Chapter 36. All people will surely rise from the dead; the world will not be destroyed but there will be different abodes for the saints according to their dignity. And all things will be subject to God the Father, and he will be all in all.
1. Since people are real (people), the place of their abode must be just as real and not reduced in any way. And this place of abode must prosper. For neither the substance nor the essence of creation is destroyed – the One who made it is faithful and true. It is the «fashion of the world» that is passing (the sin was committed in it) because this is where man has fallen. And therefore this «fashion» was temporary according to God’s foreknowledge of all things, as I have already explained in my previous book [See 4, 5, 5 (?)] where I attempted to show the reason for creating the temporary things of the world. When this «fashion» passes away and the mankind is restored and strengthened enough to be ready for incorruption so that they would not decay anymore, then there will be a new heaven and a new earth in which the new man will abide forever, ever conversing with God about new things. Isaiah says that this will go on forever and ever: «For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain» (Is 66:22). And, As the elders say, those who are found worthy of the heavenly abode will at that time go there, that is, up to heaven, while others will enjoy the pleasures of the Paradise and some will enjoy the beauty of the city. Yet God will be seen everywhere as long as those who dwell there are worthy to see Him.
2. Besides, (they also say) there is a difference between the abodes of those who bore fruit a hundredfold, sixtyfold, and thirtyfold (Mt 13:3—8); some of them will be taken up to heaven, others will abide in Paradise, and others will dwell in the city. Therefore the Lord says that the Father has many mansions (Jn 14:2). For everything belongs to God who provides all with decent abodes, just as His Word says that everything is distributed by the Father according to who we are or what we deserve. And this is a table around which those invited to the wedding feast will recline. According to the elders, the disciples of the Apostles, such is the distribution and the order of salvation for those who are being saved, and through such a gradual course they are perfected: they ascend to the Son through the Spirit, and then through the Son to the Father, because the Son will hand over all His works to the Father as the Apostle says: «For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death». For, during the times of the Kingdom, a righteous person on earth will forget how to die: «But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all» (1 Cor 15:25—28).
3. So, John clearly foresaw the first resurrection of the righteous and their inheritance in the Kingdom on earth. The prophets spoke of this Kingdom as well. The Lord taught the same, promising his disciples to drink of the new cup with them in the Kingdom to come (Mt 26:29). And the Apostle said that the creation itself would be liberated from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the sons of God (Rom 8:21). And in all this and through this, the same God and Father who created man and promised the fathers their earthly inheritance reveals Himself, bringing the creation out (of its slavery) and into the resurrection of the righteous, fulfilling the promises in the Kingdom of His Son, and then, out of His fatherly compassion, granting that which no eye has seen, no ear has heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man (1 Cor 2:9). For the one and only Son who accomplished the will of the Father, and the one human race in which the mysteries of God are being unfolded – the mysteries «which the angels desire to look into» (1 Pet 1:12) – cannot comprehend the wisdom of God through which His creation is being perfected. For the creation has been conformed to the image of the Son and united with Him through His body so that the firstborn Word of God descends into the creature, that is, into the (bodily) creature, and is embraced by it. On the other hand, the creature receives the Word and ascends to Him, rising above the angels, and gets conformed into the image and likeness of God [Grabe and others suppose that the conclusion of St. Irenaeus’s work is missing, and has probably been lost.].
Clement of Alexandria (c. 150 – c. 215)
After all, not only our spirits but also our character, life, and body must become holy. For how else should we understand the words of Paul that the unbelieving wife sanctifies her husband and the unbelieving husband sanctifies his wife? [1 Cor 7:14] Did not the Lord give a similar answer to the one who had asked him about divorce that Moses had given them permission to divorce? The Lord said that it was done because of the hardness of heart. Did you not hear what God had said to the first man: «They shall become one flesh» «Whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, committeth adultery». But after the resurrection from the dead, «they neither marry, nor are given in marriage» [Mt 19:3—9; 22:30]. About food and stomach we read the following: «Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them» [1 Cor 6:13]. So he condemns those who think that they can live like goats and bulls doing nothing but eating and having sex. But if they have really attained to the resurrection state, as it is claimed, and for this reason they do not marry, then why do they not also refrain also from eating and drinking? After all, the Apostle indicated that food and stomach will not exist after the resurrection. If they have already been risen, then why are they still experiencing thirst, hunger, and physical pain – everything from which the full resurrection in Christ must set us free? What is the problem here? After all, even some idol worshippers will fast and abstain from sex. But it says: «The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink». Even sorcerers can by their sheer willpower abstain from wine, meat, and sex, and yet they worship angels and demons. Just as moderation is a form of humility which does not involve castigation of the body, so asceticism is a spiritual virtue practiced privately, not for a show (Stromata, 3,6, 47—48).
Nepos of Egypt (between the 2nd and 3rd centuries)
The work of Nepos of Egypt «Denunciation of the Lovers of Allegories» («Refutation of the Allegorists») has not been preserved. See Eusebius of Caesarea on Nepos (Church History, 7, 24).
Tertullian (155/165 – 220/240)
«And what a sight we shall soon see – the coming of the Lord, recognized by all, triumphant and victorious! What rejoicing for the angels, what glory for the risen saints, what a Kingdom for the righteous, and what a magnificent new Jerusalem! And then there will be other great sights too: the day of the last and final judgment, which the heathen reject and ridicule – when the whole dilapidated world with all its inhabitants will be destroyed by fire [compare 2 Pet 3:10]! What a sight will it be!» (On the Spectacles, 30).
Excerpt from «On the Resurrection of the Flesh»:
Chapter 19.
Thus, our consideration of these words (taken, of course, in their proper sense) and their meaning must ensure that the obvious prevails and that every time the error is eliminated by what is correct – if the opposing party should bring about any confusion in the form of symbolism or riddles. For some, seeing the typical prophetic utterance, which