De la resurrección de los muertos (On the Resurrection of the Dead)

In Which the Author Demonstrates That in This Article [of Faith] Regarding the Immortality of the Soul and the Resurrection of the Dead Are Contained All the Others; and the Work Is Concluded.¹

For the completion and perfection of this work, I wish to demonstrate here something worthy of serious consideration, which is to prove that, having acknowledged this article of faith about the immortality and the resurrection of the dead, all the remaining articles of our Law have been acknowledged. And this is because one who believes that there is something divine in man, and that his soul is immortal, without doubt will deduce—from that—another more excellent spirit, who governs this whole world with authority and majesty; and this is the first article of faith concerning the existence of God.

Similarly, he will admit that this God is unique in the simplest unity: for in the same way as the rational soul is one, with various faculties and functions for the preservation of the whole individual and complex human, so God, being one, produces many things, and there emanate from Him various effects which redound to the benefit and perpetuation of the world.

From this follows also the third article, which is that God is incorporeal, because if this dignity and excellence befits the soul, which is His creation, how much more so will it befit the creator of all.

Consequently, the fourth article of faith, that concerning the eternity of God, is proved. Because if the soul had a beginning and will have no end, it is certain that in some way the one who created it must surpass it, and this superiority will be to lack both an end and a beginning.

From this also is concluded the fifth article of faith, that one must only worship and appeal to God, because if God is a being in itself and its essence, and not by participation, like all the other things, it is certain that one must serve and call upon Him alone, because He alone is the one who can, according to His will, benefit or harm a person.

Since the sixth article is that God reveals Himself by way of prophecy to men, there is no doubt that from there it emanates, and this, since it is impossible that God should reveal Himself and communicate to men of flesh and blood, unless they had in them something spiritual, because in terms of body, man has no advantage over the irrational beings; rather, in all his actions he resembles them. And since this divine grace is communicated to humans by reason of their merits, more or less, it is inferred that Moses was the greatest prophet and leader [lit. coryphaeus] of all, insofar as he was the humblest of mortals, which is the seventh article.

Similarly, if the soul is immortal, it follows that the eighth article is true, namely that the law of Moses is divine and not a human work, because if such is the goodness of God that He ministers to and provides all necessary things in abundance to all animals, for the conservation of the species and the individual, how much more must one believe he would offer this grace to humankind. From which it unfailingly follows that there has to be a divine Law, by which they may live and regulate their actions. [ . . . ]

Consequently, when he understands that he is subject to divine and not human laws, the observant person experiences a great delight. So that returning to our proposition, if the soul is immortal, it follows that God would give one law to human beings whereby they might achieve perfection, which is the eighth article, and on which is based the ninth article, that of the eternity of the Law; because, just as the soul is always a single and unchanging substance, so, too, one must believe that this Law by means of which one attains the desired end, is single and unchanging.

As for the four remaining articles, namely, of the knowledge of God, of reward and punishment, of the coming of the Messiah, and resurrection of the dead, given the immortality of the soul they are inferred incontrovertibly. Because just as man, with respect to the soul, is different from all other animals, so too it is necessary for God to have individual providence for him, and, being just, to assign to each one reward or punishment according to his deeds. And insofar as we see in this world virtue so dejected, the wicked flourishing, and the good suffering, one concludes that there is another world in which all is justly compensated and balance is restored; and this hope of reward will occupy no little place in the time of the Messiah and resurrection of the dead, which is the last of the thirteen articles.

Because there, in the view of all, in a corporeal sense, will be seen the advantage of knowledge over ignorance and of virtue over depraved malice that has tyrannized the world to such an extent that it has not left room for virtue. There then shall be removed the mask of the passions which cloud and disturb the vision. There every one will have, without opposition, a just reward for his deeds, since only the truth, utterly devoid of all falsehood, shall have worth. There the good shall not be bothered by the wicked who, occupied with their punishments, will only be able to repent when it is too late. There the infamous envy, consuming itself in its own fire, with malicious appearance, will not disparage others’ honors, neither will arrogant pride be allowed to hold sway there, because the lofty edifices and mountains, pulled down to the ground, will prostrate themselves to the greatness of the Lord, so that, having totally vanquished the vices, virtue alone will reign.