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What the Fathers say
Eastern Fathers
John Chrysostom
"For that is not first," saith he, "which is spiritual, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual." And he saith not, why, but is content with the ordinance of God, having the evidence from the facts testifying to that most excellent oeconomy of God, and implying that our state is always going forward to the better; at the same time by this also adding credibility to his argument. For if the lesser have come to pass, much more ought we to expect the better.
Theophylact of Ohrid
So that no one would say: why do we now have a natural body, an inferior one, while the spiritual one is only yet to come? he says: because the origins of the one and the other have been established in that order. Adam came first, and Christ came after. Therefore our course always moves toward the better. And be assured that what is now corruptible and inferior in you will be transformed into the incorruptible and the better.
Irenaeus
For the breath of life, which also rendered man an animated being, is one thing, and the vivifying Spirit another, which also caused him to become spiritual. And for this reason Isaiah said, "Thus saith the Lord, who made heaven and established it, who founded the earth and the things therein, and gave breath to the people upon it, and Spirit to those walking upon it;" thus telling us that breath is indeed given in common to all people upon earth, but that the Spirit is theirs alone who tread down earthly desires. …
Western Saints
Augustine of Hippo
First comes the clay that is only fit to be thrown away, with which we must begin but in which we need not remain. Afterward comes what is fit for us, that into which we can be gradually molded and in which, when molded, we may remain.
Gregory the Dialogist
What then is designated by John except the Synagogue, what by Peter except the Church? Nor should it seem strange that the Synagogue is said to be signified by the younger and the Church by the elder, because even if the Synagogue is prior to the Church of the Gentiles in the worship of God, nevertheless the multitude of the Gentiles is prior to the Synagogue in the practice of the world, as Paul attests when he says: "Because what is spiritual is not first, but what is natural." Therefore by the elder Peter is signified the Church …
Thomas Aquinas
994. – But someone might say, If Christ was made a life-giving spirit, why is he called "last"? Therefore, accordingly, when he says, but it is not the spiritual which is first, he shows the order of principles. We see in nature that in one and the same thing, the imperfect is prior to the perfect. …
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