Cyril of Jerusalem, Lecture 18, Part B

Cyril of Jerusalem

Lecture 18, Part B

https://www.swrktec.org/catechism

“The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones.” — Ezekiel 37:1

Summary: St. Cyril continues discussion of the resurrection of human beings from the dead as well as its apologetic.  So far, he has limited himself to natural law and Torah; now he turns to all the Prophets and Apostles for authority.  Completing this topic, he concludes with an overview of the Church and its catholicity.

Preview:  13.  “And whence in the beginning came man into being at all…?  Go [Samaritans] to the first book of the Scripture, which even you receive; And God formed man of the dust of the ground.[i]  Is dust transformed into flesh, and shall not flesh be again restored to flesh?  … whence the heavens … earth, and seas?  … sun, and moon, and stars?  … waters … things which fly and swim?  … earth all its living things?  Were so many myriads brought from nothing into being, and shall we men, who bear God’s image, not be raised up?  Truly this course is full of unbelief, and the unbelievers are much to be condemned; when Abraham addresses the Lord as the Judge of all the earth[ii]….”  14.  “These questions, therefore, are for them, the unbelievers: but the words of the Prophets are for us who believe. But since some who have also used the Prophets believe not what is written, and allege against us that passage, The ungodly shall not rise up in judgment,[iii] and, For if man go down to the grave he shall come up no more,[iv] and, The dead shall not praise You, O Lord[v]  … For if it is said, that the ungodly shall not rise up in judgment, this shows that they shall rise, not in judgment, but in condemnation….  And if it is said, The dead shall not praise You, O Lord, this shows, that since in this life only is the appointed time for repentance and pardon….  Therefore the just then offer praise; but they who have died in sins have no further season for confession.”  15.  “Respecting that passage, If a man go down to the grave, he shall come up no more, observe what follows … He shall come up no more, neither shall he return to his own house.[vi] … since the whole world shall pass away….  But they ought to have heard Job, saying, For there is hope of a tree; for if it be cut down, it will sprout again, and the tender branch thereof will not cease.  For though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the rocky ground; yet from the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth a crop like a new plant. But man when he dies, is gone; and when mortal man falls, is he no more?[vii]  … since a tree falls and revives, shall not man, for whom all trees were made, himself revive?  And that you may not suppose that I am forcing the words, read what follows … For if a man die, he shall live again … I will wait till I be made again; [viii] … Who shall raise up on the earth my skin, which endures these things.[ix]  Esaias … says, The dead men shall rise again, and they that are in the tombs shall awake.[x]  … Ezekiel … says … Behold I will open your graves, and bring you up out of your graves.[xi]  Daniel says, Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall arise, some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting shame.[xii]  16.  “Many Scriptures … testify of the Resurrection of the dead….”  “We will make a passing mention of the raising of Lazarus … and allude … to the widow’s son … [and] mention the ruler of the synagogue’s daughter, and the rending of the rocks, and how there arose many bodies of the saints which slept[xiii]….  But specially be it remembered that Christ has been raised from the dead.[xiv]  … in passing of Elias, and the widow’s son … of Elisseus also, who raised the dead twice; once in his lifetime, and once after his death.  For when alive he wrought the resurrection by means of his own soul.[xv]  … though [the corpse of Elisseus] gave life, yet continued itself among the dead.”  “And let us not foolishly disbelieve, as though this thing had not happened: for if handkerchiefs and aprons, which are from without, touching the bodies of the diseased, raised up the sick, how much more should the very body of the Prophet raise the dead?”  17.  “We might say [moree] … in detail … of each event: but as you have been already wearied both by the … fast … and by [prayer vigils], let … [this] suffice for a while; … words … were sown thinly, that you, … like richest ground, may in bearing fruit increase them.  But be it remembered, that the Apostles also raised the dead … even though the wonders wrought by each have not all been written.”  “Remember … Paul … How are the dead raised, and with what manner of body do they come?[xvi]  … how he says, For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised; how he called them fools, who believed not; … and how he wrote to the Thessalonians, But we would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as the rest which have no hope,[xvii] … that, And the dead in Christ shall rise first.[xviii]”  18.  “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.[xix]”  “… such as we cannot worthily speak of.  Then … shall the righteous shine forth as the sun,[xx] and the moon, and as the brightness of the firmament.[xxi]”  19.  “We shall be raised therefore, all with our bodies eternal [in two companies]”  “God [will] assign this portion to either company; for we do nothing without the body.”  We sin with the body; yet, with the body we also pray, keep chastity, and give alms.  “Since then the body has been our minister in all things, it shall also share with us in the future the fruits of the past.”[xxii]  20.  “Therefore, brethren, let us be careful of our bodies, nor misuse them as though not our own.”[xxiii]  “The past wounds … God heals by Baptism; against future ones let us one and all jointly guard ourselves, that we may keep this vestment of the body pure, and may not … lose the salvation of heaven….”  21.  “Thus much … of the Resurrection of the dead; and now … [continuing] the profession of the faith, and do you with all diligence pronounce it while I speak , and remember it.”  22.  “And in one Baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; and in one Holy Catholic Church; and in the resurrection of the flesh; and in eternal life.”  “Now then let me finish what still remains to be said for the Article, In one Holy Catholic Church….”  23.  “It is called Catholic then because it extends over all the world, from one end of the earth to the other; and because it teaches universally and completely one and all the doctrines which ought to come to men’s knowledge, concerning things both visible and invisible, heavenly and earthly; and because it brings into subjection to godliness the whole race of mankind, governors and governed, learned and unlearned; and because it universally treats and heals the whole class of sins, which are committed by soul or body, and possesses in itself every form of virtue which is named, both in deeds and words, and in every kind of spiritual gifts.”[xxiv]  24.  “And it is rightly named (Ecclesia) because it calls forth and assembles together all men … And make an assembly for all the congregation at the door of the tabernacle of witness.[xxv]  … the word assemble, is used for the first time in [Leviticus] at the time when the Lord puts Aaron into the High-priesthood.”  … the Lord [also] says to Moses, Assemble the people unto Me, and let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me.[xxvi]  And … concerning the Tables, And on them were written all the words which the Lord spoke with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the Assembly[xxvii]….  The Psalmist also says, I will give thanks unto You, O Lord, in the great Congregation; I will praise You among much people.[xxviii]

---

[i] Genesis 2:7

[ii] Genesis 18:25

[iii] Psalms 1:5

[iv] Job 7:9

[v] Psalms 6:5; 115:17; Isaiah 38:18

[vi] Job 7:9-10

[vii] Job 14:7-10

[viii] Job 14:14 Septuagint

[ix] Job 19:23-27 Septuagint

[x] Isaiah 26:19 Septuagint

[xi] Ezekiel 37:12

[xii] Daniel 12:2

[xiii] Matthew 27:52

[xiv] 1 Corinthians 15:20

[xv] 2 Kings 4:34; 2 Kings 13:21

[xvi] 1 Corinthians 15:35; also 1 Corinthians 15:1-58

[xvii] 1 Thessalonians 4:13

[xviii] 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18

[xix] 1 Corinthians 15:53

[xx] Matthew 13:43

[xxi] Daniel 12:2-3

[xxii] St. Cyril, here seems to deviate from his own rule, to say nothing without proof from Scripture; so, part or all of this section may have been tampered with by others: the voice of speculative theology putting words in St. Cyril’s mouth: words that he may never have said.  The beauty and glory of St. Cyril, thus far, is that he has assiduously avoided speculative theology.  It is strange that 1 Corinthians 3:6-15 was not discussed here to alleviate any confusion.  As far as any assurance of the realities of heaven and hell, St. Cyril has thoroughly discussed these elsewhere.  Whether the just and the reprobate are raised with different kinds of sensate bodies remains unknown: Scripture appears to be silent on the matter.

[xxiii] 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

[xxiv] We quote St. Cyril’s definition of catholicity in its entirety because it seems unlike any definition we should form today.  It is we who have deviated from truth; it is unlikely to be St. Cyril’s error.

[xxv] Leviticus 8:3; Numbers 8:9

[xxvi] Deuteronomy 4:10

[xxvii] Deuteronomy 5:22; 9:10; 10:4

[xxviii] Psalms 18:49; 22:22, 25; 35:18; 57:9; 108:3

Cyril of Jerusalem, Lecture 18, Part A

Cyril of Jerusalem

Lecture 18, Part A

https://www.swrktec.org/catechism

“The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones.” — Ezekiel 37:1

Summary: St. Cyril discusses apologetic methods for dealing with the Greeks and the Samaritans concerning their unbelief in the resurrection of the dead.  The Greeks must be confounded by their own superstitions.  The Samaritans must be confronted from Torah.  Both err in failing to see God as immeasurably powerful; as well as assuming that God will never judge them: for the judgments of this world lack complete justice.  He mentions several proofs from nature, and from legends, most convincingly from human nature: which, since created, can certainly be recreated.  For God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Moses did witness several creative, resurrection-like miracles.

Preview:  1.  “The root of all good works is the hope of the Resurrection….”  “… every soul believing in a Resurrection is naturally careful of itself; but, disbelieving it, abandons itself to perdition.”  “Faith therefore in the Resurrection of the dead, is a great commandment and doctrine of the Holy Catholic Church; great and most necessary, though gainsaid by many, yet surely warranted by the truth.  Greeks contradict it, Samaritans disbelieve it, heretics mutilate it; the contradiction is manifold, but the truth is uniform.”  2.  “Now Greeks and Samaritans together argue against us thus.”  All that die decay, some to be spread around the world, by birds, fish, and other wild animals.  “…whence then is the body to be collected?”  “Other[s] … are consumed by fire, and their very ashes scattered by rain or wind; whence is the body to be brought together again?”  3.  To feeble humans the span of earth is great; “but to God, who holds the whole earth in the hollow of His hand,[i] all things are near at hand.  Impute not then weakness to God, from a comparison of your feebleness, but rather dwell on His power.  Does then the sun, a small work of God, by one glance of his beams give warmth to the whole world; does the atmosphere, which God has made, encompass all things in the world; and is God, who is the Creator both of the sun, and of the atmosphere, far off from the world?”  “Can you then [sort] things in your hand, and cannot God separate the things contained in His hand, and restore them to their proper place?”  4.  “But further, attend, I pray, to the very principle of justice … if you are a judge, to the good you award praise, and to the transgressors, punishment.  Is then justice observed by you a mortal man; and with God, the ever changeless King of all, is there no retributive justice?  Nay, to deny it is impious.”  “Unless there is a judgment and a retribution after this world, you charge God with unrighteousness.  Marvel not, however, because of the delay of the judgment; no combatant is crowned or disgraced, till the contest is over; and no president of the games ever crowns men while yet striving, but he waits till all the combatants are finished, that then deciding between them he may dispense the prizes and the chaplets.  Even thus God also, so long as the strife in this world lasts, succors the just but partially, but afterwards He renders to them their rewards fully.”  5.  But if … there is no resurrection of the dead, wherefore do you condemn the robbers of graves?  For if the body perishes, and there is no resurrection … why does the violator of the tomb undergo punishment?  … though you deny it with your lips, there yet abides with you an indestructible instinct of the resurrection.”  6.  “Further, does a tree … cut down blossom again…?”  “Does the grain sown and reaped remain for the threshing floor…?”  “Do shoots of vine or other trees, when … transplanted, come to life and bear fruit…?”  “Shall man, for whose sake all these exist … not rise again?”  Which is easier, to make a new mold or recast an old one?  “Is God then, who created us out of nothing, unable to raise again those who exist and are fallen?”  “Wheat, it may be, or some other kind of grain, is sown; and when the seed has fallen, it dies and rots, and is henceforth useless for food.  But that which has rotted, springs up in verdure; and though small when sown, springs up most beautiful.  … are then the things which were made for us quickened when they die, and do we for whom they were made, not rise again after our death?”  7.  In winter trees and vines are as dead, “but green in spring; and when the season has come, there is restored to them a quickening as it were from a state of death.”  “Flies and bees are often drowned in water, yet after a while revive; and species of dormice, after remaining motionless during the winter, are restored in the summer … and shall He who to irrational and despised creatures grants [resurrection] life supernaturally, not bestow it upon us, for whose sake He made them?  8.  “But the Greeks … say that, even if these creatures are raised, yet they had not utterly moldered away; and they require to see distinctly some creature rise again after complete decay.”  [Yet how reply the Greeks to their own legend of the][ii] “Phoenix.  This bird, as Clement writes … being the only one of its kind, arrives in [Egypt every] … five hundred years … in a notable city … makes itself a coffin of frankincense and myrrh and other spices, and entering into this … dies and molders away.  Then from the decayed flesh of the dead bird a worm is engendered, and this worm when grown large is transformed into a bird … as bees also … [come from] worms, and [birds] from [fluid] eggs … [grow] wings and bones and sinews.”  The Phoenix, “becoming fledged and a full-grown Phoenix … soars up into the air such as it had died, showing forth … resurrection of the dead.”  “Yet [the Phoenix] is irrational … it knows not who is the Only-begotten Son of God.  Has then a resurrection from the dead been given to this irrational creature which knows not its Maker, and to us who ascribe glory to God and keep His commandments, shall there no resurrection be granted?”  9.  “Since the sign of the Phoenix is … uncommon … take … this … every day [proof].  A hundred or two … years ago … where were we?”  “Do you not know how from … elements we are engendered, and … a living man is formed?  And how that weak element being made flesh is changed into strong sinews, and bright eyes, and sensitive nose, and hearing ears, and speaking tongue, and beating heart, and busy hands, and swift feet, and into members of all kinds?  … becomes a shipwright, and a builder, and an architect, and a craftsman of various arts, and a soldier, and a ruler, and a lawgiver, and a king?  Cannot God then, who has made us out of imperfect materials[iii], raise us up when we have fallen into decay?  He who thus [frames] a body out of what is vile, cannot He raise the fallen body again?  And He who fashions that which is not, shall He not raise up that which is and is fallen?”  10.  “Take [another] proof....  The body of the moon vanishes completely, so that no part of it is any more seen, yet it fills again, and is restored to its former state … the moon … suffering eclipse … changed into blood, recovers its luminous body … that you also, … might believe concerning yourself also what you see in respect of the moon.  These … use … as arguments against the Greeks; for with them who receive not what is written fight thou with unwritten weapons, by reasonings only and demonstrations;[iv] for these men know not who Moses is, nor Esaias, nor the Gospels, nor Paul.”  11.  “The Samaritans, who, receiving the Law only, allow not the Prophets.  To them the text just now read from Ezekiel appears of no force, for, as I said, they admit no Prophets; whence then shall we persuade the Samaritans also?”  “Now God says to Moses, I am the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob;[v] this must mean of those who [are still living].  For if Abraham has come to an end, and Isaac and Jacob, then He is the God of those who have no being.”  “Therefore Abraham and Isaac and Jacob must subsist, that God may be the God of those who have being; for He said not, I was their God, but I am.  And that there is a judgment, Abraham shows in saying to the Lord, He who judges all the earth, shall He not execute judgment?[vi]  12.  “But … Samaritans object again, and say that the souls possibly of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob continue, but that their bodies cannot possibly rise again.  Was it then possible that the rod of righteous Moses should become a serpent…?”  “Again, the rod of Aaron … budded, without the scent of waters[vii]….  Did Aaron’s rod rise … and shall not Aaron himself be raised?”  “A woman also was made salt … and shall not flesh be restored to flesh?”  “By what power was Moses’ hand changed, which even within one hour became as snow, and was restored again?  Certainly by God's command.  Was then His command of force then, and has it no force now?”

---

[i] Isaiah 40:12

[ii] Evidently, St. Cyril and St. Clement both believed that the Phoenix legend was true; or at least they were willing to give its reports the benefit of the doubt.  It is sufficient for the proof only that the Greeks believed this legend.  We, on the other hand, have no evidence to prove that the legend is untrue: still, it is not commonly believed today.

[iii] Note the hint of Greek worldview in that the physical world is imperfect, only the world of forms is perfect.  However, St. Cyril sees this imperfection, not from the perspective of very flawed Greek philosophy, but from the corruption of the fall of man; wherein, the heavenly kingdom is not the creation of perfect imagination; rather, it is a real spiritual realm that parallels the physical.  The spiritual universe of Christianity and the world of forms in Greek philosophy are two entirely different things: the first a tangible reality, the second an imagination.

[iv] Excellent apologetic technique

[v] Jesus Himself provides us with this argument.  Exodus 3:6; Matthew 22:32

[vi] Genesis 18:25; Psalms 96:13; Isaiah 66:16

[vii] Job 14:9

Apologetics

Apologetics

It seems to me that the core question of theology, philosophy, and apologetics is, “Does God exist?”  Paul raises the point this way in Hebrews 11:6.

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for, he who comes to God must believe that He exists, and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.”

The scholastics put forth the Ontological, Cosmological, Teleological, Moral, and Ethnological arguments: all of which were discredited by Kant.  C. S. Lewis may have relied on ideas like: Man knows what is morally right, but refuses to do it anyway: no other created thing does this; The claims about Christ in Scripture are such that He cannot be denied (the trilemma: liar, lunatic, or Lord); Things like beauty and love cannot be explained without God.

Here is another approach.  “Do you believe in the following: The Fall and Paradise Lost: both cosmic (the Universe fell) and personal (I fell)?  Sin and Death: do I accept their consequences (the world’s sin and death, my sin and death)?  Heaven and Hell (future realities for the Universe and for me)?  Angels and Demons?  God and Satan (the Devil)?  Good and Evil?  The Day of Judgment (of the Universe and me)?  Death and Bodily Resurrection?  Spiritual Warfare: an unseen war for your soul?[1]  If you say no to any of these questions, I’d have nothing to say to you.”  All of these questions are concrete, cosmic, and personal, not abstract, trivial, and irrelevant.  It is impossible to answer any moral question in the abstract without misleading or being misunderstood in some way or another: for example, is abortion right or wrong?  Abortion is absolutely wrong.  Yet, if you said, “No”, to any of these questions, the truth is moot, you won’t hear it, and it may just drive you farther away from Christ.  If you said, “Yes”, to all of these questions, and are experiencing genuine repentance, what you need to hear is that in confession, your sin is forgiven.  This is liberating.  The abstract answer may enslave.

Alvin Plantinga argues that religious exclusivism is not irrational.^[2]  His argument is built around two basic hypotheses and arguments that flow from them.  "(1) The world was created by God, an almighty, all-knowing and perfectly good personal being (one that holds beliefs, has aims, plans and intentions, and can act to accomplish these aims) and (2) Human beings require salvation, and God has provided a unique way of salvation through the incarnation, life, sacrificial death and resurrection of his divine son."  He does not show that these are true, although he believes them.  He shows that it is not irrational to believe them exclusively, in spite of many voices to the contrary.

Cornelius Van Til talks about a man of water in an ocean of water, making a ladder of water, to climb up and see where he is; which is to say that man cannot know.  Van Til is considered a presuppositionalist, and is thought by many to be opposed to evidence.  This is not accurate.  Van Til believes the evidence of Scripture.  Man knows because God revealed Himself in Scripture.

Others are considered evidentialists; these rely on evidence, such as the empty tomb.  This is a false dichotomy because knowledge of the empty tomb comes from Scripture.  So the presuppositionalists and the evidentialists are not always as far apart as some claim.  This is not to deny that there are areas where they do part company.

Still other theologians, philosophers, and apologists draw their authority from other sources.  So maybe the divergence is about one’s source of authority, or about epistemology, How does man know anything?

The Scripture itself claims:

I say to you, ‘Ask, and it shall be given you.  Seek, and you shall find.  Knock, and it shall be opened to you: for, everyone who asks, receives; he who seeks, finds; and he who knocks, it shall be opened to him.  If a son asks for bread from any of you fathers, will he give him a stone?  If he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?  If he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?  ‘If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?’[3]

When He, the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all truth….[4]

These promises do not appear to be limited in scope.  Evidently anyone on earth may ask, and receive guidance.  This is reinforced by Solomon at the Temple dedication where he invites anyone in the world to pray to Yahweh in the Jerusalem Temple on Zion and receive answers from the abundance of God’s mercy.[5]  The Psalms also speak repeatedly of the loving reign of Yahweh over all the earth.  What these promises indicate is that the center of our authority is the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Ghost is abused in two principal ways: either He is ignored, or He is blamed for extremes.  The central reality is that He is our power,[6] He is our Sovereign Lord,[7] He teaches about Jesus rather than Himself, and He teaches primarily from Scripture.

There are a few problems with our claiming that the Scripture is our final authority.  That claim appears to bypass the Father, the Son, and especially the Holy Ghost, who is our designated Teacher.  Moreover, the authoritative copy of Scripture is not on earth, and we are not even fit to touch it.[8]  Finally, we cannot possibly understand the Scripture we have, unless the Holy Ghost teaches it to us.  That being said, the Holy Ghost is not given exclusively to anyone, but to the whole Church.  So it is very difficult, even impossible for us to know that we are on the right track until we speak With One Voice.

For me, the existence of God is sufficiently proved by the Presence of the Glory of God, sometimes called the Shekinah Glory.  The person who appears, moves, and speaks intelligently with Moses and the prophets; who calls Himself God, and gives His name as YHVH; knows no equal in all of history.  Moreover, the presence of this person is audibly and visibly witnessed by millions upon millions of people over the span of eight hundred sixty years.  Some of the witnesses of these events spoke with this individual personally.  The mount of Transfiguration extends this meeting into the New Testament.  The evidence is overwhelming.  Just read Exodus if you need more proof.

Rejecting this evidence from Exodus for the Presence of God as a person, and therefore His personal existence is no different than rejecting the personal existence of Lincoln, Washington, Napoleon, Longshanks, Hus, Nero, Jesus, Julius, Alexander, Solomon, David, Moses, Abraham, or Adam; or, for that matter, the existence of Israel-Judah as an historic ethnic and national entity.  This is to reject strong documentary evidence on the basis of personal opinion alone.  Many have attempted to do exactly this, but their foolishness is evident, and they have failed.  Even the promoters of the various Documentary Hypotheses have been refuted from ancient covenant documents, frequently written in stone, which prohibits their being dissected.[9]

Even so, many today commonly believe that the Scriptural witness left to us is shaky and unreliable.  This is simply ignorance of the facts.  More than any other ancient documents, the Scripture fragments and texts are in remarkable agreement; for the most part, they only vary in minor spelling and grammar differences, and in notes added to the text.  The number of real translatable differences is very small.  Anyone who believes that the Scriptural witness is shaky and unreliable is invited to study textual criticism for themselves, and observe the facts first-hand.

---

[1] http://www.ancientfaith.com/specials/armatas_transforming_our_lives/when_does_our_christian_life_begin

^[2] http://carnivalsage.com/articles/apologist/plantinga-alvin-pluralism-defense-of-religious-exclusivism.html

[3] Luke 11:9-13

^[4] John 16:13

[5] 1 Kings 8:41-43

[6] Acts 1:8

[7] 1 Corinthians 12:11

[8] Revelation 5

[9] An excellent refutation of the Documentary Hypotheses is found in Kline, Meredith G., The Structure of Biblical Authority (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1972): 183 pages.