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Preface
Chapter I: Christ Alone Is Able To Teach Divine Things, And To Redeem Us: He, The Same, Took Flesh Of The Virgin Mary, Not Merely In Appearance, But Actually, By The Operation Of The Holy Spirit, In Order To Renovate Us. Strictures On The Conceits Of Valentinus And Ebion.
Chapter II: When Christ Visited Us In His Grace, He Did Not Come To What Did Not Belong To Him: Also, By Shedding His True Blood For Us, And Exhibiting To Us His True Flesh In The Eucharist, He Conferred Upon Our Flesh The Capacity Of Salvation.
Chapter III: He Power And Glory Of God Shine Forth In The Weakness Of Human Flesh, As He Will Render Our Body A Participator Of The Resurrection And Of Immortality, Although He Has Formed It From The Dust Of The Earth; He Will Also Bestow Upon It The Enjoyment Of Immortality, Just As He Grants It This Short Life In Common With The Soul.
Chapter IV: Those Persons Are Deceived Who Feign Another God The Father Besides The Creator Of The World; For He Must Have Been Feeble And Useless, Or Else Malignant And Full Of Envy, If He Be Either Unable Or Unwilling To Extend External Life To Our Bodies.
Chapter V: The Prolonged Life Of The Ancients, The Translation Of Elijah And Of Enoch In Their Own Bodies, As Well As The Preservation Of Jonah, Of Shadrach, Meshach, And Abednego, In The Midst Of Extreme Peril, Are Clear Demonstrations That God Can Raise Up Our Bodies To Life Eternal.
Chapter VI: God Will Bestow Salvation Upon The Whole Nature Of Man, Consisting Of Body And Soul In Close Union, Since The Word Took It Upon Him, And Adorned With The Gifts Of The Holy Spirit, Of Whom Our Bodies Are, And Are Termed, The Temples.
Chapter VII: Inasmuch As Christ Did Rise In Our Flesh, It Follows That We Shall Be Also Raised In The Same; Since The Resurrection Promised To Us Should Not Be Referred To Spirits Naturally Immortal, But To Bodies In Themselves Mortal.
Chapter VIII: The Gifts Of The Holy Spirit Which We Receive Prepare Us For Incorruption, Render Us Spiritual, And Separate Us From Carnal Men. These Two Classes Are Signified By The Clean And Unclean Animals In The Legal Dispensation.
Chapter IX: Showing How That Passage Of The Apostle Which The Heretics Pervert, Should Be Understood;Viz., "Flesh And Blood Shall Not Possess The Kingdom Of God."
Chapter X: By A Comparison Drawn From The Wild Olive-Tree, Whose Quality But Not Whose Nature Is Changed By Grafting, He Proves More Important Things; He Points Out Also That Man Without The Spirit Is Not Capable Of Bringing Forth Fruit, Or Of Inheriting The Kingdom Of God.
Chapter XI: Treats Upon The Actions Of Carnal And Of Spiritual Persons; Also, That The Spiritual Cleansing Is Not To Be Referred To The Substance Of Our Bodies, But To The Manner Of Our Former Life.
Chapter XII: Of The Difference Between Life And Death; Of The Breath Of Life And The Vivifying Spirit: Also How It Is That The Substance Of Flesh Revives Which Once Was Dead.
Chapter XIII: In The Dead Who Were Raised By Christ We Possess The Highest Proof Of The Resurrection; And Our Hearts Are Shown To Be Capable Of Life Eternal, Because They Can Now Receive The Spirit Of God.
Chapter XIV: Unless The Flesh Were To Be Saved, The Word Would Not Have Taken Upon Him Flesh Of The Same Substance As Ours: From This It Would Follow That Neither Should We Have Been Reconciled By Him.
Chapter XV: Proofs Of The Resurrection From Isaiah And Ezekiel; The Same God Who Created Us Will Also Raise Us Up.
Chapter XVI: Since Our Bodies Return To The Earth, It Follows That They Have Their Substance From It; Also, By The Advent Of The Word, The Image Of God In Us Appeared In A Clearer Light.
Chapter XVII: There Is But One Lord And One God, The Father And Creator Of All Things, Who Has Loved Us In Christ, Given Us Commandments, And Remitted Our Sins; Whose Son And Word Christ Proved Himself To Be, When He Forgave Our Sins.
Chapter XVIII: God The Father And His Word Have Formed All Created Things (Which They Use) By Their Own Power And Wisdom, Not Out Of Defect Or Ignorance. The Son Of God, Who Received All Power From The Father, Would Otherwise Never Have Taken Flesh Upon Him.
Chapter XIX: A Comparison Is Instituted Between The Disobedient And Sinning Eve And The Virgin Mary, Her Patroness. Various And Discordant Heresies Are Mentioned.
Chapter XX: Those Pastors Are To Be Heard To Whom The Apostles Committed The Churches, Possessing One And The Same Doctrine Of Salvation; The Heretics, On The Other Hand, Are To Be Avoided. We Must Think Soberly With Regard To The Mysteries Of The Faith.
Chapter XXI: Christ Is The Head Of All Things Already Mentioned. It Was Fitting That He Should Be Sent By The Father, The Creator Of All Things, To Assume Human Nature, And Should Be Tempted By Satan, That He Might Fulfil The Promises, And Carry Off A Glorious And Perfect Victory.
Chapter XXII: The True Lord And The One God Is Declared By The Law, And Manifested By Christ His Son In The Gospel; Whom Alone We Should Adore, And From Him We Must Look For All Good Things, Not From Satan.
Chapter XXIII: The Devil Is Well Practised In Falsehood, By Which Adam Having Been Led Astray, Sinned On The Sixth Day Of The Creation, In Which Day Also He Has Been Renewed By Christ.
Chapter XXIV: Of The Constant Falsehood Of The Devil, And Of The Powers And Governments Of The World, Which We Ought To Obey, Inasmuch As They Are Appointed Of God, Not Of The Devil.
Chapter XXV: The Fraud, Pride, And Tyrannical Kingdom Of Antichrist, As Described By Daniel And Paul.
Chapter XXVI: John And Daniel Have Predicted The Dissolution And Desolation Of The Roman Empire, Which Shall Precede The End Of The World And The Eternal Kingdom Of Christ. The Gnostics Are Refuted, Those Tools Of Satan, Who Invent Another Father Different From The Creator.
Chapter XXVII: The Future Judgment By Christ. Communion With And Separation From The Divine Being. The Eternal Punishment Of Unbelievers.
Chapter XXVIII: The Distinction To Be Made Between The Righteous And The Wicked. The Future Apostasy In The Time Of Anti-Christ, And The End Of The World.
Chapter XXIX: All Things Have Been Created For The Service Of Man. The Deceits, Wickedness, And Apostate Power Of Antichrist. This Was Prefigured At The Deluge, As Afterwards By The Persecution Of Shadrach, Meshach, And Abednego.
Chapter XXX: Although Certain As To The Number Of The Name Of Antichrist, Yet We Should Come To No Rash Conclusions As To The Name Itself, Because This Number Is Capable Of Being Fitted To Many Names. Reasons For This Point Being Reserved By The Holy Spirit. Antichrist's Reign And Death.
Chapter XXXI: The Preservation Of Our Bodies Is Confirmed By The Resurrection And Ascension Of Christ: The Souls Of The Saints During The Intermediate Period Are In A State Of Expectation Of That Time When They Shall Receive Their Perfect And Consummated Glory.
Chapter XXXII: In That Flesh In Which The Saints Have Suffered So Many Afflictions, They Shall Receive The Fruits Of Their Labours; Especially Since All Creation Waits For This, And God Promises It To Abraham And His Seed.
Chapter XXXIII: Further Proofs Of The Same Proposition, Drawn From The Promises Made By Christ, When He Declared That He Would Drink Of The Fruit Of The Vine With His Disciples In His Father's Kingdom, While At The Same Time He Promised To Reward Them An Hundred-Fold, And To Make Them Partake Of Banquets. The Blessing Pronounced By Jacob Had Pointed Out This Already, As Papias And The Elders Have Interpreted It.
Chapter XXXIV: He Fortifies His Opinions With Regard To The Temporal And Earthly Kingdom Of The Saints After Their Resurrection, By The Various Testimonies Of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, And Daniel; Also By The Parable Of The Servants Watching, To Whom The Lord Promised That He Would Minister.
Chapter XXXV: He Contends That These Testimonies Already Alleged Cannot Be Understood Allegorically Of Celestial Blessings, But That They Shall Have Their Fulfilment After The Coming Of Antichrist, And The Resurrection, In The Terrestrial Jerusalem. To The Former Prophecies He Subjoins Others Drawn From Isaiah, Jeremiah, And The Apocalypse Of John.
Chapter XXXVI: Men Shall Be Actually Raised: The World Shall Not Be Annihilated; But There Shall Be Various Mansions For The Saints, According To The Rank Allotted To Each Individual. All Things Shall Be Subject To God The Father, And So Shall He Be All In All.
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Chapter III: He Power And Glory Of God Shine Forth In The Weakness Of Human Flesh, As He Will Render Our Body A Participator Of The Resurrection And Of Immortality, Although He Has Formed It From The Dust Of The Earth; He Will Also Bestow Upon It The Enjoyment Of Immortality, Just As He Grants It This Short Life In Common With The Soul.
1. The Apostle Paul has, moreover, in the most lucid manner, pointed out that man has been delivered over to his own infirmity, lest, being uplifted, he might fall away from the truth. Thus he says in the second [Epistle] to the Corinthians: "And lest I should be lifted up by the sublimity of the revelations, there was given unto me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me. And upon this I besought the Lord three times, that it might depart from me. But he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee; for strength is made perfect in weakness. Gladly therefore shall I rather glory in infirmities, that the power of Christ may dwell in me."1 What, therefore? (as some may exclaim:) did the Lord wish, in that case, that His apostles should thus undergo buffering, and that he should endure such infirmity? Even so it was; the word says it. For strength is made perfect in weakness, rendering him a better man who by means of his infirmity becomes acquainted with the power of God. For how could a man have learned that he is himself an infirm being, and mortal by nature, but that God is immortal and powerful, unless he had learned by experience what is in both? For there is nothing evil in learning one's infirmities by endurance; yea, rather, it has even the beneficial effect of preventing him from forming an undue opinion of his own nature (non aberrare in natura sua). But the being lifted up against God, and taking His glory to one's self, rendering man ungrateful, has brought much evil upon him. [And thus, I say, man must learn both things by experience], that he may not be destitute of truth and love either towards himself or his Creator.2 But the experience of both confers upon him the true knowledge as to God and man, and increases his love towards God. Now, where there exists an increase of love, there a greater glory is wrought out by the power of God for those who love Him.
2. Those men, therefore, set aside the power of God, and do not consider what the word declares, when they dwell upon the infirmity of the flesh, but do not take into consideration the power of Him who raises it up from the dead. For if He does not vivify what is mortal, and does not bring back the corruptible to incorruption, He is not a God of power. But that He is powerful in all these respects, we ought to perceive from our origin, inasmuch as God, taking dust from the earth, formed man. And surely it is much more difficult and incredible, from non-existent bones, and nerves, and veins, and the rest of man's organization, to bring it about that all this should be, and to make man an animated and rational creature, than to re-integrate again that which had been created and then afterwards decomposed into earth (for the reasons already mentioned), having thus passed into those [elements] from which man, who had no previous existence, was formed. For He who in the beginning caused him to have being who as yet was not, just when He pleased, shall much more reinstate again those who had a former existence, when it is His will [that they should inherit] the life granted by Him. And that flesh shall also be found fit for and capable of receiving the power of God, which at the beginning received the skilful touches of God; so that one part became the eye for seeing; another, the ear for hearing; another, the hand for feeling and working; another, the sinews stretched out everywhere, and holding the limbs together; another, arteries and veins, passages for the blood and the air;3 another, the various internal organs; another, the blood, which is the bond of union between soul and body. But why go [on in this strain]? Numbers would fail to express the multiplicity of parts in the human frame, which was made in no other way than by the great wisdom of God. But those things which partake of the skill and wisdom of God, do also partake of His power.
3. The flesh, therefore, is not destitute [of participation] in the constructive wisdom and power of God. But if the power of Him who is the bestower of life is made perfect in weakness — that is, in the flesh — let them inform us, when they maintain the incapacity of flesh to receive the life granted by God, whether they do say these things as being living men at present, and partakers of life, or acknowledge that, having no part in life whatever, they are at the present moment dead men. And if they really are dead men, how is it that they move about, and speak, and perform those other functions which are not the actions of the dead, but of the living? But if they are now alive, and if their whole body partakes of life, how can they venture the assertion that the flesh is not qualifled to be a partaker of life, when they do confess that they have life at the present moment? It is just as if anybody were to take up a sponge full of water, or a torch on fire, and to declare that the sponge could not possibly partake of the water, or the torch of the fire. In this very manner do those men, by alleging that they are alive and bear life about in their members, contradict themselves afterwards, when they represent these members as not being capable of [receiving] life. But if the present temporal life, which is of such an inferior nature to eternal life, can nevertheless effect so much as to quicken our mortal members, why should not eternal life, being much more powerful than this, vivify the flesh, which has already held converse with, and been accustomed to sustain, life? For that the flesh can really partake of life, is shown from the fact of it; being alive; for it lives on, as long as it is God's purpose that it should do so. It is manifest, too, that God has the power to confer life upon it, inasmuch as He grants life to us who are in existence. And, therefore, since the Lord has power to infuse life into what He has fashioned, and since the flesh is capable of being quickened, what remains to prevent its participating in incorruption, which is a blissful and never-ending life granted by God?
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