Can death harm us?

The answer

St. John Chrysostom says, “And why do I speak of removal into a foreign land, and poverty, and evil report, and bondage? For what harm did death itself inflict on Abel, although it was a violent and untimely death, and perpetrated by a brother’s hand? Is not this the reason why his praise is sounded throughout the whole world?”⁶⁶¹

Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty

Notes

⁶⁶¹ St. John Chrysostom, A Treatise to Prove That No One Can Harm the Man Who Does Not Injure Himself 4 (NPNF I/9:273).

Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty, Catechism of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Volume 1, Books 1–3. First English Edition, 2023. Published by St. George Coptic Orthodox Church, Sporting, Alexandria, and Queen St. Mary & Prince Tadros Coptic Orthodox Church, South Brunswick, NJ. Copyright © 2023. Translation and Editing: Youth of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, Arabian Gulf, and Egypt.