The First and the Second Adam
That the word “natural,” then, would suggest to us not a difference of nature, but rather a quality of life, of character and of ways, by which one person is held fast by the more earthly and fleshly mind, and another shines out in the freedom of the Spirit, he shows clearly from Adam, the first and the second. For both came to be in earthly bodies; but the quality, so to speak, of the mind, and indeed the choice to live in a different way, showed the one to be natural, and the other to be incomparably better, that is, spiritual.
“But the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and then the spiritual” (1 Corinthians 15:46). In a way he takes hold of the times in which they came to be, and says, “But the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and then the spiritual.” Since he said that the body is sown in the earth natural, he shows plainly that it is not foreign to human nature to pass from a natural mind to a spiritual one, and that the natural would be older than the spiritual. And what proof could there be of such things? “The first man was from the earth, made of dust,” and so on (1 Corinthians 15:47).
The first man, he says, that is, Adam, had been made a living soul, that is, earthly and fleshly; but the second is from heaven. For even though the Word of God became flesh, as the Scriptures say (John 1:14), yet He was [The text is damaged here.] also the One from heaven and “above all,” in the words of John (John 3:31). So both, as I said, were in earthly bodies, but they were not also equal in disposition, that is, in their way of life. For the first was of a fleshly mind, while the second, the One from heaven, was a life-giving spirit.
“And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust,” that is, the likeness to Adam, being overcome by passions and weak toward sins, and brought besides under the yokes of corruption, “so let us also bear the image of the man of heaven” (1 Corinthians 15:49), that is, of Christ: becoming superior to love of the flesh and to any wish to go on sinning, and having already conquered death itself, which of old was terrible and hard to face and ruled savagely over us as a tyrant.
“Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 15:50). By this too he establishes the mystery of the resurrection. For as long as the human body is flesh and blood, that is, mortal and corruptible, it could not inherit the kingdom of God, that is, unending existence. So it is wholly necessary that corruption be swallowed up and what readily withers be done away, and that the body itself be refashioned into incorruption and made radiant with a divine and unspeakable glory; for then it will inherit the kingdom of God.
“Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51). Great and truly heavenly is the mystery, and it was surely revealed to him through Christ who spoke in him (2 Corinthians 13:3), “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3).
Greek
οὐ φύσεως ἡμῖν διαφορᾶς ὑπεμφήνειεν ἂν, ζωῆς δὲ μᾶλλον ἠθῶν τε καὶ τρόπων ποιότητα, καθ' ἣν ὁ μέν τις ἐστὶ τῷ γεωδεστέρῳ καὶ σαρκικῷ φρονήματι κάτοχος, ὁ δὲ τῇ τοῦ πνεύματος ἐλευθερίᾳ περιφανὴς, ἀποδείκνυσι σαφῶς ἀπό τε Ἀδὰμ τοῦ πρώτου καὶ τοῦ δευτέρου· ἄμφω μὲν γὰρ γεγόνασιν ἐν γηΐνοις σώμασιν, ἀλλ' ἥ γε τοῦ φρονήματος οἱονεὶ ποιότης, καὶ μὴν καὶ τὸ ἑτεροίως ἑλέσθαι διαβιοῦν, τὸν μὲν ἀπέφηνε ψυχικὸν, ἕτερον γεμὴν ἀσυγκρίτως ἐν ἀμείνοσι τουτέστι πνευματικόν. Ἀλλ' οὐ πρῶτον τὸ πνευματικὸν, ἀλλὰ τὸ ψυχικόν· ἔπειτα τὸ πνευματικόν. Ἐπιλαμβάνεται δὲ τρόπον τινὰ τῶν καιρῶν καθ' οὓς γεγόνασι, καί φησιν Ἀλλ' οὐ πρῶτον τὸ πνευματικὸν, ἀλλὰ τὸ ψυχικὸν, ἔπειτα τὸ πνευματικόν· ἐπειδὴ ἔφη σπείρεσθαι μὲν εἰς γῆν τὸ σῶμα ψυχικὸν, ἀποφαίνει λευκῶς ὡς ἔστιν οὐκ ἀπαράδεκτον τῇ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου φύσει τὸ ἐκ φρονήματος ψυχικοῦ μεταφοιτᾶν εἰς πνευματικὸν, καὶ ὅτι πρεσβύτερον τοῦ πνευματικοῦ τὸ ψυχικὸν εἴη ἄν· καὶ τίς ἂν γένοιτο τῶν τοιούτων ἡ πίστις; Ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος ἐκ γῆς χοϊκός κ.τ.λ. Ὁ πρῶτός φησιν ἄνθρωπος τουτέστιν Ἀδὰμ, εἰς ψυχὴν πεποίητο ζῶσαν, τουτέστι γεώδης καὶ σαρκικός· ὁ γεμὴν 315 δεύτερος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ· εἰ γὰρ καὶ γέγονε σὰρξ ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος κατὰ τὰς γραφὰς, ἀλλ' ἠ ... καὶ ὁ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καὶ "ἐπάνω πάντων," κατὰ τὴν Ἰωάννου φωνήν· οὐκοῦν ἄμφω μὲν ἤστην, ὡς ἔφην, ἐν γηΐνοις σώμασιν, οὐ μὴν καὶ ἐν ἴσοις ἔτι κατά τε τὴν γνώμην ἤτοι τὸν τῆς ζωῆς τρόπον· ἦν μὲν γὰρ ὁ πρῶτος ἐν φρονήματι σαρκικῷ, πνεῦμα δὲ ζωοποιοῦν ὁ δεύτερος καὶ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ. καὶ ὥσπερ ἐφορέσαμεν τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ χοϊκοῦ, τουτέστι τὴν πρὸς Ἀδὰμ ὁμοίωσιν, καὶ παθῶν ἡττώμενοι καὶ ἀσθενοῦντες εἰς ἁμαρτίας, καίτοι τῆς φθορᾶς ὑπενηνεγμένοι ζυγοῖς, οὕτω φορέσωμεν καὶ τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ ἐπουρανίου, τουτέστι Χριστοῦ· καὶ φιλοσαρκίας ἀμείνους καὶ τοῦ πλημμελεῖν ἐθέλειν ἔτι γεγενημένοι, καὶ αὐτὸν ἤδη νενικηκότες τὸν πάλαι δεινὸν καὶ δυσάντητον καὶ ἀγρίως καθ' ἡμῶν τυραννήσαντα θάνατον. Ὅτι σὰρξ καὶ αἷμα βασιλείαν Θεοῦ κληρονομῆσαι οὐ δύνανται. Συνίστησι τὸ τῆς ἀναστάσεως καὶ διὰ τούτου μυστήριον· ἕως μὲν γάρ ἐστι τὸ σῶμα τὸ ἀνθρώπινον σὰρξ καὶ αἷμα, τουτέστι θνητὸν καὶ φθαρτὸν, Θεοῦ βασιλείαν, τουτέστι τὸ εἶναι διηνεκῶς, οὐκ ἂν δύναιτο κληρονομεῖν. πᾶσα δὴ οὖν ἀνάγκη καταπίνεσθαι τὴν φθορὰν καὶ ἀφανίζεσθαι τὸ εὐμάραντον, μεταπλάττεσθαι δὲ πρὸς ἀφθαρσίαν αὐτὸ, καὶ θείᾳ τινὶ καὶ ἀποῤῥήτῳ δόξῃ καταφαιδρύνεσθαι· κληρονομήσει γὰρ τότε τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ βασιλείαν. Ἰδοὺ μυστήριον ὑμῖν λέγω· πάντες μὲν οὐ κοιμηθησόμεθα, πάντες δὲ ἀλλαγησόμεθα. Μέγα καὶ οὐράνιον ἀληθῶς τὸ μυστήριον, καὶ ἀποκαλυφθὲν αὐτῷ πάντως που διὰ τοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ λαλοῦντος Χριστοῦ, "ἐν ᾧ εἰσι πάντες οἱ θησαυροὶ τῆς σοφίας καὶ γνώσεως "ἀπόκρυφοι." αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστι καὶ τῶν ἔσεσθαι προσδοκωμένων 27