On the Resurrection of the Dead · §6 · Athenagoras

Only what is truly food can unite to a body

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Athenagoras is answering critics who say resurrection is impossible because bodies eaten by animals become part of those animals; he is now explaining that only what is truly proper food can be united to a body, while what is contrary to nature is expelled or destroys.

Since, then, there is great natural difference among all living creatures, and even the food that is according to nature changes along with each kind of animal and with the body being nourished, and since a threefold cleansing and separation takes place in the food of every animal, everything foreign to the animal's food must necessarily be destroyed and pass off in the way nature has appointed, because it cannot be blended with the body. But the power of the body that nourishes must correspond to the powers of the animal being nourished and be according to nature. This food, after passing through the criteria nature has appointed and being thoroughly cleansed by the natural purifications, becomes a most pure assimilation into substance. Only this could anyone rightly call food, if he is speaking accurately about the facts, since it casts off everything foreign and harmful to the constitution of the animal being nourished, along with all that great bulk brought in to fill the stomach and satisfy the appetite.

No one would dispute that this food is united to the body being nourished, since it is interwoven with and molded around all its parts and members. But food that is in a different condition and contrary to nature is quickly destroyed if it is mixed with a stronger power, while it easily destroys the power that has been overcome, and it turns into harmful humors and poisonous qualities, since it brings nothing proper or friendly to the body being nourished. The greatest proof of this is that pain, danger, or death follows for many of the animals being nourished when, under the force of a violent appetite, something poisonous and contrary to nature is dragged in mixed with the food. This would certainly be destructive of the body being nourished, if indeed living creatures are nourished by what is proper and according to nature, and destroyed by what is contrary.

If, therefore, the food that is according to nature is mixed according to the differences of animals that differ in nature, and if not everything an animal takes in, nor any random part of it, admits of blending with the body being nourished, but only what has been cleansed through the whole process of digestion and has been purely changed for union with the particular body and is well fitted to the parts being nourished, then it is clear that nothing contrary to nature could ever be united to those things for which it is not suitable and appropriate food. Rather, it either passes off in the stomach itself before producing any other humor, raw and corrupted, or if it remains longer it produces suffering or a disease hard to cure, which destroys along with it the food that is according to nature, or even the very flesh that needs food. And even if it is ever expelled, overcome by certain drugs or better foods or the natural powers, it flows out with no small harm, since it brings nothing peaceful to the things that are according to nature, because it cannot be blended with nature.

Greek

Πολλῆς οὖν οὔσης ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ζώοις τῆς φυσικῆς διαφορᾶς, καὶ αὐτῆς γε τῆς κατὰ φύσιν τροφῆς ἑκάστῳ γένει ζώου καὶ τῷ τρεφομένῳ σώματι συνεξαλλαττομένης, τριττῆς δὲ κατὰ τὴν ἑκάστου ζώου τροφὴν γινομένης καθάρσεως καὶ διακρίσεως, δεῖ πάντως φθείρεσθαι μὲν καὶ διαχωρεῖν ᾗ πέφυκεν ἢ πρὸς ἕτερόν τι μεταβάλλειν πᾶν ὁπόσον ἀλλότριον εἰς τὴν τοῦ ζώου τροφήν, ὡς συγκραθῆναι μὴ δυνάμενον, συμβαίνουσαν δὲ καὶ κατὰ φύσιν εἶναι τὴν τοῦ τρέφοντος σώματος δύναμιν ταῖς τοῦ τρεφομένου ζώου δυνάμεσι, καὶ ταύτην ἐλθοῦσαν δι᾿ ὧν πέφυκε κριτηρίων καὶ καθαρθεῖσαν ἀκριβῶς τοῖς φυσικοῖς καθαρσίοις εἰλικρινεστάτην γενέσθαι πρόσληψιν εἰς οὐσίαν· ἣν δὴ καὶ μόνην ἐπαληθεύων ἄν τις τοῖς πράγμασιν ὀνομάσειεν τροφήν, ὡς ἀποβάλλουσαν πᾶν ὁπόσον ἀλλότριον καὶ βλαβερὸν εἰς τὴν τοῦ τρεφομένου ζώου σύστασιν καὶ τὸν πολὺν ἐκεῖνον ὄγκον ἐπεισαχθέντα πρὸς τὴν τῆς γαστρὸς ἀποπλήρωσιν καὶ τὴν τῆς ὀρέξεως θεραπείαν. Ἀλλὰ ταύτην μὲν οὐκ ἄν τις ἀμφισβητήσειεν ἑνοῦσθαι τῷ τρεφομένῳ σώματι, συνδιαπλεκομένην τε καὶ περιπλαττομένην πᾶσι τοῖς τούτου μέρεσι καὶ μορίοις· τὴν δὲ ἑτέρως ἔχουσαν καὶ παρὰ φύσιν φθείρεσθαι μὲν ταχέως, ἢν ἐῤῥωμενεστέρᾳ συμμίξῃ δυνάμει, φθείρειν δὲ σὺν εὐμαρείᾳ τὴν κρατηθεῖσαν, εἴς τε μοχθηροὺς ἐκτρέπεσθαι χυμοὺς καὶ φαρμακώδεις ποιότητας, ὡς μηδὲν οἰκεῖον ἢ φίλον τῷ τρεφομένῳ σώματι φέρουσαν. Καὶ τούτου τεκμήριον μέγιστον τὸ πολλοῖς τῶν τρεφομένων ζώων ἐκ τούτων ἐπακολουθεῖν ἄλγος ἢ κίνδυνον ἢ θάνατον, ἢν ὑπὸ σφοδροτέρας ὀρέξεως τῇ τροφῇ καταμεμιγμένον συνεφελκύσηταί τι φαρμακῶδες καὶ παρὰ φύσιν· ὃ δὴ καὶ πάντως φθαρτικὸν ἂν εἴη τοῦ τρεφομένου σώματος, εἴ γε τρέφεται μὲν τὰ τρεφόμενα τοῖς οἰκείοις καὶ κατὰ φύσιν, φθείρεται δὲ τοῖς ἐναντίοις. Εἴπερ οὖν τῇ διαφορᾷ τῶν τῇ φύσει διαφερόντων ζώων ἡ κατὰ φύσιν συνδιῄρηται τροφή, καὶ ταύτης γε αὐτῆς οὔτε πᾶν ὅπερ ἂν προσενέγκηται τὸ ζῶον οὔτε τὸ τυχὸν ἐκ τούτου τὴν πρὸς τὸ τρεφόμενον σῶμα δέχεται σύγκρασιν, ἀλλ᾿ αὐτὸ μόνον τὸ διὰ πάσης πέψεως κεκαθαρμένον καὶ μεταβεβληκὸς εἰλικρινῶς πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ποιοῦ σώματος ἕνωσιν καὶ τοῖς τρεφομένοις μέρεσιν εὐάρμοστον, εὔδηλον ὡς οὐδὲν τῶν παρὰ φύσιν ἑνωθείη ποτ᾿ ἂν τούτοις οἷς οὐκ ἔστι τροφὴ προσφυὴς καὶ κατάλληλος, ἀλλ᾿ ἤτοι κατ᾿ αὐτὴν τὴν κοιλίαν διαχωρεῖ, πρὶν ἕτερόν τινα γεννῆσαι χυμόν, ὠμὸν καὶ διεφθαρμένον, ἢ συστὰν ἐπὶ πλεῖον τίκτει πάθος ἢ νόσον δυσίατον, συνδιαφθείρουσαν καὶ τὴν κατὰ φύσιν τροφὴν ἢ καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν τῆς τροφῆς δεομένην σάρκα. Ἀλλὰ κἂν ἀπωσθῇ ποτε, φαρμάκοις τισὶν ἢ σιτίοις βελτίοσιν ἢ ταῖς φυσικαῖς δυνάμεσι νικηθέν, μετ᾿ οὐκ ὀλίγης ἐξεῤῥύη τῆς βλάβης, ὡς μηδὲν φέρον τοῖς κατὰ φύσιν εἰρηνικὸν διὰ τὸ πρὸς τὴν φύσιν ἀσύγκρατον.

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.