On the Resurrection of the Dead 14
Authorship disputed: The Arethas codex ascribes it to Athenagoras, and the end of the Plea (ch. 36) promises a treatment of the resurrection. Some scholars (notably R. M. Grant, 1954) have argued that its style and arguments point to a later author of the third or fourth century; others (e.g. B. Pouderon) defend Athenagoras's authorship.
Summary: The proper order of proof: first God's purpose in creation and human nature, then the judgment; the resurrection is not only for judgment, since infants too will rise.
Greek text · Otto 7:240–246
Ἡ τῶν τῆς ἀληθείας δογμάτων ἢ τῶν ὁπωσοῦν εἰς ἐξέτασιν προβαλλομένων ἀπόδειξις, τὴν ἀπλανῆ τοῖς λεγομένοις ἐπιφέρουσα πίστιν, οὐκ ἔξωθέν ποθεν ἔχει τὴν ἀρχήν, οὐδʼ ἐκ τῶν τισι δοκούντων ἢ δεδογμένων, ἀλλʼ ἐκ τῆς κοινῆς καὶ φυσικῆς ἐννοίας ἢ τῆς πρὸς τὰ πρῶτα τῶν δευτέρων ἀκολουθίας. Ἢ γὰρ περὶ τῶν πρώτων ἐστὶ δογμάτων, καὶ δεῖ μόνης ὑπομνήσεως τῆς τὴν φυσικὴν ἀνακινούσης ἔννοιαν, ἢ περὶ τῶν κατὰ φύσιν ἑπομένων τοῖς πρώτοις καὶ τῆς φυσικῆς ἀκολουθίας, καὶ δεῖ τῆς ἐπὶ τούτοις τάξεως, δεικνύντας τί τοῖς πρώτοις ἢ τοῖς προτεταγμένοις ἀκολουθεῖ κατʼ ἀλήθειαν, ἐπὶ τὸ μήτε τῆς ἀληθείας ἢ τῆς κατʼ αὐτὴν ἀσφαλείας ἀμελεῖν, μήτε τὰ τῇ φύσει τεταγμένα καὶ διωρισμένα συγχεῖν ἢ τὸν φυσικὸν εἱρμὸν διασπᾶν. Ὅθεν οἶμαι χρῆναι δίκαιον περὶ τῶν προκειμένων ἐσπουδακότας, καὶ κρίνειν ἐμφρόνως θέλοντας εἴτε γίνεται τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων σωμάτων ἀνάστασις εἴτε μή, πρῶτον μὲν ἐπισκοπεῖν καλῶς τῶν πρὸς τὴν τοῦδε δεῖξιν συντελούντων τὴν δύναμιν, καὶ ποίαν ἕκαστον εἴληχε χώραν, καὶ τί μὲν τούτων πρῶτον τί δὲ δεύτερον τί δὲ τρίτον τί δὲ ἐπὶ τούτοις ὕστατον. Ταῦτα δὲ διαταξαμένους χρὴ πρώτην μὲν τάξαι τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων γενέσεως, τοῦτʼ ἔστι τὴν τοῦ δημιουργήσαντος γνώμην καθʼ ἣν ἐποίησεν ἄνθρωπον, ταύτῃ δὲ προσφυῶς ἐπισυνάψαι τὴν τῶν γενομένων ἀνθρώπων φύσιν, οὐχ ὡς τῇ τάξει δευτερεύουσαν, διὰ δὲ τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι κατὰ ταὐτὸν ἀμφοτέρων γενέσθαι τὴν κρίσιν, κἂν ὅτι μάλιστα συνυπάρχωσιν ἀλλήλαις καὶ πρὸς τὸ προκείμενον τὴν ἴσην παρέχωνται δύναμιν. Διὰ δὲ τούτων, ὡς πρώτων καὶ τὴν ἐκ δημιουργίας ἐχόντων ἀρχήν, ἐναργῶς δεικνυμένης τῆς ἀναστάσεως, οὐδὲν ἧττον καὶ διὰ τῶν τῆς προνοίας λόγων ἔστι λαβεῖν τὴν περὶ ταύτης πίστιν, λέγω δὲ διὰ τῆς ἑκάστῳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὀφειλομένης κατὰ δικαίαν κρίσιν τιμῆς ἢ δίκης καὶ τοῦ κατὰ τὸν ἀνθρώπινον βίον τέλους. Πολλοὶ γὰρ τὸν τῆς ἀναστάσεως λόγον διαλαμβάνοντες τῷ τρίτῳ μόνῳ τὴν πᾶσαν ἐπήρεισαν αἰτίαν, νομίσαντες τὴν αἰτίαν γίνεσθαι διὰ τὴν κρίσιν. Τοῦτο δὲ περιφανῶς δείκνυται ψεῦδος ἐκ τοῦ πάντας μὲν ἀνίστασθαι τοὺς ἀποθνήσκοντας ἀνθρώπους, μὴ πάντας δὲ κρίνεσθαι τοὺς ἀναστάντας· εἰ γὰρ μόνον τὸ κατὰ τὴν κρίσιν δίκαιον τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἦν αἴτιον, ἐχρῆν δήπου τοὺς μηδὲν ἡμαρτηκότας ἢ κατορθώσαντας μηδʼ ἀνίστασθαι, τοῦτʼ ἔστι τοὺς κομιδῆ νέους παῖδας· ἐξὸν δὲ πάντας ἀνίστασθαι, τούς τε ἄλλους καὶ δὴ καὶ τοὺς κατὰ τὴν πρώτην ἡλικίαν τελευτήσαντας, καὶ αὐτοὶ δικαιοῦσιν ὡς οὐ διὰ τὴν κρίσιν ἡ ἀνάστασις γίνεται κατὰ πρῶτον λόγον, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν τοῦ δημιουργήσαντος γνώμην καὶ τὴν τῶν δημιουργηθέντων φύσιν.
English · Claude translation
The demonstration of the teachings of truth, or of anything put forward for examination, which gives unwavering conviction to what is said, does not take its starting point from somewhere outside, nor from what seems right to some or has been decided by them, but from the common and natural notion, or from the way secondary things follow from first things. Either it concerns first principles, and needs only a reminder to stir up the natural notion; or it concerns what follows naturally from first principles, and needs to proceed in due order, showing what truly follows from what is first or prior. So one neither neglects the truth or the certainty that goes with it, nor confuses what nature has ordered and distinguished, nor breaks the natural sequence. So I think that those who are serious about the question before us, and wish to judge sensibly whether the resurrection of human bodies takes place or not, should first consider well the force of each argument that contributes to proving it, what place each has, and which comes first, which second, which third, and which last. Having arranged them, one should put first the cause of the creation of human beings, that is, the purpose of the Creator in making the human being; and closely join to this the nature of the human beings created, not because it is second in order, but because one cannot judge both at the same time, even though they exist together and contribute equal force to the question. When the resurrection has been clearly shown by these, as the first arguments, which have their origin in creation, one can obtain conviction about it no less from the arguments of providence: I mean from the honor or punishment owed to each human being by a just judgment, and from the end of human life. Many who have treated the resurrection have rested the whole case on the third argument alone, thinking that the resurrection takes place because of the judgment. This is clearly shown to be false by the fact that all human beings who die rise, but not all who rise are judged. If the justice of the judgment were the only cause of the resurrection, those who have done neither wrong nor right, that is, very young children, ought not to rise. But since all rise, including those who died in infancy, they themselves prove our point: the resurrection takes place, in the first place, not because of the judgment, but because of the purpose of the Creator and the nature of those created.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- “Thinking that the resurrection takes place because of the judgment” gives the sense of a compressed phrase (literally, “thinking that the cause comes about through the judgment”), that is, that the judgment is the whole reason for the resurrection.
- The argument that infants too will rise, though they have nothing to be judged for, shows that for the author the resurrection belongs to human nature as such.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent: grave on Ἢ (“either”) before a following word): Ἤ γὰρ περὶ τῶν πρώτων → Ἢ γὰρ περὶ τῶν πρώτων.
Cite this passage
Athenagoras, Res. 14 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athenagoras-resurrection/14/).
Plain text
Athenagoras, Res. 14 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athenagoras-resurrection/14/).
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