Dialogue against the Jews

Eleventh Titulus

ELEVENTH TITULUS OSES: UP TO THIS point, it has been shown well enough that that man accepted death of his own free will to redeem the human race. Now, however, I want to discuss with you how he was resurrected on the third day, just as you said in the exposition of your faith. And indeed it could very well be that, since (as you say) the fullness of divinity dwelled in him,1 and he restored other dead people to life, that he revived himself. But in this regard I ask you whether he was both God and man after he was resurrected, just as he was earlier, or not? petrus: Undoubtedly, I believe that he was. For when his soul was released from his body to descend to hell to free good men from there, still divinity itself never withdrew from the soul; therefore, divinity remained with it always, even when it returned to the body. This is why then and now and for all eternity he will be both God and man. moses: I reckon that it is enough that you believe this to be the case. But there remains one more thing I want you to explain to me. For since he received flesh for no other reason than to free the sons of Adam from the yoke of the devil, after (as you say) he fulfilled this as he willed, why again did he burden himself with the body’s weight? petrus: Indeed, Christ’s body was subtle and entirely pure from every sin, and he did not contract any sin either by himself or from his first parent, Adam. And since this was the case, did he ever have to die at all, since even Adam died only because of sin, and, in addition, since divinity dwelled in him? moses: No. petrus: Since, therefore, he accepted death not on account of any sin that he committed but rather only in order to save his own, did he not deservedly have to be revived [from death]? 239 1. Cf. Col 2.9. 240 ALFONSI moses: The order of the argument clearly demands this. But why did he hurry so to be raised up and why did he not wait to be raised up at the end of the world,2 along with the other good people who had died? petrus: For indeed the other dead committed many sins in this world. In fact, they received death, namely, the punishment for sin, for Adam’s transgression, and this is why they could not be raised until it pleased God to do so. He, however, took neither sin from Adam nor anything else, as we said. Instead, he gave himself over to death on one day voluntarily and for our redemption, whereas on the next day he descended to hell to lead good men out of there. When, then, he had completed all the tasks for which he had come, and there was nothing else that he had to do, so to speak, he was deservedly resurrected on the third day. Besides, even Enoch3 and Elijah,4 because they were saintly and worthy men (just as both we and you believe), are still alive, and although they have to die at the end of the world, nevertheless they will be resurrected immediately because of their sanctity. Since this is the case, ought not the body that was the holiest of all and the purest from sin be raised immediately, as he willed? Moreover, it was necessary for him to be raised for this reason: that just as when he descended to hell he freed the dead from the authority of the devil through his death, so, too, by his Resurrection he freed those still to come from the tyranny of the devil because when they hear that he was resurrected, they believe, and in this way they escape from his yoke. moses: What you say is reasonable. But can you provide some authority from the prophets, that he had to be raised? petrus: Certainly I can. For David said in the Psalms: “You will add days to the days of the king, his years even to the day of generation and generation.”5 Could this prophecy be said of any king except Christ? The prophet wanted to be understood by the “days of the king,” to be sure, that defined period when Christ lived in the world before the passion. When he said, how2 . That...