19 - Book IV Chapters 23-27

Section 19 of The Orthodox Faith by John of Damascus. Translated by S. D. F. Salmond. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Book 4, Chapter 23. Against the Jews on the Question of the Sabbath. The seventh day is called the Sabbath and signifies rest, for in it God rested from all his works, as the Divine Scripture says. And so the number of the days goes up to seven and then circles back again and begins at the first. This is the precious number with the Jews, God having ordained that it should be held in honor, and that in no chance fashion but with the imposition of most heavy penalties for the transgression. And it was not in simple fashion that he ordained this, but for certain reasons understood mystically by the spiritual and clear-sighted. So far indeed as I in my ignorance know, to begin with inferior and more dense things, God, knowing the denseness of the Israelites and their carnal love and propensity towards matter in everything, made this law, first, in order that the servant and the cattle should rest, as it is written, for the righteous man regardeth the life of his beast. Next, in order that when they take their ease from the distraction of material things, they may gather together unto God, spending the whole of the seventh day in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, and the study of the Divine Scriptures, and resting in God. For when the law did not exist and there was no divinely inspired Scripture, the Sabbath was not consecrated to God. But when the divinely inspired Scripture was given by Moses, the Sabbath was consecrated to God, in order that in it they who do not dedicate their whole life to God, and who do not make their desire subservient to the Master as though to a father, but are like foolish servants, may on that day talk much concerning the exercise of it, and may abstract a small, truly a most insignificant portion of their life for the service of God, and this from fear of the chastisements and punishments which threaten transgressors. For the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the unrighteous. Moses, of a truth, was the first to abide fasting with God for forty days, and again for another forty, and thus doubtless to afflict himself with hunger on the Sabbaths, although the law forbade self-affliction on the Sabbath. But if they should object that this took place before the law, what will they say about Elias the Teshbite, who accomplished a journey of forty days on one meal? For he, by thus afflicting himself on the Sabbaths, not only with hunger, but with the forty days' journeying, broke the Sabbath. And yet God, who gave the law, was not wroth with him, but showed himself to him on Horeb as a reward for his virtue. And what will they say about Daniel? Did he not spend three weeks without food? And again, did not all Israel circumcise the child on the Sabbath, if it happened to be the eighth day after birth? And do they not hold the great fast which the law enjoins if it falls on the Sabbath? And further, do not the priests and the Levites profane the Sabbath in the works of the tabernacle, and yet are held blameless? Yea, if an ox should fall into a pit on the Sabbath, he who draws it forth is blameless, while he who neglects to do so is condemned. And did not all the Israelites compass the walls of Jericho bearing the Ark of God for seven days, in which assuredly the Sabbath was included? As I said, therefore, for the purpose of securing leisure to worship God, in order that they might, both servant and beast of burden, devote a very small share to him, and be at rest, the observance of the Sabbath was devised for the carnal that were still childish and in the bonds of the elements of the world, and unable to conceive of anything beyond the body and the letter. But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his only begotten Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. For to as many of us as received him he gave power to become sons of God, even to them that believed on his name, so that we are no longer servants, but sons. No longer under the law, but under grace. No longer do we serve God in part from fear, but we are bound to dedicate to him the whole span of our life, and cause that servant, I mean wrath and desire, to cease from sin, and bid it devote itself to the service of God, always directing our whole desire towards God, and arming our wrath against the enemies of God. And likewise we hinder that beast of burden, that is the body, from the servitude of sin, and urge it forward to assist to the uttermost the divine precepts. These are the things which the spiritual law of Christ enjoins on us, and those who observe that become superior to the law of Moses. For when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. And when the covering of the law, that is the veil, is rent asunder through the crucifixion of the Saviour, and the spirit shines forth with tongues of fire, the letter shall be done away with, bodily things shall come to an end, the law of servitude shall be fulfilled, and the law of liberty bestowed on us. Yea, we shall celebrate the perfect rest of the human nature, I mean the day after the resurrection, on which the Lord Jesus, the author of life and our Saviour, shall lead us into the heritage promised to those who serve God in the Spirit, a heritage into which He entered Himself as our forerunner after He rose from the dead, and whereon the gates of heaven being opened to Him, He took His seat in bodily form at the right hand of the Father, where those who keep the spiritual law shall also come. What belongs to us, therefore, who walk by the Spirit and not by the letter, is the complete abandonment of carnal things, the spiritual service and communion with God. For circumcision is the abandonment of carnal pleasure, and of whatever is superfluous and unnecessary, for the foreskin is nothing else than the skin which is superfluous to the organ of lust. And, indeed, every pleasure which does not arise from God, nor is in God, is superfluous to pleasure, and of that the foreskin is the type. The Sabbath, moreover, is the cessation from sin, so that both things happen to be one, and so, both together, when observed by those who are spiritual, do not bring about any breach of the law at all. Further, observe that the number seven denotes all the present time, as the most wise Solomon says to give a portion to seven and also to eight. And David, the divine singer, when he composed the eighth psalm, sang of the future restoration after the resurrection from the dead. Since the law, therefore, enjoined that the seventh day should be spent in rest from carnal things, and devoted to spiritual things, it was a mystic indication to the true Israelite who had a mind to see God, that he should through all time offer himself to God, and rise higher than carnal things. CHAPTER XXIV. CONCERNING VIRGINITY. Carnal men abuse virginity, and the pleasure-loving bring forward the following verse in proof, Cursed be every one that raiseth not of seed in Israel. But we, made confident by God the word that was made flesh of the virgin, answer that virginity was implanted in man's nature from above and in the beginning. For man was formed of virgin soil. From Adam alone was Eve created. In Paradise virginity held sway. Indeed, divine scripture tells that both Adam and Eve were naked and were not ashamed. But after their transgression they knew that they were naked, and in their shame they sewed aprons for themselves. And when after the transgression Adam heard, Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. When death entered into the world by reason of the transgression, then Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bear seed. So that, to prevent the wearing out and destruction of the race by death, marriage was devised that the race of men may be preserved through the procreation of children. But they will perhaps ask, What then is the meaning of male and female? And be fruitful and multiply. In answer we shall say that be fruitful and multiply does not altogether refer to the multiplying by the marriage connection, for God had power to multiply the race also in different ways if they kept the precept unbroken to the end. But God, who knoweth all things before they have existence, knowing in his foreknowledge that they would fall into transgression in the future and be condemned to death, anticipated this and made male and female, and bade them be fruitful and multiply. Let us then proceed on our way and see the glories of virginity, and this also includes chastity. Noah, when he was commanded to enter the ark and was entrusted with the preservation of the seed of the world, received this command, Go in, saith the Lord, thou and thy sons, and thy wife and thy sons' wives. He separated them from their wives in order that with purity they might escape the flood and that shipwreck of the whole world. After the cessation of the flood, however, he said, Go forth out of the ark, thou and thy sons, and thy wife and thy sons' wives. Lo, again marriage is granted for the sake of the multiplication of the race. Next, Elias, the fire-breathing charioteer and sojourner in heaven, did not embrace celibacy, and yet was not his virtue attested by his superhuman ascension? Who closed the heavens? Who raised the dead? Who divided Jordan? Was it not the virginal Elias? And did not Elisha, his disciple, after he had given proof of equal virtue, ask and obtain as an inheritance a double portion of the grace of the Spirit? What of the three ewes? Did they not by practicing virginity become mightier than fire, their bodies through virginity being made proof against the fire? And was it not Daniel's body that was so hardened by virginity that the wild beast's teeth could not fasten in it? Did not God, when he wished the Israelites to see him, bid them purify the body? Did not the priests purify themselves, and so approach the temple's shrine and offer victims? And did not the law call chastity the great vow? The precept of the law, therefore, is to be taken in a more spiritual sense, for there is spiritual seed which is conceived through the love and fear of God in the spiritual womb, travailing and bringing forth the spirit of salvation. And in this sense must be understood this verse, Blessed is he who hath seed in Zion, and posterity in Jerusalem. For does it mean that, although he be a whoremonger, and a drunkard, and an idolater, he is still blessed, if only he hath seed in Zion, and posterity in Jerusalem? No one in his senses will say this. Virginity is the rule of life among the angels, the property of all incorporeal nature. This we say without speaking ill of marriage, God forbid, for we know that the Lord blessed marriage by his presence, and we know him who said, Marriage is honorable, and the bed undefiled. But knowing that virginity is better than marriage, however good, for among the virtues, equally as among the vices, there are higher and lower grades. We know that all mortals after the first parents of the race are the offspring of marriage, for the first parents were the work of virginity and not of marriage. But celibacy is, as we said, an imitation of the angels, wherefore virginity is as much more honorable than marriage, as the angel is higher than man. But why do I say angel? Christ himself is the glory of virginity, who is not only begotten of the Father without beginning or emission or connection, but also became man in our image, being made flesh for our sakes of the virgin without connection, and manifesting in himself the true and perfect virginity. Wherefore, although he did not enjoin that on us by law, for, as he said, all men cannot receive this saying, yet in actual fact he taught us that and gave us strength for it, for it is surely clear to everyone that virginity now is flourishing among men. Good indeed is the procreation of children enjoined by the law, and good is marriage on account of fornications, for it does away with these, and by lawful intercourse does not permit the madness of desire to be inflamed into unlawful acts. Good is marriage for those who have no continence, but that virginity is better which increases the fruitfulness of the soul and offers to God the seasonable fruit of prayer. Marriage is honorable and the bed undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. CHAPTER XXV CONCERNING THE CIRCUMCISION The circumcision was given to Abraham before the law, after the blessings, after the promise, as a sign separating him and his offspring and his household from the Gentiles with whom he lived. And this is evident, for when the Israelites passed forty years alone by themselves in the desert, having no intercourse with any other race, all that were born in the desert were uncircumcised, but when Joshua led them across Jordan they were circumcised, and a second law of circumcision was instituted. For in Abraham's time the law of circumcision was given, and in the forty years of the desert it fell into abeyance. And again for the second time God gave the law of circumcision to Joshua after the crossing of Jordan, according as it is written in the book of Joshua the son of Nun. At that time the Lord said unto Joshua, Make the knives of stone from the sharp rock, and assemble and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time. And a little later, for the children of Israel walked forty and two years in the wilderness of Baptaris, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were uncircumcised, because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord, unto whom the Lord swore that he would not show them the good land which the Lord swore unto their fathers that he would give them, a land that floweth with milk and honey. And their children whom he raised up in their stead, then Joshua circumcised, for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way. So that the circumcision was a sign dividing Israel from the Gentiles with whom they dwelt. It was moreover a figure of baptism, for just as the circumcision does not cut off a useful member of the body, but only a useless superfluity, so by the holy baptism we are circumcised from sin, and sin clearly is, so to speak, the superfluous part of desire, and not useful desire. For it is quite impossible that anyone should have no desire at all, nor ever experience the taste of pleasure. But the useless part of pleasure, that is to say, useless desire and pleasure, it is this that is sin from which holy baptism circumcises us, giving us as a token the precious cross on the brow, not to divide us from the Gentiles, for all the nations received baptism and were sealed with the sign of the cross, but to distinguish in each nation the faithful from the faithless. Wherefore, when the truth is revealed, circumcision is a senseless figure and shade. So circumcision is now superfluous and contrary to holy baptism, for he who is circumcised is a debtor to do the whole law, further, the Lord was circumcised that he might fulfill the law, and he fulfilled the whole law, and observed the Sabbath that he might fulfill and establish the law. Moreover, after he was baptized, and the Holy Spirit had appeared to men descending on him in the form of a dove, from that time the spiritual service and conduct of life and the kingdom of heaven was preached. Chapter 26. Concerning the Antichrist. It should be known that the Antichrist is bound to come. Everyone, therefore, who confesses not that the Son of God came in the flesh and is perfect God, and became perfect man after being God, is Antichrist. But in a peculiar and special sense, he who comes at the consummation of the age is called Antichrist. First, then, it is requisite that the gospel should be preached among all nations, as the Lord said, and then he will come to refute the impious Jews. For the Lord said to them, I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not. If another shall come in his own name, him you will receive. And the apostle says, Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. For this cause God shall send them a strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believeth not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. The Jews, accordingly, did not receive the Lord Jesus Christ, who was the Son of God and God, but received the imposter who calls himself God. For that he will assume the name of God, the angel teaches Daniel, saying these words, Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers. And the apostle says, Let no man deceive you by any means. For that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first. And that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. In the temple of God, he said, Not our temple, but the old Jewish temple. For he will come not to us, but to the Jews, not for Christ or the things of Christ, wherefore he is called Antichrist. First, therefore, it is necessary that the gospel should be preached among all nations. And then shall that wicked one be revealed, even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, whom the Lord shall consume with the word of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. The devil himself, therefore, does not become man in the way that the Lord was made man, God forbid. But he becomes man as the offspring of fornication and receiveth all the energy of Satan. For God, for knowing the strangeness of the choice that he would make, allows the devil to take up his abode in him. He is, therefore, as we said, the offspring of fornication and is nurtured in secret. And on a sudden he rises up and rebels and assumes rule. And in the beginning of his rule, or rather tyranny, he assumes the role of sanctuary. But when he becomes master, he persecutes the church of God and displays all his wickedness. But he will come with signs and lying wonders, fictitious and not real. And he will deceive and lead away from the living God those whose mind rests on an unsound and unstable foundation, so that even the elect shall, if it be possible, be made to stumble. But Enoch and Elias the Theshbite shall be sent and shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, that is, the synagogue, to the Lord Jesus Christ and the preaching of the apostles. And they will be destroyed by him. And the Lord shall come out of heaven, just as the holy apostles beheld him going into heaven, perfect God and perfect man, with glory and power, and will destroy the man of lawlessness, the son of destruction, with the breath of his mouth. Let no one, therefore, look for the Lord to come from earth, but out of heaven, as he himself has made sure. Chapter 27. Concerning the Resurrection. We believe also in the resurrection of the dead. For there will be in truth, there will be a resurrection of the dead. And by resurrection we mean resurrection of bodies. For resurrection is the second state of that which has fallen. For the souls are immortal, and hence how can they rise again? For if they define death as the separation of soul and body, resurrection surely is the reunion of soul and body, and the second state of the living creature that has suffered dissolution and downfall. It is then this very body which is corruptible and liable to dissolution that will rise again incorruptible. For he who made it in the beginning of the sand of the earth does not lack the power to raise it up again after it has been dissolved again and returned to the earth from which it was taken, in accordance with the reversal of the Creator's judgment. For if there is no resurrection, let us eat and drink, let us pursue a life of pleasure and enjoyment. If there is no resurrection, wherein do we differ from the irrational brutes? If there is no resurrection, let us hold the wild beasts of the field happy who have a life free from sorrow. If there is no resurrection, neither is there any God nor providence, but all things are driven and borne along of themselves. For observe how we see most righteous men suffering hunger and injustice and receiving no help in the present life, while sinners and unrighteous men abound in riches and every delight. And who in his senses would take this for the work of a righteous judgment or a wise providence? There must be, therefore, there must be a resurrection, for God is just and is the rewarder of those who submit patiently to him. Wherefore, if it is the soul alone that engages in the contests of virtue, it is also the soul alone that will receive the crown. And if it were the soul alone that revels in pleasures, it would also be the soul alone that would be justly punished. But since the soul does not pursue either virtue or vice separate from the body, both together will obtain that which is their just due. Nay, the divine Scripture bears witness that there will be a resurrection of the body. God in truth says to Moses after the flood, Even as the green herb have I given you all things, but flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. And surely your blood of your lives will I require at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, for his blood his own shall be shed. For in the image of God made I man. How will he require the blood of man at the hand of every beast, unless because the bodies of dead men will rise again. For not for man will the beasts die. And again to Moses, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead, that is those who are dead and will be no more, but of the living, whose souls indeed live in his hand, but whose bodies will come again to life through the resurrection. And David, sire of the divine, says to God, Thou takest away their breath, they die and return to their dust. See how he speaks about bodies. Then he subjoins this, Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created, and thou renewest the face of the earth. Further Isaiah says, The dead shall rise again, and they that are in the graves shall awake. And it is clear that the souls do not lie in the graves, but the bodies. And again the blessed Ezekiel says, And it was as I prophesied, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone, each to its own joint. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews came upon them, and the flesh grew and rose up on them, and the skin covered them above. And later he teaches how the spirits came back when they were bidden. And divine Daniel also says, And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such trouble as never was since there was a nation on the earth, even to that same time. And at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and out of the multitude of the just shall shine like stars into the ages and beyond. The words, many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, clearly show that there will be a resurrection of bodies, for no one surely would say that the souls sleep in the dust of the earth. Moreover, even the Lord in the holy gospels clearly allows that there is a resurrection of the bodies, for they that are in the graves, he says, shall hear his voice and shall come forth, they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. Now no one in his senses would ever say that the souls are in the graves, but it was not only by word but also by deed that the Lord revealed the resurrection of the bodies. First he raised up Lazarus, even after he had been dead four days and was stinking, for he did not raise the soul without the body, but the body along with the soul, and not another body but the very one that was corrupt, for how could the resurrection of the dead man have been known or believed if it had not been established by his characteristic properties? But it was, in fact, to make the divinity of his own nature manifest, and to confirm the belief in his own and our resurrection, that he raised up Lazarus who was destined once more to die. And the Lord himself became the firstfruits of the perfect resurrection that is no longer subject to death. Wherefore also the divine apostle Paul said, If the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised? And if Christ be not raised, our faith is in vain, we are yet in our sins. And now is Christ risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that sleep, and the firstborn from the dead. And again, for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. Even so he said as Christ rose again. Moreover, that the resurrection of the Lord was the union of uncorrupted body and soul, for it was these that had been divided, is manifest. For he said, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. And the holy gospel is a trustworthy witness that he spoke of his own body. Handle me and see, the Lord said to his disciples when they were thinking that they saw a spirit, that it is I myself, and that I am not changed. For a spirit hath not flesh or bones as ye see me have. And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side, and stretched them forward for Thomas to touch. Is not this sufficient to establish belief in the resurrection of bodies? Again, the divine apostle says, For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. And again, it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown a natural body, that is to say, crass and mortal. It is raised a spiritual body, such as was our Lord's body after the resurrection, which passed through closed doors, was unwearying, had no need of food or sleep or drink. For they will be, saith the Lord, as the angels of God, there will no longer be marriage nor procreation of children. The divine apostle, in truth, says, For our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body. Not meaning change into another form, God forbid, but rather the change from corruption into incorruption. But someone will say, How are the dead raised up? O what disbelief! O what folly! Will he who at his solitary will changed earth into body, who commanded the little drop of seed to grow in the mother's womb and become in the end this varied and manifold organ of the body, not the rather raise up again at his solitary will that which was and is dissolved? And with what body do they come? Thou fool, if thy hardness will not permit you to believe the words of God, at least believe his works. For that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die, and that which thou sowest thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat or some other grain, but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. Behold, therefore, how the seed is buried in the furrows as in tombs. Who is it that giveth them roots and stalk and leaves and ears and the most delicate beards? Is it not the Maker of the universe? Is it not at the bidding of him who hath contrived all things? Believe, therefore, in this wise, even that the resurrection of the dead will come to pass at the divine will and sign. For he has power that is able to keep pace with his will. We shall, therefore, rise again, our souls being once more united with our bodies, now made incorruptible and having put off corruption, and we shall stand beside the awful judgment seat of Christ, and the devil and his demons and the man that is his, that is the Antichrist, and the impious and the sinful will be given over to everlasting fire, not material fire like our fire, but such fire as God would know. For those who have done good, who shine forth as the sun with the angels into life eternal with our Lord Jesus Christ, ever seeing him and being in his sight and deriving unceasing joy from him, praising him with the Father and the Holy Spirit throughout the limitless ages of ages. Amen. End of Book 4. End of Section 19. Recording by Jonathan Lang. End of The Orthodox Faith by John of Damascus. Translated by S. D. F. Solomon.