Coptic homilies in the dialect of Upper Egypt/VI. Syriac Version of a Discourse by Alexander, Archbishop of Alexandria, on the Soul and Body

THE DISCOURSE OF THE BLESSED MAN ALEXANDER ON THE INCARNATION OF OUR LORD, AND ON THE SOUL AND BODY.

Now the Word was sent [down] from heaven without grudging, and it is ready to give drink to our hearts, if it be that we ourselves are ready to be [obedient] to the power of the Word. For power [comes] not by what we say, but by our hearkening [thereto]. As the rain produces not fruit without the earth, nor does the earth [produce fruit] without the rain, so neither does the Word produce fruit without hearing [on our part], nor does hearing produce fruit without the Word. For the Word produces speech in us, but it is the hearkening [thereto] which gives us the faculty of listening. Since now the Word gives power, do you also, without grudging, give hearing, having first of all purified yourselves from all envy and unbelief. For envy and unbelief are evil possessions and the enemies of righteousness. For envy is the opposite of love, and unbelief of belief, just as bitterness is the opposite of sweet, and darkness of light, and wickedness of good, and death of life, and falsehood of truth. Now, therefore, those who are filled with these opposites are dead men. For those who possess envy and unbelief hate love and faith, and those who hate these are the enemies of God.

For you know now, O my beloved brethren, those who possess envy and unbelief are the enemies of righteousness. Guard ye yourselves against the enemies of justice, and receive faith and love, for through them comes salvation to all the saints, from the beginning until this day. Therefore make ye manifest the fruits of love, not only in word, but also in deed, and the works to the Lord through patient endurance. For behold, our Lord also made manifest towards us His love, and not in word only, but in deeds, for He gave Himself as a redemption for us, and also that we should not be like unto the world, either in word or in deed. For the world stands by the word, but we [stand] by both word and deed. For it was not sufficient for God to say only, ' Let us make man in Our own image and likeness,' but unto the word He united action. For God took dust from the earth, and He formed man in His own image and likeness, breathing into him the breath of life, that Adam might become a living soul. Now therefore man having, through error, turned aside somewhat to death, that which had been fashioned required to be fashioned anew for redemption by the Handicraftsman. For it was that which had been fashioned that had become corruption in the earth. That breath which appertains to the living soul is, when it is separated from the body, seized and carried off to a dark place which is called Sheol.

Now the soul and the body are separated : the former becomes a fettered thing in Sheol, and the latter lies free in the earth. Now between these, the soul and the body, there is a great gulf [fixed], so that the flesh is set free, being dissolved, but the soul is unable [to escape], being fettered. For like a king who has been taken prisoner, the city having been destroyed ; or again, like a general who is loaded with fetters, his troops having been scattered ; or like a steersman who has fallen [into the water], his ship having sunk ; even so is the soul which is fettered, its body being set free, for it is like unto a city which has no king, and its members are like unto the troops which have no governor, and they are sunk in death, like the ship which has no steersman. Now the soul was wont to govern its man, for it was to the body like the king of a city, and also like the governor of a troop, and like the steersman of a ship. Now therefore it can no longer govern its man, because the soul has been chained to immovability. Therefore does it wander away into error, because it has turned aside from the straight way, and it has joined itself to the courses which tempt [the soul], to fornication, and idolatry, and to murders, and deeds of blood, whereby it has destroyed its man.

Now the soul, having been taken to Sheol, is bound in fetters by the Evil Tempter. But as a king reconstructed a city which has fallen down, or a general collects together [again] the soldiery who had been scattered, or the steersman makes ready [again] the ship which had foundered, so also is it with the soul. It was a helper of its body before it was dissolved in the earth, for it itself was not in bonds. Now the soul is fettered, not by bonds, but by sins. Therefore being unable [to free itself] it left its body lying free in the earth. It itself, however, having been struck down into Sheol, became a footstool for death. For it became a thing worn out for all the children of men. Man went forth from Paradise to this region, where are gatherings of iniquities, and adulteries, and fornications, and murders, and deeds of blood ; now these are the things which destroy man, and all of them make [him go] to death. [And while Sheol] was fighting against man, in order that it might also destroy him, man was without any one to encourage him and to be a helper [to him] ; and he would never [enjoy] rest.

Now at what period of his life does a man rejoice? Is it when in the womb of his mother? But there he is close unto death. Is it when he is being fed with milk at the breast? But he never enjoys happiness there. Is it when he is in the vigour of early manhood? But that period also is one of danger because of the vigour of the lusts [of his body]. Is it when he is an old man? But in that period he groans because of his old age, and because of his expectation of death. For what is old age except the expectation of death? But all who are on the earth die, a young men and old men, little and great ; for the measures of the statures [of men] do not subdue death, for man is destroyed however [large he be]. Now the sight of the death of a man is a sorrowful thing. When one looks at a dead body [one sees that] the face is changed, the form [is that of] a dead thing, the body is shrunk, the mouth is silent, [the body is] cold to the touch, the eyes are closed, the limbs are without motion, and the body of the dead man becomes in the ground decaying flesh. The ligaments are rotten, the bones are bleached, the muscles are dissolved, the body is fine dust, and is not a man.

What, then, is man? He is a flower which blooms for a [short] time. In the womb he knows nothing, in his youth he suffers pain, and in old age he is made helpless by death. Now therefore after all this service of death, and the destruction of man, God visited the formation which He had formed in His own image and likeness. And He visited it for this reason that it might not be any longer the mark of death continually. God the Father sent His Son, Who was without flesh, from heaven, that He might put on flesh in a virgin womb. And He became a man like yourself that He might redeem man who was lost, and He gathered together all his limbs which had been scattered. Now that was a matter for the Divine Providence : having divided man [into two parts], these did Christ bring together, and He made one [in] the man. And for this reason also Christ suffered in order that we might live for ever. If this be not so, why did Christ also die? Was He, think ye, under the obligation of the liability of death? Why, then, did He put on the flesh?

Was He not arrayed in glory? Also, why did He become man? For was He not God? Why, then, did He come down upon the earth, and put on flesh in the womb? For was He not reigning in heaven? In what manner now was it necessary that God should come upon the earth, and put on flesh, and be laid in swaddling bands in a manger, and be fed with milk at the breast, and be baptized by a servant, and hung upon the Cross, and buried in the earth, and rise again from the dead on the third day? In what way, I say, was it necessary?

It is well known that for the sake of man He bore disgrace, in order that He might redeem man who was lost, even as He cried out by the hand of the prophet, ' I have endured pain like a woman in birth-pangs.' For it is indeed true that He bore suffering for our sake, and endured pains, and revilings, and scourgings, and also death and burial. For thus also has He said by the hand of the prophet, c He has brought me down into the depth.' Who was it, then, that brought Him down? The wicked nation.

Observe ye, O children of men ! Observe the reward wherewith Israel rewarded Him ! They killed Him, who wrought benefits for them, having rewarded Him with evil things for good things, and affliction for gladness, and death for life. For Him Who had raised up their dead, and healed their lame folk, and cleansed their lepers, and given light to their blind, Him, I say, did they kill and hang upon a tree.

Observe ye, O children of men, for all generations saw new and wonderful things. They hung upon a tree Him that hung out the earth, and they fastened thereto Him that had fixed the world [in its place]. And they bound Him that had unbound sins. And they made to drink vinegar Him that had made [them] to drink righteousness. They tore the Hands and the Feet of Him that had healed their hands and their feet. And they compelled Him to shut His Eyes, Him that had made them to see. And they buried Him that had raised the dead before He suffered.

But while our Lord was hanging on the tree, the graves were rent, and Sheol was opened, and souls came forth, and the dead rose, and many of those who had risen appeared in Jerusalem when the mystery of the Cross was fulfilled.

Now our Lord dissolved Death, and also dissolved the enmity [thereof]. He bound the strong one, and set up against him the passion of the victory (or, merit) of the Cross. He lifted up His own Body on the Cross, in order that it might be seen that it was the body which had been lifted up, and that it was Death which had fallen under the feet of the flesh.

Then the heavenly hosts were stupefied with admiration, and the angels marveled, and the [Four] Elements were shaken (or, moved), and all creation tottered when it saw [this] new mystery, and the awful sight which had been [seen] on the earth. The people as they mocked rejoiced, and at the same time, when as yet the mystery was not known, the earth tottered. The mountains and the valleys rocked and were shaken, the sea was greatly disturbed, and the whole Creation of God was troubled. The luminaries in the heavens were terrified, the sun fled, and the moon also fled, the stars ceased to shine, and the day did not abide. An angel came forth in trouble from the temple, and rent in twain the curtain of the temple; darkness covered the earth, because the Eyes of the Lord thereof were closed. A light went round about Sheol, and beyond there arose the planet Venus. Then the Lord went down into Sheol, not in the body, but in the spirit, for in every place He was operative. In the body He raised up the dead, but in the spirit He set free the souls from Sheol. For whilst the Body of our Lord was hanging [on the Cross], then were the graves rent asunder, and Sheol was opened, and the dead were rising, and the souls were ascending into heaven when the Lord dissolved Sheol. And He trod under foot Death, and rent asunder the Enemy. Now the souls came forth from Sheol, but the dead appeared from the earth.

Observe therefore how much His dying was able [to effect]. The Elements could not endure His Passion, nor the earth His Body, nor Sheol His Spirit. For everything was troubled, and everything was moved (or, shaken) at the Passion of Christ. The Lord cried out, as in the matter of Lazarus, ' Come forth, O dead, from your graves ! Come forth from your coffins ! I announce unto you the Resurrection, I Christ.' Then the earth could not endure the Body of our Lord which was buried in it, and it cried out, saying, ' My Lord, spare me these evils. Remove from me wrath, release me from the curse, because I received the blood of the righteous and the bodies of men. And moreover, Your own Body was buried in me. What is this wonderful mystery? Why didst You descend into the earth but for the sake of man, who is scattered about in every place? For in every place your beautiful image is scattered. But if You speak the word of command, all bodies will stand up before You. Now however that You have come to the earth, and dost seek out the members of the creatures whom You have fashioned, take your man, take your deposit, take Your Image, take Adam.

Then the Lord rose from the dead on the third day, the third part of man only having been dead. Then all the generations of the children of men were redeemed by Christ, for One had been judged and myriads were set free. Now this One was the cauterisation of the sore in man, and He redeemed man. And He ascended into the heights of heaven, and took up [as] an offering to the Father, neither gold, nor silver, nor precious stones, but man whom He had fashioned in His own image and likeness. This One did the Father exalt at His right hand, on a high throne, and He made Him the Judge of the Gentiles, and the Captain of the armies of the angels, and the Charioteer of the Cherubim, and the Son of the true Jerusalem, and the Bridegroom of the Virgin, and King for ever and ever. Amen.