On the Resurrection of the Dead · §23 · Athenagoras

Laws bind humans, so judgment must fall on humans, not souls alone

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Athenagoras is arguing that divine justice requires the whole human being, not the soul alone, to be judged, and now presses the point that the commandments were given to humans, not to souls by themselves.

And indeed the most unreasonable thing of all is this: they bring the laws decreed for human beings, yet they turn the penalty for things done lawfully or unlawfully upon souls alone. For if the one who received the laws would also justly accept the penalty for lawbreaking, and it was a human being who received the laws, not a soul by itself, then a human being must undergo the penalty for sins, not a soul by itself. God did not decree to souls that they abstain from things that in no way pertain to them: adultery, murder, theft, robbery, dishonor toward parents, and in general every desire that leads to injustice and harm of neighbors.

For the command, "Honor your father and your mother" (Exodus 20:12), is not fitting for souls alone, since such names do not pertain to them. Souls do not beget souls and so claim the title of father or mother; rather, human beings beget human beings. Nor would "You shall not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14) ever be rightly spoken or understood of souls, since in them there is no distinction of male and female, no fitness for intercourse with anyone, and no desire for it. Where there is no such desire, intercourse cannot occur. And where there is no intercourse at all, there is no lawful intercourse, which is what marriage is. Where there is no lawful intercourse, there can be no unlawful desire or intercourse with another man's wife, and that is adultery.

Nor is the prohibition of theft or of greed for what belongs to another fitting for souls. They do not need the things that those who are in want are accustomed to steal or plunder because of natural lack or need: gold, silver, an animal, or anything else suited for food, shelter, or use. For everything that the needy desire as useful is useless to an immortal nature.

But let the more complete argument about these matters be left to those who wish to examine each point more carefully or to contend more vigorously against opponents. Since what has just been said is sufficient for us, along with what agrees with it in confirming the resurrection, there is no longer any occasion to dwell on these things at greater length. For our aim has not been to omit nothing that could be said, but to show in summary form to those assembled what they ought to think about the resurrection, and to measure the starting points that lead to it by the force of what is present.

Greek

Καὶ μὴν κἀκεῖνο πάντων παραλογώτατον, τὸ τοὺς μὲν θεσπισθέντας νόμους ἐπ᾿ ἀνθρώπους φέρειν, τῶν δὲ νομίμως ἢ παρανόμως πεπραγμένων τὴν δίκην ἐπὶ μόνας τρέπειν τὰς ψυχάς. Εἰ γὰρ ὁ τοὺς νόμους δεξάμενος οὗτος δέξαιτ᾿ ἂν δικαίως καὶ τῆς παρανομίας τὴν δίκην, ἐδέξατο δὲ τοὺς νόμους ἄνθρωπος, οὐ ψυχὴ καθ᾿ ἑαυτήν, ἄνθρωπον δεῖ καὶ τὴν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἡμαρτημένων ὑποσχεῖν δίκην, οὐ ψυχὴν καθ᾿ ἑαυτήν· ἐπεὶ μὴ ψυχαῖς ἐθέσπισε θεὸς ἀπέχεσθαι τῶν οὐδὲν αὐταῖς προσηκόντων, οἷον μοιχείας φόνου κλοπῆς ἁρπαγῆς τῆς κατὰ τῶν γεννησάντων ἀτιμίας, πάσης τε κοινῶς τῆς ἐπ᾿ ἀδικίᾳ καὶ βλάβῃ τῶν πέλας γινομένης ἐπιθυμίας. Οὔτε γὰρ τὸ Τίμα τὸν πατέρα σου καὶ τὴν μητέρα σου ψυχαῖς μόνον εὐάρμοστον, οὐ προσηκόντων αὐταῖς τῶν τοιούτων ὀνομάτων· οὐ γὰρ ψυχαὶ ψυχὰς γεννῶσαι τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς ἢ τῆς μητέρος οἰκειοῦνται προσηγορίαν, ἀλλ᾿ ἀνθρώπους ἄνθρωποι· οὔτε οὖν τὸ Οὐ μοιχεύσεις ἐπὶ ψυχῶν λεχθείῃ ποτ᾿ ἂν ἢ νοηθείη δεόντως, οὐκ οὔσης ἐν αὐταῖς τῆς κατὰ τὸ ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ διαφορᾶς οὐδὲ πρὸς μῖξίν τινος ἐπιτηδειότητος ἢ πρὸς ταύτην ὀρέξεως. Ὀρέξεως δὲ τοιαύτης οὐκ οὔσης, οὐδὲ μῖξιν εἶναι δυνατόν· παρ᾿ οἷς δὲ μῖξις οὐκ ἔστιν ὅλως, οὐδὲ ἔνθεσμος μῖξις, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ὁ γάμος· ἐννόμου δὲ μίξεως οὐκ οὔσης, οὐδὲ τὴν παράνομον καὶ τὴν ἐπ᾿ ἀλλοτρίᾳ γυναικὶ γινομένην ὄρεξιν ἢ μῖξιν εἶναι δυνατόν, τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι μοιχεία. Ἀλλ᾿ οὐδὲ τὸ κλοπὴν ἀπαγορεύειν ἢ τὴν τοῦ πλείονος ἐπιθυμίαν ψυχαῖς προσφυές· οὐδὲ γὰρ δέονται τούτων, ὧν οἱ δεόμενοι διὰ τὴν φυσικὴν ἔνδειαν ἢ χρείαν κλέπτειν εἰώθασιν ἢ λῃστεύειν, οἷον χρυσὸν ἢ ἄργυρον ἢ ζῶον ἢ ἄλλο τι τῶν πρὸς τροφὴν ἢ σκέπην ἢ χρῆσιν ἐπιτηδείων· ἀχρεῖον γὰρ ἀθανάτῳ φύσει πᾶν ὁπόσον τοῖς ἐνδεέσιν ὀρεκτὸν ὡς χρήσιμον. Ἀλλ᾿ ὁ μὲν ἐντελέστερος περὶ τούτων λόγος ἀφείσθω τοῖς σπουδαιότερον ἕκαστον σκοπεῖν βουλομένοις ἢ φιλοτιμότερον διαγωνίζεσθαι πρὸς τοὺς διαφερομένους. Ἡμῖν δὲ ἀρκούντων τῶν ἀρτίως εἰρημένων καὶ τῶν συμφώνως τούτοις τὴν ἀνάστασιν πιστουμένων, τὸ τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἐπὶ πλεῖον ἐνδιατρίβειν οὐκ ἔτ᾿ ἂν ἔχοι καιρόν· οὐ γὰρ τὸ μηδὲν παραλιπεῖν τῶν ἐνόντων εἰπεῖν πεποιήμεθα σκοπόν, ἀλλὰ τὸ κεφαλαιωδῶς ὑποδεῖξαι τοῖς συνελθοῦσιν ἅ χρὴ περὶ ἀναστάσεως φρονεῖν, καὶ τῇ δυνάμει τῶν παρόντων συμμετρῆσαι τὰς ἐπὶ τοῦτο φερούσας ἀφορμάς.

About this text

Athenagoras argues that God can raise the dead, and that the rising of the body fits God's purpose, human nature, and justice.

Athenagoras (fl. c. 177) was an Athenian philosopher who converted to Christianity and wrote in Greek as a Christian apologist. This treatise is addressed to those who disbelieve or doubt the resurrection of the dead, urging them to examine the question rationally rather than by idle speculation. He wrote to show that bodily resurrection is both possible for God and consistent with God's purpose, human nature, and divine justice.

The work answers pagan philosophers and other critics who claimed that resurrection was impossible or contrary to God's will. Athenagoras first argues that disbelief is unreasonable unless critics can prove resurrection impossible or unwilled by God. He then shows that God's knowledge and power make resurrection possible, and that apparent difficulties such as bodies eaten by animals do not prevent it, because only what is truly proper food can be united to a body.

A reader will meet the critics who raise objections, including the mythological figure Thyestes as an example of cannibalism, and an unnamed apostle quoted as saying that the corruptible must put on incorruptibility. Athenagoras argues from God's purpose in creating humans, from human nature as a compound of soul and body, and from divine justice, which requires that the whole human being receive reward or punishment. The apostle quoted is Paul, and the saying about the corruptible putting on incorruptibility comes from 1 Corinthians 15:54.

New English from the Greek base text; no published English used as wording.

Printed text used

Translated from Athenagorae Philosophi Atheniensis Opera Athenagoras Johann Karl Theodor von Otto Mauke Jena 1857 (Greek)

This work has not yet been re-checked against its source. This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.