On the Resurrection, Fragments

The resurrection is a resurrection of the flesh that has died. For the spirit does not die; the soul is in the body, and without a soul the body cannot live. When the soul leaves it, the body ceases to be. The body is the house of the soul; and the soul is the house of the spirit. These three, in all those who hold a sincere hope and unquestioning faith in God, will be saved. Even when considering arguments suited to this world, we find it is not impossible for the flesh to be regenerated; and seeing that, in addition to all these proofs, the Saviour in the entire Gospel shows that there is salvation for the flesh, why do we endure those unbelieving and dangerous arguments, failing to realize that we are regressing when we listen to claims that the soul is immortal, but the body is mortal and incapable of being revived? For this is what we heard from Pythagoras and Plato, even before we learned the truth.

If then the Saviour said this and proclaimed salvation only to the soul, what new message, beyond what we heard from Pythagoras and Plato and all their followers, did He bring us? But now He has come proclaiming the good news of a new and strange hope to humanity. For indeed, it was a strange and new thing for God to promise that He would not keep incorruption in incorruption, but would transform corruption into incorruption. As the prince of wickedness could corrupt the truth in no other way, he sent out his apostles (evil men who introduced dangerous doctrines), choosing them from those who crucified our Saviour; and these men took the name of the Saviour, but did the works of the one who sent them, through whom the name itself has been spoken against.

But if the flesh does not rise, why is it also guarded, and why do we not let it indulge its desires? Why do we not imitate physicians, who, when they get a patient deemed hopeless and incurable, allow the patient to indulge their desires? For they know the patient is dying; and this indeed is what those who hate the flesh surely do, casting it out of its inheritance as much as they can; for this reason, they also despise it, because it will soon become a corpse.

But if our physician Christ, God, having rescued us from our desires, regulates our flesh with His wise and temperate rule, it is evident that He guards it from sins because it has a hope of salvation, much like physicians do not allow people they hope to save to indulge in whatever pleasures they wish.