐληπτος. διὸ καὶ πάλιν, κἂν μὴ λάβῃ τὸ σῶμα τοῦτο, ἁμαρτήσεται, ὥσπερ δὴ καὶ πρὸ τοῦ λαβεῖν αὐτὸ ἥμαρτεν. διὰ τί δὲ ὅλως καὶ σῶμα ἐλάμβανεν ὕστερον μετὰ τὸ ἡμαρτηκέναι; ἢ τίς αὐτῇ χρεία σώματος ἦν; εἰ μὲν οὖν ἵνα βασανίζηται καὶ ἀλγῇ, πῶς μᾶλλον ἐντρυφᾷ καὶ ἀκολασταίνει μετὰ τοῦ σώματος; πῶς δὲ καὶ τὸ αὐτεξούσιον εἶναι ἐν τούτῳ φαίνεται ἔχειν τῷ κόσμῳ; ἐφ᾽ ἡμῖν γὰρ τὸ πιστεῦσαι κεῖται καὶ τὸ μὴ πιστεῦσαι. ἔνθα δὲ ἐφ᾽ ἡμῖν τὸ πιστεῦσαι κεῖται καὶ τὸ μὴ πιστεῦσαι, ἐφ᾽ ἡμῖν τὸ κατορθώσασθαι καὶ ἁμαρτῆσαι, ἐφ᾽ ἡμῖν τὸ ἀγαθοποιῆσαι καὶ κακοποιῆσαι. ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ κρίσις πῶς δὴ ὡς μέλλουσα προσδοκᾶσθαι ἔτι δύναται, καθ᾽ ἣν ὁ θεὸς ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα καὶ κατὰ τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα ἀποδίδωσι, καὶ οὐχ ὡς ἤδη παροῦσα νομισθήσεται, εἴ γε τὸ γεννηθῆναι μὲν καὶ εἰς σῶμα ἐλθεῖν τὴν ψυχὴν κριθῆναί ἐστιν ἤδη καὶ ἀνταπολαβεῖν, τὸ δὲ ἀποθανεῖν καὶ χωρισθῆναι τοῦ σώματος ἐλευθερωθῆναί τε καὶ εἰς ἀνάψυξιν ἐλθεῖν, διὰ τὸ πρὸ σώματος αὐτὴν ἁμαρτήσασαν ὡς εἰς κατάκρισιν καὶ καταδίκην εἰς τὸ σῶμα ἐμβιβάζεσθαι καθ' ὑμᾶς; ἀπέδειξε δὲ διαρκῶς ἐκ περιουσίας ὁ λόγος ἀνένδεκτον εἶναι νομίζεσθαι τὸ σῶμα βασανιστήριον καὶ πέδας τῆς ψυχῆς. Ἤρκει μὲν οὖν ἀπὸ τῆς γραφῆς αὐτῆς ἀποδείξαντα πρὸ τῆς παραβάσεως τὸν πρωτόπλαστον ἐκ ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος ὄντα καταπαύειν τὸν περὶ τούτων ἐνταῦθα λόγον. κἀγὼ μὲν ἐπὶ κεφαλαίων αὐτὰ διεξέρχομαι, λύων τὰς ἀφορμὰς τῶν ἐπιχειρημάτων αὐτῶν εὐθύνειν διαμιλλώμενος, ἵνα μὴ τὴν συμμετρίαν ἐκβαίνω τῶν λόγων. πάρεστι γὰρ ἡδη σκοπεῖν, ὦ δικασταί, ὅτι τὸ »ἐγὼ δὲ ἔζων χωρὶς νόμου ποτέ« λεγόμενον ἐν τῇ πρὸς Ῥωμαίους οὐ δύναται πίπτειν εἰς τὴν πρὸ σώματος κατ᾽ αὐτοὺς διαγωγὴν τῆς ψυχῆς, καθάπερ τὰ ἐπιφερόμενα τούτοις μηνύει. κἂν εἰ ὁ γενναῖος οὗτος ἰατρὸς τῶν ῥητῶν τὰ ἑξῆς ὑφελόμενος πρὸς τὸ δοκοῦν αὐτῷ τὸν νοῦν ἐβιάσατο μεταπλάσαι τοῦ ἀποστόλου, ἀνίατόν τι παθὼν λίαν καὶ παιδικόν. ἀντὶ γὰρ τοῦ πρὸς τὰς οἰκείας συμφύσεις καὶ ἁρμογὰς τὰ μέλη τηρεῖν τῶν σωμάτων, ἵνα τὸ πᾶν ἄρτιον ᾖ κατὰ φύσιν σχῆμα τοῦ σώματος, ἠκρωτηρίασε παρελθὼν τὸν εἱρμὸν τῆς γραφῆς, καθάπερ Σκύθης ἐχθροῦ τινος ἀφειδῶς πρὸς ἀναίρεσιν κατατέμνων τὰ μέλη. Πῶς οὖν ὁ ἀπόστολος, λέξουσι, ταῦτα ἀπεφήνατο, εἰ σὺ μὴ οὕτως αὐτὰ ἀπέδειξας ἔχειν; Ὅτι νόμον, εἴποιμ᾽ ἄν. θέμενος εἶναι τὴν ἐντολήν (δεδόσθω γὰρ πρῶτον κατὰ τὴν ὑμετέραν ὑπόθεσιν τὴν ἐντολὴν ἐκείνην αὐτὸν νόμον εἰρηκέναι), οὐ παρὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἀσωμάτως πρὸ τῆς ἐντολῆς τὸν πρωτόπλαστον ὑπέθετο βεβιωκέναι. ἀλλὰ χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας. καὶ γὰρ ὀλίγος ὁ ἀπὸ τῆς κτίσεως αὐτῶν ἄχρι τῆς ἐντολῆς χρόνος, ἐν ᾧ διέζησε χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας. οὐχ ἐκτὸς σώματος, ἀλλὰ μετὰ σώματος. εὐθὺς γοῦν μετὰ τὴν ἐντολὴν ἐξεβλήθησαν βραχύτατον ἐνδιατρίψαντες ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ χρόνον. ἐὰν δέ τις λαβόμενος τῆς ῥήσεως τῆς »ὅτε γὰρ ἦμεν ἐν σαρκί, τὰ παθήματα τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν τὰ διὰ τοῦ νόμου« λεγούσης »ἐνηργεῖτο ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ἡμῶν« διαβάλλειν αὐτὸν τὴν σάρκα νομίζῃ καὶ παραιτεῖσθαι, παραφέρῃ τε ὅσα τοιαῦτα ἄλλα εἴρηται (οἷον »ἵνα τὸ δικαίωμα τοῦ νόμου πληρωθῇ ἐν ἡμῖν τοῖς μὴ κατὰ σάρκα περιπατοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ πνεῦμα«, ἢ τὸ »οἱ γὰρ κατὰ σάρκα ὄντες τὰ τῆς σαρκὸς φρονοῦσιν, οἱ δὲ κατὰ πνεῦμα τὰ τοῦ πνεύματος" τὸ γὰρ φρόνημα τῆς σαρκὸς θάνατος, τὸ δὲ φρόνημα τοῦ πνεύματος ζωὴ καὶ εἰρήνη, διότι τὸ φρόνημα τῆς σαρκὸς ἔχθρα εἰς θεόν· τῷ γὰρ νόμῳ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐχ ὑποτάσσεται, οὐδὲ γὰρ δύναται· ὑμεῖς δὲ οὐκ ἐστὲ ἐν σαρκί, ἀλλὰ ἐν πνεύματι«), λεκτέον αὐτῷ, Πότερον οὖν ἤδη ἀναλύσας ὁ ἀπόστολος ἦν ἐκ τοῦ βίου καὶ οἷς ταῦτα ἐπέστελλεν, εἰ μὴ τὴν κατὰ σάρκα νῦν παρῃτεῖτο πολιτείαν, ἀλλὰ τὴν σάρκα, ἢ ἔτι ἐν σαρκὶ ἦν; ἀλλὰ ἐν σαρκὶ μὴ ὄντα αὐτὸν ἐπεσταλκέναι ταῦτα, οὐ λεκτέον" φανερὸν γὰρ ὅτι ἐν σαρκὶ καὶ αὐτὸς καὶ οἷς ταῦτα ἐπέστελλεν. πῶς οὖν »ὅτε γὰρ ἦμεν ἐν σαρκί, τὰ παθήματα τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν τὰ διὰ τοῦ νόμου ἐνηργεῖτο ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ἡμῶν«, ὡς οὐκ ὢν οὔτε αὐτὸς ἔτι ἐν σαρκὶ οὔτε οἷς ταῦτα ἐπιστέλλει, λέγει; οὐκοῦν περὶ τῆς κατὰ ἀκρασίαν πολιτείας διαλέγεται καὶ οὐ περὶ τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτῆς. ἔθος γὰρ αὐτῷ σαρκικὸν τὸν οὕτως ζῶντα ἄνθρωπον λέγειν, καθάπερ καὶ ψυχικὸν ἄνθρωπον τὸν ἀπηλγηκότα πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἀτενίσαι καὶ τὸν φωτισμὸν τοῦ μυστηρίου. ἐπεὶ λεγέτωσαν μηδὲ τὴν ψυχὴν δύνασθαι σῴζεσθαι τὸ σύνολον. γέγραπται γὰρ »ψυχικὸς δὲ ἄνθρωπος οὐ δέχεται τὰ τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ θεοῦ· μωρία γὰρ αὐτῷ ἐστιν· ὁ δὲ πνευματικὸς πάντα ἀνακρίνει«. ὥσπερ ἐκεῖ ψυχικὸς εἰσάγεταί τις καὶ πνευματικὸς ἄνθρωπος, καὶ ὁ μὲν πνευματικὸς τῶν σῳζομένων, ὁ δὲ ψυχικὸς τῶν ἀπολλυμένων, καὶ οὐ παρὰ τοῦτο δὴ ψυχὴ μὲν ἀπόλλυται, ἄλλα δὲ παρὰ τὴν ψυχὴν σῴζεται, οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἐνθάδε σαρκικοὺς καὶ ἐν σαρξὶν ὑπάρχοντας ἀπόλλυσθαι λέγων, καὶ μὴ δύνασθαι ἀρέσαι θεῷ, οὐ τὴν σάρκα. ἀλλὰ τὴν κατὰ σάρκα πολιτείαν ἀναιρεῖσθαι ἀγωνίζεται. ὑποβὰς δὲ καὶ εἰπών »οἱ δὲ ἐν σαρκὶ ὄντες θεῷ ἀρέσαι οὐ δύνανται« εὐθέως ἐπιφέρει »ὑμεῖς δὲ οὐκ ἐστὲ ἐν σαρκί, ἀλλὰ ἐν πνεύματι, εἴπερ πνεῦμα Χριστοῦ οἰκεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν«, καὶ μετ᾽ ὀλίγον »εἰ δὲ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ ἐγείραντος Ιησοῦν ἐκ νεκρῶν οἰκεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν, ὁ ἐγείρας Χριστὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν ζῳοποιήσει καὶ τὰ θνητὰ σώματα ὑμῶν διὰ τοῦ ἐνοικοῦντος αὐτοῦ πνεύματος ἐν ὑμῖν. ἄρα οὖν. ἀδελφοί, ὀφειλέται ἐσμὲν οὐ τῇ σαρκὶ τοῦ κατὰ σάρκα ζῆν· εἰ γὰρ κατὰ σάρκα ζῆτε, μέλλετε ἀποθνήσκειν· εἰ δὲ πνεύματι τὰς πράξεις τοῦ σώματος θανατοῦτε, ζήσεσθε«. προσεκτέον γὰρ ὡς τὴν τοῦ σώματος πρὸς τὰς ἡδονὰς ὁρμὴν καὶ οὐχὶ τὸ σῶμα θανατοῦσθαι διεβεβαιώσατο. ### English translation (Claude) "Further, this point too must be examined, in which, deluded by many-shaped deceits, like men asleep, they declare that the apostle said, 'I was once alive apart from the law,' and they cry: 'He meant our life before the commandment in the first-formed man, before the body, as what follows shows: "But I am fleshly, sold under sin"; for man could not otherwise be ruled and mastered by evil, having been sold to it through the transgression, unless he had become fleshly. For the soul by itself,' he says, 'cannot be taken by sin. That is why he sharply added, "But I am fleshly, sold under sin," having said before, "I was once alive apart from the law."' When they said this, the many were at that time seized with wonder and amazement; but now that the truth has already come forth more clearly, they are seen not only to be wandering far astray, but even to be climbing to the height of blasphemy. For having granted that souls lived without bodies before the commandment, and that by themselves they cannot be taken by sin at all, they then, on reflection, overturned their own argument, and much more themselves. For they furnish the souls with bodies later, given for punishment because they sinned before the body. And so they fell to abuse as well, likening the body to fetters and shackles and saying other senseless things. But now, as has been said, the whole is the opposite: the soul must have been with a body before sin. For if the soul by itself cannot be taken by sin, it would not have sinned at all before the body; and if it sinned, then it is no longer, by itself, beyond the reach of sin, but rather easily captured and taken. So it will sin again even if it does not take this body, just as it sinned before taking it. And why at all did it take a body later, after it had sinned? Or what need of a body did it have? If it was so that it might be tormented and pained, how is it that with the body it rather lives in luxury and licentiousness? And how does free will appear to exist in this world? For believing and not believing rest with us; and where believing and not believing rest with us, so do doing right and sinning, so do doing good and doing evil. And how can the judgment still be expected as something to come, in which God renders to each according to his works and pursuits, and not be thought to be already present, if for the soul to be born and to come into the body is already to be judged and requited, and to die and be separated from the body is to be set free and come into refreshment, because, according to you, the soul, having sinned before the body, is put into the body as for condemnation and sentence? But the argument has shown fully and abundantly that the body cannot be considered a torture chamber and shackles of the soul. [58] "It would be enough, then, having shown from Scripture itself that the first-formed man was of soul and body before the transgression, to stop the discussion of these matters here. I go through them by headings, removing the pretexts of their attempts and striving to correct them, so that I may not go beyond the measure of the discussion. For it is now possible to see, judges, that 'I was once alive apart from the law,' said in the Epistle to the Romans, cannot refer to the life of the soul before the body that they speak of, as the words that follow show; even though this noble physician, taking away what follows in the texts, forced the apostle's meaning to be remoulded to suit what pleased him, suffering a quite incurable and childish affliction. For instead of keeping the members of bodies in their own joints and fittings, so that the whole shape of the body may be complete according to nature, he has mutilated it, passing over the sequence of Scripture, like a Scythian who cuts up the limbs of an enemy unsparingly to destroy him. 'How then,' they will say, 'did the apostle declare these things, if you have not shown them to be so?' Because, I would say, though he called the commandment law (let it first be granted, on your supposition, that he called that commandment law), he did not on that account suppose that the first-formed man lived without a body before the commandment, but without sin. For short was the time from their creation to the commandment, in which he lived without sin, not outside the body but with the body. At any rate they were cast out after the commandment, having stayed in paradise a very short time. But if anyone, seizing on the saying, 'For when we were in the flesh, the passions of sins, which were through the law, were at work in our members,' thinks that he slanders the flesh and rejects it, and brings forward all the other such sayings (for example, 'that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit'; or 'For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit on the things of the Spirit; for the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind of the flesh is enmity toward God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can it be; but you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit'), we must say to him: did the apostle write these things when he and those to whom he wrote had already departed from life, if what he was rejecting here was not the life according to the flesh but the flesh itself, or was he still in the flesh? It cannot be said that he wrote these things when he was not in the flesh; for it is evident that both he and those to whom he wrote were in the flesh. How then does he say, 'For when we were in the flesh, the passions of sins, which were through the law, were at work in our members,' as though neither he nor those to whom he writes were still in the flesh? So he is speaking about the life of intemperance and not about the flesh itself. For it is his custom to call a man who lives in this way fleshly, just as he calls 'natural' the man who has become too dull to look steadily at the truth and at the enlightenment of the mystery. Otherwise let them say that the soul cannot be saved at all. For it is written, 'The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; but the spiritual man judges all things.' Just as there a natural man and a spiritual man are introduced, and the spiritual man belongs to those who are saved, the natural to those who perish, and yet the soul does not on that account perish while something other than the soul is saved, so here too, in saying that those who are fleshly and in the flesh perish and cannot please God, he is striving to abolish not the flesh but the life according to the flesh. And going on, after saying, 'Those who are in the flesh cannot please God,' he immediately adds, 'But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of Christ dwells in you'; and a little after, 'But if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh; for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.' For note that he affirmed that it is the body's impulse toward pleasures, and not the body, that is put to death." ### Scripture references - Rom 7:9: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:14: quotation, high confidence - Rom 2:6: allusion, medium confidence - Rom 7:5: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:4: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:5: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:6: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:7: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:8: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:9: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:11: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:12: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:13: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:14: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:15: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - This staged unit is really chapter 57 of Book 1 in Bonwetsch (page 317, numeral printed LVII), not chapter 56; chapter 56 begins inside ref 1.54. The OCR lost the heading of chapter 58 (a garbled numeral is removed by a logged correction); it begins at "[58]". 'The noble physician' is Aglaophon. 'Natural' renders ψυχικός ('soul-ish'). - Rom 7:9, 14; Rom 2:6 (cf. Ps 62:12); Rom 7:5; Rom 8:4-9; Rom 8:11-13; 1 Cor 2:14-15. Some phrases at the start of chapter 58 are garbled in the OCR and translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.57 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:317; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-57/#p-1-57). ## Res. 1.59 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-57/#p-1-59 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:322 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Paul's 'mind of the flesh' is the flesh's impulse toward sin, not the flesh itself, which can be brought under God's law, as virginity, self-control and Paul's commands about the body show. ### Greek text Ἐὰν δὲ πάλιν ἀνθυποφέρωσι λέγοντες, Πῶς δὴ οὖν »τὸ φρόνημα τῆς σαρκός« εἶναι εἴρηται »ἔχθρα εἰς θεόν· τῷ γὰρ νόμῳ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐχ ὑποτάσσεται, οὐδὲ γὰρ δύναται«, λεκτέον ὡς ἄρα καὶ ἐνθάδε διαπίπτουσιν. οὐ γὰρ τὴν σάρκα αὐτήν, ἀλλὰ τὸ φρόνημα τῆς σαρκὸς ὑποτάσσεσθαι μὴ δύνασθαι τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ θεοῦ ὑπέθετο, ἕτερον παρὰ τὴν σάρκα ὑπάρχον. καθάπερ εἰ ἔλεγεν: ὁ ῥύπος τοῦ μὴ καλῶς ἀργύρου καθαρισθέντος εἰς τὸ γενέσθαι σκεῦος ἐπιτήδειον »οὐχ ὑποτάσσεται« τῷ δημιουργῷ· »οὐδὲ γὰρ δύναται« (ἐκβληθῆναι γὰρ αὐτὸν πρότερον καὶ ἐκτακῆναι δεῖ). καὶ οὐ παρὰ τοῦτο τὸν ἄργυρον ἀπεφαίνετο μὴ δύνασθαι εἰς σκεῦος πονηθῆναι χρήσιμον, ἀλλὰ τὸ χαλκῶδες τὸ ἐν τῷ ἀργύρῳ καὶ τὴν ἄλλην σκληρότητα. οὕτω καὶ »τὸ φρόνημα τῆς σαρκὸς« εἰπὼν οὐ τὴν σάρκα ἔφη μὴ δύνασθαι ὑποτάσσεσθαι τῷ »νόμῳ τοῦ θεοῦ«, ἀλλὰ τὸ φρόνημα τὸ ἐν τῇ σαρκί, οἷον τὸ πρὸς τὰς ἀκρασίας αὐτῆς λέγων ὅρμημα. ὅπερ ἀλλαχοῦ ὁτὲ μὲν »παλαιὰν ζύμην« »κακίας καὶ πονηρίας« ἐκάλεσεν, ἐπισπέρχων αὐτὸ τελέως ἀφ᾽ ἡμῶν ἀϊστωθῆναι, ὁτὲ δὲ »νόμον ἀντιστρατευόμενον τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ νοὸς καὶ αἰχμαλωτίζοντα«. ἐπεί, εἰ αὐτὴν τὴν σάρκα ἔλεγε μὴ δύνασθαι ὑποτάσσεσθαι τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ θεοῦ, πρῶτον οὐδὲ μέμψιν ἀσελγαίνοντες ἢ ληστεύοντες ἢ τὰ ἄλλα ὁσ᾽ ἄττα διὰ σώματος πράσσοντες ἢ ποιοῦντες ἔχειν ἐδυνάμεθα παρὰ δικαίῳ κριτῇ, ἀδυνάτως ἐχούσης τῆς σαρκὸς ὑποτάσσεσθαι τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ θεοῦ. πῶς γὰρ ἂν μεμπτέον ἐδύνατο τὸ σῶμα κατὰ τὴν προσοῦσαν αὐτῷ φύσιν οὖσαν εἶναι; ἀλλὰ οὐδὲ ἄλλως εἰς ἁγνείαν ἢ ἀρετὴν ὑπαχθῆναι τὸ σῶμα ἐδύνατο, πεφυκὸς μὴ ὑποτάσσεσθαι τῷ ἀγαθῷ. εἰ γὰρ ἡ φύσις τοιαύτη τῆς σαρκός, μὴ δύνασθαι ὑποτάσσεσθαι τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ θεοῦ, νόμος δὲ θεοῦ δικαιοσύνη καὶ σωφροσύνη, ἐχρῆν μήτε παρθενεύειν μήτε ἐγκρατεύεσθαι δύνασθαι τὸ σύνολον ὅλως ἐκ παντός· εἰ δὲ παρθενεύουσι καὶ ἐγκρατεύονται, ἐγκρατεύονται δὲ ὁπότε τὸ σῶμα ὑποτάσσουσιν (ἄλλως γὰρ ἐγκρατεύεσθαι ἁμαρτίας ἀδύνατον), οὐκ ἄρα οὐ δύναται τὸ σῶμα ὑποτάσσεσθαι τῷ τοῦ θεοῦ νόμῳ. ἐπεὶ πῶς ἂν ὁ Ἰωάννης ὑπέταξεν αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα εἰς ἁγνείαν; ἢ πῶς Πέτρος εἰς ὁσιότητα ἢ οἱ καθεξῆς εἰς δικαιοσύνην; πῶς δὲ καὶ Παῦλος »μὴ οὖν βασιλευέτω ἡ ἁμαρτία ἐν τῷ θνητῷ ὑμῶν« λέγει »σώματι εἰς τὸ ὑπακούειν ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις αὐτοῦ, μηδὲ παριστάνετε τὰ μέλη ὑμῶν ὅπλα ἀδικίας τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, ἀλλὰ παραστήσατε ἑαυτοὺς τῷ θεῷ ὡσεὶ ἐκ νεκρῶν ζῶντας καὶ τὰ μέλη ὑμῶν ὅπλα δικαιοσύνης τῷ θεῷ«; καὶ πάλιν »ὥσπερ γὰρ παρεστήσατε τὰ μέλη ὑμῶν δοῦλα τῇ ἀκαθαρσίᾳ καὶ τῇ ἀνομίᾳ εἰς τὴν ἀνομίαν, οὕτως νῦν παραστήσατε τὰ μέλη ὑμῶν δοῦλα τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ εἰς ἁγιασμόν«. Οὐκοῦν ἐγίγνωσκε δύνασθαι εὐθύνεσθαι τὸ σῶμα τοῦτο καὶ νεύειν πρὸς τὸ ἀγαθόν, ἵνα νεκρωθῶσιν ἐν αὐτῷ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα. ἐπεὶ πῶς ἑτέρως δουλωθῆναι τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ δύναται ἄνθρωπος καὶ ἐφ᾽ ἡμῶν, ἐὰν μὴ πρότερον ὑποτάξας ἑαυτοῦ τὰ μέλη τῆς σαρκὸς εἰς τὸ μὴ ὑπακούειν αὐτὰ τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, ἀλλὰ τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ, πολιτεύσηται κατ᾽ ἀξίαν τοῦ Χριστοῦ; ἐπειδὴ τὸ ἁμαρτῆσαι καὶ τὸ μὴ ἁμαρτῆσαι διὰ τοῦ σώματος γίγνεται, τῆς ψυχῆς ἢ πρὸς ἀρετὴν ἢ πρὸς κακίαν ὀργάνῳ χρωμένης αὐτῷ. εἰ γὰρ »οὔτε πόρνοι οὔτε εἰδωλολάτραι οὔτε μοιχοὶ οὔτε μαλακοὶ οὔτε ἀρσενοκοῖται οὔτε κλέπται οὔτε πλεονέκται οὔτε μέθυσοι οὔτε λοίδοροι οὔτε ἅρπαγες βασιλείαν θεοῦ κληρονομῆσαι« δύνανται, πληροῦνται δὲ ταῦτα καὶ κρατύνονται διὰ τοῦ σώματος. δικαιοῦται δὲ οὐδείς. ἐὰν μὴ πρῶτον κρατήσῃ τούτων, κρατεῖ δὲ τούτων ὁ ἐκνεύων πρὸς σωφροσύνην καὶ πίστιν, ὑποτάσσεται ἄρα τὸ σῶμα τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ θεοῦ· ὁ νόμος γὰρ θεοῦ σωφροσύνη. ὥστε ὁ ἀπόστολος οὐ τὴν σάρκα »μὴ ὑποτάσσεσθαι« τῷ ἀγαθῷ ἔφη, ἀλλὰ »τὸ φρόνημα τῆς σαρκός«, οἷον τὴν ὁρμὴν αὐτῆς τὴν πρὸς τὰς ἀκρασίας ἀναιρῶν. ὥσπερ δὴ καὶ τῆς ψυχῆς τὴν πρὸς τὸ ἄδικον ἔκκλισιν. ἐκκαθαίρεσθαι γοῦν ἄχρι καὶ τῆς γαστριμαργικῆς ἀκρασίας διαμιλλώμενος, διδάσκων τε τὰς τοιαύτας ὀρέξεις καὶ ἡδονὰς ἐξαπόλλυσθαι, καὶ καταισχύνων τοὺς τὸ τρυφᾶν τοῦτο καὶ πολυτελεύεσθαι βίον εἶναι νομίζοντας, οἳ θεὸν ἡγοῦνται τὴν κοιλίαν, »φάγωμεν καὶ πίωμεν· αὔριον γὰρ ἀποθνήσκομεν«, καθάπερ ἀδηφάγα θρέμματα κάτω περὶ τὴν βορὰν μόνον καὶ τὰς τραπέζας ἀσχολούμενα, εἰπών τε »τὰ βρώματα τῇ κοιλίᾳ καὶ ἡ κοιλία τοῖς βρώμασιν, ὁ δὲ θεὸς καὶ ταὐτὴν καὶ ταῦτα καταργήσει« ἐπήγαγε »τὸ δὲ σῶμα οὐ τῇ πορνείᾳ, ἀλλὰ τῷ κυρίῳ, καὶ ὁ κύριος τῷ σώματι. ὁ δὲ θεὸς καὶ τὸν κύριον ἤγειρε, καὶ ἡμᾶς ἐξεγερεῖ διὰ τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ. οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι τὰ μέλη ὑμῶν μέλη Χριστοῦ ἐστίν; ἄρας οὖν τὰ μέλη τοῦ Χριστοῦ ποιήσω πόρνης μέλη; μὴ γένοιτο. ἢ οὐχ οἴδατε ὅτι ὁ κολλώμενος τῇ πόρνῃ ἕν σῶμά ἐστιν; ἔσονται γάρ, φησίν, οἱ δύο εἰς σάρκα μίαν. ὁ δὲ κολλώμενος τῷ κυρίῳ ἕν πνεῦμά ἐστι. φεύγετε τὴν πορνείαν. πᾶν ἁμάρτημα, ὃ ἂν ἁμαρτήσῃ ἄνθρωπος, ἐκτὸς τοῦ σώματός ἐστιν· ὁ δὲ πορνεύων εἰς τὸ ἴδιον σῶμα ἁμαρτάνει. ἢ οὐχ οἴδατε ὅτι τὰ σώματα ὑμῶν ναὸς τοῦ ἐν ὑμῖν ἁγίου πνεύματός ἐστιν, οὗ ἔχετε ἀπὸ θεοῦ; καὶ οὐκ ἐστὲ ἑαυτῶν· ἠγοράσθητε γὰρ τιμῆς. ἄρα γε δοξάσατε τὸν θεὸν ἐν τῷ σώματι ὑμῶν (καὶ ἐν τῷ πνεύματι ὑμῶν, ἄτινά ἐστι τοῦ θεοῦ«. ### English translation (Claude) "If they object again, saying, 'How then is "the mind of the flesh" said to be "enmity toward God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can it be"?', we must say that here too they go astray. For he did not suppose that the flesh itself cannot be subject to the law of God, but that the mind of the flesh cannot, which is something other than the flesh. It is as if he said: the dross of silver that has not been well refined 'is not subject' to the craftsman so as to become a suitable vessel, 'nor indeed can it be' (for it must first be cast out and melted away); and he would not on that account declare that the silver cannot be worked into a useful vessel, but only the brassy part in the silver and its other hardness. So too, in saying 'the mind of the flesh,' he said not that the flesh cannot be subject to 'the law of God,' but the mind in the flesh, meaning, as it were, its impulse toward its intemperate desires; this he called elsewhere at one time 'the old leaven of malice and wickedness,' urging that it be completely removed from us, and at another 'a law warring against the law of the mind and taking it captive.' For if he said that the flesh itself cannot be subject to the law of God, then, first, we could incur no blame before a just judge when we behave licentiously or rob or do the other things we do through the body, since the flesh would be incapable of being subject to the law of God. For how could the body be blamed for being according to the nature that belongs to it? Nor could the body ever be brought to chastity or virtue, if it were by nature not subject to the good. For if such is the nature of the flesh, that it cannot be subject to the law of God, and the law of God is righteousness and self-control, then it ought to be utterly impossible to live as a virgin or to practise self-control. But if people do live as virgins and practise self-control, and they practise self-control when they bring the body into subjection (for otherwise it is impossible to abstain from sin), then it is not true that the body cannot be subject to the law of God. Otherwise how did John bring his body into subjection to chastity, or Peter to holiness, or those after them to righteousness? And how does Paul say, 'Let not sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires; and do not present your members to sin as weapons of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as alive from the dead, and your members to God as weapons of righteousness'? And again, 'For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, leading to lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification.' [60] "So he knew that this body can be directed and can incline toward the good, so that sins may be put to death in it. For how else can a man be made a slave to righteousness and live worthily of Christ, unless he first subjects the members of his flesh so that they obey not sin but righteousness? For sinning and not sinning happen through the body, the soul using it as an instrument either for virtue or for vice. For if 'neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor the effeminate nor men who lie with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor revilers nor robbers can inherit the kingdom of God,' and these things are accomplished and strengthened through the body, and no one is justified unless he first masters them, and the one who turns aside toward self-control and faith does master them, then the body is subject to the law of God; for the law of God is self-control. So the apostle did not say that the flesh 'is not subject' to the good, but 'the mind of the flesh,' doing away with its impulse toward intemperance, just as he does away with the soul's inclination toward injustice. Indeed, he strives for cleansing even down to the intemperance of gluttony, teaching that such appetites and pleasures are to be utterly destroyed, and putting to shame those who think that luxury and extravagance are life, who regard the belly as their god ('Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die'), busying themselves down below with food and tables only, like gluttonous beasts. And having said, 'Food for the belly and the belly for food, but God will bring to nothing both it and them,' he went on: 'But the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body; and God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. Do you not know that your members are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? God forbid! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute is one body with her? For the two, he says, will become one flesh. But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man commits is outside the body; but the sexually immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? And you are not your own; for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.'" ### Scripture references - Rom 8:7: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 5:8: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:23: quotation, high confidence - Rom 6:12: quotation, high confidence - Rom 6:13: quotation, high confidence - Rom 6:19: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:9: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:10: quotation, high confidence - Phil 3:19: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:32: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:13: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:14: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:15: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:16: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:17: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:18: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:19: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:20: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The chapter 60 numeral survives in the OCR as a garbled word (removed by a logged correction); the chapter begins at "[60]". - Rom 8:7; 1 Cor 5:8; Rom 7:23; Rom 6:12-13, 19; 1 Cor 6:9-10; Phil 3:19; 1 Cor 15:32 (Isa 22:13); 1 Cor 6:13-20 (the last words, 'and in your spirit, which are God's', are in the Byzantine text of 1 Cor 6:20). 'Sexual immorality' renders πορνεία; 'adulterers' μοιχοί. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.59 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:322; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-57/#p-1-59). ## Res. 1.61 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-57/#p-1-61 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:325 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Paul's words on sexual immorality concern this visible body, which can be a temple of the Spirit and so will be raised and clothed with immortality. ### Greek text Πρόσσχες γὰρ ὅτι, ἐπειδὴ τὸ σῶμα τοῦτο δύναται τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ θεοῦ (ὑποτάσσεσθαι) καὶ τὴν ἀθανασίαν ὑποδέξασθαι, ἐὰν καθαίροιτο τῆς ἀκρασίας τῶν ὑπεκκαυμάτων, μὴ χραινόμενον ἀθέσμοις ὅλως οἴστρων παρατριβαῖς, ὁ ἀπόστολος ταῦτα ἀνεφθέγξατο. ποῖον γὰρ τὸ κολλώμενον ἕτερον »τῇ πόρνῃ« καὶ πλησιάζον καὶ »σὰρξ« μετ᾽ αὐτῆς κατὰ τὴν σύνερξιν τῶν μελῶν καὶ τὴν κοινωνίαν »μία« γινόμενον παρὰ τοῦτο τὸ σῶμα τὸ ἔξω, δι᾽ οὗ ταῦτα πάντα πληροῦται τὰ πρὸς μῖξι» καὶ ἔκκαυσιν ἁμαρτήματα; ὅθεν καὶ »πᾶν ἁμάρτημα, ὃ ἐὰν ποιήσῃ ἄνθρωπος, ἐκτὸς τοῦ σώματός ἐστιν. ὁ δὲ πορνεύων εἰς τὸ ἴδιον σῶμα ἁμαρτάνει«. τῦφος μὲν γὰρ καὶ ἀπιστία καὶ θυμὸς καὶ ὑπόκρισις ψυχῆς ἁμαρτήματα, πορνεία δὲ καὶ οἶστρος καὶ τρυφὴ σώματος· δι᾽ ὧν οὔτε ψυχὴ πρὸς ἀλήθειαν ἀναπτήσεται οὔτε σῶμα σωφροσύνης ὑποταχθήσεται δόγμασιν, ἀλλὰ ἄμφω διολισθαίνουσι τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ Χριστοῦ. καὶ τοίνυν εἰ τὰ σώματα ἡμῶν ἐν ἁγιασμῷ διακρατούμενα »ναός« ἐστι τοῦ »ἐν ἡμῖν« οἰκοῦντος »πνεύματος«, καὶ »ὁ κύριος τῷ σώματι«, καὶ τὰ μέλη τοῦ σώματος »μέλη Χριστοῦ«, ὑποτάσσεται ἄρα τὸ σῶμα »τῷ νόμῳ« τῷ θείῳ καὶ »κληρονομῆσαι« δύναται »τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ«. ὁ γὰρ »ἐγείρας Χριστὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν ζῳοποιήσει« φησί »καὶ τὰ θνητὰ σώματα ὑμῶν διὰ τοῦ ἐνοικοῦντος αὐτοῦ πνεύματος ἐν ὑμῖν«, ἵνα »τὸ θνητὸν τοῦτο« ἐνδύσηται τὴν »ἀθανασίαν καὶ τὸ φθαρτὸν τὴν ἀφθαρσίαν«, »εἰς νῖκός« τε »καταποθῇ ὁ θάνατος«. οὐ γὰρ περὶ ἄλλου διελάμβανεν καθ' ἡμᾶς ἐνταῦθα σώματος ὁ ἀπόστολος, ἀλλὰ περὶ τούτου τοῦ ἀποθνήσκοντος καὶ νεκρουμένου, δι᾽ οὗ καὶ πορνεῦσαι καὶ ἀσελγῆσαι δυνατόν. ### English translation (Claude) "For observe that the apostle said these things because this body can be subject to the law of God and receive immortality, if it is cleansed of the intemperance of its inflaming passions and not defiled at all by the lawless frictions of frenzy. For what else is it that is 'joined to the prostitute' and draws near and becomes 'one flesh' with her by the joining of members and the union, besides this outward body, through which all these sins of intercourse and burning are accomplished? Hence too, 'Every sin that a man commits is outside the body; but the sexually immoral man sins against his own body.' For pride and unbelief and anger and hypocrisy are sins of the soul, but sexual immorality and frenzy and luxury are sins of the body; through which neither will the soul fly up to the truth nor will the body be made subject to the decrees of self-control, but both slip away from the kingdom of Christ. And so, if our bodies, kept in sanctification, are 'a temple' of 'the Spirit' who dwells 'in us,' and 'the Lord is for the body,' and the members of the body are 'members of Christ,' then the body is subject to 'the' divine 'law' and can 'inherit the kingdom of God.' For 'he who raised Christ from the dead will give life,' he says, 'also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you,' so that 'this mortal' may put on 'immortality, and this corruptible incorruption,' and 'death be swallowed up in victory.' For the apostle was not speaking here, as we hold, about some other body, but about this one which dies and is put to death, through which it is possible to commit sexual immorality and licentiousness." ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 6:16: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:18: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:19: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:13: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:15: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:50: allusion, high confidence - Rom 8:11: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:53: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:54: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - 1 Cor 6:16, 18, 19, 13, 15; 1 Cor 15:50; Rom 8:11; 1 Cor 15:53-54. 'Sexual immorality' renders πορνεία. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.61 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:325; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-57/#p-1-61). ## Res. 1.62 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-57/#p-1-62 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:326 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Scripture, Plato and the physicians all call this visible flesh 'body', so Paul's statements about the body refer to it, and the narrator promises to show that Paul consistently teaches the resurrection of the flesh. ### Greek text Ἐὰν δὲ διαφορὰν εἶναι σώματος πρὸς σάρκα ὑποτοπάζωσιν (ἵνα δὴ καὶ ταῦτα αὐτοῖς ἐπιτρέψωμεν λογικεύεσθαι), καὶ σῶμα μὲν ἄλλο νομίζοιεν, οἷον αὐτῆς τῆς ψυχῆς, ὃ μὴ βλέπεται, σάρκα δὲ τοῦτο τὸ ἔξω τὸ βλεπόμενον. λεκτέον ὡς οὐ μόνον ὁ Παῦλος καὶ οἱ προφῆται σῶμα γιγνώσκουσι τὴν σάρκα ὀνομάζεσθαι ταύτην, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄλλοι φιλόσοφοι, παρ᾿ οἷς δὴ μάλιστα καὶ ἡ τῶν ὀνομάτων ἀκρίβεια παρατετήρηται. σὰρξ γὰρ οἶδε, εἰ βούλονται καὶ περὶ τούτων ἐπιστημόνως ἐπισκέψασθαι, πᾶς ὁ ὄγκος οὗτος τοῦ σκηνώματος ἡμῶν κυρίως οὐ λέγεται, ἀλλά τι μέρος τοῦ ὅλου, καθάπερ ἢ ὀστᾶ ἢ νεῦρα ἢ φλέβες, σῶμα δὲ τὸ ὅλον. ὅθεν καὶ ἰατροί, οἱ δὴ καὶ περὶ φύσεως σωμάτων ἀκριβῶς διειλήφασι, σῶμα γινώσκουσι τοῦτο τὸ βλεπόμενον. ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ Πλάτων καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦτο σῶμα καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπίσταται. ἐν γοῦν τῷ Φαίδωνι ὁ Σωκράτης »ἆρα μὴ ἄλλο τι τὸν θάνατον ἡγούμεθα εἶναι« ἔφη »ἢ τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος ἀπαλλαγήν; καὶ εἶναι τοῦτο τὸ τεθνάναι, χωρὶς μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς ψυχῆς ἀπαλλαγὲν αὐτὸ καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸ τὸ σῶμα γεγονέναι, χωρὶς δὲ τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος;« ὁ γάρ τοι Μωυσῆς ὁ μακάριος (ἔρχομαι γὰρ καὶ ἐπὶ ταύτας τὰς κυριακὰς ἤδη γραφάς) οὐ σῶμα τοῦτο ὀνομάζεσθαι ἐπίσταται, ὃ βλέπομεν, »καὶ πλυνεῖ τὰ ἱμάτια« λέγων ἐν τοῖς καθαρισμοῖς ὁ ἐπιψαύσας τοῦ ἀκαθάρτου, »καὶ λούσεται« τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ »ὕδατι«, »καὶ ἀκάθαρτος ἔσται ἕως ἑσπέρας«; τί δὲ καὶ ὁ Ἰώβ; οὐ σῶμα ἐπίσταται καὶ αὐτὸς τοῦτο τὸ νεκρούμενον καλεῖν, »φύρεται δέ μου τὸ σῶμα ἐν σαπρίᾳ σκωλήκων« λέγων; ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ Σολομῶν ὅτι »εἰς κακότεχνον ψυχὴν οὐκ εἰσελεύσεται σοφία, οὐδὲ κατοικήσει ἐν σώματι καταχρέῳ ἁμαρτίας«. καὶ ἐν τῷ Δανιήλ ἐπὶ τῶν μαρτύρων »οὐχ ἐκυρίευσεν αὐτῶν τὸ πῦρ τοῦ σώματος« λέγεται »καὶ ἡ θρὶξ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτῶν οὐκ ἐφλογίσθη«. καὶ ὁ κύριος ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ »διὰ τοῦτο λέγω ὑμῖν, μὴ μεριμνᾶτε τί φάγητε ἢ τί ἐνδύσησθε· οὐχὶ ἡ ψυχὴ πλέον ἐστὶ τῆς τροφῆς καὶ τὸ σῶμα τοῦ ἐνδύματος;« καὶ ὁ ἀπόστολος δέ, »μὴ οὖν βασιλευέτω ἡ ἁμαρτία ἐν τῷ θνητῷ ὑμῶν σώματι« λέγων, σῶμα γινώσκειν τοῦτο ὃ περικείμεθα συνίστησι. καὶ πάλιν" »εἰ δὲ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ ἐγείραντος Ἰησοῦν οἰκεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν. ὁ ἐγείρας Χριστὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν ζῳοποιήσει καὶ τὰ θνητὰ σώματα ὑμῶν«. καὶ πάλιν: »ἐὰν εἴπῃ ὁ ποὺς ὅτι οὐχ εἰμὶ χείρ, οὐχ εἰμὶ ἐκ τοῦ σώματος, οὐ παρὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ σώματος«. καὶ πάλιν" »καὶ μὴ ἀσθενήσας« ᾿Αβραὰμ »τῇ πίστει οὐ κατενόησε τὸ ἑαυτοῦ σῶμα νενεκρωμένον«. καὶ πάλιν" »τοὺς γὰρ ἅπαντας ἡμᾶς φανερωθῆναι δεῖ ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ βήματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἵνα κομίσηται ἕκαστος τὰ διὰ τοῦ σώματος πρὸς ἃ ἔπραξε«. καὶ πάλιν" »αἱ μὲν ἐπιστολαὶ βαρεῖαι καὶ ἰσχυραί, ἡ δὲ παρουσία τοῦ σώματος ἀσθενής«. καὶ πάλιν" »οἶδα ἄνθρωπον ἐν Χριστῷ πρὸ ἐτῶν δεκατεσσάρων, εἴτε ἐν σώματι οὐκ οἶδα, εἴτε ἐκτὸς τοῦ σώματος οὐκ οἶδα«. καὶ πάλιν" »οὕτως ὀφείλουσιν οἱ ἄνδρες ἀγαπᾶν τὰς ἑαυτῶν γυναῖκας, ὡς τὰ ἑαυτῶν σώματα«. καὶ πάλιν" »αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ θεὸς τῆς εἰρήνης ἁγιάσαι ὑμᾶς ὁλοτελεῖς καὶ ὁλόκληρον ὑμῶν τὸ πνεῦμα, καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ καὶ τὸ σῶμα ἀμέμπτως ἐν τῇ παρουσίᾳ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τηρηθείη«. οἱ δὲ ἀσφαλῶς οὐ νοήσαντες τούτων οὐδὲν ἐν σάλῳ καὶ ταραχῇ φέρεσθαι τὸν ἀπόστολον ὑπέλαβον, ὡς στάσιν αὐτοῦ τὰς διανοήσεις τῶν λόγων καὶ ἕδραν οὐκ ἐχούσας, ἀλλὰ ἀναπλεούσας ἄνω καὶ κάτω καὶ ὁμιλούσας παλίμφημα, ὁτὲ μὲν τὴν σάρκα ἀνίστασθαι, ὁτὲ δὲ οὐκ ἀνίστασθαι. ὅθεν ἵνα μὴ παραλειφθῇ τῶν προταθέντων μηδὲ ἕν, ὅπως τελέως ἐκτέμνωμεν τὴν Ὕδραν, εἰς τὸ προκείμενον πάλιν ἐπανελεύσομαι. ἐφεξῆς γάρ, καθάπερ ὑπεσχόμην. καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἃ προσαποροῦσι κεφάλαια θείς, καὶ ἃ χρὴ πρὸς αὐτὰ λέγεσθαι ἀποδείξας. ἀκόλουθα παραστήσω αὐτὸν καὶ σύμφωνα εἰς τὴν περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως τῆς σαρκὸς πίστιν καὶ αὐτὰ εἰρηκότα. ### English translation (Claude) "But if they suppose that there is a difference between body and flesh (let us allow them to reason about this too), and consider 'body' to be something else, such as that of the soul itself, which is not seen, but 'flesh' this outward thing that is seen, we must say that not only Paul and the prophets know that this flesh is called body, but other philosophers too, among whom above all the exactness of names has been carefully observed. For 'flesh,' as they know if they are willing to examine these things scientifically, is not properly said of this whole mass of our tabernacle, but of a part of the whole, such as the bones or the sinews or the veins; the whole is 'body.' That is why physicians too, who have treated exactly of the nature of bodies, call this visible thing a body. And Plato himself also calls this very thing a body. At any rate in the Phaedo Socrates said, 'Do we think death is anything other than the release of the soul from the body? And that being dead is this: that the body, released from the soul, has come to be apart by itself, and the soul apart from the body?' Indeed blessed Moses (for I now come to these, the Lord's Scriptures) calls what we see a body, when he says in the purifications that the one who touched the unclean 'shall wash his clothes and bathe' his body 'in water, and shall be unclean until evening.' And what of Job? Does not he too call this body that is put to death a body, saying, 'My body is soaked in the corruption of worms'? And Solomon too, saying that 'wisdom will not enter a soul that devises evil, nor dwell in a body enslaved to sin.' And in Daniel it is said of the martyrs, 'The fire had no power over their bodies, and the hair of their heads was not singed.' And the Lord in the Gospel: 'Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about what you will eat or what you will wear. Is not the soul more than food and the body more than clothing?' And the apostle too, in saying, 'Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body,' shows that he calls this which we wear a body. And again, 'But if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies.' And again, 'If the foot should say, Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body, it is not for that reason not of the body.' And again, 'And not being weak in faith,' Abraham 'did not consider his own body, which was as good as dead.' And again, 'For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive the things done through the body, according to what he has done.' And again, 'His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak.' And again, 'I know a man in Christ fourteen years ago, whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know.' And again, 'So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies.' And again, 'May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be kept whole and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.' But those who did not securely understand any of these things supposed that the apostle is carried about in tossing and turmoil, as though the thoughts of his words had no standing or settled seat, but floated up and down and said contradictory things, at one time that the flesh rises and at another that it does not rise. Therefore, so that nothing of what was put forward may be left out, and that we may cut off the Hydra completely, I will return again to the matter in hand. For next, as I promised, I will set out the other headings that they raise as further difficulties, and show what must be said in reply to them, and so present the apostle as saying these things too consistently and in harmony with faith in the resurrection of the flesh." ### Scripture references - Lev 14:8: quotation, high confidence - Lev 14:9: quotation, medium confidence - Job 7:5: quotation, high confidence - Dan 3:27: quotation, high confidence - Matt 6:25: quotation, high confidence - Rom 6:12: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:11: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 12:15: quotation, high confidence - Rom 4:19: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 5:10: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 10:10: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 12:2: quotation, high confidence - Eph 5:28: quotation, high confidence - 1 Thess 5:23: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Phaed. 64c (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence - Wis 1:4 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence - Plato, Rep. 4.426e (Plato (works)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - About eighteen lines at the top of page 327 (from 'other philosophers' to Wisdom 1:4) were lost in the staged text; they are restored from the OCR of the same page by a logged correction. The staged text also ran on into the beginning of Book 2 (its heading and the first sentences of 2.1, pp. 329-331), which is removed here by a logged correction; that chapter's Greek is not otherwise staged (see the report). - Plato, Phaed. 64c; Lev 14:8-9 (cf. 15:5-11); Job 7:5 (Septuagint); Wis 1:4; Dan 3:27 (Theodotion 3:94); Matt 6:25; Rom 6:12; Rom 8:11; 1 Cor 12:15; Rom 4:19; 2 Cor 5:10; 2 Cor 10:10; 2 Cor 12:2; Eph 5:28; 1 Thess 5:23. The Hydra recalls Plato, Rep. 4.426e. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 1.62 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:326; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-57/#p-1-62). ## Res. 2.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-57/#p-2-1 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:329 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Methodius begins Book 2 by explaining 'I was once alive apart from the law' as the bodily life of Adam and Eve in paradise before the commandment, when they knew no desire. ### Greek text Ἴδωμεν δὴ οὖν ἃ τὸ πρῶτον εἰς τὸν ἀπόστολον προήχθημεν εἰπεῖν. τὸ γάρ »ἐγὼ δὲ ἔζων« λεχθὲν αὐτῷ »χωρὶς νόμου ποτέ« ἄνω τὴν ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ, καθάπερ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὑπεθέμεθα, πρὸ τῆς ἐντολῆς, οὐκ ἐκτὸς σώματος, ἀλλὰ μετὰ σώματος ἡμῶν ἐν τοῖς πρωτοπλάστοις διαγωγὴν παρεγγυᾷ, ἐπειδὴ πρὸ τοῦ δοθῆναι τὴν ἐντολὴν »χοῦν ὁ θεὸς ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς λαβὼν ἔπλασε τὸν ἄνθρωπον«, ἐκτὸς δὲ ἐπιθυμίας διήγομεν, οὐ γινώσκοντες ὅλως ἐπιθυμίας ἀλόγου προσβολὰς βιαζομένης ἡμᾶς ἑλκτικαῖς ἡδονῶν περιαγωγαῖς πρὸς ἀκρασίαν. τὸ γὰρ μὴ ἔχον διορισμόν, καθ᾽ ὃν δεῖ πολιτεύεσθαι, μηδὲ ἐξουσίαν αὐτοδέσποτον λογισμοῦ ποίῳ χρῆσθαι αἱρεῖται πολιτεύματι, ἵνα δικαίως ἢ τιμηθῇ ἢ ψεχθῇ, ἀνυπεύθυνον παντὸς λεκτέον ὑπάρχειν τοῦτο ἐγκλήματος, ὅτι μὴ δύναται τούτων ἐπιθυμῆσαι ὧν μὴ κεκώλυται· κἂν ἐπιθυμήσῃ δέ, οὐκ αἰτιαθήσεται. τὸ γὰρ ἐπιθυμῆσαι οὐχὶ ἐπὶ τῶν παρόντων καὶ ὑποκειμένων ἐν ἐξουσίᾳ πίπτει, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ τῶν παρόντων μέν, μὴ ὄντων δὲ ἐν ἐξουσίᾳ. πῶς γὰρ οὗ μὴ κεκώλυταί τις μηδὲ ἐνδεής ἐστι, τούτου ἐπιθυμεῖ καὶ ἐρᾷ; ὅθεν διὰ τοῦτο »τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν οὐκ ᾔδειν, εἰ μὴ ὁ νόμος ἔλεγεν, οὐκ ἐπιθυμήσεις«. ἀκούσαντες γάρ »ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ ξύλου τοῦ γινώσκειν καλὸν καὶ πονηρόν, οὐ φάγεσθε ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ· ᾗ δ᾽ ἂν ἡμέρᾳ φάγητε ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ, θανάτῳ ἀποθανεῖσθε«, τότε τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι συνέλαβον καὶ ἐνεκίσσησαν. οὐ γὰρ ὧν ἔχει καὶ ὧν ἐξουσιάζει καὶ κέχρηται αὐτοῖς ὁ ἐπιθυμῶν ἐπιθυμεῖ, ἀλλ᾽ ὧν κεκώλυται καὶ ἀφήρηται καὶ οὐκ ἔχει. διὸ δὴ καλῶς »τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν οὐκ ᾔδειν« ἐλέχθη »εἰ μὴ ὁ νόμος ἔλεγεν, οὐκ ἐπιθυμήσεις«, ὃ δή ἐστιν, εἰ μὴ εἴρητο »οὐ φάγεσθε ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ«. ἐντεῦθεν γὰρ ἐκτήσατο τόπον καὶ ἀφορμὴν εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὸ διαπαῖξαί με καὶ παρατρέψασθαι ἡ ἁμαρτία. ### English translation (Claude) "Let us see, then, what we were first led to say about the apostle. For his saying, 'And I was alive apart from the law once,' refers to our life above in paradise in the first-formed, before the commandment, as we laid down at the beginning, not outside the body but with the body, since before the commandment was given 'God took dust from the earth and formed man.' We lived without desire, knowing nothing at all of the assaults of irrational desire, forcing us toward intemperance by the alluring enticements of pleasures. For one who has no rule according to which he must live, nor a self-governing power of reason to choose what way of life to follow, so that he may justly be either honoured or blamed, must be held free of every charge, since no one can desire the things from which he is not restrained; and even if he desires them, he will not be blamed. For desire falls not on things that are present and lie in our power, but on things that are present but not in our power. For how does anyone desire and love what he is neither forbidden nor in need of? That is why 'I would not have known desire, if the law had not said, You shall not desire.' For when they heard, 'But from the tree of knowing good and evil you shall not eat of it; in the day you eat of it, you shall surely die,' then they conceived desire and became pregnant with it. For the one who desires does not desire what he has and controls and uses, but what he is forbidden and deprived of and does not have. Therefore it was rightly said, 'I would not have known desire, if the law had not said, You shall not desire,' that is, if it had not been said, 'You shall not eat of it.' For from that point sin gained a place and an occasion to enter, to mock me and to turn me aside." ### Scripture references - Rom 7:9: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:7: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:7: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:17: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:8: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Book 2, chapter 1 (Bonwetsch pp. 329-331). The Greek is the edition's text, cleaned from the OCR by logged corrections. - Rom 7:9; Gen 2:7; Rom 7:7-8; Gen 2:17. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 2.1 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:329; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-57/#p-2-1). ## Res. 2.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-57/#p-2-2 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:331 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Methodius explains Romans 7: the devil used the commandment in paradise to stir up desire, and Paul's 'I do what I do not want' refers to unwanted thoughts that assail the mind, not to evil deeds. ### Greek text Δοθείσης γὰρ τῆς ἐντολῆς ἔσχε λαβὴν διὰ τῆς ἐντολῆς ὁ διάβολος κατεργάσασθαι ἐν ἐμοὶ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν. παρορμήσας με καὶ προσκαλεσάμενος ἐντέχνως εἰς ὄρεξιν καταπεσεῖν τῶν κεκωλυμένων. »χωρὶς γὰρ νόμου ἡ ἁμαρτία νεκρά«, οἷον· οὐ δοθείσης γὰρ οὐδὲ οὔσης οὐδέπω τῆς ἐντολῆς ἄπρακτος ἦν ἡ ἁμαρτία. »ἐγὼ δὲ ἔζων« ἀμέμπτως πρὸ τῆς ἐντολῆς. οὐχ ἔχων διορισμὸν καὶ διαταγὴν, καθ᾽ ἣν ἔδει πολιτεύεσθαι, ὡς καὶ διολισθήσας ἁμαρτήσομαι. »ἐλθούσης δὲ τῆς ἐντολῆς ἡ ἁμαρτία ἀνέζησεν, ἐγὼ δὲ ἀπέθανον, καὶ εὑρέθη μοι ἡ ἐντολὴ ἡ εἰς ζωὴν αὕτη εἰς θάνατον«, ὅτι μετὰ τὸ νομοθετῆσαι τὸν θεὸν καὶ διαστείλασθαί μοι ἃ ποιητέον καὶ μὴ ποιητέον. κατειργάσατο ἐν ἐμοὶ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν ὁ διάβολος. ἡ γὰρ παραίνεσις τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ παραγγελία ἡ δοθεῖσά μοι αὕτη εἰς ζωὴν καὶ ἀφθαρσίαν, ἵνα πειθόμενος αὐτῇ καὶ κατ᾽ αὐτὴν βιοὺς ἀπήμονα καὶ μακαριστότατον δι᾽ αἰῶνος καὶ ἀεὶ θάλλοντα πρὸς ἀθανασίαν βίον ἔχω καὶ χαράν, ἀθετήσαντί μοι αὐτὴν εἰς θάνατον ἀπέβη καὶ καταδίκην, ἐπειδὴ ὁ διάβολος, ὃν ἁμαρτίαν νῦν οὗτος ἐκάλεσε διὰ τὸ δημιουργὸν αὐτὸν ἁμαρτίας ὑπάρχειν καὶ εὑρετήν, διὰ τῆς ἐντολῆς ἀφορμὴν λαβὼν πρὸς παρακοὴν ἐξηπάτησέ με καὶ ἀπατήσας ἀπέκτεινεν, ὑπεύθυνον τῷ »ᾗ δ᾽ ἂν ἡμέρᾳ φάγητε ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ, θανάτῳ ἀποθανεῖσθε« κατακρίματι γενέσθαι κατεργασάμενος. »ὥστε ὁ μὲν νόμος ἅγιος καὶ ἡ ἐντολή« τοῦ θεοῦ »ἁγία καὶ δικαία καὶ ἀγαθή«, ὅτι μὴ ἐπὶ τῷ βλάψαι, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ τῷ σῷσαι ἐδόθη. μὴ γὰρ οἰώμεθα ὅλως ἀνωφελές τι ποιεῖν ἢ βλαβερὸν τὸν θεόν. τί οὖν; »τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἐμοὶ ἐγένετο θάνατος;« ὃ τοῦ μεγίστου ἐμοὶ ὡς αἴτιον ἐσόμενον ἀγαθοῦ νομοθέτημα ἐδόθη; »μὴ γένοιτο«, ὅτι μὴ ἡ ἐντολὴ τοῦ θεοῦ εἰς τὸ καταδουλωθῆναί με ἐγένετο τῇ φθορᾷ καὶ ἐναπομάξασθαι κῆρας ὀλέθρου αἰτία. ἀλλὰ ὁ διάβολος, ἵνα φανερωθῇ διὰ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ τὸ κακὸν ἐμοὶ κατασκευάσας, ἵνα γένηται καὶ ἐλεγχθῇ καθ᾽ ὑπερβολὴν ὁ εὑρετὴς καὶ τέκτων τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἁμαρτωλός, καὶ διορισθῇ ἀπὸ τοῦ καλοῦ ὁ τἀναντία τῆς ἐντολῆς τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπιτροπεύσας. »οἴδαμεν γὰρ ὅτι ὁ νόμος ἐστὶ πνευματικός«, διὸ καὶ οὐδὲν αἴτιος βλάβης οὐδενί, πόρρω γὰρ ἐπιθυμίας ἀλόγου καὶ ἁμαρτίας ἐσκήνωται τὰ πνευματικά. »ἐγὼ δὲ σάρκινός εἰμι, πεπραμένος ὑπὸ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν«. οἷον, ἐγὼ δὲ »σάρκινος« ὢν καὶ ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ πονηροῦ καὶ ἀγαθοῦ κατασταθεὶς ὡς αὐτεξούσιος, ἵν᾿ ἐπ᾽ ἐμοὶ (τὸ) ἐλέσθαι ὃ βούλομαι (»τέθεικα« γάρ φησι »πρὸ προσώπου σου τὴν ζωὴν καὶ τὸν θάνατον«), νεύσας πρὸς τὸ παρακοῦσαι μὲν τοῦ πνευματικοῦ νόμου. οἷον τῆς ἐντολῆς, ὑπακοῦσαι δὲ τοῦ ὑλικοῦ. οἷον τῆς τοῦ ὄφεως συμβουλίας, »πέπραμαι«, διὰ τὴν τοιαύτην αἵρεσιν πεσὼν »ὑπὸ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν«, τῷ διαβόλῳ. ὅθεν ἐντεῦθεν πολιορκῆσάν μὲ τὸ κακὸν καὶ ἐνιζάνει καὶ ἐμπολιτεύεται εἰσοικισθὲν ἐν τῇ σαρκί μου, καθάπερ κηφὴν ἐν κηρίῳ μελίσσης περιποτώμενος πολλάκις περὶ αὐτὸ καὶ βομβῶν, δίκης ἐπιτεθείσης μοι τὴν ἐντολὴν ἀθετήσαντι πραθῆναι τῷ κακῷ. διὸ καὶ »οὐ γινώσκω ὃ κατεργάζομαι«, λογιζόμενος ὃ μὴ θέλω. τὸ γὰρ »ὃ κατεργάζομαι οὐ γινώσκω« καὶ »ποιῶ ὃ μισῶ« λεγόμενον οὐκ ἐπὶ τοῦ τελεσιουργῆσαι τὸ φαῦλον καὶ δρᾶσαι παραληπτέον, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ τοῦ μόνον ἐνθυμηθῆναι, λογισμῶν ἀνοικείων ἡμῖν προσιπταμένων πλεονάκις καὶ ἐμφανταζόντων ἡμᾶς πρὸς ἃ μὴ θέλομεν, τῆς ψυχῆς τοῖς λογισμοῖς περὶ πολλὰ περιαγομένης. Οὐ γὰρ ἐφ᾽ ἡμῖν ὅλως τὸ ἐνθυμεῖσθαι ἢ μὴ ἐνθυμεῖσθαι κεῖται τὰ ἄτοπα, ἀλλὰ τὸ χρῆσθαι ἢ μὴ χρῆσθαι τοῖς ἐνθυμήμασι. κωλῦσαι μὲν γὰρ μὴ ἐμπίπτειν εἰς ἡμᾶς τοὺς λογισμοὺς οὐ δυνάμεθα, πρὸς δοκιμὴν ἡμῶν ἔξωθεν εἰσπνεομένους, μὴ πεισθῆναι μέντοι καὶ μὴ χρῆσθαι αὐτοῖς δυνάμεθα. ἐπεὶ πῶς ὁ ἀπόστολος τὸ μὲν κακὸν οὐχ ἥκιστα, ᾧ ἀπηρέσκετο, ἐποίει, τὸ δὲ καλόν, ᾧ ἠρέσκετο, ἥκιστα, εἰ μὴ περὶ τῶν ὀθνείων ἐνθυμημάτων ἔλεγεν, ἃ ἐνθυμούμεθα ἴσθ᾽ ὅτε καὶ μὴ βουλόμενοι, ἐξ οἵας οὐ γινώσκοντες αἰτίας; ἃ ἀνατρέπεσθαι χρὴ καὶ ἐπιστομίζεσθαι, ἵνα μὴ εὐρυνόμενα τῶν περάτων κρατήσωσι τῆς ψυχῆς. ἀμήχανον γὰρ τούτων ἐνευκαιρούντων ἐν ἡμῖν ἔπανατεῖλαι (ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ ἡμῶν) τὸ ἀγαθόν. ὀρθῶς ἄρα »ὃ γὰρ κατεργάζομαι οὐ γινώσκω« ἔλεγεν· »οὐ γὰρ ὃ θέλω, τοῦτο πράσσω, ἀλλ᾽ ὃ μισῶ, τοῦτο ποιῶ«. θέλομεν γὰρ τὰ μὴ προσήκοντα καὶ ἃ μὴ θέμις μηδ᾽ ἐνθυμεῖσθαι, ἐπειδὴ τοῦτο ἀγαθὸν τέλειον, μὴ μόνον τοῦ ποιῆσαι αὐτὰ ἐγκρατεύεσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ ἐνθυμηθῆναι, καὶ ὃ θέλομεν, τοῦτο ἀγαθὸν οὐ γίνεται, ἀλλ᾽ ὃ οὐ θέλομεν, πονηρόν. ἐπιφοιτῶσι γὰρ ἐπὶ τὴν καρδίαν ἡμῶν καὶ ἐπιβαίνουσι, καὶ μὴ βουλομένων ἡμῶν, πολλάκις μυρία τε περὶ μυρίων, περιεργίας ἡμᾶς καὶ φιλοπραγμοσύνης ἀλόγου ἐμπιπλάντα. διὸ τὸ μὲν θέλειν αὐτὰ μὴ ἐνθυμεῖσθαι παράκειται, τὸ δὲ κατεργάζεσθαι εἰς τὸ ἀφανίσαι, ἵνα μὴ καὶ αὖθις περὶ τὸν λογισμὸν ἀνέλθωσιν, οὐ, ὅτι μὴ κεῖται τοῦτο ἐφ᾽ ἡμῖν. ὡς ἔφην. ἀλλὰ τὸ χρήσασθαι μόνον αὐτοῖς πῶς, ἢ μὴ χρήσασθαι. ὡς εἶναι τὸν νοῦν τοιοῦτον τοῦ ῥητοῦ· »οὐ γὰρ ὃ θέλω ποιῶ ἀγαθόν«· θέλω γὰρ μὴ ἐνθυμεῖσθαι ἃ βλάπτει με, ἐπειδὴ τοῦτο τὸ ἀγαθὸν πανάμωμον. κατὰ τὸ λεγόμενον »ἄνευ ψόγου τετυγμένον χερσί τε καὶ νόῳ τετράγωνον«. καὶ τοῦτο »ὃ θέλω ἀγαθὸν οὐ ποιῶ, ὃ δὲ μὴ θέλω πράσσω κακόν«· οὐ θέλω ἐννοεῖσθαι, καὶ ἐννοοῦμαι ὅσα μὴ θέλω. καὶ ἐπισκέψασθαι δεῖ, εἰ μὴ διὰ ταῦτα αὐτὰ καὶ ὁ Δαυὶδ ἐνετύγχανε τῷ θεῷ, δυσχεραίνων ἐπὶ τῷ λογίζεσθαι καὶ αὐτὸν ἃ μὴ ἤθελεν· »ἀπὸ τῶν κρυφίων μου καθάρισόν με, καὶ ἀπὸ (ἀλλοτρίων φεῖσαι τοῦ δούλου σου. ἐὰν μή μου κατακυριεύσωσι, τότε ἄμωμος ἔσομαι καὶ καθαρισθήσομαι ἀπὸ ἁμαρτίας μεγάλης«. καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ ἀπόστολος ἐν ἑτέρῳ· »λογισμοὺς καθαιροῦντες καὶ πᾶν ὕψωμα ἐπαιρόμενον κατὰ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ αἰχμαλωτίζοντες πᾶν νόημα εἰς τὴν ὑπακοὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ«. ### English translation (Claude) "For when the commandment had been given, the devil had through the commandment an occasion to work desire in me, urging me and skilfully calling me on to fall into longing for the forbidden things. 'For apart from the law sin was dead,' that is: since the commandment had not been given and did not yet exist, sin was inactive. 'And I was alive' blamelessly before the commandment, having no rule or ordinance according to which I had to live, so as to slip and sin. 'But when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died; and the commandment that was for life was found to be for me for death'; because after God had given the law and defined for me what was to be done and what was not to be done, the devil worked desire in me. For God's exhortation and command, given to me for life and incorruption, so that by obeying it and living according to it I might have a life unharmed and most blessed through the ages, ever flourishing toward immortality and joy, turned for me, when I set it aside, to death and condemnation; for the devil, whom he here calls sin because he is its maker and inventor, taking occasion through the commandment for disobedience, deceived me and, having deceived me, killed me, bringing it about that I became liable to the sentence, 'In the day you eat of it, you shall surely die.' 'So the law is holy,' and the commandment of God 'holy and just and good,' because it was given not to harm but to save. For let us by no means think that God does anything useless or harmful. What then? 'Did the good become death to me?' Did the ordinance that was given to be the cause of the greatest good to me [become death]? 'By no means'; for the commandment of God did not come about to enslave me to corruption, as the cause of my taking on the stains of destruction; but the devil did, so that, having prepared the evil for me through the good, the inventor and craftsman of sin might be shown and become and be proved exceedingly sinful, and the one who contrived what is contrary to God's commandment might be set apart from the good. 'For we know that the law is spiritual,' and so it is the cause of harm to no one; for spiritual things dwell far from irrational desire and sin. 'But I am fleshly, sold under sin,' that is: I am 'fleshly,' and, having been set in the midst between evil and good as one who is free, so that it rests with me to choose what I wish ('for I have set,' he says, 'before your face life and death'), I inclined to disobey the spiritual law, that is, the commandment, and to obey the material one, that is, the counsel of the serpent, and so 'I have been sold' to the devil, falling 'under sin' through this choice. Hence evil, having laid siege to me from then on, settles in me and dwells in me as a citizen, lodged in my flesh, like a drone in a bee's honeycomb, often flying and buzzing about it, since a penalty was laid on me, for setting aside the commandment, that I should be sold to evil. That is why 'I do not know what I do,' thinking what I do not want. For the sayings 'What I do I do not know' and 'I do what I hate' are to be taken not of carrying out what is bad and doing it, but of merely thinking it, since thoughts foreign to us often fly at us and fill us with images of what we do not want, the soul being carried about by its thoughts among many things. [3] "For whether we think or do not think strange things does not rest with us at all, but whether we use or do not use the thoughts. For we cannot prevent the thoughts from falling upon us, since they are breathed into us from outside to test us; but we can refuse to be persuaded by them or to use them. Otherwise how did the apostle do the evil that displeased him not in the least degree, and the good that pleased him in the least degree, unless he was speaking of the alien thoughts, which we sometimes think even when we do not want to, from a cause we do not know? These must be overthrown and muzzled, so that they may not spread out and master the bounds of the soul. For it is impossible for the good to rise in our soul while these linger in us. Rightly, then, did he say, 'For what I do, I do not know; for I do not practise what I want, but what I hate, that I do.' For we want not even to think things that are unfitting and unlawful, since this is the perfect good, to abstain not only from doing them but also from thinking them; and what we want, this good, does not come about, but what we do not want, the evil. For they come upon our heart and assail it, even when we do not want them, often in thousands about thousands of things, filling us with irrational curiosity and meddlesomeness. Therefore to want not to think them is present with me, but to bring about their abolition, so that they may not come up again into our reasoning, is not, because, as I said, this does not rest with us, but only how we use them or do not use them. So the sense of the saying 'For I do not do the good I want' is this: I want not to think the things that harm me, since this good is wholly blameless, as the saying goes, 'fashioned without fault, square in hands and mind.' And this is 'the good I want I do not do, but the evil I do not want I practise': I do not want to have these thoughts, and I think what I do not want. And one must consider whether it was not for these very reasons that David too pleaded with God, distressed that he too reasoned about what he did not want: 'Cleanse me from my hidden faults, and spare your servant from alien ones; if they do not gain dominion over me, then I shall be blameless and cleansed from great sin.' And the apostle himself, elsewhere: 'Casting down reasonings and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.'" ### Scripture references - Rom 7:8: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:9: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:10: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:17: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:12: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:13: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:14: quotation, high confidence - Deut 30:15: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:15: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:18: allusion, high confidence - Rom 7:19: quotation, high confidence - Ps 19:12 (18:13 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 19:13 (18:14 LXX): quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 10:5: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Prot. 339b (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - This unit is Book 2, chapter 2, with chapter 3, whose heading survives as a garbled numeral (removed by a logged correction), beginning at "[3]". Four lines of page 331 lost in the staged text (from 'so that by obeying it' to 'calls sin because he is its maker') are restored from the OCR of the same page by a logged correction; a leaked line number and stray marks are removed. - Rom 7:8-20; Gen 2:17; Deut 30:15; Ps 19:12-13 (LXX 18:13-14, 'alien ones'); 2 Cor 10:5. 'Fashioned without fault, square in hands and mind' is Simonides' poem, quoted in Plato, Prot. 339b. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 2.2 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:331; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/1-57/#p-2-2). ## Res. 2.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-4/#p-2-4 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:335 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Paul did not mean that he actually committed sins he hated, since he urged others to imitate him as he imitated Christ; he meant the unwanted thoughts that assail us and must be resisted like besieging enemies. ### Greek text Εἰ δέ τις ὁμόσε τῷ λόγῳ ἰέναι τολμῶν ἀποκρίνοιτο ὡς ἄρα διδάσκει ὁ ἀπόστολος ὡς οὐ μόνον ἐν τῷ λογίζεσθαι τὸ κακὸν ὃ μισοῦμεν καὶ ὃ οὐ θέλομεν πράσσομεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῷ ποιεῖν αὐτὸ καὶ κατεργάζεσθαι, διὰ τὸ »οὐ γὰρ ὃ θέλω ποιῶ« λελέχθαι »ἀγαθόν, ἀλλ᾽ ὃ οὐ θέλω κακόν, τοῦτο πράσσω«, ἀξιωσομέν που, εἰ ἀληθῆ λέγει ὁ ταῦτα λέγων, διασαφῆσαι τί ἦν τὸ κακὸν ὃ ἐμίσει ὁ ἀπόστολος καὶ ὃ οὐχ ἐβούλετο μὲν ποιεῖν, ἐποίει δέ, καὶ τὸ ἀγαθὸν ὃ ἐβούλετο μὲν ποιεῖν, οὐκ ἐποίει δέ, ἀλλ᾽ ἀντιστρόφως, ὁσάκις μὲν ἤθελε ποιῆσαι τὸ ἀγαθόν, τοσαυτάκις οὐ τὸ ἀγαθὸν ὃ ἤθελεν, ἀλλὰ τὸ πονηρὸν ὃ μὴ ἤθελεν ἐποίει. ἆρά γε οὐ θέλων εἰδωλολατρεῖν, ἀλλὰ θεολατρεῖν, ὃ μὲν ἤθελε θεολατρεῖν οὐκ ἠδύνατο, ὃ δὲ μὴ ἤθελεν εἰδωλολατρεῖν ἠδύνατο, ἢ σωφρονεῖν μὲν ὃ ἤθελεν οὐκ ἐποίει, ἀκολασταίνειν δὲ ὃ ἤχθετο ἐποίει; καὶ συλλήβδην κραιπαλᾶν, ἀσωτεύεσθαι καὶ θυμοῦσθαι, ἀδικεῖν καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ὅσα πονηρίας ἔργα, ἃ μὴ ἤθελε μὲν ἐποίει, ἃ δὲ ἤθελε, δικαιοσύνην καὶ ὁσιότητα, οὐκ ἐποίει; καὶ μὴν αὐτὸς ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις προτροπάδην ἐξεγείρων πάντας εἰς τὸ μὴ ἀνομεῖν οὐ μόνον τοὺς ποιοῦντας καὶ ἐπιτηδεύοντας τὰ ἄτοπα ὀλέθρῳ τηρεῖσθαι καὶ ὀργῇ παρεγγυᾷ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς συνευδοκοῦντας αὐτοῖς εἰς ταῦτα, ἀμιγὲς ἁμαρτίας ἐν ἡμῖν τὸ δίκαιον ἀσκεῖσθαι διαμιλλώμενος. πᾶν γὰρ ἁμάρτημα καὶ ἐπιτήδευμα τὸ συμπέρασμα κτᾶται διὰ τῆς σαρκός. πολλάκις γοῦν ἐν ταῖς ἐπιστολαῖς ἀναφανδὸν αὐτὰ δὴ ταῦτα διδάσκων ἡμᾶς ὑπεκτρέπεσθαι καὶ μισεῖν »μὴ πλανᾶσθε· οὔτε πόρνοι« βοᾷ »οὔτε εἰδωλολάτραι οὔτε μοιχοὶ οὔτε μαλακοὶ οὔτε ἀρσενοκοῖται οὔτε κλέπται οὔτε πλεονέκται οὔτε μέθυσοι, οὐ λοίδοροι, οὐχ ἅρπαγες βασιλείαν θεοῦ κληρονομήσουσι«. καὶ τὸ κορυφαιότατον. εἰς τὸ παντάπασιν ἡμᾶς ἐκ παντὸς ἀποδρᾶναι καὶ ἀποτινάξασθαι τὸ ἁμαρτάνειν προτρέπων »μιμηταί μου« ἀποφαίνεται »γίνεσθε, καθάπερ κἀγὼ Χριστοῦ«. οὕτως οὐ τῷ ποιεῖν ἃ μὴ ἤθελε καὶ πράττειν ὑπέθετο τὰ προειρημένα, ἀλλὰ τῷ μόνον λογίζεσθαι· ἐπεὶ πῶς ἂν ἦν μιμητὴς ἀκριβὴς τοῦ Χριστοῦ; νυνὶ δὲ ἐπειδήπερ ἐπιπίπτουσι θηριώδεις πολλάκις λογισμοί, ἐπιθυμίας ἡμᾶς ἄλλοτε ἄλλως ἐμπιπλάντες καὶ περιεργίας ἀλόγου, ἠΰτε μυιάων ἁδινάων ἔθνεα πολλά, ἔφη »ὃ γὰρ οὐ θέλω, τοῦτο ποιῶ«. ἃ χρὴ τὴν ψυχὴν εὐθαρσῶς ἀποσοβεῖν, μηδὲν ὅλως εἰς τὸ πορίσαι τὰ ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν ὑπηχούμενα νεύοντας. ἵνα γὰρ ἐγκριθῶμεν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν. ἐν πάσαις ἡδοναῖς καὶ λύπαις δοκιμασθέντες εἰ μεταβαλλοίμεθα, ἀλλὰ πανταχοῦ καθάπερ ἀκήρατος χρυσὸς διὰ πυρὸς βασανιζόμενος οὐκ ἐξεστάμεθα τῆς οἰκείας ἀρετῆς, συμβαίνει τοῦτο, τὸ διοχλεῖσθαι τὸν νοῦν ὑπὸ πολλῶν. ὅθεν δὴ γενναίως ὥσπερ στρατιώτας ἀρίστους ἀντιπαρατάσσεσθαι δεῖ, οἱ ἐπειδὰν ὑπὸ τῶν ἐχθρῶν αἴσθωνται πολιορκούμενοι. τοξείας οὐδὲν φροντίσαντες καὶ τῶν ἄλλων αὐτῶν ἀκοντισμάτων ὑπὲρ τοῦ σῶσαι τὴν πόλιν προθύμως ἐπ᾽ αὐτοὺς ἵενται, μηδὲν ἐλλείποντες σπουδῆς, ἔστ᾽ ἂν τὸ στῖφος αὐτῶν εἰς φυγὴν ἀνατρέψαντες ἀπώσωνται τῶν ὅρων ἔξω. ὁρᾷς γὰρ ὡς οἱ λογισμοὶ διὰ τὴν ἐνοικοῦσαν ἁμαρτίαν ἐν ἡμῖν ἔξωθεν ἐπισυνίστανται. καθαπερεὶ κύνες λυσσῶντες ἢ ἄγριοι καὶ θρασεῖς λῃσταὶ καθ' ἡμῶν ἀεὶ παρορμώμενοι ὑπὸ τοῦ τυράννου καὶ ἄρχοντος τῆς κακίας, δοκιμάζοντος ἡμᾶς εἰ ἀνθίστασθαι αὐτοῖς ἀρκοῦμεν καὶ ἀντιπαρατάσσεσθαι. ### English translation (Claude) "But if someone, daring to come to close quarters with the argument, should answer that the apostle teaches that we hate evil and do what we do not want not only in thinking it but also in doing and accomplishing it, because it is said, 'For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want, that I practise,' we shall ask him, if the one who says this speaks the truth, to make clear what the evil was that the apostle hated and did not want to do, yet did; and what the good was that he wanted to do, yet did not do, but on the contrary, as often as he wanted to do the good, so often did not the good that he wanted, but the evil that he did not want. Was it that, not wanting to worship idols but to worship God, he could not worship God, which he wanted, but could worship idols, which he did not want? Or that he wanted to be self-controlled and did not do it, but was licentious, which he loathed, and did that? And, in short, did he do carousing, dissipation and anger, injustice and the other works of wickedness, which he did not want, while what he wanted, righteousness and holiness, he did not do? And yet he himself in the churches, rousing everyone headlong not to act lawlessly, warns that not only those who do and practise wicked things, but also those who approve of them, are kept for destruction and wrath, striving that righteousness may be practised in us unmixed with sin. For every sin and practice reaches its completion through the flesh. At any rate, often in his letters, teaching us openly to avoid and hate these very things, he cries, 'Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor the effeminate nor men who lie with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor revilers nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God.' And, highest of all, urging us to shake off sin completely and in every way, he declares, 'Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.' So he did not mean what has been mentioned of doing and practising what he did not want, but only of thinking it; for how else would he be an exact imitator of Christ? But since beastly thoughts often fall upon us, filling us with desires and irrational curiosity now in one way and now in another, 'like the many tribes of thronging flies,' he said, 'For what I do not want, that I do.' These the soul must courageously drive away, not inclining at all to supply what they suggest. For it is in order that we may be judged fit for the kingdom of heaven, being tested in all pleasures and griefs whether we are changed, or whether, like pure gold tested in fire, we do not depart at all from our own virtue, that this happens: the mind is troubled by many things. So we must draw up against them nobly, like the best soldiers, who, when they perceive that they are besieged by the enemy, pay no heed to the archery and the other missiles, but rush eagerly against them to save the city, sparing no effort, until they turn their throng to flight and drive them beyond the borders. For you see how thoughts, because of the sin dwelling in us, gather from outside like mad dogs or savage and bold robbers, always urged on against us by the tyrant and ruler of wickedness, who tests us whether we are able to resist them and draw up against them." ### Scripture references - Rom 7:19: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:32: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:9: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:10: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 11:1: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 2.469 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Five lines at the foot of page 335 (from 'yet did not do, but on the contrary' to 'which he did not want') were lost in the staged text; they are restored from the OCR of the same page by a logged correction. - Rom 7:19; Rom 1:32; 1 Cor 6:9-10; 1 Cor 11:1. 'Like the many tribes of thronging flies' is Homer, Il. 2.469. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 2.4 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:335; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-4/#p-2-4). ## Res. 2.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-4/#p-2-5 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:337 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Methodius urges the soul to resist the evil one with the armour of God, and resumes his reading of Romans 7:15-18. ### Greek text Ἄγε οὖν, μή ποτε ὑπενδοῦσα ἁρπασθῇς, ὦ ψυχή, πρὸς αὐτῶν, καὶ οὐχ ἕξομεν ὑπὲρ σοῦ δοῦναι λύτρα. »τί γὰρ ἀντάλλαγμα δώσει ἄνθρωπος« φησί »τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ;« καλὸν μὲν οὖν, εἰ μὴ εἴχομεν, ἦν ἂν καὶ λυσιτελέστατον, τοὺς ἀντιπράσσοντας ἡμῖν καὶ μαχομένους· ἐπεὶ δὲ τοῦτο ἀδύνατον, καὶ ὃ θέλομεν οὐ δυνάμεθα (θέλομεν δὲ μὴ ἔχειν τοὺς ἐξέλχοντας ἡμᾶς εἰς πάθη — ἦν γὰρ ἂν ἀνιδρωτὶ σωθῆναι — καὶ ὃ θέλομεν τοῦτο οὐ γίγνεται, ἀλλ᾽ ὃ οὐ θέλομεν· δεῖ γὰρ ἡμᾶς δοκιμάζεσθαι, ὡς ἔφην), μὴ ἐνδιδῶμεν, ὦ ψυχή, μὴ ἐνδῶμεν τῷ πονηρῷ, ἀλλὰ ἀναλαβόντες »τὴν πανοπλίαν τοῦ θεοῦ« ὑπερασπίζουσαν καὶ προαγωνιζομένην ἡμῶν ἐνδυσώμεθα »τὸν θώρακα τῆς δικαιοσύνης«, καὶ ὑποδησώμεθα »τοὺς πόδας ἐν ἑτοιμασίᾳ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, ἐν πᾶσί τε ἀναλάβωμεν τὸν θυρεὸν τῆς πίστεως, ἐν ᾧ δυνησόμεθα πάντα τὰ βέλη τοῦ πονηροῦ τὰ πεπυρωμένα σβέσαι«, καὶ »τὴν περικεφαλαίαν τοῦ σωτηρίου«, »καὶ τὴν μάχαιραν τοῦ πνεύματος, ὅ ἐστι ῥῆμα θεοῦ«, »πρὸς τὸ δύνασθαι στῆναι πρὸς τὴν μεθοδείαν τοῦ διαβόλου«, »λογισμούς« τε καθαιρεῖν »καὶ πᾶν ὕψωμα ἐπαιρόμενον κατὰ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ θεοῦ«, »ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἡμῖν ἡ πάλη πρὸς αἷμα καὶ σάρκα«. τούτου δὲ ἕνεκα ταῦτα λέγω, ὅτι οὗτος ὁ τρόπος τοῦ ἀποστόλου τῶν συνταγμάτων. πολλὰ μὲν γὰρ ἔστι καὶ περὶ ἑκάστου τῶν ἐν τῇ ἐπιστολῇ ταύτῃ εἰρημένων ἀποδεῖξαι, ὡς ὀρθοδόξως καὶ μεμελετημένως ἔχει’ ἀλλὰ μακρὸν ἂν εἴη ἕκαστον αὐτῶν οὕτως διελθεῖν. τὸν γὰρ τύπον αὐτοῦ δεῖξαι μόνον καὶ τὴν βούλησιν προῄρημαι νῦν. »οὐ γὰρ ὃ θέλω, τοῦτο πράσσω, ἀλλὰ ὃ μισῶ, τοῦτο ποιῶ" εἰ δὲ ὃ οὐ θέλω, τοῦτο ποιῶ, σύμφημι τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ θεοῦ ὅτι καλός· νυνὶ δὲ οὐκέτι ἐγὼ κατεργάζομαι αὐτό, ἀλλὰ ἡ οἰκοῦσα ἐν ἐμοὶ ἁμαρτία. οἶδα γὰρ ὅτι οὐκ οἰκεῖ ἐν ἐμοί, τουτέστιν ἐν τῇ σαρκί μου, τὸ ἀγαθόν« ὀρθῶς λέγων. μέμνησθε γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν ὡς διωριζόμεθα, εἰ καὶ σπεύδων ἐγὼ ταχὺ πάντα διεξελθεῖν μᾶλλον βραδύνω, μακροτέρας μου τῶν λόγων τῆς περιόδου ἢ προσεδόκησα γεγενημένης, ἣν προθυμητέον δὴ διανύσαι. ἄλλως γὰρ τοῦ προκειμένου οὔποτε ἥξομεν ἐπὶ τέλος. ### English translation (Claude) "Come then, my soul, take care lest you give way and be snatched by them, and we have no ransom to give for you. For 'what will a man give in exchange,' he says, 'for his soul?' It would indeed be best and most profitable if we did not have those who oppose us and fight against us; but since this is impossible, and we cannot do what we want (we want not to have those who drag us into passions, for then we could be saved without sweat; and what we want does not happen, but what we do not want, for we must be tested, as I said), let us not give in, my soul, let us not yield to the wicked one; but, taking up 'the armour of God,' which shields us and fights for us, let us put on 'the breastplate of righteousness,' and shoe 'the feet with the readiness of the gospel,' and in all things take up 'the shield of faith, with which we shall be able to quench all the flaming darts of the evil one,' and 'the helmet of salvation,' 'and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,' 'so as to be able to stand against the wiles of the devil,' and to cast down 'reasonings and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God'; 'for our wrestling is not against blood and flesh.' I say these things for this reason, that this is the manner of the apostle's writings. Much could be shown about each of the things said in this epistle, how orthodox and carefully considered it is; but it would be long to go through each of them in this way, for I have now chosen to show only his manner and his intention. 'For I do not practise what I want, but what I hate, that I do. But if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law of God that it is good. But now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, nothing good dwells': he says this rightly. For you remember how we defined it above; though, eager as I am to go through everything quickly, I am rather slow, since the course of my discourse has become longer than I expected. I must make every effort to finish it; otherwise we shall never come to the end of what is before us." ### Scripture references - Matt 16:26: quotation, high confidence - Eph 6:11: quotation, high confidence - Eph 6:12: quotation, high confidence - Eph 6:13: quotation, high confidence - Eph 6:14: quotation, high confidence - Eph 6:15: quotation, high confidence - Eph 6:16: quotation, high confidence - Eph 6:17: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 10:5: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:15: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:16: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:17: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:18: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Matt 16:26; Eph 6:11-17; 2 Cor 10:5; Eph 6:12; Rom 7:15-18. The edition also prints a little of the German translation of the Slavonic beside this chapter (not staged). ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 2.5 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:337; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-4/#p-2-5). ## Res. 2.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-4/#p-2-6 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:339 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Sin entered man through disobedience as desire lodged in the body; hence two kinds of thoughts arise in us, from that desire and from the natural law of the mind. ### Greek text Οὐκοῦν ἐλέγομεν ἀφ᾽ οὗ τὸν ἄνθρωπον, εἰ μνημονεύετε, πλαγηθέντα τὴν ἐντολὴν ἀθετῆσαι συνέβη, ἐντεῦθεν ἐκ τῆς παρακοῆς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν λαβοῦσαν γένεσιν εἰς αὐτὸν εἰσῳκηκέναι. οὕτως γὰρ πρῶτον στάσις ἐνέπεσε, σφαδασμῶν τε καὶ λογισμῶν ἀνοικείων ἐπληρώθημεν, κενωθέντες μὲν τοῦ ἐμφυσήματος τοῦ θεοῦ, πληρωθέντες δὲ ἐπιθυμίας ὑλικῆς, ἣν ὁ πολύπλοκος ἐνέπνευσεν εἰς ἡμᾶς ὄφις. βραχυπορησάντων ἡμῶν τῆς παραγγελίας τοῦ θεοῦ τὸν κύκλον. διὸ καὶ τὸν θάνατον ὁ θεὸς πρὸς ἀναίρεσιν τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἀνεύρατο, ἵνα μὴ ἐν ἀθανάτοις ἡμῖν ἀνατείλασα, ὡς ἔφην, ἀθάνατος ᾖ. ὅθεν ὁ ἀπόστολος »οἶδα γὰρ ὅτι οὐκ οἰκεῖ ἐν ἐμοί, τουτέστιν ἐν τῇ σαρκί μου, τὸ ἀγαθόν« λέγων τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς παραβάσεως διὰ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας εἰσοικισθεῖσαν εἰς ἡμᾶς ἁμαρτίαν βούλεται μηνύειν, ἧς δὴ καθάπερ βλαστήματα νέα καὶ κλῶνες οἱ φιλήδονοι περὶ ἡμᾶς ἀεὶ λογισμοὶ συνίστανται. δισσὰ γὰρ ἐν ἡμῖν λογισμῶν γένη. τὸ μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας τῆς ἐνθωπευούσης ἐν τῷ σώματι συνιστάμενον, ἥτις ἐξ ἐπιπνοίας, ὡς ἔφην, ἐγενήθη τοῦ ὑλικοῦ πνεύματος, τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου τοῦ κατὰ τὴν ἐντολήν, ὃν ἔμφυτον ἐλάβομεν ἔχειν καὶ φυσικὸν νόμον, πρὸς τὸ καλὸν ἡμῶν ἐξεγείροντα καὶ ἐπανορθούμενον τὸν λογισμόν. ὅθεν τῇ μὲν νομοθεσίᾳ »τοῦ θεοῦ κατὰ τὸν« νοῦν συνηδόμεθα (τοῦτο γὰρ ὁ »ἔσω ἄνθρωπος«), τῇ δὲ νομοθεσίᾳ τοῦ διαβόλου κατὰ τὴν ἐνοικοῦσαν ἐπιθυμίαν ἐν τῇ σαρκί. ὁ γὰρ νόμος ἀντιστρατευόμενος καὶ ἀντιπράσσων »τῷ νόμῳ« τοῦ θεοῦ, οἷον τῇ πρὸς τὸ ἀγαθὸν ὁρμῇ (καὶ τῇ ἐπιθυμίᾳ »τοῦ νοός«, οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ τοὺς ἐμπαθεῖς ἀναφύων ἀεὶ καὶ ὑλικοὺς πρὸς ἀνομίαν περισπασμούς, παντάπασι πρὸς ἡδονὰς ὢν ἑλκτικός. ### English translation (Claude) "We said, then, if you remember, that from the time when man, led astray, came to set aside the commandment, sin, taking its origin from the disobedience, settled in him. For in this way a revolt first broke out, and we were filled with agitations and alien thoughts, emptied of God's inbreathing and filled with material desire, which the crafty serpent breathed into us when we fell short of the course of God's command. That is why God devised death on our behalf for the destruction of sin, so that, having sprung up in us who were immortal, it might not be immortal, as I said. Hence the apostle, in saying, 'For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh,' means the sin that settled in us from the transgression through desire; from it, like new shoots and twigs, the pleasure-loving thoughts always spring up around us. For there are two kinds of thoughts in us: the one arising from the desire that lurks in the body, which came into being, as I said, from the inbreathing of the material spirit; the other from the law in accordance with the commandment, which we received to have as an implanted and natural law, rousing and correcting our reasoning toward the good. Hence we delight in the law of God according to the mind (for this is 'the inner man'), but in the law of the devil according to the desire dwelling in the flesh. For the law that wars against and opposes 'the law' of God, that is, our impulse toward the good and the desire 'of the mind,' is the one that always produces passionate and material distractions toward lawlessness, since it altogether draws toward pleasures." ### Scripture references - Rom 7:18: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:22: allusion, high confidence - Rom 7:23: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The 'material spirit' is the devil (cf. 1.36, 'a spirit concerned with matter'). A garbled phrase ('from the transgression through desire') is translated by sense. - Rom 7:18; Rom 7:22-23. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 2.6 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:339; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-4/#p-2-6). ## Res. 2.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-4/#p-2-7 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:341 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Methodius distinguishes three laws in Romans 7: the law of the mind, the law of the evil one's assaults, and the law of sin lodged in the flesh through desire. ### Greek text Τρεῖς γὰρ νόμους ὑποτιθέμενος ἀναφανδὸν ὁ Παῦλος ἐνταῦθά μοι καταφαίνεται· ἕνα μὲν τὸν κατὰ τὸ ἔμφυτον ἐν ἡμῖν ἀγαθόν, ὃν καὶ »νόμον« σαφῶς »νοὸς« ἐκάλεσεν, ἕνα δὲ τὸν ἐκ προσβολῆς ἐνιστάμενον τοῦ πονηροῦ καὶ εἰς τὰς ἐμπαθεῖς ἐξέλκοντα πολλάκις φαντασίας τὴν ψυχήν, ὃν ἀντιστρατεύεσθαι τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ νοὸς ἔφη, καὶ ἕτερον τὸν κατὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐκ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας ἐνσκιρρώσαντα ἐν τῇ σαρκί, ὃν »ἁμαρτίας« νόμον »οἰκοῦντα ἐν τοῖς μέλεσί μου« ἐκάλεσεν, ᾧ ἐπιβαίνων ὁ πονηρὸς καὶ ἐποχούμενος πολλάκις καθ᾽ ἡμῶν ἐγκελεύεται, πρὸς ἀδικίαν ἡμᾶς καὶ πράξεις συνελαύνων κακάς. ὁ γὰρ ἔξωθεν εἰσπνεόμενος ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ νόμος, καὶ διὰ τῶν αἰσθήσεων καθάπερ ἀσφαλτῶδες ῥεῦμα ἔνδον εἰς αὐτὴν ἐκχεόμενος τὴν ψυχήν, ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ κατὰ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν ὑπάρχοντος κραταιοῦται νόμου. φαίνεται γὰρ ὡς ἐν αὐτοῖς ἡμῖν τὸ μὲν βέλτιον, τὸ δὲ χεῖρον ὄν. καὶ ὅταν μὲν τὸ βέλτιον φύσει τοῦ χείρονος ἐγκρατέστερον γενηθῇ, φέρεται ὅλος πρὸς τὸ ἀγαθὸν ὁ νοῦς· ὅταν δὲ τὸ χεῖρον ἐπιβρίσῃ πλεονάσαν, ὃ ἀντιστρατεύεσθαι τῷ ἐν ἡμῖν λέγεται ἀγαθῷ, ἄγεται πάλιν ἀντιστρόφως πρὸς φαντασίας παντοδαπὰς ὁ ἄνθρωπος καὶ λογισμοὺς χείρονας. ### English translation (Claude) "For Paul here seems to me plainly to suppose three laws: one in accordance with the good implanted in us, which he clearly called 'the law of the mind'; one arising from the assault of the evil one and often dragging the soul away to passionate imaginings, which he said 'wars against the law of the mind'; and another, in accordance with sin, which has hardened in the flesh from desire, which he called the law 'of sin dwelling in my members.' Mounting and riding on this, the evil one often urges it on against us, driving us together toward injustice and evil deeds. For the law breathed in from outside by the evil one, and poured in through the senses into the soul itself like a stream of pitch, is strengthened by the law that exists in the flesh in accordance with desire. For it appears that there is in ourselves something better and something worse; and when the better by nature becomes stronger than the worse, the whole mind is carried toward the good; but when the worse gains the upper hand and outweighs it, which is said to war against the good in us, the man is led in turn to all kinds of imaginings and worse thoughts." ### Scripture references - Rom 7:23: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Book 2, chapter 7. Rom 7:23. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 2.7 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:341; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-4/#p-2-7). ## Res. 2.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-4/#p-2-8 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:342 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Paul's 'body of this death' is the law of sin in the members, not the body itself, from which Christ delivers us so that the natural law of the good may be fulfilled; Methodius then pauses before the harder questions. ### Greek text Οὗ δὴ καὶ χάριν ὁ ἀπόστολος εὔχεται ῥυσθῆναι, θάνατον αὐτὸ καὶ ὄλεθρον εἶναι ἡγούμενος, ὥσπερ δὴ καὶ ὁ προφήτης »ἀπὸ τῶν κρυφίων μου« λέγων »καθάρισόν με«. αὐτὰ γοῦν τὰ ῥήματα τοῦτο παρίστησιν »συνήδομαι γὰρ τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ θεοῦ κατὰ τὸν ἔσω« λέγοντος »ἄνθρωπον· βλέπω δὲ ἕτερον νόμον ἐν τοῖς μέλεσί μου, ἀντιστρατευόμενον τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ νοὸς μου καὶ αἰχμαλωτίζοντά με τῷ νόμῳ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τῷ ὄντι ἐν τοῖς μέλεσί μου. ταλαίπωρος ἐγὼ ἄνθρωπος· τίς με ῥύσεται ἐκ τοῦ σώματος τοῦ θανάτου τούτου; « οὐ τὸ σῶμα θάνατον ἀποφαινόμενος, ἀλλὰ τὸν νόμον τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὸν ἐν τοῖς μέλεσι (τοῦ σώματος) διὰ τῆς παραβάσεως ἐν ἡμῖν ἐμφωλεύοντα καὶ πρὸς θάνατον ἀεὶ τὸν τῆς ἀδικίας τὴν ψυχὴν ἐμφαντάζοντα. ἐπιφέρει γοῦν εὐθέως. ἀμέλει δηλούμενος ἀπὸ ποίου θανάτου ἐγλίχετο ῥυσθῆναι καὶ τίς αὐτὸν ὁ ῥυόμενος ἦν, »χάρις τῷ θεῷ διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ«. προσεκτέον γὰρ ὅτι, εἰ τὸ σῶμα θάνατον τοῦτο, ὦ Ἀγλαοφῶν, ὡς ὑπειλήφατε. ἔλεγεν, οὐχ ἂν τὸν Χριστὸν ὡς ῥυόμενον αὐτὸν ὕστερον ἐκ τοῦ τοιούτου κακοῦ παρελάμβανεν. ἐπεὶ τί παραδοξότερον ἢ πλέον ἀπὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ τῆς παρουσίας ἐσχήκαμεν; τί δὲ καὶ ὁ ἀπόστολος ὅλως, ὡς διὰ τῆς παρουσίας τοῦ Χριστοῦ δυνάμενος ἐκ τοῦ θανάτου ὑπὸ θεοῦ ἐλευθερωθῆναι, τοῦτο ἐφθέγγετο, ὁπότε πᾶσι καὶ πρὸ τοῦ τὸν Χριστὸν ἐλθεῖν εἰς τὸν κόσμον συνέβαινε θνήσκειν; ἐρρύοντο γὰρ χωριζόμενοι πάντες τῶν σωμάτων κατὰ τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ βίου ταύτην ἔξοδον. ἀλλὰ καὶ ὡσαύτως δὲ πᾶσαι αἱ ψυχαί, καὶ αἱ τῶν ἀπίστων καὶ πιστῶν καὶ τῶν ἀδίκων καὶ δικαίων, ἐχωρίζοντο τῶν σωμάτων κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς τελευτῆς. τί οὖν ὁ ἀπόστολος πλέον παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους λαβεῖν τοὺς ἐν ἀπιστίᾳ διατρίψαντας ἐσπούδαζεν; ἢ διὰ τί ῥυσθῆναι ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος ηὔχετο, ὃ καὶ εἰ μὴ ἤθελε, πάντως ἂν συνέβαινεν αὐτῷ, καθάπερ δὴ καὶ πᾶσι κεῖται τὸ τελευτῆσαι καὶ χωρισθῆναι τὰς ψυχὰς αὐτῶν ἀπὸ τῶν σωμάτων, εἰ θάνατον τὸ σῶμα τῆς ψυχῆς ὑπετίθετο; ὥστε οὐ τὸ σῶμα τοῦτο, ὦ Ἀγλαοφῶν, θάνατον, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τὴν κατοικήσασαν διὰ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας ἐν τῷ σώματι λέγει, ἧς ὁ θεὸς αὐτὸν διὰ τῆς παρουσίας τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐρρύσατο. »ὁ γὰρ νόμος τοῦ πνεύματος τῆς ζωῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ ἠλευθέρωσεν« ἡμᾶς »ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου τῆς ἁμαρτίας καὶ τοῦ θανάτου«, ὅπως ὁ ἐγείρας »Ἰησοῦν ἐκ νεκρῶν« »διὰ τὸ ἐνοικοῦν αὐτοῦ πνεῦμα ἐν ἡμῖν« ζῳοποιήσῃ »καὶ τὰ θνητὰ σώματα ἡμῶν«, τῆς »ἁμαρτίας« τῆς ἐν τῷ σώματι κατακριθείσης πρὸς ἀναίρεσιν, »ἵνα τὸ δικαίωμα τοῦ« κατὰ τὴν ἐντολὴν πρὸς τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἡμᾶς ἐφελκομένου φυσικοῦ »νόμου« φανερωθῇ ἐξαρθέν, ὃ ἀσθενῆσαν τῆς σαρκὸς κεκρατημένης τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ πρὸ τῆς παρουσίας τοῦ Χριστοῦ ταῖς ὑλικαῖς φροντίσιν ἐπεχώννυτο. »τὸ γὰρ ἀδύνατον« τοῦ ἐν ἡμῖν φυσικοῦ ἀγαθοῦ, »ἐν ᾧ ἠσθένει« ὑπὸ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας ἡττώμενον τῆς ἐγκειμένης ἐν τῷ σώματι, »ὁ θεός« ἀνερρώσατο, »πέμψας τὸν υἱὸν ἑαυτοῦ«, τὴν ὁμοίαν »τῇ σαρκὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας« σάρκα ἀνειληφότα (ἀληθείᾳ γὰρ καὶ οὐ δοκήσει ἦν ὃ ἐφάνη), ἵνα τῆς ἁμαρτίας κατακεκριμένης πρὸς ἀναίρεσιν, εἰς τὸ μηκέτι »καρποφορῆσαι« ἐν τῇ σαρκί, »τὸ δικαίωμα τοῦ« φυσικοῦ »νόμου πληρωθῇ«, πλεονάσαν τῇ ὑπακοῇ »τοῖς μὴ κατὰ« τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν »τῆς σαρκὸς περιπατοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ« τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν »τοῦ πνεύματος« καὶ τὴν ὑφήγησιν. »ὁ γὰρ νόμος τοῦ πνεύματος τῆς ζωῆς«, ὁ δή ἐστι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον, ἕτερος ὢν τῶν προειρημένων νόμων, διὰ τοῦ κηρύγματος πρὸς ὑπακοὴν τεθεὶς καὶ ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτημάτων, »ἠλευθέρωσεν ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου τῆς ἁμαρτίας καὶ τοῦ θανάτου«, νικήσας ἐκ παντὸς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν βασιλεύουσαν τῆς σαρκός. Ἃ μὲν οὖν δὴ προβάλλονται καὶ ἐκ τῶν τοῦ ἀποστόλου ῥητῶν, οὐκ ὀρθῶς αὐτὰ ἐξηγούμενοι, σαφηνίσας, ἔφην, ὦ Θεόφιλε. τρέψομαι δὲ καὶ πρὸς τὰ ἕτερα, ἐάνπερ τὸν βοηθήσοντα ἡμῖν πρὸς τὴν διέξοδον εὔρωμεν τοῦ λόγου. ἄπορα γὰρ καὶ οὐ πάνυ ῥάδια πρὸς καθαίρεσιν τὰ ἑξῆς. διὸ καὶ ὀκνηρότερον αὐτῶν ἅπτομαι, μακρὰν καὶ χαλεπὴν αὐτῶν ὁρῶν τὴν ἀπόδειξιν ἐσομένην, ἐὰν μή τις ἡμᾶς αὔρα συνέσεως ἄφνω ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καταπνεύσασα, καθάπερ ἐν μέσῳ νηχομένους πελάγει, εἰς ὅρμον τινὰ ἀκύμονα καὶ ἀπόδειξιν ἀποκαταστήσῃ ἀσφαλεστέραν. ### English translation (Claude) "That is why the apostle prays to be rescued from it, considering it death and destruction, as the prophet too says, 'Cleanse me from my hidden faults.' The words themselves show this: 'For I delight in the law of God according to the inner man; but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and taking me captive to the law of sin that is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death?' He does not declare the body to be death, but the law of sin in the members, lurking in us through the transgression and always deluding the soul toward the death of injustice. At any rate he immediately adds, making plain from what kind of death he longed to be rescued and who it was who rescued him: 'Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ.' For it must be noted that, if he were calling this body death, Aglaophon, as you supposed, he would not afterwards have brought in Christ as rescuing him from such an evil. For what more wonderful or greater thing would we have received from the coming of Christ? And why would the apostle have said this at all, as though by the coming of Christ he could be freed from death by God, when it was the lot of all to die even before Christ came into the world? For all were rescued, being separated from their bodies in this departure from life. And likewise all souls, of unbelievers and believers, of the unjust and the just, were separated from their bodies on the day of their death. What more, then, was the apostle eager to receive than the others who lived in unbelief? Or why did he pray to be rescued from the body, a thing that would certainly have happened to him even if he did not wish it, since it is laid up for all to die and to have their souls separated from their bodies, if he supposed the body to be the death of the soul? So, Aglaophon, he calls not this body death, but the sin that dwelt in the body through desire, from which God rescued him through the coming of Christ. 'For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and of death,' so that he who raised 'Jesus from the dead' may give life 'also to our mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in us,' once 'sin' in the body has been condemned to destruction, 'so that the righteous requirement of' the natural 'law,' which draws us toward the good in accordance with the commandment, might be lifted up and made manifest; for, being weak because the flesh was mastered by sin before Christ's coming, it was buried under material cares. 'For what was impossible' for the natural good in us, 'in that it was weak,' being overcome by the desire that lies in the body, 'God' strengthened, 'sending his own Son,' who took up flesh 'in the likeness of sinful flesh' (for he appeared in truth and not in seeming), so that, sin having been condemned to destruction so as no longer to 'bear fruit' in the flesh, 'the righteous requirement of' the natural 'law might be fulfilled,' abounding in obedience, 'in those who walk not according to' the desire 'of the flesh but according to' the desire and guidance 'of the Spirit.' For 'the law of the Spirit of life,' which is the gospel, being different from the laws mentioned before and set forth through preaching for obedience and the forgiveness of sins, 'set us free from the law of sin and of death,' having utterly conquered the sin that reigned over the flesh. "I have explained, Theophilus," I said, "what they put forward from the words of the apostle too, interpreting them wrongly. I shall turn to the other matters, if we find someone to help us through the discussion. For what follows is difficult and not at all easy to demolish. That is why I approach it rather slowly, seeing that its demonstration will be long and hard, unless a breeze of understanding, suddenly breathing on us from heaven, brings us, who are swimming as it were in the midst of the sea, back to some calm harbour and to a more secure demonstration." ### Scripture references - Ps 19:12 (18:13 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:22: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:23: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:24: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:25: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:2: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:11: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:3: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:4: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - This is Book 2, chapter 8 (Bonwetsch pp. 342-345). The staged text ran on for some 13,000 characters into Greek excerpts of chapters 9-20 (pp. 346-373, interleaved with German phrases and apparatus), which belong to other units; they are removed here by a logged correction, and their translation is supplied separately for re-staging (see the report). - Ps 19:12 (LXX 18:13); Rom 7:22-25; Rom 8:2; Rom 8:11; Rom 8:3-4. 'In truth and not in seeming' rejects a docetic Christology. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 2.8 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:342; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-4/#p-2-8). ## Res. 2.9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-4/#p-2-9 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:346 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Greek excerpts of Book 2, chapters 9-10: trees do not consume the earth they grow from, God alone gives growth through his wisdom, and man was made from the four elements as a small world, as Ezekiel's four-faced cherubim signify. ### Greek text Διαπορήσαι δ᾽ ἂν τις πῶς εἰς τὸν ὄγκον ἀναλαμβάνεσθαι δύναται τῶν δένδρων ἡ γῆ μεταλλοιουμένη … ἐχρῆν γάρ, ἅτε τῆς ὑποκειμένης γῆς ἀναρπαζομένης ἀεὶ διὰ τῶν ῥιζῶν εἰς ὅλην τὴν ἕξιν τοῦ ξύλου, τὸν τόπον, καθ᾽ ὃν τὸ δένδρον βεβλάστηκε, κοιλαίνεσθαι· ὥστε μάταιος αὐτῶν ὁ τοιοῦτος τῆς περὶ τὰ σώματα ῥύσεως ἀναλογισμός. πῶς γὰρ ὅλος ἡ γῆ, διὰ τῶν ῥιζῶν εἰς τοὺς κορμοὺς τῶν φυτῶν εἰσδυομένη καὶ διὰ τῶν πόρων εἰς πάντας αὐτῶν κατακερματιζομένη τοὺς κλάδους, εἰς φύλλα καὶ καρπὸν μεταβάλλεται; εὐμήκη μὲν οὖν δένδρα, κέδροι ἢ πίτυες ἢ ἐλάται, καὶ πολλὴν φέροντα κατ᾽ ἔτος κόμην καὶ καρπόν, ἰδεῖν ἐστὶν ὡς οὐδὲν τῆς ὑποκειμένης γῆς εἰς τὸν ἑαυτῆς ὄγκον τῆς δρυάδος καταναλίσκουσιν. ἐχρῆν γάρ, εἰ ἀληθὲς ἦν διὰ τῶν ῥιζῶν ἀνερχομένην ἀποξυλοῦσθαι τὴν γῆν, ἅπαντα τὸν περὶ αὐτὰ τόπον τῆς γῆς κοιλαίνεσθαι, ὅτι μὴ ἐπιρρέειν πέφυκε τὸ ξηρόν, καθάπερ καὶ τὸ ὑγρόν, ἀεὶ πρὸς τὸ κινούμενον. ἤδη δὲ καὶ συκαῖ καὶ ἄλλα τοιαῦτα φυτὰ μνημείων ἐν οἰκοδομήμασι πολλάκις βλαστήσαντα οὐδὲν εἰς ἑαυτὰ τῆς οἰκοδομῆς ὅλως ἱστοροῦνται καταναλωκέναι. εἰ γοῦν ἐτῶν πολλῶν συλλογίσασθαί τις τὸν καρπὸν αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ φύλλα βουληθείη, κατίδοι ἂν πολλαπλασίονα τῆς ἐπὶ τῶν μνημείων γῆς τὸν ὄγκον αὐτῶν γεγενημένον .. … ὅθεν ἀτοπώτατον ἡγεῖσθαι τὴν γῆν εἰς καρπῶν φορὰν μεταβαλλομένην καὶ φύλλα καταναλίσκεσθαι, κἂν δι᾿ αὐτῆς ἅπαντα γίνωνται, ἕδρᾳ αὐτῇ χρώμενα καὶ τόπῳ. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἄρτος δίχα μύλου καὶ τόπου καὶ χρόνου καὶ πυρὸς γίνεται, καὶ οὐδὲν ἔστιν ἢ γίνεται τούτων ὁ ἄρτος. [καὶ ἐπὶ ἄλλων μυρίων ὡσαύτως. … ὁ γοῦν ἀπόστολος τὸ φυτεύεσθαι καὶ τὸ ποτίζεσθαι τέχνῃ καὶ γῇ καὶ ὕδατι δοὺς τῷ θεῷ τὸ αὐξάνειν μόνῳ συνεχώρησεν, ἔνθα »οὔτε ὁ φυτεύων οὔτε ὁ ποτίζων ἐστί τι, ἀλλ᾽ ὁ αὐξάνων θεός« ἔφη, … ἠπίστατο γὰρ πάντα γεννῶσαν τὴν πρωτόγονον σοφίαν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πάντων τεχνίτιδα πάντα εἰς τὸν κόσμον προφέρειν. ἣν τε παλαιοὶ ἄνδρες φύσιν ἐκάλεσαν καὶ πρόνοιαν, παρὰ τὸ φύειν αὐτὴν ἅπαντα καὶ αὔξειν προνοουμένην ἀεὶ καὶ φροντίζουσαν. »ὁ γὰρ πατήρ μου ἕως ἄρτι ἐργάζεται« φησί »κἀγὼ ἐργάζομαι.« ὅθεν διὰ ταῦτα δὴ καὶ ὁ Σολομῶν ἁπάντων αὐτὴν τεχνίτιδα ἐκάλεσεν, (»ἡ γὰρ πάντων τεχνῖτις ἐδίδαξέ με« φησί, τοῦ θεοῦ »σοφία«)· εἰς οὐδὲν πτωχεύοντος τοῦ θεοῦ, ἀλλὰ πλουσίως πάντα καὶ κτίζειν καὶ ποιεῖν καὶ ποικίλλειν καὶ αὔξειν δυναμένου. … ⟨ὅτι γὰρ⟩ τὰ πάντα δημιουργῶν ὁ θεὸς καὶ πάντων φροντίζων καὶ προνοούμενος, »λαβὼν χοῦν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς«, τὸν ἔξωθεν ἡμῶν »ἔπλασεν ἄνθρωπον«, οὐ μόνον ὁ μέγας προφήτης Μωυσῆς, ἀλλὰ καὶ πᾶς ὁμόγλωσσος αὐτῷ τῆς πνευματικῆς φωνῆς τῶν προφητῶν χορὸς μαρτυρεῖ· οὐ γὰρ ἀπρονοήτῳ καὶ συντυχικῇ φορᾷ, κατὰ τοὺς τὸ ἄπειρον καὶ κενὸν εἰσηγουμένους, ὥσπερ ἐξ ἄμμων κατὰ συντυχίαν προσγινομένων καὶ ἀπογινομένων, ὑπέστη τὸ πᾶν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκ πυρὸς καὶ ἀέρος καὶ γῆς καὶ ὕδατος, κἂν μὴ βούλωνται ταῦτα στοιχεῖα καὶ πρωτόγονα τοῦ παντὸς εἶναί τινες σώματα, ἀλλὰ συγκρίματα ⟨καὶ⟩ εἴδη ἐξ ἀτόμων ἢ ὄγκων ἢ ἀμερῶν ἢ ὁμοιομερῶν, αὐτομάτῳ τινὶ καὶ ἀπροαιρέτῳ συναχθέντα φιλίᾳ. ἀπρονοησίᾳ γὰρ τῶν ὅλων καὶ ἀδιοικησίᾳ ἀκόλουθος οὗτος ὁ λόγος, δι᾿ ὃ καὶ Δημοκρίτῳ καὶ Ἐπικούρῳ φίλος, ἀλλ᾽ οὐχ ἡμῖν· ἴσμεν γὰρ τὸ πᾶν ἀπταίστως θείας βουλῆς κυβερνᾶσθαι προστασίᾳ. ἡ γὰρ ἐργαζομένη θεοῦ ταγαῖς τὰ πάντα σοφία καὶ σχηματίζουσα τῷ μὲν θερμῷ τὸ ψυχρὸν θραύσασα, τῷ δ᾽ αὖ ψυχρῷ τὸ θερμὸν ἡμερώσασα, καὶ τῷ μὲν ξηρῷ δήσασα τὸ ὑγρόν, λύσασα δὲ τῷ ὑγρῷ τὸ ξηρόν, — τὸν ἄνθρωπον οὕτως ἐδείματο, τὴν πρὸς τὸ πᾶν ἐν αὐτῷ μίμησιν καὶ τὴν ἐν τῷ παντὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν διαγράψασα, ὥστε κόσμον μὲν εἶναι μικρὸν τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἔχοντα ἐν ἑαυτῷ πάντα τὰ μέρη τοῦ ὅλου, μέγαν δὲ τὸν κόσμον ἄνθρωπον. καθάπερ οὖν δὴ ἐν τῷ ὅλῳ γῆ μὲν ἀκίνητος ἕστηκεν καὶ καθεδρασμένη, ἔχουσα πάντοθεν περικεχυμένον ἐν ἑαυτῇ ψυχρὸν τὸν ἀέρα, τοῦ πυρώδους ἀναπνοὴν παρεχόμενον τῇ φύσει, τεταγμένως δὲ ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ τὸ πῦρ ᾐωρημένον, καὶ περὶ τὴν γῆν κεχυμένον τὸ ὕδωρ· οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἐν ἡμῖν γῆ μὲν ἡ τῶν ὀστέων ἐστὶν στερέμνιος φύσις, καὶ ἡ ἐπ᾽ αὐτῆς περικεχυμένη σὰρξ χυτή, ὑδάτων δὲ καὶ ποταμῶν μιμήματα φλέβες καὶ αἷμα τὸ ἐν φλεψίν· ἀὴρ δὲ καὶ πνεῦμα, τὸ ἐν ἀρτηρίαις τὴν πολλὴν ζέσιν τοῦ ἐν ἡμῖν καταψύχον πυρός· πῦρ δὲ τὸ ἔμφυτον θερμόν, τὴν τοῦ φλέγματος ἐκτῆκον ἀμετρίαν, καθάπερ κρυσταλλῶδες πίλημα ὕδατος. οὗ χάριν τὴν πρὸς τὰ ὅλα καὶ ὁ προφήτης προστασίαν καὶ διακυβέρνησιν τοῦ θεοῦ δηλῶν (οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀπαυτοματίζεταί τι τῶν τεχνικῶν ὅλως δημιουργημάτων), τὴν τῶν τετραπροσώπων ἡνιόχησιν ἡμῖν χερουβὶμ καὶ ἐπιστασίαν ἐξηγεῖται ἐπιστήμονα ἰθυνομένην πρὸς τοῦ λόγου. τέσσαρα μὲν εἶναί φαμεν ὡς τὰ ζῷα τὰ ὑπεζευγμένα τῷ ὄχῳ, τὸ μὲν ἀνθρώπου, τὸ δὲ λέοντος, τὸ δὲ μόσχου, τὸ δὲ ἀετοῦ· ἕκαστον δὲ πάλιν ἰδίως αὐτῶν καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν τετράμορφον ὄν, ἑτέρας τοσαύτας ἐν ἑαυτῷ συμπεφυκυίας κεφαλὰς ἔχειν, οἷον γνωριμωτέροις διὰ τούτων ἐμφαίνων ὀνόμασιν τὴν τῶν τεσσάρων ὁμολογίαν στοιχείων, [ἄριστα] ⟨ἀφ᾽ ὧν⟩ διεκοσμήθη τὸ πᾶν· τῷ μὲν γὰρ ἀέρι τὸν ἄνθρωπον εὐστόχως ἀπεικάζεσθαι χρὴ οὐράνιον φυτὸν ὑπάρχοντα, τῷ δὲ πυρὶ διὰ τὴν ὀξυκινησίαν (καὶ ἡγεμονίαν) τὸν λέοντα, γῇ δὲ τὸν μόσχον, ἀετῷ δὲ τὸ ὕδωρ. ὅτι τὴν γένεσιν ἐξ ὕδατος ἔσχεν τὰ πτηνά. ὁ τοίνυν θεός, ὥσπερ ὁ παλαιός φησιν λόγος, ἀρχὴν καὶ τελευτὴν καὶ μέσα τῶν ὄντων ἁπάντων ἔχων, ἀέρα καὶ γῆν, ὕδωρ τε αὖ καὶ πῦρ, τὰ μέγιστα ζῷα τῇ βουλῇ συνέχων τῇ ἑαυτοῦ καὶ διακρατῶν, καθάπερ ὄχημα τέτρωρον, πρὸς διαμονὴν εὐθύνον ἀρρήτως ἡνιοχεῖ τὸ πᾶν. τετράμορφον γοῦν ἕκαστον αὐτῶν καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸ ζῷον ὁ προφήτης εἶναι ὑπέθετο, ὅλα δι᾿ ὅλων κεχρᾶσθαι δηλῶν τὰ στοιχεῖα, τετραμιγῆ τε εἶναι τὰ συνιστάμενα ἐξ αὐτῶν συγκρίματα. ### English translation (Claude) [9] "One might well ask how the earth can be changed and taken up into the bulk of trees. For, since the earth beneath is always being drawn up through the roots into the whole substance of the wood, the place where the tree has grown would have to be hollowed out; so their reasoning about the flux of bodies on this analogy is vain. For how does the earth as a whole, entering through the roots into the trunks of plants and divided through the channels into all their branches, change into leaves and fruit? There are tall trees, cedars or pines or firs, bearing much foliage and fruit every year, and one can see that they consume nothing of the earth beneath into their own woody bulk. For if it were true that the earth rising through the roots is turned into wood, the whole surrounding place of the earth would have to be hollowed out, since what is dry does not naturally flow in, as what is moist does, to take the place of what moves away. Indeed fig trees and other such plants, which often spring up in the buildings of tombs, are reported to have consumed nothing of the building into themselves at all. If anyone were to reckon up their fruit and leaves over many years, he would see that their bulk had become many times greater than the earth on the tombs. ... Hence it is most absurd to think that the earth is changed into the crop of fruits and leaves and consumed; even if everything comes about through it, you would see them using it as a seat and a place. For neither is bread made without a mill and a place and time and fire, and yet bread is none of these; and likewise with countless other things. ... The apostle, at any rate, giving planting and watering to art, earth and water, allowed growth to God alone, where he said, 'Neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but God who gives the growth.' ... For he knew that the firstborn wisdom of God, which brings forth all things and is the craftswoman of all, brings all things forth into the world; she whom men of old called nature and providence, because she makes all things grow and increase, always taking forethought and care. 'For my Father is working until now,' he says, 'and I am working.' That is why Solomon too called her the craftswoman of all: 'For wisdom, the craftswoman of all, taught me,' he says; for God is poor in nothing, but is richly able to create and make and adorn and increase all things. [10] "... That God, who creates all things and cares and provides for all, 'took dust from the earth' and 'formed' our outer 'man,' not only the great prophet Moses but the whole choir of the prophets, speaking with one voice with him in the spiritual language, testify. For the universe did not come into being by an unprovided and chance motion, as those say who introduce the infinite and the void, as though from atoms coming together by chance, but from fire and air and earth and water, even if some will not have these to be elements and primary bodies of the universe, but compounds and forms made of atoms or masses or indivisibles or homoeomeries, brought together by some spontaneous and unchosen friendship. For this account follows from the absence of providence and governance over the universe, and is dear to Democritus and Epicurus, but not to us; for we know that the universe is steered without stumbling by the governance of the divine counsel. For the wisdom that works all things at God's commands and gives them shape, breaking the cold with the hot and taming the hot with the cold, binding the moist with the dry and loosening the dry with the moist, built man in this way, sketching in him the likeness of the universe and in the universe the likeness of him, so that man is a small world, having in himself all the parts of the whole, and the world is a great man. Just as in the whole the earth stands unmoved and settled, having the cold air poured all around it, which gives the fiery element room to breathe, while fire is suspended in order above it, and water is poured around the earth; so too in us the solid nature of the bones is earth, and the flesh poured around it is soft, and the veins and the blood in the veins are images of waters and rivers; air and breath are what is in the arteries, cooling the great heat of the fire within us; and fire is the innate warmth, which melts the excess of phlegm like an icy mass of water. For this reason the prophet too, showing God's governance and steering of the universe (for none of the works of art comes about of itself), describes to us the driving of the four-faced cherubim and their direction, guided knowingly by the Word. We say there are four, as the living creatures yoked to the chariot: one of a man, one of a lion, one of a calf, one of an eagle; and each of them again, being four-formed in itself, has as many other heads grown together with it, signifying by these more familiar names the agreement of the four elements, of which the universe was ordered. For he fittingly likened man to air, since man is a heavenly plant; the lion to fire, because of its swift motion and lordliness; the calf to earth; and the eagle to water, because birds have their origin from water. God, then, as the ancient saying goes, holding the beginning, end and middle of all things that are, air and earth, water and fire, the greatest living creatures, holds them together by his own counsel and keeps them in his grasp, and, like a four-horse chariot, steering it toward permanence, ineffably drives the universe. The prophet supposed each of them to be a four-formed living creature in itself, showing that the elements are mixed wholly through one another, and that the compounds made from them are of a fourfold mixture." [Slavonic version, translated from N. Bonwetsch's German:] And Memianius began and said: "I take up the contest against them on your behalf, since you have now spoken with moderation, against a difficult and long array of questions. For there are medical questions among them too, and questions about the corruptibility of the body. Let us therefore examine how the visible world itself makes the matter known. For if it is true of trees that the earth is raised up into fruits, then it is true of us too that food becomes flesh and displaces the earlier bodies. As people who have not received the truth, they have thought this way about this too, turning to myths and error. But it will rather be recognized from the following. For, asserting that food first works in the belly, cooking as in its oven by means of the juice, and passing from there into the liver, is distributed to the whole body, given to each member according to its need, becoming blood and changing into flesh and into bones and veins (or sinews), they have taken refuge in the example of the trees as most instructive, saying that there is one manner of change and of sending up and growing, namely of trees and of animals ... [trees have no ...] belly, nor the other organs, into which the food enters and receives its concoction so that, turned to vapour, it may pass into every branch. For the earth that mingles with trees would first need a change if it were to be transformed into their state. For this too is unreasonable. In us food, even though it is quickly concocted, needs much cooperation of nature to be assimilated; but in trees it is neither concocted nor distributed, even to the outermost foliage, since neither the structure nor the power of entrails or belly cooperates. For they have no belly in which the earth is first concocted, dissolved and mixed with moisture, nor entrails through which they excrete the husk-like part, nor any other vessel through which it passes through the tree and reaches its goal. But they said: 'Plants do not have visible vessels such as we have, but invisible paths by which the earth, as vapour, proceeds even into the smallest parts of the tree and is divided as it sprouts.' ... We see many trees on walls too, which in no way ... the vessels, in which [the clay] is shaped by men into an image ... through fire, do not become that form. ... The apostle at any rate [assigns] to the water the watering, but to God the growth. For he knew ... Since it has now been fully shown that the earth is not changed into branches or into fruits, let us leave the matter there." ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 3:7: quotation, high confidence - John 5:17: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:7: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 1:10: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 3:6: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 3:7: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 7:22 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence - Plato, Leg. 4.715e (Plato (works)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Only excerpts of this chapter survive in Greek (shown in the original column and translated first). The whole chapter survives in the Old Slavonic version; it follows in brackets, translated from Bonwetsch's German (GCS 27, 1917), and so overlaps the Greek excerpts. - Greek excerpts (Photius, Bibliotheca, cod. 234; Sacra Parallela) of Book 2, chapters 9-10, removed from the end of staged ref 2.8; the German of these chapters is staged (incompletely) under 2.1 and 2.7. To be merged with them when Book 2 is re-staged. The places marked '...' are where German phrases or gaps interrupt the Greek. - 1 Cor 3:7; John 5:17; Wis 7:22; Gen 2:7; Ezek 1:5-10, 10:14; 'beginning, end and middle' is Plato, Laws 4.715e. Democritus and Epicurus are named for atomism. - Doubtful readings of the OCR, printed here as reconstructed from two independent OCRs of the edition: τῷ ὄχῳ ('the chariot') in 10.4 and the bracketed [ἄριστα] ⟨ἀφ᾽ ὧν⟩; an opening bracket before καὶ ἐπὶ ἄλλων μυρίων ὡσαύτως has no closing bracket in either OCR. - This staged unit is really chapter 9 (with part of chapter 10) of Book 2 in Bonwetsch (page 345, numeral printed IX), not chapter 1. Here the Greek survives in part (Photius, Bibliotheca, cod. 234, and the Sacra Parallela) and Bonwetsch prints it beside the German; only the German was staged, and it is incomplete, so the unit breaks off at several points (marked '...'). It should be re-staged together with the Greek before publishing. Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. - 1 Cor 3:6-7. The physiology of digestion answers Aglaophon in 1.9-1.10. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 2.9 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:346; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-4/#p-2-9). ## Res. 2.10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-4/#p-2-10 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:341 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: The narrator's companion argues that God formed the body from a mixture of the four elements, as Christ's healing of the man born blind with earth and spittle and the painter's four colours illustrate. ### English translation (Claude) ... [the] like, which is over their heads, must be compared to heaven. And the Lord, teaching that we are composed of these through the mixture of the body, bent down when a man blind from birth was brought to him, and made mud from earth and anointed his eyes and made him see, adding again and filling up what was lacking to him in the constitution of the body natural to him from the same mixture of the elements. For the dry part was from the earth, and the moist, the cold and the warm from the spittle. For what comes out of the mouth is warm. But it also has a share in the air; for we spit out saliva not while breathing out but with a full drawing in of breath, sending out with it some of the inner warmth. So God, mixing together earth and air, water and fire, and choosing from these, which existed before, created, preparing the body from them all as one vessel for the soul. A great witness to this is the art of painting, which, imitating the elements of our nature, imitates every image it paints not with any other colours but with four, in varied mixture, by adding each as it pleases. For so he too, being a painter, forming every person in you with four substances, put together all the parts of the body according to a varied mixture of the body; and there is nothing in us that does not have something of them all. Even what appears dry, that is, the bone, has something of the others and is mixed. ### Scripture references - John 9:6: allusion, high confidence - John 9:1: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - This staged unit is not chapter 7 of Book 2: it is the German of the end of chapter 10 (Bonwetsch pp. 351-353), whose Greek is preserved in part and was staged inside ref 2.8 (see the report); it begins in mid-sentence. The true chapter 7 (Greek, pp. 341-342) is not staged. The opening words, a line of the edition's apparatus, stand at the start of the staged text and are not translated. Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. - John 9:1-7. The four elements as the painter's four colours recall Plato, Tim. 90a and the medical tradition. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 2.10 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:341; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-4/#p-2-10). ## Res. 2.11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-4/#p-2-11 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:355 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: A fragment on cut-off members not growing back from food. ### Greek text ἐχρῆν τὰ ἀποκοπτόμενα μέλη ⟨τοῦ σώματος⟩, τουτέστιν ὠτίον ἢ δάκτυλον ἢ ῥῖνα, αὖθις ἐκ τῆς τροφῆς... ἀναπληροῦσθαι. ### English translation (Claude) "... the members cut off ⟨from the body⟩, that is, an ear or a finger or a nose, would have had to be filled up again from food ..." [Slavonic version, translated from N. Bonwetsch's German:] "Therefore the body must be the same, the first body, since the one who had joined it together wished to dissolve it ... that it comes into being through the juices of food that come and go. Since you can separate by art the union of gold melted together with silver or with something else, should not rather what God, who created that very matter out of what is not, has put together with unsearchable wisdom, be undestroyed and unchanged if he wills, rather than wasting away day by day? That is, if food changes into flesh and into bones and sinews, and flesh into hair and nails, while the former body departs: which is more incorrect than anything. For if every day some things come to the body from food and others go away, some flowing off like water and others flowing in, then man is not a creation but some unpremeditated arrangement by chance. For how can we call what is constantly flowing, what appears like water and is never the same, made by God? If it is God's work, then what has once been created as bone and flesh and sinews must also remain, if we want even what any craftsman has made to remain for even a very short time. [Its nature is not] to flow, but to receive frequently coming into being and passing away. And the saying 'God took dust from the earth and created man' would be false. For how was he created, if what is created receives its form from what came into being first and remains, not passing over into another form? But according to them it is said of the body that it never remains this same thing in its identity, even for a very short time, but from the very sowing of the seed comes into being and passes away and in reality never is. This seems to me a hypothesis true according to frivolous imagination, but by no means according to true understanding. For how would it not be foolish to say that something is, but never is by itself? For we say that a creation is the creation of something existing by itself; but how should this be, if the shaping in the matter has never come to an end? For we do not say that something has been created until one sees in it a certain completion of form, which underlies it for the growth of the whole." ### Scripture references - Gen 2:7: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Only excerpts of this chapter survive in Greek (shown in the original column and translated first). The whole chapter survives in the Old Slavonic version; it follows in brackets, translated from Bonwetsch's German (GCS 27, 1917), and so overlaps the Greek excerpts. - Fragmentary Greek of Book 2, chapter 11 or 12, beside the German staged as 2.10-2.11. - This staged unit is really chapter 11 of Book 2 in Bonwetsch (page 353, numeral XI), not chapter 10. Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic; a gap in the first sentence is marked '...', and a phrase lost in the Slavonic is supplied in brackets. - Gen 2:7. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 2.11 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:355; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-4/#p-2-11). ## Res. 2.12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-4/#p-2-12 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:354 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: The speaker argues that food turns only into the body's various juices, which come and go, while the substance of flesh, bone and sinew remains, as the vessel of a river remains while the water flows through it. ### English translation (Claude) "When we see any member of a statue, we recognize its whole size from it, since the craftsman makes the size of the whole statue in proportion to it. But if that according to which the rest, that is, the whole, must be made does not exist by itself, but is destroyed by something else, replaced by what comes in, and that by another addition, and that again by another, how will the craftsman complete the whole statue, when the matter never remains the same? For the matter taken for making the statue must remain itself and not pass away, but only pass over into the image into which the craftsman wishes to form it, whether of a child or of a youth. Hence it is clear that the image of our body stands firm from the matter once taken, by the command of God, who created us invisibly by his power. For even if the places proper to each member of the body change the food received, still the food does not change into bones and sinews and flesh, nor again the bones or sinews into hair and phlegm and nails, but only into various juices. For wisdom, which foresees all things, makes good the losses of the older juices from the daily nourishment that waters the body, so that they do not lack even one as it departs, just as it also excretes foreign juices through the hair and the nails and the blood and the bile; and other new ones come in again through the food. And since they are manifold and many-formed and admit of much change, it has prepared many vessels for them too. For the flesh and the veins change food into blood, the breasts into milk, the vessel of bile into bile, the mouth into saliva or phlegm, the nose into mucus, the eyes into tears, the surface flesh into sweat and hair and nails. Hence, if someone takes away food, life becomes poorer; but if one of the four true elements is disturbed, life perishes, since what is substantial no longer has its order. For if in truth food changed into flesh and bones and sinews, and flesh and bones and sinews again into hair and nails and phlegm, then necessarily, whenever something of the body went away, something new would have to grow and come to the member in its place. For they have compared this body to a river, one part of it flowing away ahead and another coming after, as part of the water goes to the sea and part flows anew from the springs. For as the waters flowing off in rivers are replaced from the springs, so the missing members of the body would have to be replaced by frequent nourishment. But they did not take care to look at the nature of the thing and to carry out the inquiry more effectively with thoughts that are not invented. For if the firmer part of the body changed into nails and hair through the entry of food, and the moist, that is, the juicy part, into what is hard, it would follow that in place of members or sinews that had departed, others should come from food. Since this is not possible, how can you say that the body does not always remain the same? For if the daily food is like a spring, and the juices that come in are like water, then the body must be like a channel through which juices flow unfailingly, like the springs of a river. For water cannot flow down unless it finds a suitable space. For as the waters of rivers need valleys (if this seems to be common to them and to living beings), so food needs our bodies: the juices pour through the whole body, while the body stands and receives what flows in and what flows out, according to filling and emptying. For the juices that come in at times and increase are not the substantial ones, born with us from the beginning, as I said, but they come to be and cease from the daily food. That is why they undergo many changes of movement, in decrease and increase and need." ### Translation notes - This staged unit is really chapter 12 of Book 2 in Bonwetsch (page 354), not chapter 11. Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic; a few obscure phrases are translated by sense. - The image of the body as a river answers Origen's comparison in 1.22 (staged '1.16'). ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 2.12 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:354; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-4/#p-2-12). ## Res. 2.13 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-13/#p-2-13 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:356 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: The speaker distinguishes the body's substance from its changing juices, citing blood-letting, menstruation, scars that remain, and Scripture's assumption that the same person is born, called and baptized. ### English translation (Claude) "Physicians call one bile yellow, another grey, another black, another green; and of blood, again, one yellow, another thick, another black. So when blood is drawn off for cleansing, it is not the substantial blood (for if it were, the constitution of the living being would be destroyed), but the juice that has increased from drink and food and, having taken on the form of blood, floats on top of it. That is why it spurts out at once when the vein is pricked. But if through the carelessness of the physician the true blood is touched, the living being suddenly grows weak. Hence the blood let out is not the true blood, nor part of the constitution of the body. And to make this clearer from the case of the male and the female sex: to men, who are always working and labouring, their labours bring the dew of the body, so that we do not need a superfluous cleansing; but to women, who have much surplus from food and, being without labour, have no evaporation of the flesh, the monthly cleansing was given. And as for the bodies that seem in sicknesses to waste away and be destroyed, you have judged rather unreasonably. For the substance of the flesh, being firm and moist and, so to speak, a gluing together of clay, covering the parts of the bones with fleshy parts, at one time receives fullness through food, at another deterioration through lack, like hollows filled by rain. For when the flesh is gripped by sicknesses of its nature and has not received what it desires, it falls away; but when it has become healthy and takes food again and is fattened, it becomes larger, never, however, decreasing or increasing in its substance. For how do wounds and other injuries remain in bodies, if, while the former flesh passes away completely, other flesh comes to the living being again from nourishment? It would rather have to become even and smooth through the flesh that comes in, and not grow together, nor would the place of the wound draw together, since what comes in constantly replaces what flows off. But in fact, as the flesh comes together, scars remain and arise all round the injured place, like the stitching together of torn garments. And we must see whether what the Lord Jesus said does not happen: 'No one puts a patch of new cloth on an old garment,' teaching by this that other, new flesh cannot be added from food to old flesh, as they think; since otherwise it would happen that one part in the body was old and another new. So too our bodies would not have to grow old, if some flesh came and other went. Further: if each of us cannot be the same, since, as they think, the underlying substance of the body very often comes and goes, so that one is another person on the tenth day and another today, then our mother has neither borne us nor reared us; for one is he who was born, another he who was reared, and another again he who exists today. And false too would be the word spoken to Jeremiah, 'Before I formed you I knew you'; for the one to whom the word came was another, in place of the one who was formed. Nor, then, have we received baptism or been purified, or come at all to the water of obedience, since the body once purified has vanished, and another has come in its place from food. For confession is a joy to each of us, since for one who does not want to be the same, three thousand bodies are counted in place of one." ### Scripture references - Matt 9:16: quotation, high confidence - Jer 1:5: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Book 2, chapter 13. Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. The last sentence is obscure in the Slavonic (the edition records variant readings) and is translated by sense; it appears to be ironic. - Matt 9:16; Jer 1:5. 'The water of obedience' is baptism. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 2.13 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:356; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-13/#p-2-13). ## Res. 2.14 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-13/#p-2-14 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:359 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: If constant change destroyed the identity of the body, it would destroy that of the soul too; and the opponents, who give the soul another spiritual body, make God unjust by their own standard. ### English translation (Claude) "And if we must be led down to the most unfitting of absurdities, let them by all means add this too, beyond what they have already brought forward: that we cannot be the same even in soul. For ideas and opinions and habits, which are properties of the soul, are never the same, but some come and others vanish; and skills begin at one time and vanish at another, for forgetting is the destruction of learning, and learning in turn is a replacement, creating a new skill in place of what was destroyed. For if there, because of cutting and chopping, they said without distinction that an addition of flesh takes place, why do they not much rather say of the soul too, as of the body, that it has a mobile and flowing nature, since the same thoughts and habits do not remain in us, but go and come? For at one time this pleases us, at another that, as our first insights depart and others come. And so its being, ever unmoved and immortal, will be destroyed, since it is shown to be corruptible and changing. Is it agreeable and fitting that they should contradict and overturn the structure of the body with words, but unfitting that we should answer and examine the sense of what they say? 'But this is not so,' they say; 'to say that the soul is mortal is altogether wicked; for even if impressions enter into its imaginations, it is not changed in its substance.' Neither, then, is this body, we too say, even if the juices, which are the product of food and the nourishment of the body, now increase and now decrease. So it is very wrong to say that other flesh comes again from food to suffering bodies that have become weak. And laughable too is this, that they attack us as not speaking rightly about the flowing change of the body, and say that it is not fitting for God that, while some bodies have sinned, others should be judged, and while some have acted righteously, others should receive salvation, when they themselves invent that the soul will have another, spiritual body, altogether better than the present one. How unreasonable and confused this is, is plain to everyone. For if it is not just to say that one will stand before the judge in another body, and you yourselves say that the souls will receive some other, spiritual body, you make God unjust by this saying; you convict yourselves by speaking contradictions. For we do not say, regarding the immortality and incorruption of this our body, that another body receives incorruption, but that this body does. As the most wise Paul too, rebuking those who mocked the resurrection of this body, answered: 'For this corruptible must be clothed with incorruption, and this mortal must be clothed with immortality.'" ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 15:53: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Book 2, chapter 14. Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic (the staged German also holds some lines of the edition's apparatus, which are not part of the text). - 1 Cor 15:53. The charge about judgment in another body answers Aglaophon in 1.17. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 2.14 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:359; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-13/#p-2-14). ## Res. 2.15 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-13/#p-2-15 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:361 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Methodius interprets 2 Corinthians 5:1-7: the 'earthly house' is our short life in the body, not the body itself, and what we long to put on is immortality. ### Greek text »οἴδαμεν γὰρ ὡς ἐὰν ἡ ἐπίγειος ἡμῶν οἰκία τοῦ σκήνους καταλυθῇ«, ἐπίγειον οἰκίαν τὴν ἐνταῦθα βραχύβιον ζωὴν καταχρηστικῶς ληπτέον, καὶ οὐ τὸ σκῆνος τοῦτο... … εἰ γὰρ ἐπίγειον οἰκίαν καταλυομένην τὸ σῶμα τίθεσθαι αὐτὸν νομίζετε, φράσατε τὸ σκῆνος τί ἐστιν, οὗ ἡ οἰκία καταλύεται; ἕτερον γὰρ τὸ σκῆνος, καὶ ἄλλο τοῦ σκήνους ἡ οἰκία. καὶ ἕτερον ἡμεῖς, ὧν ἐστι τὸ σκῆνος (ἴδιον). »ἐὰν γὰρ ἡ ἐπίγειος ἡμῶν οἰκία« φησί »τοῦ σκήνους καταλυθῇ«, οἷον ἡμᾶς μὲν τὰς ψυχὰς εἶναι δηλώσας, σκῆνος δὲ τὸ σῶμα, οἰκίαν δὲ τοῦ σκήνους τὴν κατὰ τὴν παροῦσαν ζωὴν ἀπόλαυσιν τῆς σαρκὸς τροπικῶς. ἐὰν οὖν ἡ νῦν δὴ αὕτη ἡ τοῦ σώματος ζωὴ δίκην οἰκίας καταλυθῇ, ἕξομεν τὴν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς ἀχειροποίητον (οἰκίαν, τουτέστι ζωὴν αἰώνιον). ἀχειροποίητόν φησι διὰ τὸ χειροποίητον ταύτην λέγεσθαι τὴν ζωὴν κατὰ ἀντιδιαστολήν, παρὰ τὸ πάντα ἡμῶν τὰ κοσμήματα καὶ σπουδάσματα τοῦ βίου χερσὶ παλαμᾶσθαι ἀνθρώπων. … τὸ γὰρ σῶμα δημιούργημα ὑπάρχον .. θεοῦ χειροποίητον οὐ λέγεται, ὅτι μὴ ἐπαλαμήθη τέχναις ἀνθρώπων. εἰ δέ, διότι ὑπὸ θεοῦ ἐδημιουργήθη, χειροποίητον αὐτὸ λέξουσι, χειροποίητοι ἄρα καὶ αἱ ψυχαὶ καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι καὶ τὰ ἐνδύματα αὐτὰ τὰ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. … — θεοῦ γὰρ αὐτουργήματα καὶ ταῦτα — … τίς οὖν ἐστιν ἡ χειροποίητος οἰκία; ἡ βραχύβιος, ὡς ἔφην, αὕτη ζωή, ἡ ἀπ᾿ ἀνθρωπίνων χειρῶν δραματουργουμένη (»φαγῇ« γάρ φησιν »ἐν ἱδρῶτι τοῦ προσώπου σου τὸν ἄρτον σου«), ἧς καταλυθείσης ἐκείνην τὴν ἀχειροποίητον ζωὴν ἔχομεν. καθάπερ καὶ ὁ κύριος εἰπὼν ἐδήλωσε »ποιήσατε ⟨ἑαυτοῖς⟩ φίλους ἐκ τῆς ἀδικίας τοῦ μαμωνᾷ, ἵνα ὅταν ἐκλίπωσι δέξωνται ὑμᾶς εἰς τὰς αἰωνίους σκηνάς«. ὃ γὰρ ἐκεῖ »σκηνὰς« ὁ κύριος ἐκάλεσε, τοῦτο ἐνταῦθα ὁ ἀπόστολος ἐνδύματα· ὃ δὲ ἐκεῖ »φίλους ἐκ τῆς ἀδικίας« ⟨ὁ κύριος ἐκάλεσε, τοῦτο⟩ ἐνταῦθα »καταλυομένας« ὁ ἀπόστολος »οἰκίας«. καθάπερ γοῦν, ἐὰν ἐκλείψωσιν αἱ τῆς παρούσης ζωῆς ἡμῶν ἡμέραι, τὰ πρὸς εὐποιίαν τὰς ψυχὰς ἡμῶν ὑποδέξονται ἀγαθοεργήματα, ἃ ἀπὸ τῆς ἐν τῇ ἀδικίᾳ ζωῆς ἐκτησάμεθα, τῷ τὸν κόσμον »ἐν τῷ πονηρῷ« κεῖσθαι, οὕτω τῆς ζωῆς ⟨ταύτης⟩ καταλυθείσης τῆς ὠκυμόρου τὴν πρὸ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἕξομεν οἴκησιν αἱ ψυχαὶ παρὰ τῷ θεῷ, ἔστ᾽ ἂν ἀνακαινοποιηθεῖσαν ἡμῖν ἄπτωτον ἀναλάβωμεν οἰκίαν. ὅθεν καὶ »στενάζομεν«, μὴ θέλοντες τὸ σῶμα »ἀπεκδύσασθαι, ἀλλ᾽« ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ τὴν ἄλυπον »ἐπενδύσασθαι« ζωήν. τὸ γὰρ οἰκητήριον τὸ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, ὃ ἐπιθυμοῦμεν ἐπενδύσασθαι, ἡ ἀθανασία ἐστίν· ἣν ἐὰν ἐπενδυσώμεθα, καταποθήσεται πᾶν τὸ ἐν αὐτῇ ὁλοσχερῶς ἀσθενὲς ὑπὸ τῆς ἀχρόνου ζωῆς καταναλωθὲν καὶ θνητόν. … »διὰ πίστεως γὰρ περιπατοῦμεν, οὐ διὰ εἴδους«, τουτέστι διὰ πίστεως γὰρ ἐπιβαίνομεν ἔτι ἀτρανωτάτῳ λογισμῷ τὰ ἐκεῖ πράγματα κατοπτεύοντες, καὶ οὐ σαφῶς, ὥστε καὶ ὁρᾶν καὶ ἀπολαύειν καὶ ἐν αὐτοῖς εἶναι. ### English translation (Claude) "'For we know that if the earthly house of our tent is destroyed': by 'earthly house' must be understood, by an extended use, our short-lived life here, and not this tent ... For if you think that he means the body by the earthly house that is destroyed, tell me what the tent is whose house is destroyed? For the tent is one thing, the house of the tent another, and we, whose own the tent is, yet another. 'For if the earthly house of our tent,' he says, 'is destroyed,' showing that we are the souls, that the tent is the body, and that the house of the tent is, figuratively, the enjoyment of the flesh in the present life. If, then, this present life of the body is destroyed like a house, we shall have the house not made with hands in the heavens, that is, eternal life. He says 'not made with hands' by contrast, because this life is said to be made with hands, since all the adornments and pursuits of our life are worked by human hands. ... For the body, being God's workmanship, is not called made with hands, since it was not worked by human arts. But if they will call it made with hands because it was made by God, then the souls too, and the angels, and the very garments in the heavens, are made with hands. But they are not made with hands, for these too are God's own work. What then is the house made with hands? This short-lived life, as I said, acted out by human hands ('in the sweat of your face,' he says, 'you shall eat your bread'); when it is destroyed we have that life not made with hands. As the Lord too made plain when he said, 'Make friends for yourselves from the mammon of unrighteousness, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal tents.' For what the Lord there called 'tents,' the apostle here calls 'garments'; and what the Lord there called 'friends from unrighteousness,' the apostle here calls 'houses' that are 'destroyed.' So just as, when the days of our present life fail, the good works of beneficence that we acquired from life in unrighteousness (since the world 'lies in the evil one') will receive our souls, so, when this swift-perishing life is destroyed, we souls shall have our dwelling before the resurrection with God, until we take up again the house renewed for us and never to fall. Hence 'we groan,' not wishing to 'put off' the body, but to 'put on' over it the life free from grief. For the dwelling from heaven, which we long to put on over it, is immortality; when we put it on, all that is weak and mortal in it will be wholly swallowed up and consumed by the timeless life. 'For we walk by faith, not by sight,' that is, we still go forward by faith, viewing the things there with a reasoning that is not yet clear, and not plainly, so as to see and enjoy them and be among them." [Slavonic version, translated from N. Bonwetsch's German:] "Therefore, since the structure of the body has also been shown, we must look at the rest as well. For the apostle is not speaking to the Corinthians about the resurrection as you think, explaining Scripture more cleverly, when he says, 'If our earthly house of the body is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands,' and so on; rather he is assuring them of faith in it. And if you read what follows in order, you will find him rather confirming the resurrection of the body. For after first saying how the future life is to be expected not in another body but in this one, he added how one should not grieve over-eagerly ... [when the present life] has been destroyed, we shall [have a building] from God ..." ### Scripture references - 2 Cor 5:1: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 5:2: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 5:4: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 5:7: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:19: quotation, high confidence - Luke 16:9: quotation, high confidence - 1 John 5:19: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Only excerpts of this chapter survive in Greek (shown in the original column and translated first). The whole chapter survives in the Old Slavonic version; it follows in brackets, translated from Bonwetsch's German (GCS 27, 1917), and so overlaps the Greek excerpts. - Greek excerpt (Photius, cod. 234) of Book 2, chapters 15-17, removed from staged 2.8; the German of these chapters is staged in part as 2.15-2.16. ANF 6 gives this passage in its synopsis from Photius. - 2 Cor 5:1-7; Gen 3:19; Luke 16:9; 1 John 5:19. - Book 2, chapter 15. Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. The staged German breaks off after a few lines; the rest of this argument survives in Greek (Photius) and was staged inside ref 2.8 (see the report). 2 Cor 5:1. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 2.15 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:361; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-13/#p-2-15). ## Res. 2.16 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-13/#p-2-16 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:374 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: The speaker shows from 2 Corinthians 4-5 that Paul expects the life of Jesus to appear in this mortal flesh, and from Paul's and Moses' usage that 'flesh and blood' in 1 Corinthians 15:50 means a fleshly way of life. ### English translation (Claude) "... he called this restless life 'vanity of vanities.' For the body ... so the body too is not made with hands, for it too is God's creation and not made with hands. For 'God took dust from the earth and created man.' What is made by God is a work of God's power, not made with hands. [16] "Come now, I will set before you the very words of the apostle, so that you may recognize how entirely consistent with themselves are the words the apostle speaks. For he says, 'Always carrying about in our body the dying of Jesus,' and soon after, 'For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.' And since 'the life of Jesus' appears 'in our flesh' (and this is incorruption), the flesh in which the life of Jesus appears does not perish. He adds again, saying, 'Having the same Spirit of faith, according to what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke,' and so on, 'knowing that he who raised Jesus from the dead will raise us also.' But since he saw how readily the easily moved accept things, and feared that, looking at the weakness of the body, they might not believe in the resurrection, he said, 'Therefore, though our outer man is decaying, yet the inner man is renewed day by day.' 'The outer man,' he says, meaning the present one, decays through sicknesses and other sufferings; yet, seeing ourselves strengthened by the Spirit, we cannot be distressed while God delays the promise, as it seems to us. And he declares, 'For our present light affliction is working for us, beyond all measure, a weight of glory, as we look not at the things that are seen,' and so on. That is: even if we now think we have light sufferings in the body, yet such suffering works 'beyond all measure a weight of glory for us, who look not at the things seen, but at what is not yet revealed.' So, rather confirming what has been said, he says, 'For we know that if the earthly tent of our house is destroyed,' and so on. For one must consider how these words too hold fast to the old bodies, since we long to be clothed with immortality over the mortal body. That is why the body naturally belongs with us to that life. For 'no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it'; for the heavenly dwelling with which we long 'to be clothed over' is immortality. When we are clothed with it, 'all that is mortal' in us 'will be swallowed up' by eternal 'life.' That is why he also calls our body dead, 'so that we may not be found naked,' he says, of every good deed by which the soul is adorned. Leading us to confident expectation of what has been said, he answers: 'Being always confident, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord; for we walk by faith, not by sight,' and so on. That is: we are confident, knowing that even if in our present existence we have gone away from the Lord by transgressing the commandment, yet, going out of the body, we come to the Lord. For unless we first 'go out of the body,' so that it may be refashioned and renewed, we cannot 'come to the Lord' with it, since we have all the sins of impurity. So, knowing well that the life of the present time is a going away 'from the Lord,' we do not grieve as those who die. But if this is not so, and he greatly hoped to go out of the body so as no longer to be in it, how then did he say that 'the life of Jesus will be manifested' in this mortal flesh? For he would appear to say contradictory things; how could he not? For after first saying himself that 'the life of Christ will be manifested' in the mortal flesh, he would ask a little further on to 'go out of the body,' the opposite. But it is very dangerous to say of such a man, in whom Christ spoke, that he contradicts himself. It is very clear, rather, that he says consistent things. For he adds at once, 'For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive what he has done through his body, whether good or evil,' when the soul was in the body. [17] "And now, so that the discussion of this may become clearer to us on every side, let us also understand what the same saint said, that 'flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven.' 'Flesh and blood,' the apostle said, 'cannot receive the kingdom of God.' Something other than flesh can be understood here, since flesh is understood in two ways, both of the flesh itself and of fleshly deeds. He begins from this word: 'But if Christ has risen, how do some say that there is no resurrection of the dead?' and again, 'The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven,' and so on in order, up to 'But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.' Since, then, the words before us include the one that is not understood, when he says at one time, 'Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,' and at another, 'This corruptible must put on incorruption,' mentioning no other corruptible thing besides this body, we must recognize whether he also speaks of body in two senses, just as world is spoken of in two senses; otherwise we would make ourselves ridiculous by saying that the apostle contradicts himself. But he himself makes it known, saying, 'If you have died to the elements of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you submit to decrees?' For here he does not call 'world' the very structure of heaven and earth, which is properly called world, but the abandoned belief that accords with human error. That he is not speaking of the four elements of the world's fabric, by which we live, is certainly clear; for we cannot remain alive without water, or without fire, or without air, or without earth; and if we are sustained by them through God's ordering, how could he command us to die to the things that sustain us? And the Lord, in saying that 'the world lies in the evil one,' does not mean the world itself; for the evil one does not rule over the adornment of the world, since he neither waters it nor gives 'all their food in due season'; it is he 'who makes his sun shine on the good and the evil and sends rain on the just and the unjust.' What then is this 'world that lies in the evil one'? The obedience of man gone astray into sin. You will find law too spoken of in two ways: once as the commandment itself, another time as the desire that resists the commandment. And just as the free will of man turned toward injustice is called 'world,' and the 'elements of the world' are not earth or fire or the rest, but the misleading teaching of the evil one's idolatry, so too 'flesh' is said to be unable to inherit the kingdom of God not as the flesh itself, but as the sin-loving way of life, of which he himself says, 'Neither the sexually immoral, nor robbers, nor murderers will receive the kingdom of God.' For those who live in evil and wicked lusts, 'whose god is the belly,' are fittingly called flesh instead of men; it was proper that those who live like cattle should be called 'flesh and blood.' Blessed Moses shows this too, for he says, 'God said: My Spirit shall not remain in these men, because they are flesh.' As if the earlier men, born before these, had come into the world without flesh! So he is speaking of an evil way of life and conduct. For 'in these men,' he says, 'my Spirit will not remain,' as having remained in the others but not remaining in these. So it was not because of this flesh of ours that it was said, 'My Spirit will not remain in these men,' but because of the men who are unmoved toward the good. These words now destroy not only the arguments of Aglaophon, but also those of other heretics." ### Scripture references - Eccl 1:2: allusion, high confidence - Gen 2:7: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 4:10: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 4:11: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 4:13: quotation, high confidence - Ps 116:10 (115:1 LXX): quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 4:14: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 4:16: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 4:17: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 4:18: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 5:1: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 5:3: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 5:4: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 5:6: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 5:7: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 5:8: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 5:10: quotation, high confidence - Eph 5:29: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:50: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:12: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:47: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:57: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:53: quotation, high confidence - Col 2:20: quotation, high confidence - 1 John 5:19: quotation, high confidence - Ps 145:15 (144:15 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:45: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:9: quotation, medium confidence - 1 Cor 6:10: quotation, medium confidence - Phil 3:19: quotation, high confidence - Gen 6:3: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. The staged text begins with a line of the edition's apparatus and then with the last lines of chapter 15 (not chapter 16 itself); chapters 16 and 17 begin at "[16]" and "[17]" (their numerals survive only in garbled form, and their placement is probable). The Greek of chapter 18 follows in the edition (see the report). - Eccl 1:2; Gen 2:7; 2 Cor 4:10-11, 13-14, 16-18; Ps 116:10 (LXX 115:1); 2 Cor 5:1-10; Eph 5:29; 1 Cor 15:50, 12, 47, 57, 53; Col 2:20; 1 John 5:19; Ps 145:15 (LXX 144:15); Matt 5:45; 1 Cor 6:9-10; Phil 3:19; Gen 6:3. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 2.16 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:374; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-13/#p-2-16). ## Res. 2.18 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-13/#p-2-18 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:367 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Methodius explains that 'flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom' refers to the flesh's impulses and to corruption, not to the body, which God restores to incorruption, as Justin Martyr also taught. ### Greek text »Τοῦτο δέ φημι, ἀδελφοί, ὅτι σὰρξ καὶ αἷμα κληρονομῆσαι βασιλείαν θεοῦ οὐ δύνανται, οὐδὲ ἡ φθορὰ τὴν ἀφθαρσίαν κληρονομεῖ«. σάρκα, φησίν, οὐ τὴν σάρκα αὐτὴν ἐδήλωσεν, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἄλογον πρὸς τὰς μαχλώσας τῆς ψυχῆς ὁρμὴν ἡδονάς. εἰπὼν οὖν ὅτι »σὰρξ καὶ αἷμα βασιλείαν θεοῦ κληρονομῆσαι οὐ δύνανται« ἐπαπεφήνατο »οὐδὲ ἡ φθορὰ τὴν ἀφθαρσίαν κληρονομεῖ«. φθορὰ δὲ οὐχ αὐτό ἐστι τὸ φθειρόμενον, ἀλλὰ τὸ φθεῖρον. .. ἐπικρατήσαντος μὲν γὰρ τοῦ θανάτου κλίνεται τὸ σῶμα εἰς φθοράν· ἐπιμενούσης δὲ ἔμπαλιν τῆς ζωῆς ἐν αὐτῷ ἕστηκε μὴ καθαιρούμενον. διὸ ἐπειδὴ μεθόριος τῆς ἀφθαρσίας ἐγενήθη καὶ τῆς φθορᾶς ἡ σάρξ, οὐκ οὖσα οὔτε φθορὰ οὔτε ἀφθαρσία, ἐκρατήθη δὲ διὰ τὴν ἡδονὴν ὑπὸ τῆς φθορᾶς, ποίημα τῆς ἀφθαρσίας καὶ κτῆμα ὑπάρχουσα, διὰ τοῦτο γεγένηται φθαρτὴ καὶ »εἰς γῆν« ἐκλίθη »χώματος«. καὶ ἐπεὶ συνεκρατήθη ὑπὸ τῆς φθορᾶς καὶ θανάτῳ διὰ παιδείαν παρεδόθη, εἰς νῖκος αὐτὴν ὁ θεὸς τῇ φθορᾷ καθάπερ κληρονομίαν οὐ κατέλιπεν, ἀλλὰ πάλιν διὰ τῆς ἀναστάσεως νικήσας τὸν θάνατον ἀπέδωκε τῇ ἀφθαρσίᾳ, ἵνα μὴ κληρονομήσῃ ἡ φθορὰ τὴν ἀφθαρσίαν, ἀλλ᾽ ἡ ἀφθαρσία τὸ φθαρτόν. ἐπαποκρίνεται γοῦν »δεῖ γὰρ τὸ φθαρτὸν τοῦτο ἐνδύσασθαι ἀφθαρσίαν, καὶ τὸ θνητὸν τοῦτο ἐνδύσασθαι ἀθανασίαν«. φθαρτὸν δὲ καὶ θνητὸν ἐνδυόμενον ἀθανασίαν καὶ ἀφθαρσίαν τί ἂν ἕτερον εἴη παρὰ τὸ σπειρόμενον »ἐν φθορᾷ« καὶ ἀνιστάμενον ἐν »ἀφθαρσίᾳ« (ὅτι μὴ φθαρτή ἐστιν ἢ θνητὴ ἡ ψυχή, ἀλλὰ τὸ θνητὸν τοῦτο καὶ φθειρόμενον σαρκίον), ἵνα »καθὼς ἐφορέσαμεν τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ χοϊκοῦ, φορέσωμεν καὶ τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ ἐπουρανίου«; ἡ γὰρ εἰκὼν τοῦ χοϊκοῦ, ἣν ἐφορέσαμεν, τό »γῆ εἶ καὶ εἰς γῆν ἀπελεύσῃ« ἐστίν, ἡ δὲ εἰκὼν τοῦ ἐπουρανίου ἡ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνάστασις καὶ ἡ ἀφθαρσία, ἵν᾿ »ὥσπερ ἠγέρθη ὁ Χριστὸς ἐκ νεκρῶν διὰ τῆς δόξης τοῦ πατρός, οὕτως καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐν καινότητι ζωῆς περιπατήσωμεν«. εἰ δέ τις εἰκόνα μὲν χοϊκὴν τὴν σάρκα αὐτὴν οἴοιτο λέγεσθαι, εἰκόνα δὲ ἐπουράνιον ἄλλο παρὰ τὴν σάρκα σῶμα πνευματικόν, ἐνθυμηθήτω δὴ οὗτος πρότερον ὅτι Χριστός, ὁ οὐράνιος ἄνθρωπος, τὸ αὐτὸ σχῆμα (τοῦ σώματος καὶ τῶν μελῶν καὶ εἰκόνα καὶ σάρκα τὴν αὐτὴν τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ φορέσας ἐφάνη, δι᾽ ἣν καί, ἄνθρωπος οὐκ ὤν, ἄνθρωπος ἐγένετο, ἵνα καθάπερ »ἐν τῷ Ἀδὰμ πάντες ἀποθνήσκουσιν, οὕτως καὶ ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ πάντες ζῳοποιηθήσονται«. εἰ γὰρ μὴ διὰ τὸ ἐλευθερῶσαι τὴν σάρκα καὶ ἀναστῆσαι σάρκα ἐφόρεσε, τί καὶ περισσῶς σάρκα ἐφόρει, ἣν οὔτε σῷσαι οὔτε ἀναστῆσαι προήρητο; ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲν περισσῶς ποιεῖ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ. οὐχ ἄρα ἀνωφελῶς τὴν »μορφὴν« τοῦ »δούλου« ἀνέλαβεν, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ ἀναστῆσαι καὶ σῷσαι. ἀληθῶς γὰρ ἄνθρωπος ἐγένετο καὶ ⟨ἀληθῶς⟩ ἀπέθανε, καὶ οὐ τῷ δοκεῖν, ὅπερ ἐστὶν οὐ — ἦν γὰρ »ἐν αὐτῷ« πάντα »ναί« —, ἵνα ἀληθῶς »πρωτότοκος« ἀναφανῇ »τῶν νεκρῶν«, τὸν χοϊκὸν ἀληθῶς μεταβαλὼν εἰς οὐράνιον καὶ τὸν θνητὸν εἰς ἀθάνατον. Ἰουστῖνος δὲ ὁ Νεαπολίτης, ἀνὴρ οὔτε τῷ χρόνῳ πόρρω ὧν τῶν ἀποστόλων οὔτε τῇ ἀρετῇ, κληρονομεῖσθαι μὲν τὸ ἀποθνῇσκον, κληρονομεῖν δὲ τὸ ζῶν λέγει, καὶ ἀποθνήσκειν μὲν σάρκα, ζῆν δὲ τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν. ὁπόταν οὖν σάρκα ὁ Παῦλος καὶ αἷμα μὴ δύνασθαι »τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ κληρονομῆσαι« λέγῃ, οὐχ ὡς ἐκφαυλίζων, φησί, τῆς σαρκὸς τὴν παλιγγενεσίαν ἀποφαίνεται, ἀλλὰ διδάσκων οὐ κληρονομεῖσθαι βασιλείαν θεοῦ, αἰώνιον ὑπάρχουσαν ζωήν, ὑπὸ τοῦ σώματος, ἀλλὰ τὸ σῶμα ὑπὸ τῆς ζωῆς. εἰ γὰρ ἐκληρονομεῖτο ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ ὑπὸ τοῦ σώματος, ζωὴ ὑπάρχουσα, συνέβαινεν ἂν τὴν ζωὴν ὑπὸ τῆς φθορᾶς καταπίνεσθαι. νῦν δὲ τὸ τεθνῃκὸς ἡ ζωὴ κληρονομεῖ, ἵνα »εἰς νῖκος καταποθῇ ὁ θάνατος« ὑπὸ τῆς ζωῆς καὶ τὸ φθαρτὸν τῆς ἀφθαρσίας κτῆμα καὶ τῆς ἀθανασίας ἀναφανῇ, ἄφετον μὲν καὶ ἐλεύθερον θανάτου γενόμενον καὶ ἁμαρτίας, δοῦλον δὲ καὶ ὑπήκοον ἀθανασίας, ὅπως τῆς ἀφθαρσίας ᾖ τὸ σῶμα κτῆμα, καὶ μὴ τοῦ σώματος ἡ ἀφθαρσία. ### English translation (Claude) "'This I say, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption.' By flesh, he says, he meant not the flesh itself, but the irrational impulse of the soul toward lascivious pleasures. So, having said that 'flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,' he went on to explain, 'nor does corruption inherit incorruption.' But corruption is not what is corrupted, but what corrupts. For when death prevails, the body sinks into corruption; but when life, on the contrary, remains in it, it stands without being destroyed. Therefore, since the flesh was made on the border between incorruption and corruption, being neither corruption nor incorruption, and was overcome by corruption through pleasure, though it was the work and possession of incorruption, it became corruptible and sank 'into the earth of dust.' And since it was held fast by corruption and handed over to death for discipline, God did not leave it to corruption as a trophy, like an inheritance, but, conquering death again through the resurrection, he gave it back to incorruption, so that corruption might not inherit incorruption, but incorruption what is corruptible. At any rate he answers further, 'For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.' And what else could the corruptible and mortal that puts on immortality and incorruption be than what is 'sown in corruption' and raised 'in incorruption' (for the soul is not corruptible or mortal, but this mortal and corruptible flesh), so that 'as we have borne the image of the earthy, we may also bear the image of the heavenly'? For the image of the earthy which we have borne is 'You are earth, and to earth you shall return'; but the image of the heavenly is the resurrection from the dead and incorruption, so that 'as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life.' But if anyone thinks that the earthy image means the flesh itself, and the heavenly image some spiritual body other than the flesh, let him first consider that Christ, the heavenly man, appeared bearing the same shape of body and members, and an image and flesh the same as ours, through which he, who was not man, became man, so that 'as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.' For if he did not bear flesh in order to free the flesh and raise it, why did he bear flesh superfluously, when he did not intend either to save it or to raise it? But the Son of God does nothing superfluously. So he did not take 'the form' of 'a servant' uselessly, but to raise and save it. For he truly became man and truly died, and not in seeming, which would be 'no' (for in him all things were 'yes'), so that he might truly be shown to be 'the firstborn of the dead,' truly changing the earthy into the heavenly and the mortal into the immortal. And Justin of Neapolis, a man not far from the apostles either in time or in virtue, says that what dies is inherited, and what lives inherits; and that the flesh dies, but the kingdom of heaven lives. So when Paul says that flesh and blood cannot 'inherit the kingdom of God,' he declares this, he says, not as despising the regeneration of the flesh, but teaching that the kingdom of God, which is eternal life, is not inherited by the body, but the body by life. For if the kingdom of God, being life, were inherited by the body, it would come about that life was swallowed up by corruption. But as it is, life inherits what has died, so that 'death may be swallowed up in victory' by life, and the corruptible may be shown to be the possession of incorruption and immortality, set loose and free from death and sin, but a slave and subject of immortality, so that the body may be the possession of incorruption, and not incorruption the possession of the body." ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 15:50: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:53: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:42: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:49: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:19: quotation, high confidence - Rom 6:4: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:22: quotation, high confidence - Phil 2:7: quotation, high confidence - Col 1:18: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:54: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Greek of Book 2, chapter 18, removed from staged 2.8. ANF 6 translates it (from Photius) as Part I.13 and synopsis 5-6. - 1 Cor 15:50; Dan 12:2; 1 Cor 15:53, 42, 49; Gen 3:19; Rom 6:4; 1 Cor 15:22; Phil 2:7; Col 1:16-18; 1 Cor 15:54. The reference to Justin is to his treatise on the resurrection (cf. Pseudo-Justin, On the Resurrection). - 'Not in seeming, which would be no; for in him all was yes' alludes to 2 Cor 1:19-20. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 2.18 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:367; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-13/#p-2-18). ## Res. 2.19 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-13/#p-2-19 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:373 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: If God makes a man from a drop of seed, much more can he remake a man from a body that already existed. ### Greek text εἰ ἐκ τοιαύτης σταγόνος βραχείας καὶ μηδέπω οὔσης τὸ σύνολον μηδέν, ἐν ὑγρασίᾳ τοσαύτῃ καὶ συνοχῇ καὶ πνιγμῷ, ἐκ τοῦ μηδενὸς ἄνθρωπος γίνεται, πῶς οὐχὶ μᾶλλον ἐκ τοῦ ἤδη ὑπάρξαντος ἀνθρώπου ἄνθρωπος ἔσται αὖθις ὁ ἄνθρωπος; οὐ γὰρ οὕτως μέγα τὸ δὴ γεγενημένον καὶ διαλυθὲν ποιῆσαι πάλιν, ὡς τὸ μηδέπω γεγενημένον ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος κατασκευάσαι. … ἐὰν γοῦν ἐθελήσωμεν δεῖξαι τὴν γονὴν τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄρρενος ἀπεκκρινομένην, παραγάγωμεν δὲ κατὰ τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ τεθνῃκότος σῶμα. ποῖον πιστεύσουσιν ἡμῖν οἱ θεωροί, εἰς τὸ φανερὸν ἑκατέρων κειμένων ἔσεσθαι ἄνθρωπον; ἆρα τὴν σταγόνα ἐκείνην τὴν ὅλως οὐδὲν ὑπάρχουσαν ἢ τὸν ἤδη σχῆμα καὶ μέγεθος ἔχοντα καὶ ὑπόστασιν; εἰ γὰρ ἐκεῖνο τὸ ὅλως οὐδὲν μόνον ἐθελήσαντος τοῦ θεοῦ ζῷον τὸ κάλλιστον γίνεται, πολλῷ μᾶλλον τὸ ἤδη ὑπάρχον καὶ τετελειωμένον ἐθελήσαντος τοῦ θεοῦ πάλιν τὸ αὐτὸ ἄνθρωπος γίνεται. ### English translation (Claude) "... If from such a small drop, which is not yet anything at all, in such moisture and compression and stifling, a man comes into being from nothing, how much more will the man become man again from a man who already existed? For it is not so great a thing to make again what has already come to be and been dissolved, as to produce from what is not what has not yet come to be. ... If, then, we should wish to show the seed discharged from the male, and at the same time bring forward the body of a dead man, which of the two, lying openly before them, will the onlookers believe will become a man: that drop, which is nothing at all, or the one that already has shape and size and substance? For if that which is nothing at all becomes the most beautiful living creature merely because God wills it, much more will what already exists and has been brought to completion become the same man again if God wills it." [Slavonic version, translated from N. Bonwetsch's German:] "So let us now pass on to what follows. For who, having looked up to heaven and seen the nature of the stars, so bright and well ordered, would not at once think that they are either uncreated or long-lived? But if things made from the same elements as we are appear wonderful by the command of God, lasting great ages and neither growing old nor changing, then our bodies too will rise again immortal, since nothing can withstand that command which created things out of what is not and adorned all with its wisdom. As blessed Solomon says: 'He who created the world from formless matter' — what can he not do? 'Great power is always present with him, and who will withstand the might of his arm? For the whole world before him is like the turn of the scale, and like a drop of morning dew that has fallen on the earth.' For we must recognize this: if the whole world is like a drop of dew before him whose power is unthinkable, how is it impossible for him to raise this body and to lead it to a more honourable place?" ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 11:17 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence - Wis 11:21-22 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Only excerpts of this chapter survive in Greek (shown in the original column and translated first). The whole chapter survives in the Old Slavonic version; it follows in brackets, translated from Bonwetsch's German (GCS 27, 1917), and so overlaps the Greek excerpts. - Greek fragment of Book 2, chapter 19 or 20 (page 373), removed from staged 2.8; ANF 6 Part I.14. - Book 2, chapter 19. Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. Wis 11:17, 21-22. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 2.19 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:373; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-13/#p-2-19). ## Res. 2.20 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-20/#p-2-20 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:372 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: The growth of a child from a tiny seed, preserved in the womb by God's wisdom, and the clothes of Israel that did not wear out in the desert, show God's power to raise the body. ### English translation (Claude) "If we wish to see the nature of the body more clearly, let us consider from how small a seed bodies of what size come to be! We do not think that the greatness of the growth comes from the power of the seed, but from the power of God. For wisdom, caring greatly for man, adorns him in every way like a painter, giving him both size and beauty. For how can he become so great, when a very small seed has fallen into your mother's womb, which is dead and unshaped matter? By what else is he formed or brought into being in the womb than by the wisdom of God, which arranges everything for the best? For if this were not so, the fruit would be burned up by the abundance of blood and would split, as slaked lime does now when water is added, if this were not done by the power of God. For when the monthly power has returned, and the blood has increased, and the members have become fuller, and fertilization has taken place for increase, conception occurs, the mother receiving all the materials. By whose oversight is the child preserved and not destroyed by that sharpness? By whose power is the infant, lying as in water, not suffocated? How is it not burned in so great a heat of blood? For it is ... in the craftsmen. For it is not so difficult, after melting a bronze vessel, to form it into the same shape, as to make something new from material not yet worked. For there is much labour here: first the burning of the metal, then the melting, that is, the purification, and further the obtaining of the shape from ... [21] "... [in] the resurrection will be? But that the bodies of men will inherit immortality by the power of God, changed into whatever he wills, whether for dissolution or for restoration, the forty years' wandering of the people in the desert is a great testimony to the truth: there not only did their bodies remain healthy and free of suffering, but even their clothes and shoes did not wear out, as he says in Deuteronomy. If, then, these perishable, quickly aging clothes held out for so long a time because God so commanded, and he has made this known to us, how is it possible not to believe in the resurrection of the bodies which he himself created and has promised to raise again?" ### Scripture references - Deut 29:5: allusion, high confidence - Deut 8:4: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Book 2, chapter 20, with part of chapter 21 (heading lost; it begins at "[21]", placement probable). Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. The Slavonic is defective at the points marked '...'. The staged text ends with a stray fragment from page 379 (Book 2, chapters 23-24) and a speaker heading, which are not translated here. - Deut 29:5 (cf. 8:4). ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 2.20 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:372; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-20/#p-2-20). ## Res. 2.21 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-20/#p-2-21 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:374 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The feast of Tabernacles prefigures the resurrection, when God will fix our fallen 'tents', our bodies, together again for ever. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ τί βουλόμενος ὁ θεολόγος Μωσῆς τὴν κατὰ τὴν σκηνοπηγίαν ἑορτὴν ἐν τῷ Λευϊτικῷ μυστικῶς εἰσηγήσατο; ἆρα γὰρ ἵνα οὕτως ἑορτάσωμεν τῷ θεῷ, καθάπερ ἐξηγοῦνται χυδαιότερον οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι νοοῦντες τὰς γραφάς, ὡς τοῦ θεοῦ σκηναῖς τοιαύταις ἐκ καρπῶν καὶ κλάδων καὶ εὐφύλλων ⟨ξύλων⟩ κατεσκευασμέναις ἀρεσκομένου, ἃ εὐθέως μαραίνονται τὴν χλόην ἀποσυλώμενα; οὐκ ἔστιν εἰπεῖν. τίνος οὖν ἡ σκηνοπηγία, φράσατε, εἰσήχθη μήνυμα; τῆς ἀληθινῆς ἡμῶν, ὦ ἄνδρες, ταύτης σκηνῆς, ἣν καταπεσοῦσαν εἰς φθορὰν διὰ τὴν παράβασιν καὶ λελυμένην τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ αὖθις συμπήξας ἀνώλεθρον ἀναστήσειν ὁ θεὸς ἐπηγγείλατο, ὅπως ἑορτάσωμεν αὐτῷ ἀληθῶς τὴν μεγάλην ἑορτὴν καὶ πολυθρύλλητον τῆς σκηνοπηγίας ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει, ὁπότε συμπηγνύμενα ἡμῶν εἰς κατακόσμησιν τῆς ἀθανασίας καὶ συμφωνίαν τὰ σκηνώματα ἐκ τοῦ χοὸς ἄφθαρτα ἀνίστανται, ὁπότε ἀκούουσι »τὰ ὀστᾶ τὰ ξηρὰ« ⟨τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ⟩, κατὰ τὴν ἀψευδεστάτην προφητείαν προσαγόμενα πρὸς τὰς ἁρμονίας αὐτῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ ζῳοπλάστου θεοῦ καὶ ἀριστοτέχνου ἀνακαινοποιοῦντος αὖθις τὴν σάρκα καὶ συμπηγνύντος, οὐ τοιούτοις ἔτι δεσμοῖς οἷς καὶ τὸ πρῶτον συνείχετο, ἀλλ᾽ ἀκηράτοις πάμπαν λοιπὸν καὶ ἀλύτοις. ⟨»ἰδοὺ« γάρ φησι »δώσω ἐφ᾽ ὑμᾶς πνεῦμα ζωῆς καὶ ζήσεσθε καὶ δώσω (ἐφ᾽ ὑμᾶς) νεῦρα καὶ ἀνάξω ἐφ᾽ ὑμᾶς σάρκα καὶ ἐκτενῶ ἐφ᾽ ὑμᾶς δέρμα« καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. πάλιν δὲ ὁ ἀπόστολος· ὅταν »καταβήσηται ὁ Χριστὸς ἐν κελεύσματι, ἐν φωνῇ ἀρχαγγέλου«⟩, καὶ οἱ νεκροὶ ἐν Χριστῷ ἀναστήσονται πρῶτον, ἔπειτα »ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες«, τουτέστιν αὐτὰ ἡμῶν ταῦτα τὰ σώματα· »ἡμεῖς« γὰρ »οἱ ζῶντες« αἱ ψυχαί ἐσμεν, οἱ ἀπολαμβάνοντες ἐγερθέντας ἐκ τῆς γῆς τοὺς νεκρούς, ἵνα »εἰς ἀπάντησιν« »ἅμα αὐτοῖς« ἁρπασθέντες τοῦ κυρίου ἐνδόξως ἑορτάσωμεν αὐτῷ τὴν φαιδρὰν τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἑορτήν, ἀνθ᾽ ὧν αἰωνίους ἡμῶν τὰς σκηνάς, (τουτέστι τὰ σώματα,) οὐκέτι τεθνηξομένας ἢ λυθησομένας, ἀπειλήφαμεν. ⟨»ἀναστήσω« γάρ φησι »τὴν σκηνὴν Δαυὶδ τὴν πεπτωκυῖαν καὶ τὰ πεπτωκότα αὐτῆς ἀνοικοδομήσω καθὼς αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ αἰῶνος«⟩. ### English translation (Claude) [21] "For what did the theologian Moses intend in mystically introducing the feast of Tabernacles in Leviticus? Was it that we should keep festival to God in this way, as the Jews explain it, understanding the Scriptures too crudely, as though God were pleased with such tents made of fruits and branches and leafy trees, which at once wither when stripped of their green? It cannot be said. Tell me, then, of what was the feast of Tabernacles introduced as a sign? Of this true tent of ours, men, which fell into corruption through the transgression and was dissolved by sin, and which God promised to fix together again and raise up indestructible, so that we may truly keep for him the great and much-celebrated feast of Tabernacles at the resurrection, when our tents, fixed together for the adornment and harmony of immortality, rise incorruptible from the dust; when 'the dry bones' hear the word of God, brought, according to the most truthful prophecy, to their joints by God, the life-shaper and best of craftsmen, who renews the flesh again and fixes it together, no longer with such bonds as those that first held it together, but with bonds entirely undefiled and indissoluble from then on. 'For behold,' he says, 'I will put upon you the breath of life, and you shall live; and I will put sinews upon you and bring up flesh upon you and stretch skin over you,' and so on. And again the apostle: when 'the Lord descends with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive,' that is, these very bodies of ours; for 'we who are alive' are the souls, which receive back the dead raised from the earth, so that, caught up 'together with them' 'to meet' the Lord, we may gloriously keep for him the bright feast of the resurrection, since we receive our tents, that is, our bodies, eternal, no longer to die or be dissolved. 'For I will raise up,' he says, 'the tent of David that has fallen, and I will rebuild its ruins, as in the days of old.'" ### Scripture references - Lev 23:34: allusion, high confidence - Ezek 37:4: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 37:5: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 37:6: quotation, high confidence - 1 Thess 4:16: quotation, high confidence - 1 Thess 4:17: quotation, high confidence - Amos 9:11: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Greek of Book 2, chapter 21 (first part), not staged. ANF 6 Part I.14 translates it from Photius. The interpretation of the Jews' observance is the author's polemic, translated as written. - Lev 23:34-43; Ezek 37:4-6; 1 Thess 4:16-17; Amos 9:11. - In the Greek, the quotations of Ezek 37:5-6 and 1 Thess 4:16 ('For behold ... archangel') and the closing quotation of Amos 9:11 are not in the Greek witness (Photius) but are supplied by the editor in angle brackets from the Slavonic version and the biblical text; so are the words 'the word of God' and 'trees'. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 2.21 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:374; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-20/#p-2-21). ## Res. 2.22 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-20/#p-2-22 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:376 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The human body, though more honourable than those of animals, is short-lived now, which shows that its lasting existence belongs to the time after the resurrection. ### Greek text Εἰ τιμιώτερον σῶμα ἀνθρώπου τοῦ ἄλλων ζῴων, ὅτε χερσί τε θεοῦ λέγεται πεπλάσθαι καὶ ὅτι τιμιωτέρου τῆς ψυχῆς τετύχηκεν ὄχημα, πῶς τοῦτο μὲν ὀλιγοχρόνιον, ἀλόγων δέ τινων πολλῷ πολυχρονιώτερα; ἢ δῆλον ὡς ἡ τούτου πολυχρόνιος ὕπαρξις μετὰ ### English translation (Claude) "If the body of man is more honourable than that of the other living creatures, both because it is said to have been formed by God's hands and because it has become the vehicle of the more honourable soul, how is it short-lived, while the bodies of some irrational creatures live much longer? Or is it plain that its long-lasting existence will come after [the resurrection]?" ### Scripture references - Gen 2:7: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Book 2, chapter 22. Only the opening sentence of the Greek is staged; its last words ('the resurrection will be?') were staged at the end of ref 2.20, and the rest of the chapter is in the German of the edition. Gen 2:7. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 2.22 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:376; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-20/#p-2-22). ## Res. 2.23 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-20/#p-2-23 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:377 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: A plant flourishing unburned beside a natural fire on Mount Olympus in Lycia prefigures the righteous passing unharmed through the final fire; and since even humble images of a king are honoured, God will not let his images perish but raised them up through the incarnate Word. ### Greek text Ἐθεασάμην γὰρ ἐν Ὀλύμπῳ ἐγὼ — ὅρος δέ ἐστιν ὁ Ὄλυμπος τῆς Λυκίας — πῦρ αὐτομάτως κατὰ τὴν ἀκρώρειαν τοῦ ὄρους κάτωθεν ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἀναδιδόμενον, περὶ ὃ πῦρ ἄγνος φυτὸν ἑστώς, οὕτω μὲν εὐθαλὲς καὶ χλοερόν, οὕτω δὲ σύσκιον, ὡς ὑποτοπῆσαι παρ᾽ ὕδωρ μᾶλλον ἀένναον αὐτὸ βεβλαστηκέναι. δι᾿ ἣν αἰτίαν οὖν, εἰ φύσεις εἰσὶ φθαρτῶν καὶ ὑπὸ πυρὸς καταναλισκομένων σωμάτων καὶ ἀδύνατον ἄκαυστα διαμεῖναι τὰ ἅπαξ φύσεως ὑπάρχοντα καυστικῆς, οὐ μόνον οὐ καταφλέγεται τὸ φυτὸν τοῦτο. ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀκμαιότερον μᾶλλον ὑπάρχει καὶ χλοερώτερον, ὁ τῇ φύσει ἐστὶν εὔκαυστον, καὶ ταῦτα περὶ αὐτὰς αὐτοῦ τὰς ῥίζας τοῦ πυρὸς ἐντυφομένου; κλάδους γοῦν ἐγὼ δένδρων ἐκ τῆς παρακειμένης ὕλης ἔρριψα εἰς ὃν ἀνερεύγεται τὸ πῦρ τόπον, καὶ εὐθέως εἰς φλόγα ἀρθέντες ἐτεφρώθησαν. φράσατε οὖν δή, δι᾽ ἣν αἰτίαν τὸ μὴ ὑποφέρον μηδὲ τὴν ἐξ ἡλίου δέξασθαι ἔκκαυσιν, ἀλλὰ ξηραινόμενον ἐὰν μὴ ἀρδευθῇ βραχύ, τοσούτῳ πυρὸς φλογμῷ συνεχόμενον οὐ καταναλίσκεται, ἀλλὰ ζῇ τε καὶ θάλλει; τί οὖν βούλεται τὸ παράδοξον; δεῖγμα τοῦτο τῆς μελλούσης ὁ θεὸς ἡμέρας καὶ προοίμιον ἔθετο, ἵνα γινώσκωμεν ἐνδηλότερον ὅτι πάντων πυρὶ καταβασίῳ κατομβρουμένων τὰ ἐν ἀγνείᾳ σώματα διατρίψαντα καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ καθάπερ ψυχρῷ ὕδατι τῷ πυρί, οὐδὲν ἀλγυνόμενα πρὸς αὐτοῦ, ἐπιβήσονται. ἀληθῶς γάρ, ὦ μεγαλόφρον καὶ μεγαλόδωρε δέσποτα, ἡ »κτίσις σοι τῷ ποιήσαντι ὑπηρετοῦσα ἐπιτείνεται εἰς κόλασιν κατὰ τῶν ἀδίκων καὶ ἀνίεται εἰς εὐεργεσίαν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐπὶ σοὶ πεποιθότων«, καὶ θέλοντός σου πῦρ μὲν καταψύχει, λυμαινόμενον οὐδὲν ὧν αὐτὸς κρίνεις διασῴζεσθαι, ὕδωρ δὲ ἔμπαλιν δριμυτέραις καταφλέγει πυρὸς προσβολαῖς, καὶ οὐδὲν ἀντιτάσσεται τῷ ἀνικήτῳ σου κράτει καὶ τῇ σῇ ἰσχύϊ. πάντα γὰρ ἔκτισας ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων· διὸ καὶ πάντα μεταλλεύεις, σὰ ὑπάρχοντα, ὁ μόνος ὑπάρχων θεός, ὡς θέλεις. Αὐτίκα γοῦν τῶν τῇδε βασιλέων αἱ εἰκόνες, κἂν μὴ ἀπὸ τῆς πολὺ τιμιωτέρας ὕλης, χρυσοῦ, ἀργύρου, ἠλέκτρου ἢ ἐλέφαντος, κατεσκευασμέναι, τιμὴν ἔχουσι πρὸς ἁπάντων· οὐ γὰρ τὰς μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς πολὺ τιμιωτέρας ὕλης τεχνημένας θεραπεύοντες ἐξολιγωροῦσι τῶν ἄλλων οἱ ἄνθρωποι, ἀλλὰ πάσας ἐπίσης τιμῶσιν, εἰ καὶ ἀπὸ γύψου ἢ χαλκοῦ ὑπάρχουσιν, καὶ ὁ δυσφημήσας εἰς ὁποτέραν οὔτε ὡς πηλὸν ἀτιμάσας ἀφίεται, οὔτε ὡς χρυσὸν ἐξευτελίσας κρίνεται, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς εἰς αὐτὸν ἀσεβήσας τὸν βασιλέα καὶ κύριον. τὰς μὲν ἀπὸ χρυσοῦ κατεσκευασμένας εἰκόνας τοὺς αὐτοῦ ἀγγέλους, τάς τε ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας, »εἰς τιμήν« καὶ δόξαν αὐτοῦ ποιηθέντας νοοῦμεν. ἐννόει γάρ μοι τὸν θεὸν τὰς μὲν ὡς ἀπὸ χρυσοῦ κατεσκευασμένας ἔχειν εἰκόνας ἑαυτοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς πνευματικῆς καθαρωτέρας οὐσίας, οἷον τοὺς ἀγγέλους (καθὼς ὁ Δαυὶδ »ὁ ποιῶν« φησίν »τοὺς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ πνεύματα καὶ τοὺς λειτουργοὺς αὐτοῦ πῦρ φλέγον«), τὰς δὲ ὥσπερ ἀπὸ γύψου ἢ χαλκοῦ, οἷον ἡμᾶς (»ἔλαβε« γάρ φησι »χοῦν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς« »ὁ θεός« »καὶ ἔπλασε τὸν ἄνθρωπον«)· τῷ γηΐνῳ γὰρ τὴν ψυχὴν ἥνοωσε τὴν »κατ᾽ εἰκόνα θεοῦς γεγενημένην. ὡς οὖν πάσας ἐνταῦθα τοῦ βασιλέως τὰς εἰκόνας τιμᾶσθαι χρή διὰ τὴν ἐν αὐταῖς μορφήν, οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἡμᾶς θεοῦ εἰκόνας ὑπάρχοντας (»ὁ θεὸς γὰρ ἔκτισε τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐπ᾽ ἀφθαρσίᾳ καὶ εἰκόνα τῆς ἰδίας ἀϊδιότητος ἐποίησεν αὐτόν«) ἀνένδεκτόν ἐστι, θεοῦ εἰκόνας ὑπάρχοντας, πρὸς ἀπώλειαν λελωβημένους χωρῆσαι παντελῆ. ὅθεν καὶ κατῆλθεν εἰς τὴν καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς οἰκουμένην ὁ λόγος καὶ ἐσαρκώθη ἐκ τοῦ σώματος ἡμῶν, ὅπως εἰς τὸ θεοπρεπέστερον τὴν εἰκόνα ἐπισκευάσας, καθάπερ ὑπὸ (πολλοῦ) χρόνου διαλελυμένην, ἀναστήσῃ ἀνώλεθρον. ### English translation (Claude) "For I myself saw on Olympus (Olympus is a mountain of Lycia) fire rising of itself from the earth below on the summit of the mountain, and beside the fire stood a chaste-tree, so flourishing and green and so shady that one would rather suppose it had sprung up beside an ever-flowing spring. For what reason, then, if bodies are by nature corruptible and consumed by fire, and it is impossible for what is once by nature combustible to remain unburned, is this plant not only not burned up, but rather more vigorous and greener, though by nature it burns easily, and that while the fire is kindled around its very roots? I threw branches of trees from the nearby wood onto the place where the fire bursts out, and at once they went up in flame and were reduced to ashes. Tell me, then, for what reason that which cannot bear even the heat of the sun, but dries up if it is not watered a little, is not consumed when surrounded by so great a blaze of fire, but lives and flourishes? What does this marvel mean? God set it as a sign and prelude of the coming day, so that we might know more clearly that, when all things are deluged with fire coming down, the bodies that have lived in chastity and righteousness will walk upon the fire as on cold water, suffering no pain from it. For truly, most magnificent and bountiful Master, 'creation, serving you its maker, is intensified for punishment against the unjust and relaxed for benefit on behalf of those who trust in you'; and when you will, fire cools, harming nothing that you judge should be preserved, and water, conversely, burns with sharper assaults than fire; and nothing withstands your invincible might and your strength. For you created all things out of what is not; therefore you also change all things, since they are yours, as you will, being the only God. [24] "Thus the images of kings here, even if they are not made of the more precious material, gold, silver, electrum or ivory, are honoured by all. For men do not reverence those made of the more precious material and despise the others, but honour all equally, even if they are of plaster or bronze; and one who has insulted either is neither let off as having dishonoured clay, nor judged as having made light of gold, but as having committed impiety against the king and lord himself. The images made of gold we understand to be his angels, the principalities and the powers, made 'for' his 'honour' and glory. For consider with me that God has images of himself made, as it were, of gold, from the purer spiritual substance, such as the angels ('who makes his angels spirits,' says David, 'and his ministers a flaming fire'), and others as of plaster or bronze, such as us ('God took dust from the earth,' he says, 'and formed man'); for he united the soul made 'according to the image of God' to what is earthy. So just as all the images of the king here must be honoured because of the form in them, so too it is impossible that we, who are images of God ('for God created man for incorruption and made him an image of his own eternity'), should go maimed to utter destruction. That is why the Word came down into our world and became flesh from our body, so that, restoring the image to a state more fitting for God, as one dissolved by long time, he might raise it up indestructible." ### Scripture references - Ps 104:4 (103:4 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:7: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:27: allusion, high confidence - John 1:14: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 16:24 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence - Wis 2:23 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Book 2, chapters 23 and 24 (the heading of chapter 24 survives as a garbled numeral, removed by a logged correction; it begins at "[24]"). A few words lost before 'That is why the Word came down' were staged at the end of ref 2.20; they are supplied here from that fragment. - The 'chaste-tree' (ἄγνος, Vitex agnus-castus). Wis 16:24; Ps 104:4 (LXX 103:4); Gen 2:7; Gen 1:27; Wis 2:23; John 1:14. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 2.23 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:377; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-20/#p-2-23). ## Res. 2.25 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-20/#p-2-25 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:380 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The story of Jonah is read as a figure of man's fall, his swallowing by time and death, and his resurrection after the three intervals of time, as Christ's three days in the earth also teach. ### Greek text Καὶ γοῦν τὴν ἐπὶ τοῦ προφήτου Ἰωνᾶ μυστηριωδῶς πεπραγματευμένην οἰκονομίαν δηλοῦντες, ἅπαντα εἰς τοῦτο ἀναφανδὸν συντείνοντα εὕρομεν τὸν λόγον. περιέχει δὲ καὶ μέγα μυστήριον ἡ κατὰ τὸν Ἰωνᾶν ἱστορία. ἔοικε γὰρ τὸ μὲν κῆτος νοεῖσθαι ὁ χρόνος, ἅτε μηδέποτε ἑστώς, ἀλλὰ πορευόμενος ἀεὶ καὶ καταδαπανῶν τὰ γεννώμενα μακροῖς τε καὶ βραχυτέροις διαστήμασιν. ὁ δὲ φεύγων Ἰωνᾶς ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ θεοῦ αὐτὸς ἐκεῖνος ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος, ἀθετήσας τὴν ἐντολὴν ἔφυγεν ἀφθαρσίας ὀφθῆναι γυμνός, τὴν πρὸς τὸ θεῖον ὑπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας παρρησίαν ἀφῃρημένος. τὸ δὲ πλοῖον, εἰς ὃ ἐπιβὰς ἐχειμάζετο, ἡ κατὰ τὸν παρόντα καιρὸν βραχύβιός ἐστιν αὕτη καὶ δυσάρεστος ζωή, οἷον τραπέντων ἡμῶν καὶ μετοικισάντων ἀπὸ τῆς μακαριωτάτης ἐκείνης καὶ ἀκινδύνου ζωῆς εἰς τὸν πολυχειμαστότατον τοῦτον βίον καὶ ἀκατάστατον, καθάπερ ἀπὸ γῆς εἰς πλοῖον. ὃ γὰρ πλοῖον πρὸς γῆν, τοῦτο ὁ παρὼν βίος πρὸς τὸν ἀθάνατον. ὁ δὲ χειμὼν καὶ αἱ ἐπισυνιστάμεναι καθ' ἡμῶν λαίλαπές εἰσιν οἱ ἐνταῦθα πειρασμοί, ὥσπερ ἐν κλύδωνι τῷ κόσμῳ ἀλύπως εὐθυδρομῆσαι τὸν βίον ἡμᾶς ἐν γαλήνῃ καὶ νηνεμίᾳ κακῶν μὴ ἐπιτρέποντες. ἡ δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ πλοίου εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν ἔκριψις τοῦ Ἰωνᾶ γεγενημένη τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ ζῆν εἰς τὸ τελευτῆσαι τοῦ πρωτοπλάστου δηλοῖ μετάπτωσιν, ἀποφάσεως τυχόντος, ἀνθ᾽ ὧν ἁμαρτήσας ἀπέδρα τῆς δικαιοσύνης, τῷ »γῆ εἶ καὶ εἰς γῆν ἀπελεύσῃ«. τὸ δὲ καταποθῆναι αὐτὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ κήτους τὴν ὑπὸ τοῦ χρόνου γεγενημένην ἀπαραίτητον ἡμῶν δηλοῖ ἀναίρεσιν. ἡ γὰρ κοιλία (τοῦ κήτους, ὑφ᾽ ἧς ἐκαλύφθη καταποθεὶς ὁ Ἰωνᾶς, ἡ παντοδόχος ἐστὶ γῆ, τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ χρόνου δαπανώμενα (σώματα) δεχομένη. ὡς οὖν Ἰωνᾶς »ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ τοῦ κήτους τρεῖς ἡμέρας« ἐνδιατρίψας »καὶ νύκτας« τοσαύτας αὖθις ὑγιὴς ἀπεδόθη, οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἡμεῖς πάντες τὰς τρεῖς τοῦ παρόντος αἰῶνος διαστάσεις ποιήσαντες ἐν τῇ γῇ, ἀρχὴν λέγω καὶ μεσότητα καὶ τέλος, ἐξ ὧν σύγκειται πᾶς οὗτος ὁ παρὼν χρόνος, ἀναστησόμεθα. τρία γὰρ καθολικὰ χρόνου διαστήματα, παρῳχηκὼς καὶ μέλλων καὶ παρών. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ κύριος τοσαύτας ἡμέρας συμβολικῶς ποιήσας ἐν τῇ γῇ ἐδίδαξε σαφῶς ὅτι πληρωθέντων τῶν προειρημένων τοῦ χρόνου διαστημάτων ἔσται ἡμῶν ἡ ἀνάστασις, τοῦ μέλλοντος μὲν ἀρχὴ αἰῶνος ὑπάρχουσα, τούτου δὲ τέλος. ἐν αἰῶνι γὰρ οὔτε παρῴχηκέ τι οὔτε μέλλει, ἀλλὰ μόνον ὑφέστηκεν. ἔτι ὁ Ἰωνᾶς »ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ τοῦ κήτους τρεῖς ἡμέρας καὶ τρεῖς νύκτας« ποιήσας οὐ κατεφθάρη συντηκομένων αὐτῷ τῶν σαρκῶν κατὰ τὴν ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ γινομένην φυσικὴν σῆψιν τῶν εἰσφερομένων βρωμάτων διὰ τὴν πλείονα ἐν τοῖς ἐνύδροις θερμότητα, ἵνα δειχθῇ ὅτι δύναται εἶναι ἡμῶν τὰ σώματα ταῦτα ἀνώλεθρα. ### English translation (Claude) "Indeed, when we explained the dispensation enacted mystically in the case of the prophet Jonah, we found the whole account plainly tending to this. The story of Jonah contains a great mystery. For the whale seems to signify time, which never stands still but always goes on and consumes what is born in longer and shorter intervals. Jonah, fleeing from the face of God, is that first man himself, who, having set aside the commandment, fled from being seen naked of incorruption, deprived by sin of his freedom of speech toward the divine. The ship he boarded, in which he was storm-tossed, is this short-lived and displeasing life of the present time, since we turned and migrated from that most blessed and safe life into this most stormy and unsettled one, as from land into a ship. For what a ship is to land, the present life is to the immortal life. The storm and the tempests that gather against us are the temptations here, which, as in the surge of the world, do not allow us to sail through life straight and without grief, in calm and stillness from evils. The casting of Jonah from the ship into the sea signifies the fall of the first-formed man from life into death, when he received the sentence, because by sinning he had run away from righteousness: 'You are earth, and to earth you shall return.' His being swallowed by the whale signifies our inexorable destruction by time. For the belly of the whale, in which Jonah was hidden when swallowed, is the all-receiving earth, which receives the bodies consumed by time. As, then, Jonah, having spent 'three days' and as many 'nights in the belly of the whale,' was given back whole, so we too, all of us, having passed the three intervals of the present age on the earth (I mean the beginning, the middle and the end, of which all this present time is composed), shall rise. For there are three general intervals of time: past, future and present. And for this reason the Lord too, having symbolically spent so many days in the earth, taught clearly that when the intervals of time just mentioned are fulfilled, our resurrection will come, being the beginning of the age to come and the end of this one. For in eternity nothing is past or future, but it only is. Moreover, Jonah, having spent 'three days and three nights in the belly of the whale,' was not destroyed, though his flesh would have melted away through the natural putrefaction of the food brought into the belly, because of the greater heat in creatures of the water, so that it might be shown that these bodies of ours can be indestructible." ### Scripture references - Jonah 1:3: allusion, high confidence - Jonah 1:15: allusion, high confidence - Jonah 1:17: quotation, high confidence - Jonah 2:10: allusion, high confidence - Gen 3:19: quotation, high confidence - Matt 12:40: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Book 2, chapter 25. The staged text ran on into Greek fragments of chapters 27, 28 and 30 (pp. 384-388) and the heading of Book 3, which belong to other units; they are removed here by a logged correction, and their translation is supplied separately (see the report). - Jonah 1:3-2:10; Matt 12:40; Gen 3:19. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 2.25 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:380; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-20/#p-2-25). ## Res. 2.26 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-20/#p-2-26 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:382 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: Memianius restates Proclus's objection that a body dissolved into the elements cannot be separated out again unmixed, like statues melted into one mass of wax. ### English translation (Claude) And when Memianius had spoken, he began again with these words: "Come, Proclus, we have easily dissolved the many-twisted arguments of the heterodox, but not yet what you have said. Come now, let us inquire truthfully whether our body, divided into many things, into fire and air and water (so great a scattering and separation does it undergo), can become the same again when it is put together from them. 'How is it possible, after the warm has departed and mixed with fire, the airy with the element of air, and the earthy with the earth, that it should be separated again from the mixture and become the same real body? For it is not possible for waters that have united to be separated again, and the same is true of fire and air; since all men and all monsters and animals [are mixed] into the same air ...; and what has been mixed in so great a quantity of water and has departed into its own substance, from which it was taken, cannot be without mixture. For suppose someone has taken many images of wax and melted them together with much other wax: when he makes images again, can he make them from that same wax without mixture, whether in substance or in the same likeness? This is never possible. And whoever says that the same body rises says not only that the righteous will share in the substance of sinners, but also in the bodies of animals. For everything is mixed into the same mass of water.'" ### Translation notes - Book 2, chapter 26. Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. The opening words are garbled in the Slavonic. The objection restates Proclus in 1.14-1.16. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 2.26 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:382; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-20/#p-2-26). ## Res. 2.27 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-20/#p-2-27 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:384 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Fragments: God, who is more powerful than men who can separate mixtures, will give back each person's own body; the sea, Hades and death of Revelation 20:13 are the elements returning their portions; Origen imagined a risen body of pure air and fire. ### Greek text σφόδρα κατὰ σὲ δυνατώτεροι οἱ ἄνθρωποι τοῦ θεοῦ δείκνυνται. καὶ περισσὸν τὸ λέγειν τὸν σωτῆρα »τὰ παρ᾽ ἀνθρώποις ἀδύνατα παρὰ τῷ θεῷ δυνατά«. οἱ ἄνθρωποι μὲν γὰρ οἶνον ὕδατι συγκραθέντα χωρίζουσι, τέχνῃ καὶ ἐπιστήμῃ χρώμενοι, καὶ ἀργύριον ἀπὸ χαλκοῦ, καὶ πλείστων ὅσων τὰς διακρίσεις ἴσασι ποιεῖσθαι. ὁ δὲ θεός, ὁ ἀνυπέρβλητος δυνάμει τεχνίτης τε καὶ δημιουργὸς πάντων, ᾧ ὑποτέταχται ⟨πῦρ⟩, ἀήρ, ὕδωρ, γῆ, φόβῳ δουλεύοντα καὶ ἕκαστον τηροῦντα τὸ ἴδιον μέρος, πῶς οὐκ ἂν ἑκάστῳ ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει ἀποδοίη τὸ ἴδιον σῶμα; … Ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ τὰ γλυκέα ὕδατα ἐπιρρέοντα τῇ θαλάσσῃ, συγκιρνώμενα καὶ συγκυλινδούμενα πάλιν ὕδατα γλυκέα διὰ τῶν νεφελῶν χεῖται, διαχωριζόμενα ἀπὸ τῶν ἁλμυρῶν. καθὼς καὶ ὁ προφήτης φησίν »ὁ προσκαλούμενος τὸ ὕδωρ τῆς θαλάσσης καὶ ἐκχέων αὐτὸ ἐπὶ πρόσωπον τῆς γῆς«. … ἐπίστησον δὲ μήποτε καὶ ὁ μακάριος Ἰωάννης »ἔδωκεν ἡ θάλασσα τοὺς νεκροὺς τοὺς ἐν αὐτῇ« λέγων »καὶ ὁ θάνατος καὶ ὁ ᾅδης ἔδωκαν τοὺς νεκροὺς τοὺς ἐν αὐτοῖς« τὰ ἀπὸ τῶν στοιχείων ἀναδιδόμενα πρὸς ἀποκατάστασιν ἑκάστου μόρια ἐδήλωσε. τὴν μὲν γὰρ θάλασσαν εἶναι τὴν ὑγρὰν οὐσίαν, ᾅδην δὲ τὸν ἀέρα παρὰ τὸ ἀειδές, διὰ τὸ μὴ ὁρᾶσθαι, καθάπερ ἐλέχθη καὶ Ὠριγένει, καὶ θάνατον τὴν γῆν παρὰ τὸ ἐν αὐτῇ κλίνεσθαι τὰ θνήσκοντα, ὅθεν καὶ χοῦς ἐκλήθη »θανάτου« ἐν ψαλμοῖς, »εἰς χοῦν θανάτου« κατῆχθαι εἰρηκότος Χριστοῦ. … Πᾶν γὰρ τὸ ἐκ καθαροῦ ἀέρος καὶ καθαροῦ πυρὸς συνιστάμενον σύγκριμα, καὶ τοῖς ἀγγελικοῖς ὁμοούσιον ὑπάρχον, οὐ δύναται γῆς ἔχειν ποιότητα καὶ ὕδατος, ἐπεὶ συμβήσεται ἔσεσθαι αὐτὸ γεῶδες. τοιοῦτον καὶ ἐκ τούτων τὸ ἀναστῆναι μέλλον σῶμα ἀνθρώπου ὁ Ὠριγένης ἐφαντάζετο, ὃ καὶ πνευματικὸν ἔφησεν. ### English translation (Claude) (a) "... According to you, men are shown to be very much more powerful than God, and it is superfluous for the Saviour to say, 'What is impossible with men is possible with God.' For men, using art and knowledge, separate wine mixed with water, and silver from bronze, and know how to make the separation of very many things. But God, the craftsman unsurpassed in power and the maker of all things, to whom fire, air, water and earth are subject, serving in fear and each keeping its own part: how would he not give back to each his own body in the resurrection?" (b) [28] "Moreover, the sweet waters that flow into the sea, mingled and rolled together with it, are poured out again as sweet waters through the clouds, separated from the salt. As the prophet too says, 'He who calls the water of the sea and pours it out on the face of the earth.' ... And consider whether blessed John too, in saying, 'The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them,' did not mean the portions given back by the elements for the restoration of each. For the sea is the moist substance; Hades is the air, from 'unseen' (aeides), because it is not seen, as Origen too said; and death is the earth, because the dying are laid in it; that is why it was called 'the dust of death' in the Psalms, Christ saying that he had been brought down 'into the dust of death.'" (c) "... For every compound made of pure air and pure fire, being of the same essence as the angelic beings, cannot have the quality of earth and water; otherwise it would turn out earthy. Such, and made of such things, was the body that Origen imagined would rise, which he also called spiritual." [Slavonic version, translated from N. Bonwetsch's German:] "This, then, is what you say, Proclus; and understanding it, I take it up again and again, so that nothing of it may escape us. Come, let us look at it again. According to the true state of things there are three kinds of liquid: water, oil and molten things. Let everything watery belong to water, and again let everything fatty be oily, and molten things be such as lead and bronze and the rest. And it is possible to separate after mixing not only these, but many other things too ... The purple-dyers in their art, when, as they dye silk, the blood of the purple-fish somehow mixes with water, separate the water from the blood of the purple-fish with sponges by their art. It is also recorded that in Tiberias, a city of Judea, there is a spring which brings forth five kinds of water without confusion, so that whoever wants to draw pure water takes it from the middle; on one side it is sweet as honey, on the other bitter. God gives this as a sign, so that we may believe that our watery element too cannot be found mixed with another in the resurrection. For see how one spring makes various waters flow forth for you, and that without mixture. [28] "... 'on the face of the earth.' For the rains do not come down from the waters above the firmament; they would often flood the earth, since the sea could not hold the quantity of water coming down. One of the holy initiates sings: 'All the rivers go into the sea, and the sea is not filled; to the place where the rivers go, from there they return' to their places; and the waters of the rivers rise again from the sea as rain at God's command. Great too is this knowledge, that the sweet waters are separated from the salt, after the union that takes place in the water, that is, in the salt water. For while the more watery part is seized by the heat of the sun and lifted into the air, all that is salty remains behind." ### Scripture references - Matt 19:26: quotation, high confidence - Amos 5:8: quotation, high confidence - Rev 20:13: quotation, high confidence - Ps 22:15 (21:16 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Eccl 1:7: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Only excerpts of this chapter survive in Greek (shown in the original column and translated first). The whole chapter survives in the Old Slavonic version; it follows in brackets, translated from Bonwetsch's German (GCS 27, 1917), and so overlaps the Greek excerpts. - Greek fragments of Book 2, chapters 27, 28 and 30, removed from staged 2.25. ANF 6 synopsis 9-10 translates (b) and (c) from Photius. - Matt 19:26 (Luke 18:27); Amos 5:8 (9:6); Rev 20:13; Ps 22:15 (LXX 21:16). - Book 2, chapter 27, with the beginning of chapter 28 (heading lost; it begins at "[28]", where the Greek of the edition resumes: its first words, 'He who calls the water of the sea and pours it out on the face of the earth,' Amos 5:8, are partly lost). Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. - Amos 5:8 (9:6); Eccl 1:7. The spring at Tiberias is otherwise unattested in this form. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 2.27 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:384; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-20/#p-2-27). ## Res. 2.29 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-20/#p-2-29 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:386 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: Since even visible nature shows that mixed waters can be separated, those who deny bodily resurrection measure God's power by their own and invent airy or luminous bodies instead. ### English translation (Claude) "What more is needed? It has been shown that waters can be separated from waters after mixing, those of one kind from those of another. We do not prove it by asserting that it is impossible or unheard of, since this visible world bears us witness. But they, like the blind, have neither looked at this in the visible world nor seen that the All-good, before whom 'the whole world is like a drop of dew,' has unwearied power, and they thought that what is impossible and unreasonable for them is likewise impossible and unreasonable for God. That is why one clothes the soul with an airy body formed after another likeness, while another makes the same form rise again, but in another body, of light and without flesh, neither wishing to seek nor fearing him who is the author of all being." ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 11:22 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Book 2, chapter 29. Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. Wis 11:22. The 'airy' and 'luminous' bodies refer to views of the soul's vehicle current among Platonists and attributed to Origen's followers. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 2.29 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:386; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-20/#p-2-29). ## Res. 2.30 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-20/#p-2-30 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:386 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: The speaker rejects the atomists and those who hold that the elements change into one another, arguing that God, who holds all things together, can give each body its own form again. ### English translation (Claude) "The Greeks, who philosophized not for the sake of truth but rather for glory, have lost the true philosophy. For some of them, who thought that the principles of the universe are indivisible (atoms), like a heap of sand, according to the proposition that infinite monads are separated in an infinite void, became sluggish as though without understanding. For how can what is reckoned by years that have passed still be held infinite? The infinite cannot extend and pass through successive intervals. But the nature of man is comprehended not only by the intervals of the year but also by knowledge. For if the substance of knowledge entered all bodies to unite what was separated, embracing all the monads, not only infinite ones, giving them for the completion and adornment of each form ... But if, as they would have it, our bodies had come into being bound together from atoms or primary bodies or indivisibles or homoeomeries, and had fallen apart into them again, the resurrection would have no difficulty at all, since God, who with his exceedingly great wisdom holds together all things, even the invisible and elementless substances of the world-system, is able to give each its own form for the completion of the same body. In accordance with the truth, one will also blame those who think that the elements, being unlike themselves, are changed, as when fire, corrupted, changes into air, earthy air becomes water, earthy water becomes earth, rarefied earth becomes water, and rarefied water changes into air, so that the very same thing comes into being and passes away rarefied. If there were one substance and element for all of these, remaining after the change while each goes both to being and to not-being, and if the universe were built by chance without providence, it would be right to say that each passes without quality into what is opposite to it in power. But if fire and water, air and earth are unmixed, and are the first bodies from which God put together and made all things, each of them according to its own substance and being, how is it fitting to say that earth becomes water and fire and takes on the form of air and fire, changing at times unsuitably into other substances? For the change would have to take place for lack of this or that element, as though God did not have enough of the substance before him for the components of what comes into being, but were compelled to transform the powers of the richer elements to fill out the meagre ones, if at some time he took thought to gain this for the preservation and maintenance of the world ... But how utterly far this is from the truth is clear to all. Let no one lead us astray with fine and artful words, wishing to make a lie true. But there is no need now to continue the discussion on their account. The decision we have reached about the substance of water is enough, if you, Proclus, accept what has been said as sufficient." ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Tim. 49b (Plato (works)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Book 2, chapter 30. Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic; the Slavonic is defective at the points marked '...'. The last sentence of the chapter survives in Greek (it was staged inside ref 2.25; see the report). The staged German continues past the end of Book 2 into Book 3, chapter 1 and the first words of chapter 2; that part belongs to other units and is not translated here (chapter 1 is supplied separately, and chapter 2 is staged as 3.2). - The cycle of the elements is that of Plato, Tim. 49b-c; atoms and homoeomeries are the principles of Democritus and Anaxagoras. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 2.30 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:386; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-20/#p-2-30). ## Res. 3.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-20/#p-3-1 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:386 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: At the beginning of Book 3 the narrator, satisfied that mixed elements can be separated, turns to the prophets' witness to the resurrection: Daniel, the Psalms and 2 Maccabees. ### English translation (Claude) "Exceedingly so," I took up the word, "and I myself am persuaded that the body of each of us, when it rises, will be put together as it was before. For since it has been shown that even now water can be separated from water after mixing, I do not wonder that the body of each of us too will be put together without mixture from the same components." He acknowledged that this was acceptable enough. "Consider now what the prophets say about the resurrection. For what else did Daniel want to make known than the matter before us? 'And many,' he says, 'of those who sleep will rise from the dust of the earth, some to eternal life, others to eternal shame,' and so on. What else did David want to make known than the resurrection, when he cried, 'Leading out the prisoners with strength, those who dwell in tombs'? And immediately after, to show who 'those in the tombs' are, he adds: 'Command, O God, your strength, and strengthen what you have wrought in us.' What else does this show than the dead rising from the tombs? And in the second book of Maccabees it is said that a certain good man, summoned by Nicanor to eat what was unclean, 'threw himself down' because of the great cruelty of the torturer, and when he had 'risen' and saw his 'entrails' come out, threw them away, calling upon ..." ### Scripture references - Dan 12:2: quotation, high confidence - Ps 68:6 (67:7 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 68:28 (67:29 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - 2 Macc 14:37-46 (2 Maccabees): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Book 3, chapter 1. Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic; the phrase 'He acknowledged that this was acceptable enough' is uncertain in the edition; the chapter breaks off at the end. - Dan 12:2; Ps 68:6 (LXX 67:7, 'those who dwell in tombs'); Ps 68:28 (LXX 67:29); 2 Macc 14:37-46 (Razis). ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 3.1 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:386; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-20/#p-3-1). ## Res. 3.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-20/#p-3-2 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:390 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The narrator states Origen's view that only the bodily form, not the flesh, rises in a spiritual body, and quotes Origen's own words again. ### Greek text Βούλεται τοίνυν ὁ Ὠριγένης τὴν μὲν αὐτὴν σάρκα μὴ ἀποκαθίστασθαι τῇ ψυχῇ, τὴν δὲ ποιὰν ἑκάστου μορφήν, κατὰ τὸ εἶδος τὸ τὴν σάρκα καὶ νῦν χαρακτηρίζον, ἐν ἑτέρῳ πνευματικῷ ἐντετυπωμένην ἀναστήσεσθαι σώματι, ἵνα ἕκαστος πάλιν ὁ αὐτὸς φανῇ κατὰ τὴν μορφήν. καὶ τοῦτο εἶναι τὴν ἐπαγγελλομένην ἀνάστασιν. Ῥευστοῦ γάρ, φησίν, ὑπάρχοντος τοῦ ὑλικοῦ σώματος καὶ μηδέποτε μένοντος ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτῷ, ἀλλὰ ἀπογινομένου καὶ ἐπιγινομένου περὶ τὸ εἶδος τὸ χαρακτηρίζον τὴν μορφήν. ὑφ᾽ οὗ καὶ συγκρατεῖται τὸ σχῆμα, ἀνάγκη δὴ τὴν ἀνάστασιν ἐπὶ μόνου εἴδους ἔσεσθαι. Χρὴ δὲ πάντα τὸν φιλαλήθη περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἀγωνίσασθαι, σῷσαί τε καὶ τὴν τῶν ἀρχαίων παράδοσιν, καὶ φυλάξασθαι μὴ ἐμπεσεῖν εἰς φλυαρίαν πτωχῶν νοημάτων, ἀδυνάτων τε ἅμα καὶ θεοῦ ἀναξίων. τοῦτο οὖν εἰς τὸν τύπον διαληπτέον, ὅτι πᾶν σῶμα ὑπὸ φύσεως συνεχόμενον, τῆς καταταττούσης ἔξωθέν τινα δίκην τροφῆς εἰς αὐτό, καὶ ἀποκρινούσης ἀντὶ τῶν ἐπεισαγομένων ἕτερα. ὥσπερ τὰ τῶν φυτῶν καὶ τῶν ζῴων, τὸ ὑλικὸν ὑποκείμενον οὐδέποτε ἔχει ταὐτόν. διόπερ οὐ κακῶς ποταμὸς ὠνομάσται τὸ σῶμα, διότι ὡς πρὸς τὸ ἀκριβὲς τάχα οὐδὲ δύο ἡμερῶν τὸ πρῶτον ὑποκείμενον ταὐτόν ἐστιν ἐν τῷ σώματι ἡμῶν, καίτοιγε τοῦ οἱονεὶ Παύλου ἢ Πέτρου ἀεὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ ὄντος (οὐ τοῦ κατὰ ψυχὴν μόνον, ἧς ἡ οὐσία οὔτε ῥεῖ καθ' ἡμᾶς οὔτ᾽ ἐπεισαγόμενόν τι ἔχει ποτέ), κἂν ῥευστὴ ᾖ ἡ φύσις τοῦ σώματος, τῷ τὸ εἶδος τὸ χαρακτηρίζον τὸ σῶμα ταὐτὸν εἶναι, ὡς καὶ τοὺς τύπους μένειν τοὺς αὐτοὺς τοὺς τὴν ποιότητα Πέτρου καὶ Παύλου τὴν σωματικὴν παριστάνοντας, καθ᾽ ἣν ποιότητα καὶ οὐλαὶ ἐκ παίδων παραμένουσι τοῖς σώμασι καὶ ἄλλα τινὰ ἰδιώματα (ἐν τῷ σώματι), φακοὶ καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις εἴ τί ἐστιν ὅμοιον. τοῦτο τὸ εἶδος, καθ᾽ ὃ εἰδοποιεῖται ὁ Πέτρος καὶ ὁ Παῦλος, τὸ σωματικόν, ὃ ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει περιτίθεται πάλιν τῇ ψυχῇ, ἐπὶ τὸ κρεῖττον μεταβάλλον, οὐ πάντως δὲ τόδε τὸ ἐκτεταγμένον τὸ κατὰ τὴν πρώτην ὑποκείμενον. ὥσπερ δὲ ταὐτὸν εἶδος ἐστὶν ἐκ βρέφους μέχρι τοῦ πρεσβύτου, κἂν οἱ χαρακτῆρες δοκῶσι πολλὴν ἔχειν παραλλαγήν, οὕτως νοητέον καὶ τὸ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος εἶδος ταὐτὸν εἶναι τῷ μέλλοντι, πλείστης ὅσης ἐσομένης τῆς ἐπὶ τὸ κάλλιον μεταβολῆς. ἀναγκαῖον γὰρ τὴν ψυχὴν ἐν τόποις σωματικοῖς ὑπάρχουσαν κεχρῆσθαι σώμασι καταλλήλοις τοῖς τόποις. καὶ ὥσπερ ἐν θαλάσσῃ ζῆν ἡμᾶς ἐνύδρους γενομένους εἰ ἐχρῆν, πάντως ἂν ἡμᾶς ἔδει βράγχια ἔχειν καὶ τὴν ἄλλην ἰχθύων κατάστασιν, οὕτως μέλλοντας κληρονομεῖν βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν καὶ ἐν τόποις διαφόροις ἔσεσθαι, ἀναγκαῖον χρῆσθαι σώμασι πνευματικοῖς, οὐχὶ τοῦ εἴδους τοῦ προτέρου ἀφανιζομένου, κἂν ἐπὶ τὸ ἐνδοξότερον γένηται (αὐτοῦ ἡ τροπή, ὥσπερ ἦν τὸ Ἰησοῦ εἶδος καὶ Μωυσέως καὶ Ἠλίου, οὐχ ἕτερον ἐν τῇ μεταμορφώσει παρ᾽ ὃ ἦν. ### English translation (Claude) "So Origen holds that the same flesh is not restored to the soul, but that the particular form of each, after the form that characterizes the flesh even now, will rise imprinted on another, spiritual body, so that each may appear again the same in form; and that this is the promised resurrection. 'For since the material body,' he says, 'is in flux and never remains in itself, but is taken away and added to around the form that characterizes the shape, by which the figure too is held together, the resurrection must necessarily be of the form alone.' ... "But every lover of truth must contend for the resurrection, preserving the tradition of the ancients and at the same time taking care not to fall into the nonsense of beggarly notions, which are both impossible and unworthy of God. This, then, must be understood on this point: every body, being held together by a nature that brings certain things into it from outside by way of food and excretes others in place of those brought in (as the bodies of plants and animals do), never has the same material substrate. That is why the body has not been badly called a river. For, strictly speaking, the first substrate in our body is perhaps not the same for even two days, although Paul or Peter, so to speak, is always the same (not only in respect of the soul, whose substance on our view neither flows nor ever has anything brought into it), even though the nature of the body is in flux. For the form that characterizes the body is the same, so that the same features remain that present the bodily quality of Peter and Paul; and according to this quality scars from childhood remain on bodies, and certain other peculiarities in the body, moles, and anything else of the kind. This form, by which Peter and Paul are formed, the bodily form, is what is put around the soul again in the resurrection, changed for the better; but by no means this particular substrate that was laid out at first. Just as the form is the same from infancy to old age, even though the features seem to undergo much alteration, so one must understand that the form of the present body is the same as that of the future one, though there will be a very great change for the better. For a soul that exists in bodily places must use bodies suited to those places. And just as, if we had to live in the sea as water creatures, we would certainly need gills and the rest of the make-up of fish, so, since we are to inherit the kingdom of heaven and to be in places that are different, we must use spiritual bodies; not that the former form disappears, even if its change is to something more glorious, just as the form of Jesus, and of Moses and Elijah, was not other in the transfiguration than it had been." [Slavonic version, translated from N. Bonwetsch's German:] "... 'him who can destroy soul and body in fire.' So here he is not speaking of that spiritual body; Christ answered that those killed by men are to receive punishment with the soul. And it must be recognized that the body cannot be destroyed by men. So it is not by having another body instead of this one, Origen, that the one who has sinned is thrown into the lake of fire. But if not another, then rather the one with which we are clothed outwardly, so that Christ too appears so; the resurrection of the dead will take place in the whole body ... that 'gnashing of teeth' is spoken of. But if they object again, saying, 'But the story of the rich man and Lazarus: how is the soul said, after its separation from the flesh, to have a tongue and teeth and fingers, unless there is another body finer than this one?', we must answer: even if the soul had another fine body, inseparable from it even after it departed from this life, this would contain no contradiction to the regeneration, since Christ said that only this dying body rises. But the body of which you speak cannot be killed by men. We would also have set out their supposed replies, if there were time; for it is no trouble to refute this unreason too. And first, if that body goes through the whole body, so that the soul is a substantial power, the soul cannot move together two bodies which have opposite motions. For the one is heavy and the other light, the sensible one heavy and the fine one light; and the heavy inclines downward, the light upward. So the two opposite motions cannot move the one substance." ### Scripture references - Matt 17:2: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:44: allusion, high confidence - Matt 10:28: quotation, high confidence - Rev 20:15: allusion, high confidence - Matt 8:12: allusion, medium confidence - Luke 16:24: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Only excerpts of this chapter survive in Greek (shown in the original column and translated first). The whole chapter survives in the Old Slavonic version; it follows in brackets, translated from Bonwetsch's German (GCS 27, 1917), and so overlaps the Greek excerpts. - This Greek (Bonwetsch page 390) belongs to Book 3, chapter 2 rather than chapter 1: chapter 1 survives only in German (staged at the end of ref 2.30; supplied separately, see the report), and the German of chapter 2 is staged as 3.2. A block of the edition's apparatus that had leaked into the text is removed by a logged correction. - The second paragraph is the same passage of Origen (preserved by Photius and Epiphanius) that is quoted in Book 1, chapter 22 (staged as '1.16'); it is printed again here as the starting point of the refutation in Book 3. Matt 17:2-3; 1 Cor 15:44. - Book 3, chapter 2. Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic; the Slavonic is defective at the points marked '...'. The first words of the chapter were staged at the end of ref 2.30. - Matt 10:28; Rev 20:14-15; Matt 8:12; Luke 16:19-31. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 3.2 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:390; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-20/#p-3-2). ## Res. 3.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-20/#p-3-3 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:390 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: The narrator turns to refute Origen's own account of the resurrection, beginning with his image of the waterskin, and objects that the bodily form changes with age more than the flesh does. ### English translation (Claude) "But leaving this here, let us examine Origen's other statements about the resurrection. For it is good not to follow those who force us to bend the understanding of Scripture into self-contradiction. 'Even if an angel preaches a gospel to us' other than the one we received, we will not listen to it. I have not entered this discussion out of envy of the man, nor wishing to persuade or convict him artfully (for that would rather be a matter of ambition), but to set forth the truth with a sound mind, so that many may not be offended, and not wishing to show myself off; the Son of God is my witness to this. So, in order that we may now answer the words Origen spoke against the resurrection, let those who do not believe us go to the commentary on the Psalms that he composed, so that they may learn his explanation of the resurrection too. [Origen says:] '... as in a skin bored at the front the water cannot remain in the same shape even for a short moment, but some flows out and some flows in, while the skin enclosing it remains outside; so too,' he says, 'with sensible bodies: through the flow of food, like water, others come in while the first flow out, and so they cannot remain in the same shape even for a short time. These pass away and change, but the form remains according to which the bodies are formed.' If, then, the flesh flows, Origen, but the form remains, have you not taken on a worse folly? How does the form remain through the ages of life? For we see one form in children, another in youths and another in the old. In place of the child's body, the youth's becomes firm and taut, and in place of the handsome one the old becomes feeble. It would be better, then, to say that the flesh that comes in remains from childhood to old age, rather than the form." ### Scripture references - Gal 1:8: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Book 3, chapter 3. Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. The staged German also contains lines of the edition's apparatus and the Greek variant notes, which are not translated; part of Origen's illustration (cf. 1.25, the waterskin) is lost at the gap after 'the resurrection too'. - Gal 1:8. Origen's commentary on the Psalms (on Ps 1:5) is the source quoted in Book 1, chapters 20-24. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 3.3 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:390; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-20/#p-3-3). ## Res. 3.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-20/#p-3-4 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:392 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: A spiritual body merely like the present one, as a gold statue replaces a bronze one, would not be a resurrection of the body that died. ### English translation (Claude) "But I will set out his own words. For he says: ... But if it is only like that first body, and not that first body itself, how will it be worthwhile any longer to hope for the resurrection? If some bronze-smith destroys an image made of bronze and plans to set another of gold in place of the destroyed one, like the first, one will say that it is like the first, but not that it is that image, the first one, itself renewed. So if a spiritual body rises in place of this one, then, according to this argument, neither the form rises nor the material, but another body like it, not the one that died. For qualities arise from bodies, not bodies from qualities. For wax that is remoulded, when it has been melted down, shows after the remoulding the shapes into which one wishes to remake it by art, different from its former shape." ### Translation notes - Book 3, chapter 4. Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. Origen's words, which the narrator promises to set out, are lost at the gap marked '...' (in the edition they stand in Greek; cf. 1.25). ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 3.4 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:392; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/2-20/#p-3-4). ## Res. 3.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-5 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:394 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: If Moses and Elijah at the transfiguration had already risen in the bodily form, Christ would not be 'the firstborn of the dead'; so the resurrection must be of the flesh, and those raised before Christ died again. ### Greek text Οὐκοῦν, ὦ (γενναῖε) Ὠρίγενες, εἰ ἐπὶ τοῦ εἴδους μόνου προσδοκᾶσθαι διισχυρίζῃ τὴν ἀνάστασιν ἐν πνευματικῷ μετατιθεμένου σώματι, ἀπόδειξίν τε τούτου δοκιμοτάτην τὴν κατὰ τὸν Ἠλίαν ἡμῖν ὀπτασίαν καὶ Μωυσέα παρέχεις, »ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνοι« φάμενος μετὰ τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ βίου ἔξοδον ὥφθησαν οὐχ ἕτερον παρ᾽ ὃ εἶχον εἶδος ἐξ ἀρχῆς διασῴζοντες, κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ καὶ ἡ πάντων ἔσται ἀνάστασις«, ὁ Μωυσῆς δὲ καὶ ὁ Ἠλίας πρὸ τοῦ τὸν Χριστὸν παθεῖν καὶ ἀναστῆναι ἤδη τὸ εἶδος τοῦτο ὅ φῂς ἔχοντες ἀνέστησαν καὶ ὥφθησαν. — πῶς δὴ ἔτι ὁ Χριστὸς »πρωτότοκος« εἶναι »τῶν νεκρῶν« ὑπὸ τῶν προφητῶν καὶ τῶν ἀποστόλων ᾄδεται; εἰ γὰρ »πρωτότοκος« καὶ »ἀρχὴ τῶν νεκρῶν« Χριστὸς εἶναι πεπίστευται, »πρωτότοκος« δέ ἐστι »τῶν νεκρῶν« ὁ πρὸ πάντων ἀναστάς, ὁ δὲ Μωυσῆς ἤδη καὶ πρὸ τοῦ τὸν Χριστὸν παθεῖν (καὶ ἀναστῆναι) ἔχων τὸ εἶδος τοῦτο ἐφάνη τοῖς ἀποστόλοις, περὶ ὃ πληροῦσθαι φῂς αὐτὸς τὴν ἀνάστασιν, οὐκ ἄρα τοῦ εἴδους χωρὶς τῆς σαρκός ἐστιν ἡ ἀνάστασις. ἤτοι γὰρ τοῦ εἴδους ἐστίν, ὡς ἐκεῖνος βούλεται, μόνου ἡ ἀνάστασις, καὶ οὐ δύναται ἔτι »πρωτότοκος« εἶναι ὁ Χριστὸς »τῶν νεκρῶν«, τῷ πρὸ αὐτοῦ ἐχούσας τοῦτο μετὰ τὴν τελευτὴν τὸ εἶδος πεφηνέναι ψυχάς· ἢ »πρωτότοκός« ἐστιν ἀληθῶς, ὥσπερ ἔστι, --- (οὐδὲν γὰρ ἐν αὐτῷ ψευδές) — καὶ ἀδύνατον ὅλως ἠξιῶσθαι πρὸ αὐτοῦ τινας τῆς εἰς τὸ μὴ αὐθις ἀποθανεῖν ἀναστάσεως. εἰ δὲ ἀνέστη οὐδεὶς πρὸ αὐτοῦ, οἱ δὲ ἀμφὶ τὸν Μωυσέα καὶ τὸν Ἠλίαν σάρκας μὲν ἔχοντες τοῖς ἀποστόλοις οὐκ ὤφθησαν, μόνον δὲ τὸ εἶδος .., ἡ ἄρα ἀνάστασις ἐπὶ τῆς σαρκὸς προφανῶς δηλοῦται. καὶ γὰρ ἀτοπώτατον ἐπὶ μόνου τοῦ εἴδους τὴν ἀνάστασιν διορίζεσθαι, ὁπότε αἱ ψυχαὶ καὶ μετὰ τὴν (τῆς) σαρκὸς ἔξοδον οὐδέποτε φαίνονται τὸ εἶδος, ὃ φὴς ἀνίστασθαι, ἀποτιθέμεναι. εἰ δὲ συμπαρέσται αὐταῖς τοῦτο ἀναφαίρετον, καθάπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς Μωυσέως καὶ Ἠλίου ψυχῆς, καὶ οὔτε φθείρεται κατὰ σὲ οὔτε ἀπόλλυται. σὺν αὐταῖς πανταχοῦ συμπαρόν, οὐχ ἄρα τὸ εἶδος ἀνίσταται, ὃ μηδέποτε πέπτωκεν. .. --- ἐὰν δέ τις δυσχεράνας »Καὶ πῶς δή« ἀποκριθῇ »εἰ μηδεὶς ἀνέστη πρὸ τοῦ κατελθεῖν εἰς τὸν ᾅδην τὸν Χριστόν, ἀναστάντες ἤδη τινὲς ἱστορήθησαν πρὸ αὐτοῦ, ἐν οἷς τῆς Σαρεφθίνης χήρας ὁ υἱὸς καὶ τῆς Σωμανίτιδος καὶ ὁ Λάζαρος;« λεκτέον ὅτι οὗτοι εἰς τὸ καὶ αὖὐθις ἀποθανεῖν ἀνέστησαν, ἡμεῖς δὲ περὶ τῶν μηκέτι μετὰ τὴν ἔγερσιν διοριζόμεθα τεθνηξομένων. ἐὰν δὲ καὶ περὶ τῆς ψυχῆς διαπορήσας φράσῃ τοῦ Ἠλίου, ὡς τῶν μὲν γραφῶν ἀνειλῆφθαι αὐτὸν λεγουσῶν ἐν σαρκί, ἡμῶν δὲ ἀσύμπλοκον σαρκὸς τοῖς ἀποστόλοις ὦφθαι φασκόντων, λεκτέον ὅτι Καὶ μὴν μᾶλλον τὸ λέγειν αὐτὸν ὦφθαι τοῖς ἀποστόλοις ἐν σαρκὶ πρὸς ἡμῶν ἐστι. δείκνυται γὰρ καὶ διὰ τούτου ἀφθαρσίας ἡμῶν ὑπάρχον τὸ σῶμα δεκτικόν, καθάπερ ἐδείχθη καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἐνὼχ μετατιθεμένου. εἰ μὴ γὰρ ἀφθαρσίαν ἠδύνατο δέξασθαι, οὐκ ἂν οὐδὲ διέμεινεν ἐν ἀπαθείᾳ τοσούτῳ χρόνῳ. ἢ τοίνυν ὤφθη μετὰ τοῦ σώματος ὁ Ἠλίας οὐδέπω τελευτήσας, ἢ ἄνευ τοῦ σώματος, καὶ ἦν τελευτήσας μέν, ἀναστὰς δὲ ἤδη ἐκ νεκρῶν οὐδέπω. ### English translation (Claude) "Then, noble Origen, if you insist that the resurrection is to be expected of the form alone, transferred into a spiritual body, and offer as the most approved proof of this the vision of Elijah and Moses, saying, 'As they, after their departure from life, were seen preserving no other form than the one they had from the beginning, so also will be the resurrection of all'; but if Moses and Elijah, before Christ suffered and rose, had already risen with this form of which you speak, and were seen: how then is Christ still proclaimed by the prophets and apostles as 'the firstborn of the dead'? For if Christ is believed to be 'the firstborn' and 'the beginning of the dead,' and 'the firstborn of the dead' is he who rose before all, while Moses appeared to the apostles already before Christ suffered and rose, having this form in which you yourself say the resurrection is fulfilled, then the resurrection is not of the form without the flesh. For either the resurrection is of the form alone, as he holds, and then Christ can no longer be 'the firstborn of the dead,' since souls appeared before him having this form after death; or he is truly 'the firstborn,' as indeed he is (for there is nothing false in him), and then it is altogether impossible that any should have been deemed worthy before him of the resurrection that dies no more. And if no one rose before him, and those with Moses and Elijah were seen by the apostles not having flesh but only the form ..., then the resurrection is plainly shown to be of the flesh. For it is most absurd to define the resurrection as being of the form alone, when the souls, even after their departure from the flesh, are never seen laying aside the form which you say rises. And if it is present with them inseparably, as with the souls of Moses and Elijah, and, according to you, is neither corrupted nor destroyed, but is present with them everywhere, then it is not the form that rises, since it never fell. "But if someone, finding this hard, answers, 'And how, if no one rose before Christ went down into Hades, are some recorded as having risen before him, among them the son of the widow of Zarephath, and the son of the Shunammite, and Lazarus?' we must say: these rose to die again, but we are speaking of those who will die no more after their raising. And if anyone raises a difficulty about the soul of Elijah, saying that the Scriptures say he was taken up in the flesh, while we say that he appeared to the apostles without flesh, we must say: indeed, to say that he appeared to the apostles in the flesh is rather on our side. For this too shows that our body is capable of incorruption, as was shown also in the translation of Enoch; for if it could not receive incorruption, it would not have remained free of suffering for so long a time. Either, then, Elijah was seen with the body, not yet having died, or without the body, and he had died but had not yet risen from the dead." ### Scripture references - Matt 17:3: allusion, high confidence - Col 1:18: quotation, high confidence - Rev 1:5: quotation, high confidence - 1 Kgs 17:22: allusion, high confidence - 2 Kgs 4:35: allusion, high confidence - John 11:44: allusion, high confidence - 2 Kgs 2:11: allusion, high confidence - Gen 5:24: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Book 3, chapter 5. The Greek is from Photius (ANF 6 synopsis 14). A few OCR slips are corrected. - Matt 17:3; Col 1:18; Rev 1:5; 1 Kgs 17:17-24; 2 Kgs 4:32-37; John 11:43-44; 2 Kgs 2:11; Gen 5:24. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 3.5 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:394; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-5). ## Res. 3.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-6 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:396 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Since a form cannot subsist apart from its matter, as the shape of a melted statue perishes with it, Origen's risen 'form' in a spiritual body would only be a likeness of the person, not the person himself. ### Greek text Καὶ ταῦτα, ἵνα δὴ συγχωρήσωμεν τῷ Ὡριγένει, καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸ τὸ εἶδος λέγοντι μετὰ τὴν τελευτὴν ἀποζευγνύμενον ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος τῇ ψυχῇ δίδοσθαι· ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἁπάντων ἀδυνατώτατον, τῷ προαπόλλυσθαι τὸ εἶδος τῶν σαρκῶν ἐν ταῖς ἀλλοιώσεσι, καθάπερ καὶ τὸ σχῆμα τοῦ συγχωνευομένου ἀνδριάντος πρὸ τῆς διαλύσεως τοῦ χαλκοῦ, ὅτι μὴ δύναται χωρίζεσθαι καθ᾿ ὑπόστασιν ἀπὸ τῆς ὕλης ἡ ποιότης. χωρίζεται μὲν γὰρ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀνδριάντος χωνευθέντος ἡ περὶ τῷ χαλκῷ μορφὴ ἀφανιζομένη, οὐ μὴν ὑφεστῶσα ἔτι κατ᾽ οὐσίαν. ἐπεὶ δὲ λέγεται ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ τὸ εἶδος χωρίζεσθαι ἀπὸ τῆς σαρκός, φέρε τὸ χωριζόμενον ποσαχῶς λέγεται χωρίζεσθαι ἐπισκεψώμεθα. λέγεται τοίνυν χωρίζεσθαί τι ἀπό τινος ἢ ἐνεργείᾳ καὶ ὑποστάσει, ἢ ἐπινοίᾳ. ἢ ἐνεργείᾳ μέν, οὐ μὴν καὶ ὑποστάσει. (ἐνεργείᾳ μὲν καὶ ὑποστάσει), ὡς εἰ πυρούς τις καὶ κριθὰς μεμιγμένα χωρίσειεν ἀπ᾽ ἀλλήλων· ᾗ μὲν γὰρ κατὰ κίνησιν χωρίζεται, ἐνεργείᾳ λέγεται, ᾗ δὲ χωρισθέντα ὑφέστηκεν, ὑποστάσει λέγεται κεχωρίσθαι. ἐπινοίᾳ δέ, ὅταν τὴν ὕλην ἀπὸ τῶν ποιοτήτων χωρίζωμεν καὶ τὰς ποιότητας ἀπὸ τῆς ὕλης. ἐνεργείᾳ δέ, οὐ μὴν καὶ ὑποστάσει. ὅταν χωρισθέν τι ἀπό τινος μηκέτι ὑπάρχοι, ὑπόστασιν οὐσίας οὐκ ἔχον. γνοίη δ᾽ ἂν τις καὶ ἐν τοῖς χειροτεχνήμασιν ὡς ἔχει, ἀνδριάντα ἰδὼν ἢ ἵππον χαλκοῦν. ταῦτα γὰρ λογιζόμενος ὄψεται τὴν ἔμφυτον μορφὴν διαλλάττοντα, εἰς δὲ ἑτέραν ὄψιν μεθιεστάμενα. ὑφ᾽ ἧς τὸ ξυγγενόμενον εἶδος ἀφανίζεται. εἰ γάρ τις τὰ ἔργα τὰ σχηματιζόμενα εἰς εἶδος ἀνθρώπου ἢ ἵππου συντήκοι, εὑρήσει τὸ μὲν τοῦ σχήματος εἶδος ἀφανιζόμενον, αὐτὴν δὲ τὴν ὕλην μένουσαν. ὥστε ἀσύστατον τὸ λέγειν τὸ μὲν εἶδος (μόνον) ἀνίστασθαι ἠμαυρωμένον μηδέν, τὸ δὲ σῶμα, ἐν ᾧ ἦν τὸ εἶδος ἐντετυπωμένον, διαφθείρεσθαι. ἀλλά, Ναί, φησίν· ἐν πνευματικῷ γὰρ μετατεθήσεται σώματι. --- οὐκοῦν ἀνάγκη τὸ μὲν εἶδος ἰδίως ὁμολογεῖν αὐτὸ τὸ πρῶτον ἐκεῖνο μὴ ἀνίστασθαι, τῷ συναλλοιοῦσθαι αὐτὸ καὶ συμμαραίνεσθαι τῇ σαρκί. κἂν γὰρ ἐν πνευματικῷ μεταπλασθῇ σώματι, αὐτὸ μὲν ἰδίως τὸ πρῶτον ὑποκείμενον ἐκεῖνο οὐκ ἔσται, ὁμοιότης δέ τις ἐκείνου ἐν λεπτομερεῖ μεταπεπλασμένη σώματι. μήτε τὸ εἶδος τὸ αὐτὸ μήτε τὸ σῶμα ἀνίσταται, ἀλλ᾽ ἕτερον ἀντὶ τοῦ προτέρου. τὸ γὰρ ὅμοιον, ἕτερον τοῦ ἑαυτοῦ ὁμοίου ὄν, αὐτὸ ἐκεῖνο τὸ πρῶτον, πρὸς ὃ ἐγένετο, εἶναι οὐ δύναται. ### English translation (Claude) "And this is granting Origen his claim that the form by itself, separated from the body after death, is given to the soul; which is the most impossible thing of all, since the form of the flesh perishes beforehand in its alterations, just as the shape of a statue that is being melted down perishes before the dissolution of the bronze, because quality cannot be separated from matter so as to subsist by itself. For the shape that disappears around the bronze is separated from the melted statue, but it no longer subsists in substance. And since the form is said to be separated from the flesh in death, come, let us consider in how many ways what is separated is said to be separated. A thing is said to be separated from something either in act and in subsistence, or in thought, or in act but not in subsistence. In act and in subsistence, as when someone separates wheat and barley that have been mixed: in so far as they are separated by motion, they are said to be separated in act; in so far as they subsist when separated, they are said to be separated in subsistence. In thought, when we separate matter from its qualities and qualities from matter. In act but not in subsistence, when something separated from something no longer exists, having no subsistence of substance. One may see how this is in handicrafts too, looking at a statue or a bronze horse. For when one considers these, one will see them changing their inborn form and passing over into another appearance, through which the form they had disappears. For if someone melts down works shaped into the form of a man or a horse, he will find the form of the shape disappearing, but the material itself remaining. So it is incoherent to say that the form alone rises, dimmed in nothing, while the body in which the form was imprinted is destroyed. 'Yes,' he says, 'for it will be transferred into a spiritual body.' Then it must be admitted that the form itself, properly that first one, does not rise, because it has wasted away together with the flesh. For even if it is remoulded in a spiritual body, it is not itself properly that first substrate, but a certain likeness of it remoulded in a fine body. Neither the same form nor the body rises, but another in place of the former. For what is like, being other than that which it is like, cannot be that very first thing after which it was made." ### Translation notes - Book 3, chapter 6 (Greek from Photius; ANF 6 synopsis 14-16). The staged text then ran on, after a German phrase, into Greek fragments of chapters 7-10 and 14 (pp. 399-411), which belong to other units; they are removed here by a logged correction, and their translation is supplied separately (see the report). - The three kinds of separation (in act and subsistence, in thought, in act only) are a standard philosophical distinction. - One garbled phrase ("because it has wasted away together with the flesh") is restored by conjecture in a logged correction and translated by its evident sense. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 3.6 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:396; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-6). ## Res. 3.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-7 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:398 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Greek phrases of Origen quoted in Book 3, chapters 7-8. ### Greek text ὥσπερ ἦν τὸ Ἰησοῦ εἶδος καὶ Μωυσέως καὶ Ἠλίου, οὐχ ἕτερον ἐν τῇ μεταμορφώσει παρ᾽ ὃ ἦν … Τίς οὖν χρεία τοῖς κολαζομένοις ὀδόντων; οὐ γὰρ εἰς τὴν Γέενναν ὄντες φάγονται. πᾶν γὰρ μέλος εἴς τινα χρείαν ὁ δημιουργὸς κατεσκεύασεν … εἶδος [φησιν εἶναι] ⟨γὰρ⟩ τὸ τὴν ποιότητα τῶν μελῶν ἐν τῷ χαρακτῆρι τῆς μορφῆς ἑκάστου ἐμφαῖνον. … ὥσπερ ἦν τὸ Ἰησοῦ εἶδος καὶ Μωυσέως καὶ Ἠλίου, οὐχ ἕτερον ἐν τῇ μεταμορφώσει παρ᾽ ὃ ἦν … ### English translation (Claude) "... 'as the form of Jesus and of Moses and Elijah was not other in the transfiguration than it had been' ... 'What need, then, have those who are punished of teeth? For they will not eat in Gehenna. For the Creator made every member for some use' ... 'For form is what displays the quality of the members in the character of each one's shape' ... 'as the form of Jesus and of Moses and Elijah was not other in the transfiguration than it had been' ..." [Slavonic version, translated from N. Bonwetsch's German:] "But a certain man is insolent in this too. For after asserting that the form is what rises, when it is granted a change to greater glory, 'as the form of Jesus was,' he trampled on his own word again, having forgotten it, and like those without reason began to proclaim something else. For, not wishing to speak according to the true word, 'where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,' he has rather devised another word opposed to it: 'It is not possible for us to rise in the same constitution, having legs again and hands and the like.' He has said things that altogether contradict themselves. For how is it not contradictory, when, after establishing that the abiding form rises, he further asserts that the same impress will not exist, although there will be no other form than the sameness of the impress, which shows each form in each person? For the form, he says, is what shows [the quality of the members]. So, if he hopes that the resurrection will take place in the form, one must rise again having that form, that is, hands and feet and the other members, even if the body will be changed into something finer. Origen says: 'For it is unfitting to rise in the same shape, having feet and teeth and the other members ...' For if there is no need at all there of hand or foot or the other members, then the form does not rise either. But if the form rises, everything must rise in the first shape. For even if the body given to the soul is to be a psychic one, it too must be shaped into the first body and in its likeness, if what rises exists only in the form. If there is no need of feet or teeth in the resurrection, there is no need for the form to rise either. And if the form does not rise, then that fine body cannot be characterized by this body; for how could that body be reshaped into members we have no need of? So if the form rises, he contradicts himself, destroying the resurrection for the regeneration of the members; and if even the form does not rise, he contradicts himself on this and is inconsistent, expecting each to receive the form that will not be received ... the resurrection of all will be [like the transfiguration]. So if the resurrection of all will be as Jesus' appearing on the mountain was, the resurrection is proclaimed in the same members. For Jesus did not have another body in the transfiguration than his real one, in which he was also glorified, having hands and a body and eyes, so that we may clearly recognize that we too will rise in this body, and that this body will be glorified." ### Scripture references - Matt 17:2: allusion, high confidence - Matt 8:12: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Only excerpts of this chapter survive in Greek (shown in the original column and translated first). The whole chapter survives in the Old Slavonic version; it follows in brackets, translated from Bonwetsch's German (GCS 27, 1917), and so overlaps the Greek excerpts. - These are Origen's words (cf. 1.22 and 1.24) quoted inside the German of Book 3, chapters 7-8; the German is staged as 3.7-3.8 and already translates them. They need not be published separately. - In 'εἶδος [φησιν εἶναι] ⟨γὰρ⟩' the edition brackets the words 'he says it is' (from Photius) and supplies 'for' from the Slavonic; the translation follows the edition. - Book 3, chapter 7. Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic; Greek words from Origen are printed in the German in the edition, and the Slavonic is defective at the points marked '...'. Some Greek fragments of this chapter were staged inside ref 3.6 (see the report). - Matt 17:2; Matt 8:12. Origen's words recall 1.24 (staged '1.23'). ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 3.7 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:398; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-7). ## Res. 3.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-8 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:400 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: Against Origen's spiritual reading of the 'gnashing of teeth', the narrator argues that Scripture speaks sometimes literally and sometimes spiritually, as its uses of 'garments' show, so bodily teeth are meant here. ### English translation (Claude) "And yet he did not see with his understanding; even though he knew that too, he came out with contradictions, arguing with bad persuasion. For he says: 'It is written, "You have broken the teeth of sinners," and "The Lord has broken the teeth of the lions," and "His teeth are whiter than milk." This must be understood not of sensible teeth but of certain spiritual teeth: God has broken these teeth of sinners. So, correspondingly, "where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" must be understood in the same way.' For he does not remember that the word of Scripture must sometimes be understood as it stands and sometimes explained spiritually. It is written: 'While the food was still in their mouth, the wrath of God came upon them,' because they blasphemed God as unable to set a table for them. And see again how Scripture speaks of spiritual garments: 'For the queen stands at your right hand,' and so on; and 'Let my soul rejoice in the Lord, for he has clothed me with garments of salvation.' This he does not say of visible garments. But in other places he speaks plainly of visible garments: 'They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing'; and 'Whoever has two garments, let him give to him who has none.' This must be read with understanding, taking the one spiritually and the other literally. This can be recognized from the word of the Gospel, for it is written: 'That the Scripture might be fulfilled: They divided my garments,' and so on. And as here Scripture speaks both of sensible and of spiritual garments, so what is said of bones and of teeth must be understood." ### Scripture references - Ps 3:7 (3:8 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 58:6 (57:7 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Gen 49:12: quotation, high confidence - Matt 8:12: quotation, high confidence - Ps 78:30 (77:30 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 78:31 (77:31 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 78:19 (77:19 LXX): allusion, medium confidence - Ps 45:9 (44:10 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Isa 61:10: quotation, high confidence - Ps 22:18 (21:19 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Luke 3:11: quotation, high confidence - John 19:24: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Book 3, chapter 8. Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. - Ps 3:7 (LXX 3:8); Ps 58:6 (LXX 57:7); Gen 49:12; Matt 8:12; Ps 78:30-31 (LXX 77:30-31), with 78:19; Ps 45:9 (LXX 44:10); Isa 61:10; Ps 22:18 (LXX 21:19); Luke 3:11; John 19:24. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 3.8 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:400; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-8). ## Res. 3.9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-9 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:403 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The return from Babylon did not fulfil Ezekiel's promise, since Jerusalem was repeatedly captured afterwards, as Josephus records. ### Greek text οὐδὲ γὰρ οὐδὲ αὐτοὶ πρὸς ἐλευθερίαν ἀνέσφηλαν καθαράν, οὐδὲ τῶν ἐχθρῶν κατακρατήσαντες ἐξουσιαστικώτερον κατῴκησαν τὴν Ἱερουσαλήμ. εἴργοντο γοῦν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀλλοεθνῶν πολλάκις οἰκοδομῆσαι θελήσαντες τὸν ναόν· ὅθεν καὶ ἐν τεσσαράκοντα αὐτὸν καὶ ἕξ ἔτεσι μόλις ἠδυνήθησαν δείμασθαι, τοῦ Σολομῶντος ἐν ἑπταετεῖ χρόνῳ ἐκ θεμελίων αὐτὸν συμπληρώσαντος. καὶ τί χρὴ λέγειν; ἀπὸ γὰρ δὴ Ναβουχοδονόσορ καὶ τῶν μετ᾿ αὐτὸν Βαβυλῶνος βασιλευσάντων ἄχρι τῆς Περσῶν ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἀσσυρίους καθόδου, τῆς τε Ἀλεξάνδρου ἡγεμονίας, καὶ τοῦ Ῥωμαίων τοῦ πρὸς τοὺς Ἰουδαίους συρραγέντος πολέμου, ἑξάκις κατεστράφησαν ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα... καὶ τοῦτο Ἰώσηππος ἱστορεῖ λέγων »ἔτει δευτέρῳ τῆς Οὐεσπασιανοῦ ἡγεμονίας, ἁλοῦσα δὲ καὶ πρότερον πεντάκις, τοῦτο δεύτερον ἠρημώθη. Ἀσοχαῖος μὲν γὰρ ὁ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων βασιλεύς, καὶ μετ᾽ αὐτὸν Ἀντίοχος, ἔπειτα Πομπήϊος, καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις σὺν Ἡρώδῃ Σόσσιος ἑλόντες ἐνέπρησαν τὴν πόλιν· πρὸ δὲ τούτων ὁ τῶν Βαβυλωνίων βασιλεὺς κρατήσας ἠρήμωσεν αὐτήν.« ### English translation (Claude) "... For neither did they themselves rise again to pure freedom, nor, having overcome their enemies, did they dwell in Jerusalem with greater authority. Indeed, they were often prevented by the foreign nations when they wanted to build the temple; that is why they were barely able to build it in forty-six years, whereas Solomon completed it from the foundations in seven years. And what need is there to say more? From Nebuchadnezzar and those who reigned in Babylon after him, until the descent of the Persians against the Assyrians, the rule of Alexander, and the war of the Romans that broke out against the Jews, Jerusalem was overthrown six times by its enemies ... And Josephus records this, saying: 'In the second year of Vespasian's rule ... having been captured five times before, it was now laid waste a second time. For Asochaeus the king of the Egyptians, and after him Antiochus, then Pompey, and after these Sosius with Herod, captured the city and burned it; but before these the king of the Babylonians captured it and laid it waste.'" [Slavonic version, translated from N. Bonwetsch's German:] "He also speaks of Ezekiel's prophecy of the bones that rise: he says it speaks of the captivity, that the people were like withered bones through grief and toil, and he calls their return a resurrection. That is why they said, 'Our bones were withered,' that is, in the captivity; so the promise of the resurrection of the people is a promise as from death and from exile. But the word runs as follows (let us look at the text of the Bible too): 'And the hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a plain, and it was full of human bones.' And soon after: 'And I will put my Spirit upon you, and you shall live ... And I prophesied as the Lord commanded me.' And soon after: 'And I looked, and behold, sinews and flesh grew upon them, and skin came upon them,' and so on. 'And he said to me, Prophesy to the wind, son of man. And I said to the wind, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds and breathe upon these dead.' And soon after: 'Thus says the Lord: Behold, I open your graves and bring you up out of your graves.' And soon after: 'And you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken and I will do it, says the Lord God.' While the word shows the resurrection of the dead from the grave, and those scattered bones adorned with sinews and flesh and skin and made alive by the Holy Spirit, Origen foolishly understands them of the captivity, as though the people had been set free as from death from that heavy servitude. But the prophet does not say that there were men on that plain, but human bones. For if this were said not of bones without souls but of the living and the captives, then the very people who were alive at the time of the prophecy, to whom the promise was made, would have had to be freed from captivity and come to their own land. But if those to whom the word came are shown not to have returned from captivity, but to have died there among the Chaldeans with Zedekiah, then the truth contradicts you, Origen; for seventy years were completed from the time Jerusalem was taken captive. Origen himself teaches that a prophecy is fulfilled not in something else but in that about which it was prophesied: for 'they say, Our bones were withered, we are lost' is said not of others but of those very people who were led captive. So if this is said of them, those in Babylon, the promise of return was also made to them. Why did they not enjoy the promise, but perished in servitude? ... 'nor did he lay it waste after capturing it.' So the promise of God was not fulfilled in the later generations either, as I understand it, even if Origen thinks that God's promise is only words and not deeds. The words of Scripture by which he would like to confirm this explanation also contradict him. For what is said in Scripture, 'Our bones are scattered in Hades' and 'Heal me, for my bones are troubled,' is said in truth of bones scattered after the death of this body, the souls praying to be freed from that scattering and slaughter." ### Scripture references - John 2:20: allusion, high confidence - 1 Kgs 6:38: allusion, high confidence - Ezek 37:11: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 37:1: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 37:6: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 37:7: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 37:8: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 37:9: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 37:12: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 37:14: quotation, high confidence - Jer 52:11: allusion, medium confidence - Jer 25:11: allusion, medium confidence - Ps 141:7 (140:7 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 6:2 (6:3 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Josephus, B.J. 6.435-437 (Josephus (works)): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Only excerpts of this chapter survive in Greek (shown in the original column and translated first). The whole chapter survives in the Old Slavonic version; it follows in brackets, translated from Bonwetsch's German (GCS 27, 1917), and so overlaps the Greek excerpts. - Greek of Book 3, chapter 9 (from Photius; ANF 6 synopsis 18), to be inserted at the gap in the German staged as 3.9. John 2:20; 1 Kgs 6:38; Josephus, Jewish War 6.435-437. - Book 3, chapter 9. Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. At the gap marked '...' the edition prints a Greek passage (from Photius) on the six captures of Jerusalem, ending with a quotation from Josephus; it was staged inside ref 3.6 and is supplied separately (see the report). - Ezek 37:1-14 (Septuagint); Jer 52:8-11 (Zedekiah); Jer 25:11-12; Ps 141:7 (LXX 140:7); Ps 6:2 (LXX 6:3). The reference is to Origen's interpretation in his comment on Ps 1:5 (1.23-1.24). ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 3.9 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:403; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-9). ## Res. 3.10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-10 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:405 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen's seed analogy, quoted again in Book 3, chapter 10. ### Greek text ⟨ὡς γὰρ⟩ ὁ σπερματικὸς λόγος ἐν τῷ κόκκῳ τοῦ σίτου δραξάμενος τῆς παρακειμένης ὕλης καὶ δι᾿ ὅλης αὐτῆς χωρήσας περιδραξάμενος αὐτῆς, τοῦ αὐτοῦ εἴδους οὗ ἔχει δυνάμεων ἐπιτίθησι τῇ ποτὲ γῇ καὶ ὕδατι καὶ ἀέρι καὶ πυρὶ καὶ νικήσας τὰς ἐκείνων ποιότητας μεταβάλλει ἐπὶ ταύτην, ἧς ἐστιν αὐτὸς δημιουργός, καὶ οὗτος συμπληροῦται ὁ στάχυς, εἰς ὑπερβολὴν διαφέρων τοῦ ἐξ ἀρχῆς κόκκου. ### English translation (Claude) "'... [For as] the seminal principle in the grain of wheat lays hold of the matter lying around it, passes through the matter itself, and, having grasped it, imposes on what was once earth and water and air and fire the powers it has of its own form, and, overcoming their qualities, changes them into the form of which it is itself the maker; and so the ear is filled out, differing exceedingly from the original grain.'" [Slavonic version, translated from N. Bonwetsch's German:] "Let us examine also the parable of the grain of wheat, how, when sown and grown into a blade, it comes again to its old form. The apostle too says: 'But someone will say, How are the dead raised? With what form do they come?' Origen explains this and says: 'So if our body is like a grain of wheat, and is sown and decays like a grain, while the shoot within it lets the former constitution gain substance in the ear, and what rises is not what was sown but what comes from what was sown, so too our body will at that time gain substance from the matter at hand, receiving a spiritual body, not heavy or hard like this earthly one of flesh and bone, but delicate and as if of air; for such is the spiritual body.' This he writes in his treatise on the resurrection. And he also writes in that on the Psalms: 'For as the seminal principle ...' It is clear that Origen cannot think quite exactly about the grain of wheat. For he said that 'the grain passes into another body, that is, that of the ear, and its constitution changes through the decay and through the growth,' and that what remains of the plant is not like it, so that there is a great difference between the grain and the ear in shape and size and adornment, and that the resurrection of the dead happens in the same way as with what is sown and sprouts, so that the dying body must necessarily be unlike the rising one. But he erred altogether, not having grasped how to think rightly about nature, when he said, 'What is sown is one thing, and what sprouts from what is sown is another.' To me it seems more correct that from the same grain a grain of the same kind is born, the same in every respect, in size and in all its properties. What else is the ear but a grain of wheat that has not yet thrown off the garment of its husk? So it would be better to say that the grains are more useful than the ear; for the grains are the wheat, fit to be laid in the barn, but the ear is the wheat still mixed with husks. And if it is according to this word, the risen body is inferior to the one that died. For if the sown wheat changes into the ear, and the ears are nothing but wheat not yet separated from the husks, and Origen prefers to compare the resurrection of our bodies to the ears rather than to what is sown, which is the wheat, then according to Origen the risen body will not only not be better than the one that died, but even inferior. And if we say that the ear is more beautiful than the grain, that sown grain too was an ear before. If the sown grain had never previously grown as an ear, it would be right to say that the grain sown first is not equal to the ear; but if the sown grain too was previously in an ear, how can what is sown differ from what has grown? The apostle, then, wishing to show the resurrection of the dead to those who did not yet believe in it, makes a comparison from this visible thing, saying, 'Fool, what you sow does not come to life unless it first dies,' and so on. For as that too seems to have died, but in its time comes to life again more beautiful, so the dead bodies too will rise on that day at the Lord's command." ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 15:37: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:35: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:36: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Only excerpts of this chapter survive in Greek (shown in the original column and translated first). The whole chapter survives in the Old Slavonic version; it follows in brackets, translated from Bonwetsch's German (GCS 27, 1917), and so overlaps the Greek excerpts. - The same words of Origen as at the end of Book 1, chapter 24 (staged '1.23'). 1 Cor 15:37. - Book 3, chapter 10. Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. Origen is quoted from his lost treatise On the Resurrection and from his commentary on the Psalms (the Greek of the latter quotation is printed in the edition: cf. 1.24, staged '1.23'; it was staged inside ref 3.6). - 1 Cor 15:35-38. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 3.10 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:405; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-10). ## Res. 3.11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-11 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:407 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: Origen cannot consistently give the saints glorious new bodies while the punished sinners must also have incorruptible bodies to endure torment. ### English translation (Claude) "Strange too is something we almost forgot: that the bodies of the saints, when they rise, are changed into another, wonderful shape, but those of the sinners are not, if it is to be impossible for those bodies to rise. For no one dares to say that those of whom Daniel says that they rise 'to great shame' will be 'conformed' to the body of Christ. But if Origen, eager to hold his ground and compelled by this logical construction, says that the sinners will have very despised bodies, he is thereby convicted of holding that not these bodies rise but bodies more contemptible than these, and he contradicts himself when he says that our bodies cannot rise to a life of rest. For if the bodies of the sinners are tormented, they must surely be incorruptible and immortal, so that they are able to endure the torment." ### Scripture references - Phil 3:21: quotation, high confidence - Dan 12:2: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Book 3, chapter 11. Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. Phil 3:21; Dan 12:2. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 3.11 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:407; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-11). ## Res. 3.12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-12 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:407 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: Against Origen's claim that the risen Christ showed the disciples a body adapted to their sight rather than his real one, the narrator insists from Luke 24 and John 20 that Christ rose in the same body of flesh and bones. ### English translation (Claude) "We must also speak to him about the resurrection of Christ from the dead. For he says that the Son of God did not rise with the same body in which he suffered, writing as follows. Origen: 'But since someone may say, adducing the resurrection of Christ, that we too can rise in that shape, having two hands and feet again, and, if someone has a wound, keeping it after the resurrection, as the Saviour too said, "Touch me" and "See the print of the nails," we say to him: the Saviour, when he rose and wished to appear to the disciples, both to "five hundred at once" and at another time to others, had to rise in such a way that they could see him, not with the body of his glory, as he appeared on the mountain when he was transfigured, but as they had seen him before the passion.' And the apostle too, who knows another 'body of glory' in place of Christ's 'body of humiliation' (another, I say, not in substance, but by the transfiguration of the body 'of humiliation'), says that those who rise will rise changed. And since he asserts that Christ appeared to the apostles not with that body with which he appeared to the world, born of the Virgin, but with another, changed in appearance into that former one, so that the 'five hundred' and the apostles who saw him might think that he rose in the body of humiliation and not in the body of glory, we ought to ask him: did the Son of God hesitate, and not show the disciples his real body but hide it from them, though they were to go through the whole earth proclaiming the resurrection of the dead and to assure all lands of this hope? What did he have in mind, then, that he did not rather show the world the true body? But he never lied, being the truth and the wisdom of the Father. So he did not lie to the apostles, nor show himself in seeming in another body and not in the one in which he suffered. For if we say that he did not rise in the body in which he was before the passion, but in another, deceiving the apostles as though he had risen in that one, we blaspheme and lie, making the Truth a liar, and we do not believe him when he says in the Gospel of Luke, 'See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself,' and in that of John again to Thomas, 'Reach your finger here and see my hands,' and so on. If he himself thus assures us of the body composed of flesh and bones, how do we still dare to say that another, spiritual body rises in place of this one, contrary to the saying and teaching of Christ?" ### Scripture references - Luke 24:39: quotation, high confidence - John 20:27: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:6: quotation, high confidence - Matt 17:2: allusion, high confidence - Phil 3:21: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:51: allusion, medium confidence - John 14:6: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 1:24: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Book 3, chapter 12. Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. Origen's words are also quoted in Pamphilus, Apology for Origen 7 (as noted in the edition). - Luke 24:39; John 20:27; 1 Cor 15:6; Matt 17:2; Phil 3:21; 1 Cor 15:51-52; John 14:6; 1 Cor 1:24. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 3.12 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:407; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-12). ## Res. 3.13 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-13 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:409 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: If the disciples could see Christ's glory as novices at the transfiguration, they could have seen it after the resurrection; instead Christ showed them his flesh and bones, as Paul's creed also teaches. ### English translation (Claude) "But if he objects, saying something else: 'Because they could not see him in the body of his glory, he appeared to them in the body of humiliation, as they were able to see him,' this is an impossible argument on his part. Why were the athletes able to see his glory at the transfiguration, although they were not yet fully perfect? If, according to Origen, the 'body of glory' is one thing and the body 'of humiliation' another, would it not rather have befitted them to see his body of glory when they were not yet more perfect? For they would have longed much more to see him now than at that sight. On that mountain they were still novices, when they saw him with Elijah and Moses; so one can recognize from this too how much more perfect they were afterwards than when they were with him on the mountain. That is why he said to them afterwards, making them partakers of great mysteries: 'No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing,' and so on; and again, 'What I have heard from the Father I have made known to you.' How then, if according to Origen they could not see Christ's body of glory? How could they see the glory of his body while still novices, but not see his face when he made known to them what he had heard from the Father? Come now, let us grant him even that the disciples could not see the Lord in his body of glory: why then, when handing over to them the mystery of peace and incorruption, if they could not see him with their senses, did he not make it plain by saying: 'I have risen in another, fleshless body; such is the resurrection of the dead. Because you cannot see me otherwise, I appeared to you in the body of humiliation. So do not teach the world that there is a resurrection of the flesh, or that one receives this body again'? But he did not speak so; he said, 'Touch me and see that it is I myself; for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.' And the apostle again says, 'I make known to you the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received'; and soon after, 'that Christ suffered for our sins, and that he was buried and rose, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the eleven; then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once.' And writing to Timothy a second time: 'Remember Christ, risen from the dead, of the seed of David.'" ### Scripture references - Matt 17:1: allusion, high confidence - John 15:15: quotation, high confidence - Luke 24:39: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:1: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:3: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:4: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:5: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:6: quotation, high confidence - 2 Tim 2:8: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Book 3, chapter 13. Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. 'The athletes' are the disciples (a favourite image of Methodius). - Matt 17:1-3 (Mark 9:2; Luke 9:28); John 15:15; Luke 24:39; 1 Cor 15:1-6; 2 Tim 2:8. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 3.13 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:409; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-13). ## Res. 3.14 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-14 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:410 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The 'body of humiliation' was once a body of glory before the fall, and it is this same body that will rise glorified. ### Greek text (καὶ τοῦτό ποτε ἡμῶν τὸ σῶμα σῶμα δόξης ἦν πρὸ τῆς παραβάσεως, καὶ οὕτως ἔνδοξον ἦν, ὅτι νῦν μετὰ τὴν παράβασιν σῶμα ταπεινώσεως λέγεται. οὐ γὰρ ἂν εἰ μὴ ἔνδοξον ἦν, ταπεινώσεως νῦν ἐκλήθη. ταπεινοῦται γὰρ ἀπὸ σφάλματος τὸ ἔνδοξον. τὸ γὰρ ἀεὶ ταπεινὸν οὐκ ἂν τις εἴποι ὅτι διὰ τὴν παράβασιν ἐταπεινώθη. καὶ γὰρ καὶ περὶ τοῦ ἱσταμένου, εἰ πέσοι, λέγομεν ὅτι ἔπεσε, περὶ δὲ τοῦ ἀεὶ κειμένου οὐκ ἂν τις εἴποι ὅτι ἁμαρτῆσαν ἔπεσεν. ὥστε τοῦτο τὸ σῶμα ἄφθαρτον καὶ ἔνδοξον γινόμενον ἀνίσταται καὶ οὐχ ἕτερον.) ### English translation (Claude) "(And this body of ours was once a body of glory, before the transgression, and so glorious that now, after the transgression, it is called a body of humiliation. For it would not now have been called 'of humiliation' unless it had been glorious; for what is glorious is humbled through a fall. No one would say of what is always lowly that it was humbled because of the transgression. For of what stands, if it falls, we say that it fell; but of what always lies down no one would say that it fell by sinning. So it is this body that rises, becoming incorruptible and glorious, and not another.)" [Slavonic version, translated from N. Bonwetsch's German:] "So one must not think that the body of glory is one and the body of humiliation another; it is one and the same body, of glory and of humiliation. And the apostle again speaks of these: 'Who will transform the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of Christ's glory.' He does not speak of two different bodies, but plainly hopes that the very same lowly, buried and scattered body will rise to glory and incorruption at God's command. And the Lord, when he went up the mountain and was transfigured, did not appear to the apostles transfigured into another body, but was seen with the very body he had, made to shine through. So it is clear that the sameness of the body remains in the glorified body too. Here the word runs thus: 'And after six days Jesus took Peter and James and John and was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun.' If, then, the change of the body will take place after the pattern of Christ's transfiguration, it must also rise with the adornment of face and hand and foot and the other members, and not, as Origen thought, change into another shape, destroying the identity of each. So it is not possible for another body to rise in place of the one in which I now am. [16] "Let us take other proofs from Scripture as well, which show that this corruptible shape of ours is not changed into another, but that in this visible shape we shall share in the glory of God. For see, Moses too received the shining of his face not in another shape but in this one. For Scripture says, 'When Moses came down from the mountain, he did not know that his face was glorified,' 'and they were afraid to come near him.' So we have shown that glorification is not a destruction of the body, but rather a change to what is better and more glorious, from corruption to incorruption, so that, as our body was humbled when it was given over to impurity, so it may shine again when it is freed from it. And Daniel says, 'And those who understand will shine like the sun.' Now it is a body neither of continence nor of self-control; then it will be one of continence and self-control. Now we see the good 'as through a mirror, but then face to face.' So now it is a body of weakness and corruption, but then of power and incorruption. For so the apostle says somewhere: 'It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption'; for the will of God far surpasses every natural cause, so that the body may be ageless and free of suffering for ever, able to hold perfect knowledge within itself, having already become a spiritual body. [17] "Having shown this, we must go through Origen's further words too. After this the man writes about Lazarus and the rich man, of whom the one 'rests' and the other is 'tormented'; and the latter asks that Lazarus may drip with his little finger on his tongue ... For after first destroying the shape of man, saying that it does not rise in the regeneration, he undertakes again to say not only that it is saved, but also that it is in Hades with the soul, compelled to speak the truth of the matter itself. For if one is to say that the soul has a body shaped like this body, it is altogether necessary that the same shape be preserved for each after death and after the resurrection." ### Scripture references - Phil 3:21: allusion, high confidence - Phil 3:21: quotation, high confidence - Matt 17:1: quotation, high confidence - Matt 17:2: quotation, high confidence - Exod 34:29: quotation, high confidence - Exod 34:30: quotation, high confidence - Dan 12:3: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 13:12: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:42: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:43: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:44: allusion, high confidence - Luke 16:24: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Only excerpts of this chapter survive in Greek (shown in the original column and translated first). The whole chapter survives in the Old Slavonic version; it follows in brackets, translated from Bonwetsch's German (GCS 27, 1917), and so overlaps the Greek excerpts. - Greek fragment of Book 3, chapter 14, printed by the edition in brackets; it belongs with the German staged as 3.14. Phil 3:21. - Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. This unit holds Book 3, chapter 14 and chapters 16 and 17 (their numerals survive in garbled form; they begin at "[16]" and "[17]"). Chapter 15 survives only in Greek (pp. 411-412) and was lost in staging; it is supplied separately (see the report). The Slavonic is defective at the point marked '...'. - Phil 3:21; Matt 17:1-2; Exod 34:29-30; Dan 12:3; 1 Cor 13:12; 1 Cor 15:42-44; Luke 16:22-25. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 3.14 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:410; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-14). ## Res. 3.15 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-15 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:411 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Methodius asks what shape Origen's risen body would have if not the human one, which bears God's image, and explains 'spiritual body' as a body filled with the Holy Spirit, not one made of air. ### Greek text Ποδαπὸν ἄρα ἐστὶ καὶ σχῆμα τὸ ἀνιστάμενον, εἰ ὅλως τὸ ἀνθρωποειδὲς τοῦτο, ὡς ἄχρηστον ὂν κατ᾽ αὐτόν, ἐξαφανίζεται, ὃ πάντων ἐστὶ τῶν εἰς ζῷα συγκεκριμένων σχημάτων ἐρασμιώτατον, ᾧ καὶ τὸ θεῖον χρῆται εἰκόνι, καθάπερ καὶ ὁ σοφώτατος Παῦλος δηλοῖ »ἀνὴρ μὲν γάρ« (λέγων) »οὐκ ὀφείλει κατακαλύπτεσθαι τὴν κεφαλήν, εἰκὼν καὶ δόξα θεοῦ ὑπάρχων«, εἰς ὃ καὶ τὰ νοερὰ τῶν ἀγγέλων σώματα διεκοσμήθησαν; ἆρα κυκλοτερὲς ἢ πολυγώνιον ἢ κυβικὸν ἢ πυραμοειδές; πλεῖσται γὰρ τῶν σχημάτων αἱ παραλλαγαί. ἀλλὰ τοῦτο ἀμήχανον. οὐκοῦν τίς ἡ ἀποκλήρωσις τὸ μὲν θεοείκελον σχῆμα (ὁμολογεῖ γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁμοειδῆ εἶναι τὴν ψυχὴν τῷ σώματι) ἀπαγορεύεσθαι ὡς ἀκλεέστερον, ἄπουν δὲ καὶ ἄχειρον ἀνίστασθαι; … (οὐκοῦν) ὁ μετασχηματισμὸς ἡ εἰς τὸ ἀπαθὲς καὶ ἔνδοξόν ἐστιν ἀποκατάστασις· νῦν μὲν γὰρ σῶμα ἐπιθυμίας ἐστὶ καὶ ταπεινώσεως (διὸ καὶ Δανιὴλ »ἀνὴρ ἐπιθυμιῶν« ἤκουε), τότε δὲ μετασχηματισθήσεται εἰς σῶμα ἀπαθές, οὐ τῇ ἐξαλλαγῇ τῆς διακοσμήσεως τῶν μελῶν, ἀλλὰ τῷ μὴ ἐπιθυμεῖν τῶν ὑλικῶν ἡδονῶν. … σῶμα λέγεται πνευματικόν, οὐ τὸ λεπτομερὲς καὶ ἀερῶδες, καθώς λέγουσί τινες ὅτι τοιοῦτον αἱ ψυχαὶ ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει λήψονται σῶμα, ὧν ἐστιν εἷς καὶ Ὠριγένης, ἀλλὰ πνευματικὸν λέγεται τὸ χωροῦν πᾶσαν τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος τὴν ἐνέργειαν καὶ κοινωνίαν, ὥσπερ οἰνηρὸν καὶ ἐλαιηρὸν σκεῦος καλεῖται τὸ τούτων χωρητικόν. ἀναλόγως οὖν καὶ ψυχικὸν ἐκάλεσε τὸ τῇ ψυχῇ καὶ οὐ πνεύματι ἁγίῳ διοικούμενον. ### English translation (Claude) [15] "What kind of shape, then, is it that rises, if this human form, as useless in his view, is wholly done away with, though it is the loveliest of all the shapes compounded into living creatures, the shape which even the divine uses as an image, as the most wise Paul shows when he says, 'For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God'; the shape into which also the intelligent bodies of the angels have been ordered? Is it round, or polygonal, or cubic, or pyramidal? For the varieties of shapes are very many. But this is impossible. What reason is there, then, that the godlike shape should be rejected as less honourable (for he himself admits that the soul is of the same form as the body), and that it should rise without feet and without hands?" [16] "... So the change of shape is the restoration to what is impassible and glorious. For now it is a body of desire and of humiliation (that is why Daniel heard, 'man of desires'), but then it will be changed into an impassible body, not by an alteration of the arrangement of the members, but by not desiring material pleasures." "... It is called a spiritual body, not what is fine-grained and airy, as some say that the souls will receive such a body in the resurrection, of whom Origen too is one; but what holds all the working and fellowship of the Holy Spirit is called spiritual, just as a vessel that holds wine or oil is called a wine-vessel or an oil-vessel. Correspondingly, he called natural (psychic) what is governed by the soul and not by the Holy Spirit." ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 11:7: quotation, high confidence - Dan 9:23: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:44: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Greek of Book 3, chapter 15 and fragments of chapter 16 (Photius; Oecumenius on 1 Cor 15:44), not staged. ANF 6 synopsis 11-12 translates them. - 1 Cor 11:7; Dan 9:23 (Theodotion, 'man of desires'); 1 Cor 15:44. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 3.15 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:411; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-15). ## Res. 3.17 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-17 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:413 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen's argument from the rich man and Lazarus and from Samuel's appearance that the soul after death has a body-like shape. ### Greek text Περὶ δὲ τοῦ Λαζάρου καὶ τοῦ πλουσίου ἀπορεῖσθαι δύναται, τῶν μὲν ἁπλουστέρων οἰομένων ταῦτα λελέχθαι, ὡς ἀμφοτέρων μετὰ τῶν σωμάτων λαμβανόντων τὰ ἄξια τῶν τῷ βίῳ πεπραγμένων, τῶν δὲ ἀκριβεστέρων, ἐπεὶ μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν οὐδεὶς ἐν βίῳ καταλείπεται, οὐκ ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει οἰομένων ταῦτα γεγονέναι — λέγει γὰρ ὁ πλούσιος ὅτι »πέντε ἀδελφοὺς ἔχω. καὶ ἵνα μὴ ἔλθωσιν εἰς τὸν τόπον τοῦτον τῆς βασάνου, πέμψον Λάζαρον ἀπαγγέλλοντα αὐτοῖς τὰ ἐνταῦθα« —, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ζητούντων τὴν γλῶσσαν καὶ τὸν δάκτυλον καὶ τοὺς κόλπους Ἀβραὰμ καὶ τὴν ἀνάκλισιν. καὶ τάχα τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς ἅμα τῇ ἀπαλλαγῇ σχῆμα, ὁμοιοειδὲς ὃν τῷ παχεῖ καὶ γηΐνῳ σώματι, δύναται οὕτως λαμβάνεσθαι. εἴ ποτε γοῦν ἱστορεῖταί τις τῶν κεκοιμημένων φαινόμενος, ὅμοιος ἑώραται τῷ ὅτε τὴν σάρκα εἶχε σχήματι. εἶτα· Ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ Σαμουὴλ φαινόμενος, ὡς δῆλόν ἐστιν ..., ὁρατὸς ὢν παρίστησιν ὅτι σῶμα περιέκειτο, μάλιστα ἐὰν ἀναγκασθῶμεν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀποδείξεων τὴν οὐσίαν τῆς ψυχῆς ἀσώματον εἶναι καθ᾽ ἑαυτὴν ἀποφήνασθαι. ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ κολαζόμενος πλούσιος καὶ ὁ ἐν κόλποις Ἀβραὰμ πένης ἀναπαυόμενος, πρὸ τῆς παρουσίας τοῦ σωτῆρος καὶ πρὸ τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πρὸ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ⟨γενόμενοι καὶ⟩ λεγόμενοι ὁ μὲν ἐν ᾅδου κολάζεσθαι, ὁ δὲ ἐν κόλποις Ἀβραὰμ ἀναπαύεσθαι, διδάσκουσιν ὅτι καὶ νῦν ⟨ἐν⟩ τῇ ἀπαλλαγῇ σώματι χρῆται ἡ ψυχή. ### English translation (Claude) "About Lazarus and the rich man there can be a difficulty. The simpler think that these things were said as of both receiving, with their bodies, what their deeds in life deserved; but the more exact, since after the resurrection no one is left in life, think that these things do not happen at the resurrection (for the rich man says, 'I have five brothers, and lest they come to this place of torment, send Lazarus to tell them the things here'), and so they inquire about the tongue and the finger and Abraham's bosom and the reclining at table. And perhaps the shape of the soul at the moment of its release, being of the same form as the gross and earthly body, can be understood in this way. If ever anyone of those who have fallen asleep is recorded as appearing, he has been seen like the shape he had when he had the flesh." Then: "And Samuel too, appearing, as is clear ..., being visible, shows that he was clothed with a body, especially if we are compelled by the proofs to declare that the essence of the soul is incorporeal in itself. And the rich man who is punished and the poor man resting in Abraham's bosom, being said, before the coming of the Saviour and before the end of the age and therefore before the resurrection, the one to be punished in Hades and the other to rest in Abraham's bosom, teach that even now, at its release, the soul uses a body." ### Scripture references - Luke 16:28: quotation, high confidence - Luke 16:24: allusion, high confidence - Luke 16:22: allusion, high confidence - 1 Sam 28:14: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Greek of Book 3, chapter 17 (Origen quoted by Methodius, from Photius; ANF 6 synopsis 19), not staged. Luke 16:23-28; 1 Sam 28:11-14. - The edition prints its own heading, [Ὠριγένης τάδε φησί] ('Origen says this'), before the quotation; it is left out of the Greek text here. The whole passage is Origen, quoted by Methodius. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 3.17 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:413; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-17). ## Res. 3.18 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-18 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:414 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen's claim that the soul after death has a body-shaped vehicle contradicts itself: souls are themselves rational bodies shaped in members, so the body that belongs to them must take the same form. ### Greek text Ὄχημα ἄλλο τὸ ὁμοιοειδὲς τῷ αἰσθητῷ τούτῳ μετὰ τὴν ἐντεῦθεν ἐκδημίαν ἔχειν ἐκτιθέμενος τὴν ψυχήν, ἀσώματον ὑπό τι Πλατωνικῶς ἀποφαίνεται αὐτήν. τῷ γὰρ καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ κόσμου ἀποφοίτησιν ὀχήματος αὐτὴν δέεσθαι καὶ περιβολῆς λέγειν, ὡς οὐ δυναμένην κατασχεθῆναι γυμνήν, πῶς οὐκ ἂν καθ᾽ ἑαυτὴν ἀσώματος εἴη; ἀσώματος δὲ οὖσα πῶς οὐκ ἔσται καὶ ἀνεπίδεκτος παθῶν; ἀκολουθεῖ γὰρ τῷ ἀσώματον αὐτὴν ὑπάρχειν καὶ τὸ ἀπαθῆ εἶναι καὶ ἀπερίσπαστον. εἰ μὲν οὖν ὑπὸ ἀλόγου οὐ περιείλκετο ὅλως ἐπιθυμίας, οὐδὲ συμμετεβάλλετο ἀλγοῦντι καὶ πάσχοντι τῷ σώματι (ἀσώματον γὰρ σώματι ἢ σῶμα ἀσωμάτῳ οὐχ ἂν ποτε συμπάθοι), ἦν ἂν ἀσώματον δόξαι αὐτὴν ἀκολούθως τοῖς εἰρημένοις. εἰ δὲ συμπάσχοι τῷ σώματι. καθάπερ καὶ διὰ τῆς ἐπιμαρτυρήσεως τῶν φαινομένων ἀποδείκνυται, ἀσώματος εἶναι οὐ δύναται. ἡ γοῦν ἀγένητος καὶ ἀνενδεὴς καὶ ἀκάματος φύσις ὁ θεὸς μόνος ἄδεται, ἀσώματος ὤν· διὸ καὶ ἀόρατος· »θεὸν« γὰρ »οὐδεὶς ἑώρακεν«. αἱ δὲ ψυχαὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ δημιουργοῦ καὶ πατρὸς τῶν ὅλων, σώματα νοερὰ ὑπάρχουσαι, εἰς λόγῳ θεωρητὰ μέλη διακεκόσμηνται, ταύτην λαβοῦσαι τὴν διατύπωσιν τῆς μορφῆς. ὅθεν καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἅιδῃ, καθάπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Λαζάρου καὶ τοῦ πλουσίου, καὶ γλῶσσαν καὶ δάκτυλον καὶ τὰ ἄλλα μέλη ἱστοροῦνται ἔχειν, οὐχ ὡς σώματος ἑτέρου συνυπάρχοντος αὐταῖς ἀειδοῦς, ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι αὐταὶ φύσει αἱ ψυχαί, παντὸς ἀπογυμνωθεῖσαι περιβλήματος, τοιαῦται κατὰ τὴν οὐσίαν ὑπάρχουσιν. ἀλλὰ γὰρ προδήλου ὑπάρχοντος μὴ εἶναι ἀπαθεῖς τὰς ψυχάς, μηδὲ αὖ μετὰ τὴν τοῦ βίου ἔξοδον ἕτερα σώματα ἔχειν, ἐν οἷς ἐπιφαίνονται πρὸ τῆς ἀναστάσεως, ἀκόλουθον ἂν εἴη διαφωνοῦντα αὐτὸν καὶ ἑαυτῷ ἐναντιούμενον· ὁμολογεῖ γοῦν αὐτός, »κἄν ποτε δή« λέγων »ἱστορῆταί τις τῶν κεκοιμημένων φαινόμενος, ὅμοιος ἑώραται τῷ ὅτε τὴν σάρκα εἶχε σχήματι«. — πῶς οὖν μὴ φῶμέν σε ταῦτα, ὦ Ὡρίγενες, δηλούμενον λέγειν; εἰ γὰρ αὐτὴ ἡ ψυχὴ καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ κόσμου ἔξοδον ὁμοειδής ἐστι τῇ σαρκί, εἰς τὰ αὐτὰ μέλη διατετυπωμένη, ὥστε καὶ γλῶσσαν καὶ δάκτυλον καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ (μέλη) ἔχειν, κατὰ τί δὴ τοῦ μὲν κυριωτάτου καὶ πρώτου, τῆς ψυχῆς, εἰς τοῦτο διακεκοσμημένης τὸ σχῆμα οὐχὶ καὶ τὸ δι᾽ αὐτὴν ἐσόμενον σῶμα εἰς τὸ αὐτὸ εἶδος αὐτῇ διατυπωθήσεται; ### English translation (Claude) "In setting out that the soul, after its departure from here, has another vehicle of the same form as this sensible body, he declares, in Platonic fashion, that it is in some sense incorporeal. For if he says that even after its departure from the world it needs a vehicle and a covering, as though it could not be held naked, how would it not be incorporeal in itself? And being incorporeal, how will it not also be incapable of passions? For it follows from its being incorporeal that it is also impassible and undistracted. If, then, it were not dragged about at all by irrational desire, nor changed together with the body when the body is in pain and suffering (for the incorporeal could never suffer with a body, nor a body with the incorporeal), it might be thought incorporeal, in keeping with what has been said. But if it suffers with the body, as is demonstrated also by the testimony of appearances, it cannot be incorporeal. At any rate God alone is celebrated as the unoriginate, self-sufficient and untiring nature, being incorporeal, and therefore also invisible, for 'no one has seen God.' But souls, being rational bodies, have been ordered by the maker and father of all into members that are visible to reason, having received this impress of form. Hence in Hades too, as in the case of Lazarus and the rich man, they are recorded as having a tongue and a finger and the other members, not as though another, invisible body existed together with them, but because the souls themselves by nature, stripped of every covering, are such in their essence. But since it is plain that souls are not impassible, nor again have other bodies after their departure from life in which they appear before the resurrection, it would follow that he is at variance with himself and contradicts himself. At any rate he himself admits it, saying, 'If ever anyone of those who have fallen asleep is recorded as appearing, he has been seen like the shape he had when he had the flesh.' How then shall we not say that you, Origen, say these things plainly? For if the soul itself, even after its departure from the world, has the same form as the flesh, shaped into the same members, so as to have a tongue and a finger and the other members, why, since the most proper and primary part, the soul, has been ordered into this shape, should not the body that is to exist for its sake also be shaped into the same form as it?" ### Scripture references - John 1:18: quotation, high confidence - Luke 16:24: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Tim. 41e (Plato (works)): allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - Book 3, chapter 18 (Greek from Photius; ANF 6 synopsis 19). The staged text then ran on into the Greek of the end of chapter 21 (on Rom 14:9) and into a fragment on the thousand years that Bonwetsch prints as not belonging to Methodius; these are removed here by a logged correction and supplied separately (see the report). Some OCR slips are corrected. - John 1:18; Luke 16:23-24. The soul's 'vehicle' (ὄχημα) is a Platonist notion (cf. Plato, Tim. 41e). ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 3.18 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:414; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-18). ## Res. 3.19 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-19 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:416 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: If, as the opponents admit, bodiless angels sinned, a spiritual body would not keep souls from sin; so there is no advantage in denying the resurrection of this body. ### English translation (Claude) "Come now: since we have said much against the claim that souls are outside the sensible, and therefore cannot sin when they are outside bodies (for otherwise the serpent could not have seduced them to sin), they need proof, and take refuge in Scripture as in a fortified city ... speaking of the angels who sinned and of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus: 'How then did the angels too sin, though they are without flesh? And is it not likewise written of Lazarus and the rich man that after death they have members?' To them we say: What then, O first of all men, will anyone say? You who yourselves say that it is impossible for souls not to sin while they are in this shape, what have you left to hope for, since even outside this body, even if it receives a spiritual body, the soul will sin? This is foolish to say. For if the angels too sin, though they too are 'spirits' and 'fire,' is it not clear that souls will sin even if they receive bodies like those of the angels? [Origen:] 'So it is foolish to say: in order that we may not sin we need such bodies, and the former body does not rise, so that your souls may not sin in it again.' [Methodius:] For it is clear that there will be no advantage at all. Even if it is not this body but another, spiritual one, we shall sin again and not act justly; for the angels too sinned." ### Scripture references - Gen 6:2: allusion, medium confidence - Ps 104:4 (103:4 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Luke 16:24: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Book 3, chapter 19. Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic; the speaker headings in square brackets are the editor's, and the Slavonic is defective at the point marked '...'. - Gen 6:2; Ps 104:4 (LXX 103:4); Luke 16:19-31. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 3.19 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:416; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-19). ## Res. 3.20 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-20 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:417 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: The narrator rejects the argument that 'all flesh shall see the salvation of God' would imply the resurrection of animals, since Scripture's 'all flesh' elsewhere plainly means human beings. ### English translation (Claude) "Again, those who wish to blaspheme say of the word 'All flesh shall see the salvation of God': 'Fish and cattle are flesh too,' they say; 'so according to these words there will be a resurrection of them as well.' Against them and against Origen we say: How then, my brave man, did the apostle, writing to the Galatians, say, 'By the works of the law no flesh will be justified'? For where do the irrational cattle have a law or correction? So it would be, if he understood 'all flesh,' as you say, of the irrational creatures too, while you try to lead many astray. And where is what the prophet said: 'And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and their sons shall prophesy'? For the Spirit of God does not extend to the irrational creatures. Only by making Scripture contradict itself do they get their many supporting passages, which are altogether unsuitable." ### Scripture references - Luke 3:6: quotation, high confidence - Isa 40:5: quotation, medium confidence - Gal 2:16: quotation, high confidence - Joel 2:28 (3:1 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Book 3, chapter 20. Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. - Luke 3:6 (Isa 40:5); Gal 2:16; Joel 2:28 (LXX 3:1; Acts 2:17). ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 3.20 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:417; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-20). ## Res. 3.21 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-21 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:419 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Romans 14:9: the living are the souls, the dead the bodies. ### Greek text ὥστε τὸ »διὰ τοῦτο Χριστὸς ἀπέθανε ⟨καὶ ἀνέστη καὶ ἔζησεν⟩« λεγόμενον »ἵνα ζώντων καὶ νεκρῶν κυριεύσῃ« ἐπὶ τῶν ψυχῶν καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν σωμάτων παραληπτέον, ζώντων μὲν τῶν ψυχῶν, καθὸ ἀθάνατοι, νεκρῶν δὲ τῶν σωμάτων. ### English translation (Claude) So the saying, 'For this reason Christ died ⟨and rose and lived again⟩, that he might be Lord of the living and the dead,' must be taken of souls and bodies: the souls are the living, as being immortal, and the bodies the dead. [Slavonic version, translated from N. Bonwetsch's German:] "We must also understand what is so often brought forward about 'the dead.' For Origen tries to make a distinction between those called 'the living' and 'the dead,' for whose sake 'Christ died.' But we must not listen to him; for, to deceive his hearer, as though the apostle did not mean us and the bodies that are dead in every sense, he has invented the idea that those who have sinned after baptism are called dead. He writes, explaining the word of the Epistle to the Romans, 'For this reason Christ died and rose and lived again, that he might be Lord of the dead and the living,' and says: 'Over the living, then, such as Paul was: "we who are alive and remain"; and "Abraham and Isaac and Jacob," of whom it is said, "God is not the God of the dead but of the living." But he calls dead those who have sinned again after baptism.' Why then does Christ say that those who are dead through this body receive life again from him? For 'Truly,' he says, 'I say to you, the hour is coming when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has given to the Son also to have life in himself.' And soon after: 'those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.' For the dead who 'hear the voice' of the Lord and rise from 'the tombs,' some going to paradise and others to judgment, are none other than these dead bodies of ours. As he says again, 'Everyone who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.' Here too we can see that he calls the believers living, never to die, but the bodies dying and coming to life again. 'When the Lord comes from heaven with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God, the dead in Christ will rise first,' that is, the bodies; 'then we,' that is, the souls that have received incorruptible bodies, 'will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air,' and so on. And since Origen holds that the dead who rise, 'who hear the voice of the Son of God,' are those who have sinned after coming to faith, and who receive life in the forgiveness of sins, we say: how then did Christ teach, if he had given forgiveness to those who did not keep his commandments, saying, 'Many will say on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons? And he will answer them and say, Depart from me, you who have done lawlessness'; and again, 'And he will say to those on the left, Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire'? For by saying this, does he not show plainly that those who have sinned after baptism and have not repented receive punishment, while those who have not sinned and those who have repented go into life, and not, as Origen thinks, that sinners are not punished? So it is plainly shown that the dead who hear the voice of God and enter into life are not the souls, but these fallen bodies of ours. 'For this reason Christ,' who is the life, 'died, that' he might free those held by death ... [22] "Yet Origen himself also says, concerning those who believe, that it belongs to this body to rise ... and he says: 'That every promise of the resurrection of the dead is about this body which is left dead, the holy Scriptures show in many ways; and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ itself also declares it, who is called "the firstborn from the dead."' ... [23] "So much, then, for Origen. But let us give praise to God, now that we have finished this treatise. Lord my God, I praise you and sing to your name, for you have done wonderful things, a counsel from the beginning and true. For when in Adam we transgressed your commandment, ... has 'swallowed up death in victory' and taken away 'every tear from every face.' For you have made great your 'grace and truth' and your love and kindness toward me. Therefore the poor people bless you, for you have become the helper of every humbled soul. You sent from heaven your Word, who instructs us in the truth, who, being impassible, took on by your will this much-suffering body, so that by suffering the impassible one, having become for the sake of the contest of suffering a suffering to sufferings, might free us from sufferings, and that through the death of the deathless one, a death devised for death, he might extinguish death, so that the mortal might be changed into immortality and the passible into impassibility because of your mercy. For no one at all has withstood your command. You have made what is out of what is not, and nothing of it has been hidden from your art and adornment. For there is no God besides you, ruler of life and death; you are Lord and ruler of all. For your sake are the angels and archangels and all powers and all spirits. Yours is the artwork of the world and all the stars and all the lights, and every day and every night and season, and every height and depth. You hold all things together through your all-holy Wisdom, which shone forth from you before all ages. To you, Lord, I offer the gift of blessing through your priest and only-begotten Son Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, through whom you have led man to immortality, as heartfelt 'fruit of the lips.' For you rejoice to justify those who have chosen to honour him, blessed by offerings of the mind, rational sacrifices, spiritual gifts. And I pray and fall down before you, that you may cleanse me from my sins and not reckon sin to me. For 'it is good to confess' sins, since you are very merciful and patient and kind and gentle, and grieve over our transgressions. Therefore I implore you, for all my sins are manifest before you: have mercy and deliver me, O Lord, from the wrath to come and from the unquenchable fire which you will bring upon those who have not known you nor kept your commandments, when you judge the world in righteousness. To you, Lord, I confess, and I praise and glorify your most holy and most honoured name. Through your Comforter, the 'Perfecter of our souls,' the Spirit, and through Jesus Christ your beloved Son, I ask you that my sins may not be reckoned to me. For if you have chosen to justify, 'who' will be 'the one who condemns,' or who will say to you, Why have you done this? And now, O Lord, do not destroy me with the ungodly, but be merciful; release me from all my debt; be merciful to them, O Lord, and forgive them; be merciful, accept us; deliver us from the judgment that lies before us; amend our mind yourself, so that we may not take offence at you. For in man the inclination to strive after what is harmful is greater, since many fight against us and always turn us to evil. Therefore, O Lord, be to us a strong fortress and the repulse of deceitful plots, for the destruction of the wicked and cunning one, and for the withering of the burning of the flesh! For if you do not shelter us, we 'watch in vain' and 'labour in vain.' Cut away what weighs on us, we pray, and be to us 'helper and advocate' and physician, O great Giver and great Helper, so that we may become strong and healthy through faith to do your commandment. For the sufferer is not himself changed by suffering; powerless to act, he also becomes impatient, and rather strives after what is harmful. Heal us therefore, heal us, healing the diseases of our hearts, O Lord, so that, 'enlightened in the eyes,' we may no longer sleep in death. For yours is the glory and the power, O Christ Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, from eternity and now and into the ages to come. Amen." ### Scripture references - Rom 14:9: quotation, high confidence - 1 Thess 4:15: quotation, high confidence - Matt 22:32: quotation, high confidence - John 5:25: quotation, high confidence - John 5:26: quotation, high confidence - John 5:29: quotation, high confidence - John 11:25: quotation, high confidence - John 11:26: quotation, high confidence - 1 Thess 4:16: quotation, high confidence - 1 Thess 4:17: quotation, high confidence - Matt 7:22: quotation, high confidence - Matt 7:23: quotation, high confidence - Matt 25:41: quotation, high confidence - Col 1:18: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:54: quotation, high confidence - Isa 25:8: quotation, high confidence - Heb 13:15: quotation, high confidence - Rom 12:1: allusion, high confidence - Ps 92:1 (91:2 LXX): quotation, high confidence - 1 Thess 1:10: allusion, high confidence - Rom 8:33: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:34: quotation, high confidence - Ps 127:1 (126:1 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Eph 1:18: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Only excerpts of this chapter survive in Greek (shown in the original column and translated first). The whole chapter survives in the Old Slavonic version; it follows in brackets, translated from Bonwetsch's German (GCS 27, 1917), and so overlaps the Greek excerpts. - Greek of the end of Book 3, chapter 21 (from Photius; ANF 6 synopsis 20); the words 'and rose and lived again' are supplied by the editor. A fragment that the edition prints after the treatise, judging that it is not by Methodius, is not included here. - Rom 14:9. - Translated from Bonwetsch's German translation of the Old Slavonic. This unit holds Book 3, chapter 21 and also chapters 22 and 23 (their numerals survive in garbled form; they begin at "[22]" and "[23]"); the Slavonic is defective at the points marked '...'. In chapter 22 the edition gives Origen's words in Latin (from Rufinus's translation of Pamphilus, Apology for Origen 7), translated here from the Latin; the end of the chapter is obscure in the Slavonic and is not translated. The Greek of the end of chapter 21 was staged inside ref 3.18 (see the report). The staged text ends with a separate Latin fragment and apparatus that do not belong to this treatise; they are not translated. - Chapter 23 is the closing prayer; the edition notes a parallel in an Oxyrhynchus papyrus prayer (P.Oxy. 407). Rom 14:9; 1 Thess 4:15-17; Matt 22:32; John 5:25-26, 29; John 11:25-26; Matt 7:22-23; Matt 25:41; Col 1:18; 1 Cor 15:54; Isa 25:8; Heb 13:15; Rom 12:1; Ps 92:1 (LXX 91:2); 1 Thess 1:10; Rom 8:33-34; Ps 127:1 (LXX 126:1); Eph 1:18. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Res. 3.21 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:419; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-resurrectione/3-5/#p-3-21).