God, the Creator of all things, ordered and arranged all things superbly, just like a large city. He embellished everything by the word of His commandment. He composed each object from
the appropriate element sand made each animal distinctly different, so that the universe may become perfectly replete with beauty through the
existence of a vast array of living organisms.
God filled the heavens with stars, the air with
birds, the earth with animals, and the oceans with fish. Lastly, He created man, after He prepared everything for him like a spectacular home, and He ushered man, this likenessand replica of His
own image,into the world, as if placing an
exquisite statue, which He just finished constructing with His own hands, into a resplendent temple.
God certainly knew that whatever He would fashion with His own hands would necessarily be immortal, since it would be the work of Immortality.
Immortality creates immortal things, just as evil generates evil things, and injustice gives rise to unjust things. It is not an act of righteousness to be unrighteous; this is an act of unrighteousness.
Similarly, it is not an act of injustice to carry out justice; this is an act of justice. Incorruption does not produce corruption—corruption does.
Likewise, corruption does not produce immortality
—immortality does. In brief, as with the above examples, everything that is created is necessarily
similar to its creator. God is immortality, and life, and incorruption. Man has been created by God. Everything that is created by immortality is immortal; hence, man is immortal.
This is exactly why God Himself fashioned man. In contrast, He merely commanded that all the other species of animals be brought forth from the air, the earth, and the water.
“Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creatures that have life, and fowl that may fly
above the earth” (Gen. 1:20), He said. And, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature after its kind” (Gen. 1:24).
However, when it came to man, God no longer said “Let the earth bring forth,” or “Let the waters bring forth,” but,“Let Us make man in Our image and likeness” (Gen. 1:26). And “God took the dust of the ground and formed man, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Gen. 2:7).
By definition, a true human being consists of both a soul and a body united in one harmonious
person.Because neither the soul without a body
nor the body without a soul can be called a human being.
St. Epifanios, Bishop of Cyprus
