A Commentary on the Apostles' Creed 46
46 Section 46 PL 21, 384
46. That the righteous shall ever abide with Christ our Lord we have proved above, where we have shewn that the Apostle says, “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet Christ in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” And do not marvel that the flesh of the saints is to be changed into such a glorious condition at the resurrection as to be caught up to meet God, suspended in the clouds and borne in the air, since the same Apostle, setting forth the great things which God bestows on them that love Him, says, “Who shall change our vile body that it may be made like unto His glorious body.” It is nowise absurd then, if the bodies of the saints are said to be raised up into the air, seeing that they are said to be renewed after the image of Christ’s body, which is seated at God’s right hand. But this also the holy Apostle adds, speaking either of himself or of others of his own place or merit, “He will raise us up together with Christ and make us sit together in the heavenly places.” Whence, since God’s saints have these promises and an infinite number like them respecting the resurrection of the righteous, it will now not be difficult to believe those also which the Prophets have foretold, namely, that “the righteous shall shine as the sun and as the brightness of the firmament in the kingdom of God.” For who will think it difficult that they should have the brightness of the sun, and be adorned with the splendour of the stars and of this firmament, for whom the life and conversation of God’s angels are being prepared in heaven, or who are represented as being hereafter to be conformed to the glory of Christ’s body? In reference to which glory, promised by the Saviour’s mouth, the holy Apostle says, “It is sown as an animal body; it will rise a spiritual body.” For if it is true, as it certainly is true, that God will vouchsafe to associate every one of the righteous and of the saints in companionship with the angels, it is certain that He will change their bodies also into the glory of a spiritual body.
Quod autem justi semper cum Domino nostro Christo permaneant, jam et in superioribus edocuimus, ubi ostendimus, quia Apostolus dicit: Deinde nos qui vivimus, qui reliqui sumus, simul cum illis rapiemur in nubibus obviam Christo in aera, et ita semper cum Domino erimus . Nec mireris, si caro sanctorum in tantam gloriam ex resurrectione mutabitur, ut in occursum Dei suspensa nubibus, et in aere vecta rapiatur, cum ipse Apostolus, exponens quantum conferat Deus his, qui diligunt eum, dicat: Quia transmutabit corpus humilitatis nostrae conforme fieri corpori claritatis suae . Nihil ergo absurdum est, si sanctorum corpora dicantur nubibus in aera sustolli, cum ad formam corporis Christi, quod in dextera Dei sedet, dicantur reformanda. Sed et hoc sanctus Apostolus, vel de se, vel de caeteris sui loci vel meriti addit, et dicit. Quia consuscitabit nos cum Christo, simulque faciet sedere in caelestibus . Unde cum haec et eorum similia quamplurima sancti Dei in repromissionibus habeant in resurrectione justorum, non erit jam difficile credere etiam illa, quae prophetae praedixerant, Quod justi scilicet fulgebunt sicut sol, et sicut splendor 113 firmamenti in regno Dei . Cui enim difficile videbitur, eos fulgorem solis habituros, ac siderum, ac firmamenti hujus splendore decorandos, quibus vel vita, et [Al. vel] conversatio Angelorum Dei paratur in coelis, vel conformandi dicuntur ad gloriam corporis Christi, ad quam gloriam Salvatoris ore promissam, respiciens sanctus Apostolus dicit: Quia seminatur corpus animale, resurget [Al. surget] corpus spirituale. Si enim verum est, sicut certe verum est, quod justos quosque et sanctos, Angelorum consortiis sociabit divina dignatio, certum est, quod et corpora eorum in spiritualis corporis gloriam vertet [Al. vertat].