Letter 119. To Minervius and Alexander.

Minervius and Alexander two monks of Toulouse had written to Jerome asking him to explain for them a large number of passages in scripture. Jerome in his reply postpones most of these to a future time but deals with two in detail viz. (I) "we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed," 1 Cor. 15:51; and (1) "we shall be caught up in the clouds," 1 Th. 4:17. With regard to (1) Jerome prefers the reading "we shall all sleep but we shall not all be changed," and with regard to (2) he looks upon the language as metaphorical and interprets it to mean that believers will be 'assumed' into the company of the apostles and prophets. The date of the letter is 406 a.d.

The below translation made by ChatGPT 3.5 from this Latin text.

1. At the very moment of the departure of our holy brother Sisinnius, who had brought me your writings, I am compelled to dictate these words, whatever they may be, and I cannot conceal your prudence, but I beg you not to report this statement for glory, but rather for the sake of full friendship, as I am speaking to you as if speaking to myself. Many questions from your province have been brought to me by many holy brothers and sisters, which I thought to answer within a large space of time until the day of the Epiphany. And while dictating to many by the secret watch of night, and having finished the others, I reserved myself for yours, as if it were most difficult. Suddenly he came, saying that he was about to leave immediately. And when I asked him to delay his journey, he began to insist on the hunger of Libya to me, the needs of the Egyptian monasteries, the Nile's low water levels, the hunger of many, and that he was almost offended at the Lord, wanting to keep him longer. And so under the cover of the warp and weft, and threads, which I had prepared for your tunic, I sent them to you whole, so that whatever is missing in me, may be woven by your eloquence. You are wise and educated, and with your flow of words, like Appius said, you have migrated to Christ's eloquence. I do not need much work from you; they tell the story of a certain philosopher who had endured a rustic in persuading. 'I had hardly said half,' said he, 'when he understood me.' And so, being limited by time, I have presented to you the opinions of those who have left commentaries on the Holy Scriptures, and have interpreted many things word for word; so that I may free myself from questioning, and you may receive the authority of the ancient authors who, in reading and approving, may acquiesce not to my will, but to your judgment.

2. You ask in what sense it was said, and how it should be read in the first letter of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians: "We shall all indeed rise again, but we shall not all be changed" (1 Corinthians 15:5). Or according to some examples: "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all indeed be changed," for both are found in Greek manuscripts. Concerning this, Theodore Heracleotes, who was from the city once called Perinthus, spoke in the Apostle's little commentaries: "We shall all indeed not sleep, but we shall all be changed." For Enoch and Elijah, having overcome the necessity of death, were translated from earthly conversation to heavenly kingdoms as they were in their bodies. Thus, also, the holy ones who are to be found in their bodies on the day of consummation and judgment, together with the other saints who are to rise again from the dead, shall be caught up in the clouds to meet Christ in the air, and shall not die; and they shall ever be with the Lord, the bitter necessity of death overcome. Hence the Apostle says: "In fact, we will not all sleep, but all will be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet." For there will be such a quick resurrection of the dead, that living people who are present at the time of the consummation in their own bodies, will not be able to anticipate the dead who rise again from the underworld. For Paul, plainly interpreting the matter, says: "For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality" (1 Corinthians 15:52), that it may be able to remain permanently in either punishment or in the kingdom of heaven.

3. Bishop Diodorus of Tarsus, passing over this chapter, briefly noted in the following: in that which is written, 'And the dead shall rise incorruptible. And we shall be changed.' 'If,' he says, 'the dead shall rise incorruptible, it is beyond doubt that they too shall have been changed for the better: what was the need to say, 'And we shall be changed'? Did he wish to imply that incorruption is common to all, but change is peculiar to the just? since they follow not only incorruption and immortality, but also glory.

4. Apollinarius, though in different words, asserts the same as Theodore: that some will not die, but will be taken from this present life into the future, so that with changed and glorified bodies, they may be with Christ. This we now believe regarding Enoch and Elijah.

5. Didymus walks the opposite way, not in steps, but in words, departing from the opinion of Origen. Behold, I speak a mystery to you: We shall all indeed sleep, but we will not all be changed. He spoke thus: "If the resurrection needed no interpreter, nor were it obscure in concept, Paul would not have said after much he spoke of resurrection, 'Behold, I speak a mystery to you: We shall all indeed sleep,' that is, die, 'but we will not all be changed,' except the holy alone." I know that in some codices it is written: Not everyone will sleep, but everyone will be changed. But it must be considered whether that which is premised, everyone will be changed, can be reconciled with what follows: The dead will rise incorruptible, and we will be changed. For if everyone will be changed, and this is common to all, it was pointless to say, and we will be changed. Therefore, it should be read as follows: All indeed will sleep, but not all will be changed. For if in Adam all die, and in death there is sleep; therefore, we will all sleep or die. But sleep, according to the idiom of the Scriptures, refers to those who have died in the hope of future resurrection. Everyone who sleeps will certainly wake up, unless sudden death has overtaken him and death has been associated with sleep. And when all have slept according to the law of nature, only the saints will be changed for the better both in body and soul, so that the resurrection of all may be incorruptible; but the glory and transformation will belong exclusively to the saints. And what follows in Greek, 'in an atom, in a twinkling, or in a flicker of an eye' (for both are read) and our interpreters have translated it, 'in a moment and in a sudden,' or, in the movement of the eye: Didymus explained it in the same way: 'Together with the resurrection of everyone, they will be snatched up to meet Christ: but those whom death has dissolved, which the present speech indicates.' For when He speaks of the resurrection of all, at a certain moment in time, in the twinkling of an eye or in a moment, He excludes all the fables of the first and second resurrection, so that some will be believed to be resurrected first, and others last. But an atom is a point in time that cannot be cut or divided. Hence Epicurus built the world and shaped everything from his atoms. And the movement of the eye or of the things which is called ῥοπὴ by the Greeks runs so quickly that it almost eludes the senses of the beholder. But because in most manuscripts instead of "ropē," that is, "blow" or "movement," "ripe" is read, we must understand that just as a light feather, or a piece of straw, or a thin dry leaf is carried away by the wind and transported from the ground to the air, so at the blink of an eye and at God's command, all the bodies of the dead will be moved, prepared for the coming of the judge. And he who joins together and says: On the last trumpet: for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption; and this mortal must put on immortality, has a twofold understanding; so that the sound of the trumpet or voice may indicate its greatness, according to what is written: As the trumpet exalts your voice (Isaiah 58); or the open resurrection of all, according to what we read in the Gospel: But when you give alms, do not sound the trumpet before you (Matthew 6:2), that is, do your charity secretly, so as not to appear to boast of another's misery. But we ask why he wrote that the dead will rise at the last trumpet. When the last trumpet is sounded, certainly others have gone before. In the Apocalypse of John, seven angels are described with trumpets, and each one sounding, namely the first, second and third, fourth, fifth and sixth, is indicated what was done through each (Apocalypse 8 and 9). But in the last, that is the seventh, with a clear blast of the trumpet sounding, the dead are raised: their bodies, which before were corruptible, receiving incorruption. Therefore, after the last trumpet, the Apostle explains what follows: For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise incorruptible, and we will be changed. When he says "us," "another himself," and "those with him," he means those who are alive, besides the dead. To understand this, there are some who say that the dead, who will rise incorruptible, are the bodies of the dead, those who are said to be changed, however, should have their souls received when converted into greater glory, and arrive at a perfect man, at the measure of the fullness of Christ's age. Others, on the other hand, assert that the dead should be understood as sinners who will rise without corruption so that they can endure eternal punishment: those who are changed, however, should be understood as saints who are transferred from virtue to virtue and from glory to glory. Wherefore also he introduced incorruption of the dead: For it behoveth this corruptible to put on incorruption. But when this mortal hath put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

6. Acacius of Caesarea, previously called the tower of Strato, after Eusebius, the bishop of Pamphili, in the fourth book of miscellaneous questions, discussed more broadly a question proposed to him, in which, accepting both (views) which seem to be incompatible, after the beginning which we omitted, he spoke thus: 'Let us first speak of what is found more in many codices: Behold I tell you a mystery: we shall indeed all sleep, but we shall not all be changed.' He said "mystery" so as to draw the attention of the listeners, and then to speak more fully about the resurrection. But this sleep, which is common to all, signifies death; wherefore he rightly puts it that we shall all sleep, that is, die; as he said before, “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” Therefore, since we all shall die, hear the sacraments which I speak. All indeed shall die, but not all shall be changed. For the trumpet shall sound, no doubt the seventh angel; and the dead shall rise again incorruptible. But if the dead shall rise again incorruptible, how shall they not be changed, when incorruption itself is a change? But by this change, whereby Paul and the saints shall be changed, glorification is understood. But corruption is common to all, because in it sinners will be more miserable, so that they may be eternal in torments, and not dissolved by a mortal and corruptible body. In the same epistle, we read the Holy diversity of the resurrection, not in the nature of bodies, but in the variety of glory: while others rise again to everlasting punishment, others to everlasting glory. For there is one kind of flesh of birds, another of fish, another of land animals, and celestial bodies differ from terrestrial ones. "Thus, he says, there will also be the resurrection of the dead. The Church agrees with this opinion so that we all may die a common death, and not all be changed into glory, according to what Daniel writes: Many of those who are asleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some shall live forever, others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace." (1 Corinthians 15:39-42 and Daniel 12:2) For those who rise again to shame and everlasting confusion, do not rise again to eternal glory, into which Paul and those with him will be transformed. Therefore, as these things stand, and have been thus understood by us, only those who rise again in glory are to undergo a change; but it is to be said that sinners and unbelievers, who are called dead, and rise again incorruptible, have no change, but rather everlasting punishment.

7. Let us move to the second reading, which is reported in most manuscripts. Not all of us indeed shall sleep, but all shall be changed. Hence some have said that many alive persons will be found in bodies, and if not all sleep, not all will die; but if not all die, not all will rise. For he is properly said to rise again who first fell by dying. Hence Paul also wishes to write in the first letter to the Thessalonians: We who live, who remain, will not be taken up before those who have fallen asleep: because the Lord himself will descend from heaven at the command, and with the voice of the Archangel and with the trumpet of God: and the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who live, who are left, will be taken up together with them into the clouds to meet Christ in the air: and so we will always be with the Lord. [1 Thess. 4:14 and following] And from these words they attempt to prove that the Apostle Paul, and those who were writing the Epistle with him, thought that they were not going to die, but would be found on the day of consummation in the body. And if this is true, Paul erred, and was deceived by human estimation, to think that he would be found in the body; which the outcome of things proved to be false. And the Thessalonians themselves had understood this, not knowing the mysteries of mystical speech, and were fluctuating with various conjectures, saying: if Paul is to be found in the body, the judgment day is near. Therefore he corrects them, writing a second Epistle: We beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of our gathering together unto him, that you be not soon moved from your mind, nor be terrified, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as sent from us, as if the day of the Lord were at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself as if he were God. Remember you not, that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? (2 Thess. 2:1 et seq.). With these words, he does this in order to recall them from their mistakes, that they do not think the day of judgment is approaching, and what he wrote: We who live, who remain, will not precede those who have fallen asleep at the coming of the Lord, to understand it in a different way than he himself intended who wrote it. For it cannot be that he who wrote to Timothy: For I am already on the point of being sacrificed; the time of my departure has come (2 Tim. 4:6), should think that he was to be immortal in the flesh and never to die; and that he was to be instantly transferred from life on earth to the heavenly kingdom: especially since, writing to the Romans, he said the same thing, Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Rom. 7. 24). And to the Corinthians, while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. We are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord (2 Cor. 5. 6-8). He who said these things certainly knew that he was to die. It is better, therefore, to spiritually understand what is written, to accept sleep in the present place, not death, through which the soul is separated from the body; but sin after faith and offense against God, and sleep after baptism, about which even to the Corinthians he was speaking: And therefore among you many are weak and sickly, and many sleep (1 Cor. 11:30). And in another place: So also they that sleep in Christ, shall die (Ibid. 15:1): who, though they are dead, are not about to perish by eternal death, since they are not contained in mortal sin, but in light and minor sin. The one who also desired to avoid sin, spoke: Lest I should sleep in death (Ps. 12. 4). For the sleep of sin is what leads to death, and there is another kind of sleep of transgressions, which is not bound by death. Therefore, whoever lives a life that says, "I am the life" (John. 14. 6) (for our life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians. 3. 3)) and has never been separated from it, nor sinned up to death, is said to be among the living, and will always be living; of whom also the Savior testifies in the Gospel of John's mystical discourse: "He who believes in me shall not die. And every one who lives and believes in me shall not die for all eternity" (John. 11. 25. 26). Hence, the Apostle, following in the footsteps of his Lord, taught the disciples what he learned from his master. Therefore, we shall all not sleep. For he who keeps his heart under all care, and watches over Christ's commandments and remembers His words, saying, “Watch, for you know not the hour when the thief will come" (Matthew. 24. 42), and in another place, "Do not give sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids" (Proverbs. 6. 4) so that you may become safe: like a deer freed from its bonds, and like a bird from its snare, such a one shall not sleep. So when certain persons who always live in Christ do not sleep and keep watch, it follows that not all sleep, and conversely all are changed; not by the change of glory, which properly belongs to the Saints, but by that change whereby this corruptible is made incorruptible; so that he may receive eternal rewards or punishments. And even if one sleeps in Christ and falls asleep through negligence, he should hear what is written. Shall he not awaken who sleeps? (Ps 40:9) But he who does not sleep, but watches and always lives in Christ, will pass from life to life, or will be taken up in the clouds, so that he may always be with the Lord. Lazarus was one of these sleeping ones, of whom the Lord said, 'Lazarus, our friend, sleeps.' And while he was sleeping, he spoke of Martha, "He who believes in me, even if he is dead, shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall not die forever" (John 11: 25-26). For whoever trusts in Christ with their whole heart, even if they fall as a man in sin, lives forever by their faith. Otherwise, this common death is owed equally to believers and non-believers; and all will rise together, some to eternal confusion, others to eternal life by their belief. And so it can be said that whoever believes in Christ shall not die; and even if they die, they shall live forever. However, it is clear, except for Enoch and Elijah, that this has not happened according to physical death. (Genesis 5; and 4 Kings 2) But those who always live in Christ by the greatness of faith, neither sleep nor die: but they will be imitators of the Apostolic life, who lived without any fault in the law of justice; and passing over to the faith of the Lord, and believing in Him, who is called life and resurrection, they never sleep nor are they dead. For the soul that sins, it shall die (Ezek. 18, 4), therefore just as the soul that sins is dead, while the body is alive: and on the same day on which it sinned, it sleeps in death; Ecclesiastes says: He who sins, dies from that time; so the soul that keeps Christ's commandments, even if the body has died, will live forever. This, however, must be understood, which is more agreeable to the truth, to read thus: All indeed shall sleep, but not all shall be changed; especially since it follows, The dead shall rise again incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For if all are to be changed, according to the other reading, how afterwards is it said, as if something special and private, and properly belonging to the apostles, And we shall be changed? But when he says we, he includes also the saints.

8. You ask how that which is written in the first Epistle to the Thessalonians should be understood: For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them who are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. However, it must be said what seems to others, namely to Theodore, Apollinarius, and Diodorus, who follow one opinion: of whom Diodorus wrote this. "Paul the Apostle calls them remaining and living; not that it is intended to be understood that he and others will be found in the body at the time of the resurrection, but he said of what is, the just; of whom I am also counted. For they themselves will run to meet Christ, and not sinners. But by the figure of speech, we accept living saints, who have not died because of sin but all whom Christ finds coming in the body. And what follows: We should not refer 'we shall not precede those who have fallen asleep' to the sinners at all. For sinners will not be caught up with the just to meet Christ, but those whom death dissolves." But why do I seek such things, and make false accusations against the Apostles' words, when he himself clearly writes: who will remain at the coming of the Lord? And who the remaining ones are, we learn from the words of the Savior: As in the days of Noah they led wives and husbands, and they married; and suddenly the flood came, and took them all away: so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man (Matt. 24; and Luke 17). With these words it is approved, that at the end of the world many will be alive and still found in their bodies. Following this: At the command and voice of the Archangel, the dead shall rise first. And once again the Savior speaks of this in the Gospel: But at midnight there was a cry, 'Look, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' (Matt. 25:6); for he will certainly catch those who are living in their bodies when two are in one bed: one will be taken and the other will be left behind: and two women grinding together, one will be taken and the other will be left behind (Luke 17). From these words it is shown that at midnight, when all is calm, the end of the world will come.

9. Origen in the third volume of the "Explanations of the Epistles of Paul to the Thessalonians," after discussing various matters with skillful and varied reasoning, introduced the following words: "Concerning which there is no doubt that Acacius has also spread much of it. What then do Paul and Silas and Timothy write to the Thessalonians in the Word of God: 'We who are alive, who remain, will not precede those who have fallen asleep in the coming of the Lord?' Who are these living ones who say such things! Certainly Paul is not an apostle from men, neither through men." (Galatians 1) And not only he, but whoever is like Paul in knowledge and conduct can say: We who live; whose body is dead because of sin; but the spirit lives because of righteousness: and whose members have been mortified upon the earth; so that the flesh does not lust against the spirit. For if flesh still desires, it lives; and because it lives, it desires; and its members are not mortified upon the earth. But if they are mortified, it does not lust against the spirit, which through mortification has lost such a desire. Therefore, just as those who have lost present life and have been translated to better things, live more, taking off the body of death and all encouragements of evils, so those who carry about the dying of Jesus in their body do not at all live according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. They live in him who is life and Christ lives in them, about whom it is written: The word of God is living and efficacious, and more piercing than any two-edged sword; and reaching unto the division of the soul and the spirit, of the joints also and the marrow, and is a discerner of thoughts and intents of the heart (Heb. 4. 12). For they live in whom the power of God lives, all human frailty being laid aside; and in whom wisdom lives, which is hidden in God; and in whom righteousness lives and operates. For Christ was made for us not only righteousness from God, but also wisdom, and anything that is virtue. And if indeed in this place they would separate themselves from those who are sleeping and dead in Christ, who are writing this letter, it seems ((alternatively seems)) to be a superfluous annotation, and a testimony taken from one place would not be valid. But now, in the same sense, because of the same spirit, he speaks in the first Corinthians, "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet." For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall rise incorruptible, and we shall be changed. This saying is indeed written in this place: In a trumpet of God, it will descend from heaven; compare it to what is said to the Corinthians: In the last trumpet, for the trumpet shall sound. But to them, what is read to the Thessalonians: And the dead in Christ shall rise first. This what is written to the Corinthians: And the dead shall rise incorruptible. Now what follows is, Then we who are alive, who remain, answers it: And we shall be changed, both of which can be understood thus. We who live, we who remain until the coming of the Lord, and we who will be changed and are not among those who are called dead, but we live: therefore, we await the presence of the Lord not in death, but in life, because we are from the Israelite race, and the elect are from us, of whom the Lord once spoke. I have left for myself seven thousand men who have not bent the knee to Baal (3 Kings 19:18). In John's Gospel, too, a double order of the living and the dead is described. Everyone who believes in me, even though he dies, shall live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die." (John 11:25-26) If we understand "living" in this way, as we have already said, let us believe that those who have died and are asleep in Christ, but who wish to live in Christ, have died because of sin. But if the remains and the chosen according to grace are called "living," who neither believe thus, nor are born of Israelite nobility, then they will be called asleep and dead in Christ.

10. There are those who have spoken of this place in this way. They are called "alive," who have never died to sin, but those who have sinned, and died in that sin, are named dead, but they have turned to repentance, they cleanse their past offenses, they are called dead because they have sinned, but in Christ they are dead, because they are fully converted to God. Furthermore, those who are alive and have the testimony of faith and have not yet received the promise of God, God has thought something better for them and are not without those who are righteous, that they may be crowned in it, they have the beatitude of enjoying a good conscience while living, and are left in the advent of the Lord and Savior. But because God is merciful, and offers salvation even to those who sleep, who died in Christ, they will not be prevented, nor alone will they be carried away in the clouds: but according to the example of the Gospel parable (Matthew 20), the workers of the eleventh hour will receive the same reward as those of the first hour who were sent into the vineyard. Nor should this seem unjust to anyone, that unequal labor should receive the same reward. For there is a great difference between those who have been healed after wounds, and those who have never seen the terror of death. Concerning them, I think it has been said: What man is there that lives and shall not see death? He shall deliver his soul from the hand of death (Ps. 88.45). Nor is it, as some think, that he is accepted for nothing: but almost as if to say, who do you think, according to what is written: Who is wise, and understands these things? (Hosea 14.10). And in another place: Lord, who shall dwell in your tabernacle? (Ps. 14.1). And again: Who has known the mind of the Lord? (Rom. 11. 31) Therefore, there will be few remaining from the believers who will see the coming of the Lord, according to what God's Word is, not in the lowliness of flesh, but in the glory of triumph. And it must be considered how he first called those sleeping: then those dead in Christ, whom they could not precede while alive. For whoever does not keep what is written: Do not give sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids; so that you may be safe, like a roebuck from the bonds, and like a bird from the snare (Prov. 6. 4), he will sleep and will be numb with guilty sleep, and when he has slept, he will pass into death. For just as he who is awake moves, so he who sleeps lies motionless, and he is numb with the likeness of death. But it will be taught to us by the first Epistle to the Corinthians that death follows sleep, in which it is written thus: And now Christ is risen from the dead, the first fruits of them that sleep. For by a man came death, and by a man the resurrection of the dead. And after a little: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall rise again incorruptible, and we shall be changed. Therefore, when these things are said about sleep and death and we read in the Apostle that it is said, Rise thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall enlighten thee, let us swear to the Lord, and let us make a vow to the God of Jacob, each one saying in his heart: If I shall go up into my bed, if I shall give sleep to my eyes, or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the Lord: doubtless, he hath prepared in his soul a tabernacle for the God of Jacob; that God may rest eternally in him. He proceeds: For the Lord himself commandeth it, and so on. For he who was sent from the Father will descend, not by diversity of power, but by judgment of dispensation; the Word of God, and wisdom, and truth, and justice, will descend to those who are on the lower parts. And although they are dead to whom he deigns to descend, yet they are not alienated from him. For they are called dead in Christ. But they who live have this privilege, that they are chosen out of many. Yet both bands, both of the dead who are in Christ, and of the living, shall be caught up together in clouds to meet Christ in the air, so that they wait not until he shall come upon the earth, but may enjoy His Presence and His companionship in the heights. And what great mercy of Christ, that He should not only stoop to be made flesh for our salvation, but that He should descend even to the dead, and in His very death should give the pledge of life! For water and blood issued from His side. (John 19). Therefore, the divine word came down with the voice of the Archangel going before and preparing the way for Him in those who can bear His presence. For us to understand this, let us come to know the mysteries of His first coming. It is written of John, who was His precursor, that he said in the wilderness: "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, and so on." What did the voice cry out in the wilderness? "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight His paths" (Matt. 3:3; Luke 3:4; Mark 1:3; John 1:23). For what reward or payment? "Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall become straight and the rough ways plain; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God" (Isaiah 40:3-4). But this [was done] because the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. And we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And now there shall be no more voice of a prophet in the wilderness: for the angel himself shall prepare the way before the Lord. Not in the humility of carne [i. e. flesh] is he come, but speaking truth, the Word of God, who is with the Father. And then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the country about Jordan: And were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them: Ye brood of vipers, who hath shewed you to flee from the wrath to come? (Matt. 3. 7) Now, in the voice of the Archangel going before the Lord descending from heaven, and in the most clear trumpet, each one of the believers is summoned, either to battle, or to the priestly office we read in the Book of Numbers (ch. 10, v.3), of the holy trumpets which sounded at the door. But if the voice of an angel and the trumpet of an archangel is great, how much greater will be the trumpet of God, which prepares the ways of the first asleep and dead in Christ; then of those who live and remain and await the coming of the word of God? Perhaps the simple blast of a trumpet is necessary for those who sleep and are dead in Christ, but the voice of an archangel and the trumpet of God, are reserved for those who live and are in the presence of God. Let us see what can be understood, and that which follows: Together with them we shall be taken. With this word, I think I have shown a sudden transition to better things so as to say that he wanted to be carried away, so that the speed of the passing, exceeded the sense of the one thinking. Which he signified in another place with the same property of the word: 'I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—and he heard things that cannot be told, which man cannot utter.' (2 Cor. 12. 2, et seqq.) For some others who were making progress and (so to speak) advancing to greater things, until they became in accordance with that which is written Great exceedingly: and we read that some have been assumed into heaven. But Paul, the chosen vessel, was caught up into the third heaven: and therefore he heard unspeakable words. However, it is more diligently to be contemplated how those who are caught up in the clouds are caught up to meet Christ. We know that the clouds are the prophets to whom God commanded that they should not rain rain upon Israel when they had filled up the measure of their fathers, and the Law and the Prophets were until John the Baptist (Matthew 11:13). And because God put the apostles first in the Church, second the prophets (Ephesians 4:11), not only the prophets but also the apostles are to be understood as clouds. Therefore, if anyone is drawn towards Christ, they ascend above the clouds of the Law and the Gospel, above the Prophets and the Apostles; and having taken the wings of a dove, with their teachings, they are raised to the heights. They meet, not below but in the air, and with a spiritual understanding of Scripture. And he who meets in spiritual matters, leaving behind earthly affairs, whether he sleeps or dies in Christ, or lives on, having been reserved for His presence, will always be with Him, and will enjoy the Word of God, wisdom, truth, and justice.

11. I have spoken these things with swift speech, presenting to your wisdom what the learned men thought of each place, and with which arguments they wished to approve their opinions, for my own small and insignificant authority is not so great that I, who am nothing and am only exposed to the bites of the envious, am equal to those who have gone before us in the Lord. Nor is it like the prejudiced opinion of the disciples of Pythagoras, but rather the reason of the teaching must be weighed. But if anyone of the opposing faction grumbles because I read the explanations of those whose teachings I do not accept, let him know that I am pleased to follow the advice of the Apostle: "Test everything, hold fast to what is good" (1 Thess. 5:21), and of the Savior himself who said: "Be proven money-changers, so that if anyone is a counterfeit coin, and does not have the likeness of Caesar, and is not stamped with the public image, let him be rejected." But he who prefers the face of Christ, shining with a clear light, let him be placed into the bag of our hearts. For if I wish to know dialect, or the dogmas of philosophers, and in order to return to our own knowledge of scripture; I ought not to question the simple men of the Church, whose merit lies elsewhere; and each person abounds in his own sense (especially as it is said that in a large house there are many vessels of different kinds (2 Tim. 2:20)); but those who have learned the skill from the craftsman and meditate on the Law of the Lord day and night. I myself, both in youth and in extreme old age, maintain that Origen and Eusebius of Caesarea were most learned men, but erred in the truth of dogmas. What we can say about Theodore, Acacius, and Apollinaris on the contrary, all left a memory of their studies in the explanations of the Scriptures. In the earth, gold is sought, and from the beds of rivers, shining sand is brought out: and one can find the sands of Pactolus richer in mud than in the stream. Why do my friends tear me to pieces, and, having turned against me, bark like foolish dogs? The whole of their zeal is, in fact, an eyebrow of knowledge, to criticize the work of others and to defend the treachery of the ancient fathers, so that they may lose their faith. It is my intention to read the ancients, proof every point, retain what is good, and not depart from the faith of the Catholic Church.

12. I, wanting to reply to other questions, and to dictate immediately either my own or someone else's, was admonished by Brother Sisinnio to write letters both to you and to the other holy brothers who are worthy of our love. I will therefore restrain my pace, and if life is a companion to me, I will reserve myself for the future task, so that I may obey you in sections and so that the fruit and old body may be able to bear a moderate load. But this I briefly remind at the end, that which is read in Latin codices: We shall all indeed rise again, but we shall not all be changed, is not contained in Greek volumes; but either, We shall all sleep, but we shall not all be changed; or, We shall not all sleep, we shall all be changed; of which we have explained the meaning above.