Since Paul says that there is something visible and temporal, and, moreover, something else, invisible and eternal, we ask, why is the visible temporary? Is it not because after this (of the visible world), throughout the whole age to come, when the dispersion and separation of one principle will be brought to one and the same end and likeness, there will be absolutely nothing (visible)? Or perhaps because the form of visible being will pass away, although its substance will not be completely destroyed? Paul seems to confirm the latter assumption when he says: "The image of this world is passing away" (1 Cor. 7:31). David seems to indicate the same thing in the words: "They (the heavens) will perish, but Thou shalt remain; and they shall all wear out like a garment, and as a garment Thou shalt change them, and they shall be changed" (Psalm 101:27). For if the heavens are changed, it means that they will not perish, for what changes, of course, does not yet perish; and if the image of the world is transitory, this does not yet mean the complete annihilation and destruction of material substance, but only indicates a certain change in quality and transformation of form. The same idea is undoubtedly expressed by Isaiah when he says in the form of a prophecy that there will be "a new heaven and a new earth" (Isaiah 66:22). But the renewal of heaven and earth, and the change of the form of the present world, and the change of heavens, are no doubt prepared for those who, following the path shown above, strive for that blessed end to which even the most enemies will submit, and when, according to the words of the Scriptures, God will be all in all. If, however, one admits the complete annihilation of material, i.e., corporeal, nature in that finite state of being, I am at all unable to understand how so many such substances can live and exist without bodies, when it is only in the nature of God, that is, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, to exist without material substance and without any admixture of corporeality. But perhaps someone else will say that in that final state of being the whole corporeal substance will be so pure and purified that it can be thought of as ether and intact.

However, how things will then be known, of course, only God and those who through Christ and the Holy Spirit have become his friends.

(From Jerome's letter to Avitus: "Corporeal beings will be utterly annihilated, or, in the end, bodies will be such as ether and heaven are now, or some other still finer and purer body that can be imagined. If this is so, then it is clear what he (Origen) thinks about the resurrection").

Chapter Seven

On Incorporeal and Bodily Beings

All the above considerations are expressed by us in the form of ordinary considerations: after expounding the doctrine of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we, to the best of our ability, interpreted and reasoned about rational beings, guided more by a sequence of thoughts than by a definite dogma. Now let us consider what we should further discuss in accordance with our dogma, i.e., with the faith of the Church. All souls, and all rational beings in general, both holy and sinful, are created, or created; all of them, by their nature, are incorporeal, but for all this, even with their incorporeality, they are nevertheless created, because everything was created by God through Christ, as John generally teaches in the Gospel, in the following words: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, the Word was God. It was with God in the beginning. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made" (John 1:1-3). And the Apostle Paul, describing all created things according to types, orders and order, and at the same time wishing to show that all things were created through Christ, reason as follows: "By Him were created all things, both in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, dominions, principalities, or powers, all things were created by Him and for Him" (Col. 1:16-18). Thus the Apostle clearly declares that in Christ and through Christ all things are created and created, that is, the visible, that is, the corporeal, and the invisible, by which, in my opinion, we must understand nothing else but incorporeal and spiritual powers. Having named the corporeal and the incorporeal in general, the Apostle, it seems to me, further enumerates the types of beings (incorporeal), namely, thrones, dominions, principalities, powers, powers. We have said this with a view to proceeding further in order to the question of the sun, and the moon, and the stars. The question arises, is it necessary to number them among the principalities, in view of the fact that, according to the Scriptures, they were created as (arhas), i.e., for the rulers of day and night? Or should we think that they have only authority over day and night, since it is their duty to illuminate them, but that they do not belong to the rank of principalities?

When it is said that everything, both heavenly and earthly, was created through Him Himself and created in Him, then without a doubt, that which is in the firmament, which is called heaven and in which these luminaries are established, is also reckoned as heavenly. Further, if it is already evident by reasoning that everything is created and created, and that there is nothing among the created that does not perceive good and evil, and is not capable of both, it may be asked, whether it is consistent to think as some of our own do, namely, that the sun, moon, and stars are immutable, and incapable of the contrary? Some even thought the same about the holy angels, and heretics also about souls, which they call spiritual natures. But let us first of all see what reason itself finds about the sun, moon, and stars, whether the opinion of some about their immutability is correct, and how far this opinion can be confirmed by the Holy Scriptures. Job seems to show that not only can the stars be given over to sin, but that they are not even free from the contagion of sin; for it is written: "The stars are not pure in His sight" (Job 25:5). Of course, this saying cannot be understood in relation to the splendor of their body alone, as we speak, for example, of unclean clothing. For if we were to understand it in this sense, then the reproach of impurity in the splendor of the body of the luminaries would undoubtedly lead us to offend their Creator. Moreover, if the stars can obtain neither a brighter body through diligence, nor a less pure body through sloth, why blame them for impurity, if they do not receive praise for purity?