Against Heresies: Book V
Chapter 4: Those people are mistaken who pretend there is another God the Father apart from the Creator of the world; for he must have been weak and pointless, or else spiteful and full of jealousy, if he is either incapable or unwilling to grant eternal life to our bodies
People who pretend that there is another Father beyond the Creator and call him the good God are deceiving themselves. They present this Father as weak, worthless, and negligent, if not actually malicious and envious because they claim that our bodies are not given life by him. They say that things known to be immortal, like the spirit and soul, are given life by the Father, but that the body, which is given life in no different way than by God granting it life, is left without life.
This means they must admit that their Father is either weak and powerless or envious and malicious. Since the Creator actually gives life to our mortal bodies and promises their resurrection as the prophets have shown, who is truly more powerful, stronger, or genuinely good? Is it the Creator who gives life to the whole person, or is it their so-called Father? He pretends to give life to things naturally immortal, to which life is inherent, but doesn't benevolently give life to those things that need his help to live, leaving them to fall under the power of death.
So, does their Father not give them life even though he can, or does he lack the power? If he cannot, then he is not powerful or more perfect than the Creator, who provides what He cannot.
But if he chooses not to give life when he has the power, then he is shown to be not a good Father but an envious and malicious one.
If, again, they point to any reason why their Father doesn't give life to bodies, then that reason must appear superior to the Father, since it stops Him from showing His grace; and His grace will thus be shown to be weak due to that reason they mention. Now, everyone must understand that bodies are capable of receiving life. For they live to the extent that God wishes them to live; and because of this, the [heretics] cannot claim that [these bodies] are completely incapable of receiving life. If, therefore, due to necessity or any other reason, those [bodies] capable of sharing in life are not made alive, their Father would be a slave to necessity and that reason, and not a free agent, having His will under His own control.