Against Marcion 3

Ephrem the Syrian (306–373)

AGAINST MARCION III.

ANOTHER DISCOURSE AGAINST MARCION.

[P. 117.] IF the organs of the body suffice for the gifts of the Good (God), O Marcion, that is to say, the eye for His light, and the ear for His voice, why then does the body not live at the last ? But if the body does not suffice for these good things at the last, no[thing] else in this world suffices for them. Therefore neither is the heart sufficient for knowledge of the Stranger, nor hearing for the study ( lit. reading) of Him. Moreover, as to the fact that the souls do not sin in the Kingdom, is it because of their nature, which is good, that they do not sin ? And how then did the evil body change the good nature ? But if the Stranger changes them there, though they are evil, what sin did the body commit [P. 118.] so as to be deprived of this desirable change ? But if the souls are good there, is it because they enter that region that they are good, or are they good from the point where they stripped off their bodies ? If this desirable state be due to the place, let the body also enter into it, and likewise all men [ in whom ] are sins. . . .

See also

• More works by Ephrem the Syrian

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