10. Let us also pay attention to the Fast of Daniel, which lasted exactly three weeks (Dan. 10:2-3). And the prophet Daniel fasted, and during his fast he prayed for his people, that God might not prolong the slavery of the Jews in the land of Babylon beyond seventy years. For God sometimes diminishes, and sometimes increases, the predestined times. Thus, the time allotted to Noah's antediluvian contemporaries for their destruction was shortened (Gen. 5:32; 6:3; 7:6); on the contrary, the time predestined for the Israelites' sojourn in the land of Egypt was extended, increased (Gen. 15:13; Exodus 12:41). For this reason Daniel feared that the time of the Babylonian captivity would not be extended beyond the time foretold by the Prophet Jeremiah, because of the sins of the Jews. The same conclusion is drawn from the fact that Daniel fasted for such a long time in the seventieth year after the destruction of Jerusalem, and that history is silent as to whether he ever fasted in this way before that time. Thus, it must be assumed that Daniel, fasting for three weeks, asked God precisely that the Jews would not be left in captivity in Babylon for a time, more than seventy years. But here is what is remarkable: after three weeks, spent by Daniel in fasting and prayer, a heavenly messenger appeared to him, who, strengthening and encouraging him, said to him, "Do not be afraid, O Daniel, for from the first day, in which you gave your heart to understand, and labored before the Lord your God, your words were heard, and I came to your words." And the prince of the kingdom of Persia stood against me for twenty days and one day: and behold, Michael, one of the elders, the first to come to help me (Dan. 10:12-13). This messenger, who appeared to Daniel, was the Archangel Gabriel: because it was the work of Gabriel to accept and present our prayers to God. Thus Gabriel came to Zacharias to announce to him the birth of John. And to Zechariah, as to Daniel, he said, Fear not, Zacharias; for thy prayer has been heard" (Luke 1:13, 19). And he lifted up the prayers of Mary to God, and announced to her that she would give birth to Christ, saying, "Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God." And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bear a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus (Luke 1:26, 30-31). And how did Mary find grace with God, if not by fasting and prayer? "And Michael the Archangel was the prince and leader of the people of Israel (Dan. 10:21). He is the angel of whom God said to Moses, "Behold, my angel shall go before you, and shall destroy the inhabitants of the land of Canaan" (Exodus 22:23; 32:34; 33:2). And he stopped Balaam's ass, when Balaam was on his way to Balak, king of Moab, to pronounce a curse upon Israel, Num. 22. He, in the form of a man with a drawn sword in his hand, appeared to Joshua near Jericho (Joshua 5:13-14). And he before Joshua destroyed the wall of Jericho, and slew thirty-one kings (Joshua 6:12). He destroyed a thousand thousand Ephiopites before King Asa (2 Chron. ch. 14). And He, through the prayers of King Hezekiah and the Prophet Isaiah, slew and slew about a hundred and eighty thousand soldiers in the camp of the King of Assyria (2 Kings 19:35; 2 Chron. 32:20-21). And so these are the helpers that Daniel found for himself by his fasting! Fasting and prayer, with which Daniel asked God for the return of the Jews from the captivity of Babylon, raised his desires to the desires of the celestials, the Archangels Gabriel and Michael; for both Michael and Gabriel also desired the return of the Jews to their own land: Michael, their prince and leader, in order to rest from the feats that had been fought for them, from the shedding of human blood; and Gabriel, that the fruits of their prayer in the holy land, in the temple of God, which was to be raised, might multiply, and the sacrifices might become more frequent, that they might be daily. But the prince of Persia, also one of the heavenly leaders, did not want to separate the holy seed of Israel from the idolatrous kingdom entrusted to him, because, while keeping the Israelites in his kingdom, he at the same time kept the holy men among them, who rejoiced and comforted him with their holiness. Behold, beloved, what power the holy fast of Daniel had! And he sent him heavenly helpers, and contrary to the desire of the heavenly prince of Persia, he brought the Jews out of the captivity of Babylon, after the fulfillment of seventy years, which had been ordained by the prophet Jeremiah for slavery in the land of Babylon. But the leader of our Christian army is greater than Gabriel, more excellent than Michael, and more powerful than the prince of Persia, because our leader is our Life, Jesus Christ, who for our sake came down from heaven, took upon himself our nature, was tempted, bearing our human flesh, and therefore can help those who are tempted. He fasted for us, defeated our enemy, and commanded us to pray and fast without ceasing, so that we, with the assistance of holy fasting, accompanied by prayer, might attain the rest of the saints.

Homily on Pascha

The Holy One (God), commanding Me that the Israelites should keep the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, said: "Pray to all the assembly of the children of Israel, let them take for themselves a sheep perfectly, without blemish, and one year of lambs and goats, and let them make a great feast, the Passover of the Lord." And the lamb shall be taken up on the tenth day of the month, and it shall be kept by it until the fourth day of this month, and all the multitude of the assembly of the children of Israel shall kill it at night. And they shall come out of the roof, and anoint the rootstock on both, and on the houses in the houses, in which they shall eat it, lest the angel that hath passed through the land of Egypt destroy them. And let all the people eat the lamb with care. And let them eat it: your loins are girded up, and your boots are on your feet, and your rods are in your hands. And let them not eat harshly, or boiled in water, but baked with fire; and let not the flesh be carried out of the house, and the bones not broken from it (Exodus 12:3-12, 46). And so did the children of Israel, and ate the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, which is called the month of flowers (mebecus), the first month of the year. Take note, beloved, of the rites which the Holy One (God) ordained for the fulfillment of the Passover by the Jews, giving them instruction concerning all the Passover utensils. And he said unto them, that they should eat the lamb in one house, and that they should take nothing out of the house. In addition to this, pay attention also to the fact that Moses has ordained the Israelites in the very place where the Passover is to be kept. When ye shall enter, saith he, into the land which the LORD shall give you, ye shall make the passover at the time thereof. And ye shall not be able to eat the Passover, nor in one of your cities, but only in the place which the Lord your God shall choose (Deut. 16:5-6; Num. 9:2). And thus ye shall eat the Passover, and eat it before the Lord your God, you and your household, and rejoice with joy in the feast of your passover. In another place He gives this command to the Passover: A stranger or a hireling shall not eat of it. And every servant or purchased thou shalt circumcise him, and then let him eat of it (Exodus 12:43-44).

Great and wondrous are these mysteries, beloved! For if the Israelites, being in their own land, did not dare to keep the passover anywhere except Jerusalem: how is it that now, being scattered among all nations and tongues, among the uncircumcised and the unclean, do they eat their bread with defilement among the Gentiles, as it was foretold of them in Ezekiel the prophet, in the place where God, representing these things in form and shadow, commands? that they should eat their bread with defilement, for which reason the prophet besought Him in this manner: "O Lord of lords, behold, my soul is not defiled in uncleanness, and every flesh is abominable and filthy entered into my mouth. and the Lord answered him, "The sign which I have shown you sheweth shew, that thus shall the children of Israel eat their unclean bread in tongues, which I will scatter" (Ez. 4:13-14); How, I say, if the Israelites, as said above, being in their own land, could not eat the Passover except before the Lord in Jerusalem, now they dare to celebrate the mystery of the Passover among all nations? On the other hand, that they have already been deprived of the right to celebrate the Passover, God testified to this through the Prophet: "For many days shall the children of Israel sit, who are not kings, nor princes, nor sacrifices, nor altars, nor priests who put on the garments for the incense offering" (Hosea 3:4). I will scatter Jerusalem, He saith in another place, and I will not endure your new moons, and sabbaths, and great day" (Isaiah 1:14); and, "Come no more to my court" (Isaiah 1:12); and again, "From their land, and the house of Judah from among them" (Jeremiah 12:7-14). And again, with almost the same words, foretelling about them to Mine, much earlier, He had thus spoken through him: "I will provoke them to anger not in tongue, but in foolish tongue I will provoke them to anger" (Deuteronomy 32:21). Come, therefore, now, and I ask thee, O scribe, wise and wise teacher of the people, who, however, does not understand the words of the Law: Show me, when was it fulfilled that God delighted his people not in the tongue, but in the tongue foolishly provoked them to anger? Surely thou shalt not deny that through the Gentiles this word of the Scripture was fulfilled, which Moses hath portrayed unto thee in the letter of the law. Wherefore, if thou keepest the Passover in another place, in the land of thy sojourn, thou dost do it as a proud transgressor of the law.

For the book is dissolved, written and given to you. But if you do not believe this, then listen to the prophet Jeremiah, who says, "Forsake my house, forsake my inheritance, give my beloved soul into the hands of its enemies" (Jeremiah 12:7). A flock of birds of many colors has become My inheritance for Me (Jeremiah 12:9ff.). What is the meaning of a flock of birds of many colors, I ask you, wise and shrewd teacher? A multicolored flock of birds means a church of pagans. See why he calls it a flock of birds of many colors. This is because it has been gathered together from many languages and peoples, and has made the distant peoples near. If you do not believe that the Gentiles have become the inheritance of the Lord, then listen again to what Jeremiah says, when he calls the Gentiles from the presence of God, and despises Israel, saying, Stand on the paths, and see and inquire in the paths of the Lord everlasting, and see what is the way of goodness, and walk in it. And he said, "Let us not go." And then he said, "I have set watches over you: you hear the voice of the trumpet, and he says, We will not listen." And because the children of Israel did not listen, the Lord rejected them, and thus foretold about them: "Therefore hear the nations, and know and know, O church, what will happen in them" (Jeremiah 6:16-18). David also says, "Remember thy host, whom thou hast acquired from the beginning" (Psalm 73:2); and Isaiah saith, "Ye shall hear from afar off, which hath made (saith the Lord), and bring away my fortress that draweth nigh" (Isaiah 33:13). And in another place the Holy Spirit thus prophesied through the prophet about the future Church, which was to be made up of the Gentiles: "The mountain of the Lord shall be manifested in the last days, and the house of God shall be on the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and all tongues shall come to it. And many tongues will go out, saying, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will declare his way to us, and let us walk in it" (Isaiah 2:2-3). Wherefore did Isaiah say, They shall hear from afar, which they have done (saith the Lord), and they shall lead away my fortress that draweth nigh; who has apostatized in the Sion of the wicked, shall the wicked tremble (Isaiah 33:13-14)? In what sense does the pious prophet foretell that the Lord will do and show the power of His might, that the wicked will hasten to Zion, and that fear and trembling will seize the Gentiles? By this word He calls the Gentiles into competition with His people, and to the distant nations He declares the power of His might, that He punished and struck with terrible wrath of vengeance, and judged and condemned His people, and having rejected them, He gathered the Gentiles together to Zion, which He called the holy city (Isaiah 52:1; 64:10), and caused those Gentiles who had become prophets (preachers) of the truth to a terrible shudder, like feverish fits, whereas, on the contrary, he said to the prophets of Jerusalem, that from them shall sprout the leaven of paganism into all the earth.

Hearken therefore, beloved, to what I shall say to thee in this Pascha, by which mystery and image were given to the ancient people, and the truth itself is proclaimed and told now among the nations. Though the doubting and wavering minds of foolish and uneducated people are perplexed at the great day of the very first and true Passover (for they say, how are we to truly celebrate and celebrate this Passover?), yet, in fact, our life-giving Saviour is the true Lamb, one-year-old, blameless, and having no lack or imperfection in his outward appearance, as the prophet also foretold of Him by inspiration, that He did not commit iniquity, that deceit was found in His mouth; but the Lord wanted to humiliate Him and deliver Him over to the sufferings of the Cross (Isaiah 53:9-10). He is called the One-Year Lamb because in His innocence, integrity, and forbearance He was like a child, as He Himself foretold to His disciples: "Unless ye be converted, and ye shall be as children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 18:3); and as Isaiah says to the righteous, "A hundred years shall die a young man, but a sinner shall be cursed when he is a hundred years old" (Isaiah 65:20). Though our Saviour partook of the Passover with His disciples on the fourteenth night, on which He was seized, and taught the disciples the mystery of the true Pascha; For after Judas had departed from them, he took bread, and blessed it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take, eat: this is my body. And then, having blessed the wine, he also said to them, "This is my blood, of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins: do this in your congregations in remembrance of me" (Matt. 26:26, 28; 1 Cor. 11:24-25): but our Lord did this before it was taken. For he departed from the place where he had made the passover, and gave his body for food and blood for drink, and went with his disciples to the place where he had already been seized. Wherefore, while they were eating his body and drinking his blood, he was already numbered among the dead. And the Lord gave His body for food with His own hands, and before He was crucified, He gave His blood for drink. On the same fourteenth night, when they took him, both his work and judgment continued until the sixth hour; at the sixth hour they found him guilty, and crucified him. And when they judged him, he said nothing, neither did he give an answer to his judges. For though he was able to speak and answer; but it would be a certain incongruity if He who is already numbered among the dead began to speak and give answers. And from the sixth hour unto the ninth hour there was darkness, and at the ninth hour he gave his spirit into his Father's hand, and he was in the dead on the following fifteenth night, all the day of the sabbath day, and the three hours of the Friday. On the same night that preceded the day that followed the Sabbath, and at the same hour in which he gave his body and blood to his disciples, he rose from the dead.

Show us, then, O thou who art experienced and versed in the sacred books, show us where are the three days and three nights in which Jesus Christ was among the dead? For behold, we see that he was among the dead only three hours of Friday, the night of the sabbath, afterwards the whole day of the sabbath, and on the night of the day of the week he rose again. Count me three whole days and three nights, and we will see what it is; for in fact, between death and resurrection there was only one whole day and one whole night. "But meanwhile there is no doubt about what our Saviour said: "As Jonah was in the belly of a whale three days and three nights: so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth" (Matt. 12:40). And indeed, if we count the time from the hour at which He gave His body for food, and His blood for drink, then three days and three nights will come out in the following way: the night was at the hour at which Judas departed from the general assembly of the Apostles, and the eleven disciples ate of the body and drank of the blood of our Saviour. And so there was one night, which was on Friday. And all the time until the sixth hour, in which they condemned him, is one day and one night. Further, the three hours in which there was darkness, that is, from the sixth hour to the nineteenth hour, and the three hours after the darkness had passed, make another night and another day: in this way two days and two nights have already passed. Finally, the whole night of the Sabbath and the whole day of the Sabbath add to the number of the three days and three nights in which our Lord was in the dead. For on the night of the day of the week He had already risen from the dead. Besides this, the Passover of Judah was celebrated on the fourteenth day, day and night: and our great day of passion is Friday, and the fourteenth day is night and day. And after the Passover, Israel ate unleavened bread for seven days, even until the twenty-first day of the month: and we keep the feast of the Passover of our Saviour for so many days. They eat unleavened bread and wild (field) grass: but our Savior has rejected the cup of bitterness mingled with gall; for he took and destroyed all the bitterness of tongues, because when he had tasted, he would not drink. Moreover, from year to year the Jews remember their sins in their souls: but we make remembrance of the sufferings and crucifixion of our Saviour. At the time of the Passover they were freed from the bondage of Pharaoh: but on the day of the crucifixion of our Lord we are freed from the captivity and bondage of Satan. And they slain a lamb of the flock of sheep, and by his blood they were delivered from the destroying angel: but we, by the blood of the Lamb, the chosen Son, are taken away from the works of sin which we have committed. To them was My Saviour: but to us Jesus is both Saviour and Leader. For them Moses divided the sea, and led them through it: but our Saviour divided the pit, broke down the gates thereof, when He Himself opened them by His entry into them, and cleansed the way for all His faithful. Manna was given to them for food: but our Lord gave us His flesh for food. For them He brought forth water out of the stone: but for us the Saviour poured forth life-giving water out of His womb (John 7:38). Unto them he hath promised the land of Canaan for his possession: but unto us hath promised to give the land of life. For them Moses hung a serpent, on which he who once looked received life and was freed from the remorse of serpents: but for us our Lord Himself ascended to the cross, and through Him we were delivered from the remorse of Satan. And he set up a tabernacle of witness, and taught the Jews prayers, and gave them sacrifices for the atonement of their sins: and Jesus raised up the tabernacle of David, and strengthened it: for he himself said to the Jews, Destroy this church, and I will raise it up in three days" (John 2:19). In this very Tabernacle He promised us life, and through it our sins are cleansed. And there is called the tent of the Tabernacle, which was made and served only for a short time: but for us the Tabernacle is the temple of the Holy Spirit for ever. And so, beloved, take heed, and meditate on the Passover lamb, as the Holy One (God) commanded them (Exodus 12:46), that they should eat it in one house, and not in many, that is, in the house of the one Church of God. And in addition to this, it is also said: "A stranger or a hireling shall not eat from it (Passover) (Exodus 12:45, 48). Are these strangers and hirelings, if not our evil inclinations and desires, which deprive us of the right to partake of the Passover? For our Saviour said to the hireling, that he is not the master of the flock, and when he sees the wolf coming, he leaves and abandons the flock, and runs away (John 10:12). In addition, the Holy One (God) commanded not to eat from the lamb anything harsh (raw), or boiled in water, but only baked with fire (Exodus 12:9). This is also clear and obvious; For the sacrifice that is offered in the church of God is burned in the fire, not boiled in water, and is not offered on the altar raw. At the same time, it is also determined how the Jews were to eat the lamb: "Your loins shall be girded, and your boots on your feet, and your rods in your hands" (Exodus 12:11). Very great mysteries are contained in this; for whosoever eateth of Christ, the true Lamb, girdeth up his loins with faith, and shod his feet with the power of the Gospel, and hath in his hand the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:17). Further, the Jews were also commanded: "And do not break the bones of him" (Exodus 12:46). This was fulfilled on the cross, when the Savior's legs were not broken (John 19:36). To this is added the following: "Every servant or purchased, thou shalt circumcise him, and then let him eat of it (Passover) (Exodus 12:43). A bought servant is a sinner, who, offering repentance, is redeemed by the blood of Christ, and circumcising his heart from evil works, approaches the font of baptism, which is the accomplishment and fulfillment of true circumcision; and then he becomes a partaker of the Divine Mysteries, and partakes of the Body and Blood of Christ. Finally, it is added: "Let them eat with pain" (Exodus 12:11). And that's the case in the Church of God. For they eat the Lamb in haste, with fear and trembling, standing on their feet reverently, because they hasten to taste life in the gifts of the Spirit whom they receive. Israel was baptized into the sea on the night of the Passover, the day of salvation; and our Saviour also washed the disciples' feet on the night of Pascha, showing by this the sacrament of humility and baptism and suffering on the cross, according to the words of the Apostle: "If we were baptized into Christ Jesus, we were baptized into His death... that as Christ rose from the dead through the glory of the Father, so shall we also begin to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:3-4). For our Saviour, having taken water, and poured it into the basin for washing, girded Himself with a ribbon; And when he had begun to wash the feet of the disciples, he came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, Lord! Do you wash my nose? … Thou shalt not wash thyself for ever. And the Lord answered him, "If I do not wash thee, have no part with me." And if so, O Lord, Simon saith unto him, thou shalt not wash my nose only, but also my hand and head. Jesus said to him, "He who is changed does not require but to wash his nose" (John 13:3-10). And when he had washed the feet of the disciples, he sat down at the table, at which he gave them his body and blood.

This little I have written to you with this intention and purpose, that you may always be ready to answer the Jews. For they, transgressing the law, observe the ceremonies of the Passover, when they no longer have any right to do so, and glorify for themselves the tablets of the law and the ark of the covenant. And yet they do not understand or understand what the prophet foretold about them, saying, "In their days they shall not say to him, The nod of the covenant of the Holy One of Israel shall not ascend in the heart, nor be remembered, but shall be visited, and shall be made unto it" (Jeremiah 3:16). But if it is said that there will be no more nod of the covenant, that it will not ascend to the heart, will not be remembered, and will not be visited, then it follows that he who tries to renew it is already a transgressor. And in another place Jeremiah says, "Israel and Judah did not abide in the covenant of God" (Jeremiah 31:32). As for the covenant which the Lord had to give to the Gentiles, He foretold thus: "And I will make a new covenant unto the house of Israel, and unto the house of Judah, not according to the covenant which their fathers commanded, in the day that I take me by their hand, I shall bring forth from the land of Egypt, for they have not continued in my covenant, and I have not neglected them, saith the Lord" (Jeremiah 31:31-32). And if they say to you, that it is foretold that the new covenant will be given to Israel and Judah, and not to the Gentiles, then tell them that the same one who called Israel the ruler of Sodom, and the people of Gomorrah, the same God called to Abraham, and made this promise to him with his own mouth, saying, Your name shall not be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham. for thou hast laid thee down as the father of many tongues (Gen. 17:5); and in another place he said to him, "And all the tongues of the earth shall be blessed unto thy seed" (Gen. 22:18).

When you know all this for sure, and are convinced of it, communicate this to those brethren and children of our Church, who, being overwhelmed by doubts and contradictions, fall into perplexity in relation to the time of Pascha; it is not difficult for the truly faithful to know this. If it happens that our day of Christ's suffering falls on a week's day; then it should be celebrated next week, so that in this way the whole week may be devoted both to the remembrance of Christ's suffering and to the celebration of Pascha. For after Pascha there are seven days of Pascha, and then the same feast continues until the Pentecost, but no further. If, on any other day, the day of the Lord's suffering falls, then the matter is beyond any contradiction, and there is no longer any confusion. The day of Friday is for us a great day. For according to the number of the days of the month, the day of the crucifixion, in which our Lord suffered, is the fourteenth day, and the time in which he was among the dead, that is, night and day, is the fifteenth day, from the sixth hour of Friday to the evening of that day which precedes the day of the week, that is, the sixteenth day, in which he was also raised. For on the evening of the fourteenth day he ate with his disciples the passover according to the law of Judah; And on this fourteenth day on the Friday he was judged until the sixth hour, in which he ascended to the cross, and on it he remained alive for three hours. And to the dead He descended on the evening before the fifteenth day, which is the Sabbath, and on this fifteenth day He was among the dead. And on the night of the sixteenth day He rose again, and appeared to Mary Magdalene, and to the two disciples who were traveling. From henceforth let him understand that he who doubts and inquires in these days understands that it was on the night of the fourteenth day that our Lord kept the Passover, eating and drinking with His disciples. But as soon as the crowed, he did not eat or drink any more, because they took him and led him to the judgment seat, and as I told you a little above, he was among the dead for the fifteenth day and night. Therefore we must celebrate this Pascha year after year in due season, observe the holy fasts, pray without ceasing carefully, earnestly, and in proper words, that is, we must sing the Psalms of David, perform praises of thanksgiving, seal ourselves in the font of baptism in a proper and proper manner, we must ask holy blessings in a proper manner, and we must fulfill and accomplish all things, which only relates to the celebration of Pascha. For Christ is risen from the dead, to whom He dieth no more: death possesses Him not. For if he dies, he dies to sin alone, but if he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, think ye also that the dead may be sinful, but the living Gods (Rom. 6:9-11). And if there is anything to be asked and perplexed in this matter, it would be much more necessary to pay attention to the fourteenth day than to the celebration of Pascha from year to year. But this also means that we must carefully guard and observe the fourteenth day of every month, and the Fridays of every week; for this is proper and proper for us; however, in such a way that all the days of the week are considered useful for doing good works before the Lord God. Finally, from this little that I have written to you, see not that it is profitable for you to start disputes among yourselves, which in fact does not bring any benefit and no good; but take care of one thing, that you may have a heart that keeps the commandments, that you may keep the Passover in due time, and observe all the rites during the celebration of the great feast of the suffering of our Saviour.

A Word on the Resurrection of the Dead

Every day we hear arguments about the resurrection of the dead. How, they say, will the dead be resurrected? In what body will they rise? because the present body rots and decays; the bones themselves, in the course of time, rot, crumble and decay. Look, they say, into that tomb in which hundreds of the dead are buried; you can hardly find a handful of dust in it. But others, reasoning on the same subject, object thus: we know, they say, that the dead will rise; but they will put on the heavenly body and spiritual forms. If it were otherwise, they continue, then these are the very hundreds of the dead who are buried in one tomb, and of whom nothing remains in the course of time, in what will the body be clothed at the time of the resurrection, when their former body is reduced to nothingness? "Then they will put on heavenly bodies."

Everyone who only thinks in this way is really senseless and insane. According to his reasoning, the dead, when they were brought into the tomb, were something; but after a long time they turned into nothing; When the time comes for the resurrection of the dead, then how will that which was nothing become something again, as before, and the former nature will be renewed? "Fool, listen to what the Apostle says, addressing his speech to a fool like you, and rebuking him in this way: 'Fool, if you sow, he will not live, unless he dies: and if you sow, you do not sow the body to come, but the grain is bare, if it happens, wheat or any other of the rest: but God gives him a body, as He wills, and with some seed His body (1 Corinthians 15:15). 36-38). "Believe, therefore, fool, that each of the dead will arise in his own body. Have you ever sown barley, and reaped wheat in the same place? And hast thou gathered figs from the grapes which thou hast planted? "Of course not; but everything is reborn according to its kind. Therefore the body will also be resurrected, the same that dies. For this body is first destroyed and decays; then you must conclude about his resurrection by the likeness of a seed, which, having fallen into the ground, first begins to rot and decay, and then from this same rottenness the grass vegetates, blossoms and bears fruit. For just as the place in which the seeds were not sown does not bear fruit, even though it receives for itself a timely rain, so from the tomb in which not a single dead person was buried, not a single person will come out at the time of the resurrection of the dead, even though all the sound of the trumpet is concentrated over it. But if, as they say, the souls of the righteous ascend into heaven, and put on the bodies of heaven (and the beings of heaven dwell in heaven, just as He who raises the dead dwells in heaven); how is it that He, having come to earth, will raise up the dead from it? And why does the Scripture tell us, that the hour is coming, in which those who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God, and will come out of their graves (John 5:28)? Will the heavenly body descend from heaven, ascend into the tomb, and come out of it again, as the fools say?

But why did the Apostle say that there are heavenly bodies, and earthly bodies (1 Corinthians 15:40)? "Whoever opposes these words of Scripture to us must also listen to something else that the Apostle says in the same place: "There is a spiritual body" (1 Cor. 15:44); further: "It behooves this corruptible to put on incorruption, and to this dead to put on immortality" (1 Corinthians 15:53). In another place: "It behooves us all to appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that he may receive whatever he has done with the body, either good or evil" (2 Corinthians 5:10). Again, what do those who are baptized for the sake of the dead do, says the Apostle? If by no means do they rise from the dead, that they are also baptized for the sake of the dead (1 Corinthians 15:29)? And above this: if the resurrection of the dead is to be brought, then Christ will not rise. If Christ does not rise; For our preaching is vain, and so is our faith. We are also found to be false witnesses of God, as obedient to God, as to raise up Christ: but raise not Him up, unless they rise dead. But if the dead are not resurrected, then there is no final judgment. Yes, the pits, and drink, for in the morning we will die. Do not flatter, says the Apostle, "good habits corrupt, evil conversations (1 Corinthians 15:32-33). — The words of the Apostle: "There are heavenly bodies, and earthly bodies," you must understand in the following way: when the body of the righteous arises and changes, then it is called heavenly, and that which does not change is called earthly by nature. But listen to the Apostle's similar expressions. He says somewhere: "A spiritual man is seized of all things, but he himself is seized by not a single one" (1 Corinthians 2:15). Again, "Those who are according to the flesh are wise: and those who are according to the Spirit are spiritual" (Romans 8:5). And again: "When I am in the flesh, the passions of sin, which are by the law, work in our minds, in which the fruit of death is produced" (Romans 7:5). The Apostle spoke all this about a man who is clothed with the flesh and is under the influence of the spirit. In this way, at the time of the resurrection of the dead, the bodies of the righteous will be changed, and the earthly form will be hidden in the heavenly one, and will be called the heavenly body. But a body that has not changed is called earthly. "However, I will expound to you in more detail the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, as much as I can.