Ways of Living and Dying

Iterum videamus qua ratione Dominus Deus Adae dixerit, morte moriemini: quid intersit, utrum aliquis dicat, moriemini, an addat, morte moriemini. Ostendere enim debemus nihil superfluum in Dei esse mandato. Itaque hoc arbitror. Cum duo sibi sint contraria mors et vita, secundum simplicem sermonem a vita vivere dicimus, a morte mori. Si autem geminare velis utramque, quia vita vitam facit, dicitur, vita vivit, sicut habes in lege. Et quia mors mortem facit, dicitur, morte morietur. Non est autem superflua ista geminatio: est enim vita ad mortem, et est mors ad vitam; quia quis et dum vivit, moritur; et dum moritur vivit. Fiunt ergo quatuor distinctiones vita vivere, morte mori, morte vivere, vita mori. Cum igitur haec ita se habeant, usus et consuetudinis praejudicium debemus excludere; quia usus hoc habet ut communiter dicatur vivere, et qui vitae vivit, et qui morti vivit: et communiter dicatur mori vel ille qui morti moritur, vel ille qui vitae moritur. Itaque ex quatuor illis duo significat, ut dicat viventem vivere, nec melius deteriusque distinguat, et dicat morientem mori, nec inter malam et bonam mortem videatur esse discretio. Nam indiscreta quaedam vita significatur, qualis irrationabilium aut etiam parvulorum, et indiscreta mors aeque. Sequestrato igitur usu communi, quid sit vita vivere, et quid sit morte mori, et quid sit vivere morti, et mori vitae consideremus. Puto enim secundum Scripturas, quia vita vivere admirabilem quamdam illam vitam beatamque significet, et hunc vivendi usum spirandique munus cum beatae vitae gratia veluti conjunctum, et quadam participatione permixtum demonstrare videatur. Hoc est enim vita vivere, virtute vivere, beatae vitae actus habere in istius corporis vita. Contra autem morte mori quid est aliud, nisi cum morte corporis deformitatem significare morientis, cujus et caro communi vivendi munere defraudetur, et anima vitae aeternae usum habere non possit? Est etiam qui vita moritur, ut qui vivit corpore, sed actu moritur suo: quales illi sunt, de quibus ait Propheta: Descendunt in infernum viventes. Et illa de qua Apostolus dicit: Quoniam vivens mortua est. Quartum superest, quod sunt qui etiam morte vivunt, ut martyres sancti, qui utique moriuntur ut vivant. Moritur caro, sed vivit gratia mortuorum. Ergo absit a nobis, ut participes mortis vivamus: sed contra participes vitae moriamur. Sanctus enim nec vitae istius se vult esse participem, qui ait: Cupio dissolvi, et cum Christo esse; multo enim melius. Et alius, Heu me, quod incolatus meus prolongatus est. Dolens utique cum consortia vitae speret aeternae, istius vitae fragilitate se contineri. Et ideo possum e contrario dicere, quia etsi vitae vivere bonum est; vitae tamen vivere ambiguum sit, Potest enim dici quis vitae vivere, hoc est, vitae aeternae istius vita corporis militare. Potest etiam dici vitae vivere, hoc est, vel quemcumque, vel sanctum istius vitae habere desiderium corporalis; ut verbi gratia, si quis ideo honeste putet esse vivendum, ut is longaevitatem vitae bonis actibus consequatur, quales plerique infirmiores sunt quos haec vita delectat. Sicut ergo vitae vivere quid sit accepimus, quid sit morti mori accipiamus, vel morti vivere. Possunt enim esse qui moriantur morti, et qui vivant vitae. Nam qui non ita vivit, ut secundum mortem animae suae vivat, is morti moritur, quia non est obnoxius morti, id est, nexus eum aerumnosae mortis amisit, non constringitur vinculis mortis aeternae. Mortuus est morti, hoc est, mortuus est peccato, mortuus est poenae: cui contrarium est poenae vivere, hoc est, quando quis vivit ad poenam, vivit ad mortem. Qui autem moritur ad poenam, moritur ad mortem. Est etiam qui in hac vita positus moriatur ad vitam, sicut ille qui ait: Vivo autem jam non ego, vivit autem in me Christus. Peccato enim mortuus est, Deo vivit, hoc est, mors in eo mortua est, sed vita vivit, qui est Dominus Jesus. Ergo bona vita eorum qui Deo vivunt, mala vita eorum qui peccato vivunt. Est etiam media vita, ut animantium caeterorum, sicut habes scriptum: Producat terra animam viventem secundum genus. Est etiam vita mortuorum, ut Deus Abraham, et Deus Isaac, et Deus Jacob; quia Deus mortuorum non est, sed vivorum. Sunt etiam quibus communitas est quaedam mortis et vitae, de quibus ait Apostolus dicens: Si commortui estis, et convivetis. Si enim complantati, inquit, sumus similitudini mortis ejus, simul et resurrectionis erimus: scientes quia vetus homo noster simul confixus est cruci; ut destruatur corpus peccati, ut ultra non serviamus peccato. Qui enim mortuus est, justificatus est a peccato. Sicut autem figuras multas vitae diximus, ita etiam mortis inveniemus. Dicitur enim mors mala, secundum illud: Anima quae peccat, ipsa morietur. Dicitur et mors communiter, sicut habes verbi gratia: Quia Adam vixit tot annos, et mortuus est, et appositus est ad patres suos. Dicitur etiam mors per baptismatis sacramentum, sicut habes: Consepulti sumus cum illo per baptismum in morte. Et alibi: Si autem mortui sumus cum Christo, credimus etiam quod simul vivemus cum illo. Vides quia mors quidem appellatione dicatur, sed haec vita sit nostra. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Paradiso, Caput IX

Again, let us see for what reason the Lord God said to Adam: 'You shall die the death.' 1 What is the difference between saying 'you shall die' and 'you shall die the death'? For we should show that there is nothing superfluous in the command of God. This, then, is my solution. Since life and death are contraries, in simple language we say 'we live in life' and 'die in death.' But, if you wish, you may double these things, because life makes life, with the phrasing 'he lives a life' in law, and, because death makes death, it is said 'He shall die the death.' These extra expressions are not superfluous, for life pertains to death and death pertains to life, because he who is living is dying and he who is dying lives. There are then four distinctions: to live in life, to die in death, to die in life, to live in death. When, therefore, we grasp these things we should exclude prejudice of use and custom, for usage commonly has it that he lives who lives by life and who lives in death, and commonly it speaks of dying as either one who dies by death or who dies to live. Thus from these four two signify that the living live, without distinguishing as to whether well or badly, and then that the dying die, again without a seeming distinction between a good death and a bad one. For there is no difference in the life referred to, whether it is irrational creatures, or even of infants, and equally there is no distinction in the matter of death. Putting aside, then, common use, let us consider what it is to live in life and to die in death, and also to live in death and to die in life. I think that in accordance with the Scriptures, 'to live in life' signifies an admirable life of blessedness where the gift of natural life is joined with the inspired grace of the blessed life. For this is to live in life, that we live in virtue, and have in the life of this body the reality of the blessed life. On the other hand, what is 'to die in death' but the disintegration of the body at death, when the flesh is stripped of its customary function of living and the soul is unable to partake of eternal life? There is also the person who 'dies in life,' that is to say, the one who lives in body but dies by his own acts, and about these the Prophet says: 'They descend into hell living.' 2 And that woman concerning whom the Apostle says: 'For living she is dead.' 3 The fourth remains: those who 'live in death' like the holy martyrs, who die so that they may live. The flesh dies but the goodness of the dead lives. Therefore let is be far from us that  while we live we partake in death, but on the contrary let us die partaking of life. Indeed the saint does not wish to be a participant of this life of ours when he says: 'I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ.' 4 For it is much better.  And another says: 'Woe to me that my sojourning has been prolonged,' 5 He is lamenting, hoping for a share in life eternal while limited by the fragility of this life. And, on the contrary, I can even say that although 'to live in life' is a good thing, 'to live for life' is doubtful. One can say that one who 'lives for life,' that is, for the life of eternity, wars with the life of the body. One can also speak of 'living for life' in another sense, for there is a holy desire for this corporeal life, for example, if someone thinks he must live virtuously so that by good actions he may obtain a long life, and many they are who are infirm but who still delight in this life. So then we understand what it is, 'to live for life,' and now let us consider what it is, 'to die to death' and 'to live for death.' For it is possible to be those who 'die for death' and who 'live for life.' For he who does not so live that according to death his own soul may live, 'dies to death', because he is not subject to death, that is, he has been released from the bonds of grievous death and he is not bound by the chains of eternal death. He is dead to death, that is, he is dead to sin. He is dead to punishment, for whom living is contrary to punishment, that is, when a person lives for punishment he lives for death. And he who dies for punishment dies for death. And there is also the one who placed in this life dies for life, like he who said, 'It is now no longer I that live, but Christ in me.' 6 For to sin he is dead, but he lives for God, that is, death in him is dead, but the life lives which is the Lord Jesus. Good, therefore, is the life of those who live for God and evil the life of those who live for sin. There is also a middle type of life, like other living things, as we have in Scripture: 'Let the earth bring forth the living creature in its kind.' 7 There is also the life of the dead: 'The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob,' 8 because 'He is not the God of the dead but of the living.' 9 There are then those who partake somewhat in both lives, that of the living and of the dead, concerning whom the Apostle says: 'If you have died with Him, you shall also live with Him.' 10 And: 'For if we have been united with Him in the likeness of death, we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing that our old self has been crucified with Him, that the body of sin may be destroyed, that we may no longer be slaves to sin. For he who is dead is acquitted of sin.'  11 Just as we have said that there are many types of life, so we find many types of death. An evil death is spoken of in this manner: 'The soul that sins shall die.' 12 Death is spoken of in common fashion when we have words such as: Adam lived so many years and died and was laid among his fathers. Then death is spoken of in the manner of the sacrament of baptism, when we have: 'For we were buried with Him by means of baptism into death.' 13 And in another place: 'For if we have died with Christ, we believe also that we shall live together with Him.' 14 So you see how the name of death may be spoken but it may be our life. Saint Ambrose, On Paradise, Chap 9 1 Gen 2.17 2 Ps 54.16 3 1 Tim 5.6  4 Phillip 1.23 5 Ps 119.5 6 Gal 2.20 7 Gen 1.24  8 Exod 3.6 9 Lk 20.37, Mk. 12.26  10 2 Tim 2.11 11 Rom 6.5, 8 12 Ezek 18.20 13 Rom 6.4  14 Rom 6.8