Uncorrupted Bodies and Resurrection Hope

Justin Martyr, On the Resurrection, Fragments Direct teaching

...monstrate what the resurrection would be like? How then did He raise the dead? Their souls or their bodies? Clearly, both. If the resurrection were only spiritual, it would have been necessary for Him, in raising the dead, to show the body lying apart by itself and the soul living separately. But He did not do so; instead, He raised the body, confirming the promise of life within it. Why did He rise in the flesh in which He suffered, if not to demonstrate the resurrection of the flesh? Wishing to confirm this, when His disciples were unsure whether to believe He had truly risen in the flesh, and were looking at Him in doubt, He said to them, “You still have no faith; see that it is I.” He allowed them to touch Him and showed them the marks of the nails in His hands. When they were persuaded by every kind of proof that it was indeed Himself and in the body, they asked Him to eat with them to further verify that He had genuinely risen bodily; and He ate honeycomb and fish. By doing this, He showed them that there truly is a resurrection of the flesh, and wished to demonstrate that it is not impossible for flesh to ascend into heaven (as He had said that our dwelling place is in he

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book V Direct teaching

...rried out to burial near the city gate; and Lazarus, who had been in the tomb for four days—in what bodies did they rise again? Certainly, in the same ones in which they had died. For if it were not in the very same bodies, then those same individuals who had died did not rise again. The Scripture says, “The Lord took the hand of the dead man and said to him, Young man, I say to you, Arise. And the dead man sat up, and He commanded that something should be given him to eat; and He delivered him to his mother.” Again, He called Lazarus with a loud voice, saying, “Lazarus, come forth;” and the one who was dead came forth, bound with bandages, feet and hands.” This symbolized a man who had been bound in sins. And therefore, the Lord said, “Loose him, and let him go.” Just as those who were healed were made whole in the very parts that had previously been afflicted, and the dead rose in the same bodies, their limbs and bodies receiving health and life granted by the Lord—who demonstrates eternal things through temporary ones, and shows that He alone can extend both healing and life to His creation, so that His words about its future resurrection may also be believed—so at the end, w

Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Direct teaching

...w points from those works, especially since some are offended by the creed of the Church, as if our belief in the resurrection were foolish and altogether senseless. These are mainly heretics, and I think they should be answered in the following way. If they also admit that there is a resurrection of the dead, let them answer us this: What was it that died? Was it not a body? Then it is the body that will be raised. Next, let them tell us whether they think we are to make use of bodies or not. I think that when the Apostle Paul says that it is sown a natural body, it will arise a spiritual body, they cannot deny that it is a body that rises, or that in the resurrection we are to make use of bodies. What then? If it is certain that we are to make use of bodies, and if the bodies that have fallen are declared to rise again—for only what has first fallen can properly be said to rise again—then no one can doubt that they rise again so that we may be clothed with them a second time in the resurrection. One point is closely joined to the other. For if bodies rise again, they certainly rise to be coverings for us. And if it is necessary for us to be clothed with bodies, as it certainly

Athenagoras, A Plea for the Christians Direct teaching

...dness toward those who do not believe. At most, we could be accused only of foolishness. For by the beliefs through which we deceive ourselves, we harm no one else. And it is not only our belief that bodies will rise again. Many philosophers also hold this same view. But this is not the right time to show that, because we might seem to bring in matters not related to the subject before us. That would happen either by speaking about the intelligible and the sensible, and the nature of each, or by arguing that the incorporeal is older than the corporeal, and that the intelligible comes before the sensible, although we come to know the sensible first. This is because the corporeal is formed from the incorporeal by the intelligible being joined with it, and the sensible is formed from the intelligible. For according to Pythagoras and Plato, nothing prevents bodies, when they are dissolved, from being made again out of the very same elements from which they were first made. But let us postpone the discussion about the resurrection.

Justin Martyr, On the Resurrection, Fragments Direct teaching

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 w

Hippolytus, Against Plato Direct teaching

and then He will accomplish a resurrection of all, not by transferring souls into other bodies, but by raising the bodies themselves.

Tertullian, Against Marcion Supporting witness

so that the resurrection of the dead implies the resurrection of their bodies.

Tertullian, On the Resurrection of the Flesh Direct teaching

...owever, argue that the soul is the natural, or animate, body. They do this so they can separate the flesh from any connection with the body that rises again. But it is a clear and settled point that the body which will rise again is the one that was sown in death. So they must be pressed to examine the fact itself. Otherwise, let them show that the soul was sown after death. In other words, let them show that it underwent death — that it was destroyed, torn apart, dissolved in the ground. Yet God never declared any such thing against it. Let them show us its corruption and dishonor, as well as its weakness, so that it too may be said to rise again in incorruption, in glory, and in power, as 1 Corinthians 15:42-43 says. Now in the case of Lazarus, which we may take as the chief example of a resurrection, the flesh lay helpless in weakness. The flesh was nearly rotten in the dishonor of decay. The flesh gave off a bad smell in corruption. And yet Lazarus rose again as flesh — with his soul, of course. But that soul was not corruptible. No one had wrapped it in burial cloths. No one had placed it in a tomb. No one had yet noticed it smelling bad. No one had seen it sown for four da

Methodius, From the Discourse on the Resurrection Direct teaching

..., brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption, 1 Corinthians 15:50. By flesh, he did not mean flesh itself, but the irrational impulse toward the lustful pleasures of the soul. And therefore, when he says, “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,” he adds the explanation, “Neither does corruption inherit incorruption.” Now corruption is not the thing that is corrupted, but the thing that corrupts. For when death has power, the body sinks into corruption; but when life still remains in it, it stands uncorrupted. Therefore, since the flesh is the boundary between corruption and incorruption, being neither corruption nor incorruption, it was overcome by corruption because of pleasure, although it was the work and possession of incorruption. Therefore it became subject to corruption. When, then, it had been overcome by corruption and handed over to death for chastisement, He did not leave it to be overcome and handed over as an inheritance to corruption. Instead, by conquering death again through the resurrection, He restored it to incorruption, so that corruption might not inherit incorruption, but incorr

Methodius, From the Discourse on the Resurrection Direct teaching

... not leave it to corruption to be claimed as its possession. Instead, after conquering death by the resurrection, He gave it back again to incorruption, so that corruption might not receive the possession of incorruption, but incorruption might receive that of corruption. Therefore the apostle answers in this way: “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality,” 1 Corinthians 15:53. Now when the corruptible and mortal puts on immortality, what else is this but that which is sown in corruption and raised in incorruption, 1 Corinthians 15:42? For the soul is not corruptible or mortal, but this thing that is mortal and subject to corruption is the flesh. This is so that, as we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly, 1 Corinthians 15:49. For the image of the earthly that we have borne is this: “Dust you are, and to dust shall you return,” Genesis 3:19. But the image of the heavenly is the resurrection from the dead and incorruption, so that, as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also should walk in newness of life, Romans 6:4. But if anyone thinks that the earthly image

Athenagoras, The Resurrection of the Dead Direct teaching

...inues has its continuance according to its own nature, then in the case of those who are completely incorruptible and immortal, we will not find a continuance like ours, because the natures of higher beings are not on the same level as those of lower beings. Nor is it right, in the case of human beings, to look for a continuance that is fixed and unchangeable. For the former were created immortal from the beginning, and they continue to exist without end by the simple will of their Maker. But human beings, in respect to the soul, have had from their first origin an unchangeable continuance, while in respect to the body they receive immortality through change. This is what is meant by the doctrine of the resurrection. With this in view, we both expect the dissolution of the body, as the result of a life of need and decay, and after this we hope for continued existence with immortality. We do not put our death on the same level as the death of irrational animals, or the continuance of man on the same level as the continuance of immortals, lest we unknowingly put human nature and human life on the same level as things with which it is not right to compare them. Therefore, it should

Peter of Alexandria, The Genuine Acts of Peter Direct teaching

... not leave it to corruption to be claimed as its possession. Instead, after conquering death by the resurrection, He gave it back again to incorruption, so that corruption might not receive the property of incorruption, but incorruption might receive that of corruption. Therefore the apostle answers in this way: "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality," 1 Corinthians 15:53. Now when the corruptible and mortal puts on immortality, what else is this but that which "is sown in corruption and raised in incorruption," 1 Corinthians 15:42? For the soul is not corruptible or mortal. Rather, what is mortal and decaying is the flesh. This is so that, "as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly," 1 Corinthians 15:49. For the image of the earthy that we have borne is this: "Dust you are, and to dust shall you return," Genesis 3:19. But the image of the heavenly is the resurrection from the dead and incorruption, so that, "as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also should walk in newness of life," Romans 6:4. But if anyone thinks that the earthy image is the flesh it

Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Supporting witness

But when this body, which at some future period we shall possess in a more glorious state, shall have become a partaker of life, it will then, in addition to being immortal, become also incorruptible.

Tertullian, On the Resurrection of the Flesh Supporting witness

Consequently, those things which are subject to corruption and mortality, even the flesh and blood, must needs also be susceptible of incorruption and immortality.

Methodius, From the Discourse on the Resurrection Supporting witness

but again conquering death by the resurrection, He restored it to incorruption, that corruption might not inherit incorruption, but incorruption that which is corruptible.

Methodius, From the Discourse on the Resurrection Supporting witness

incorruption that of corruption. Therefore the apostle answers thus, For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Supporting witness

and every one who keeps these can be saved, and, obtaining the resurrection, can inherit incorruption.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book V Supporting witness

1. For as the flesh is capable of corruption, so is it also of incorruption;

1 Corinthians 15:42 Direct teaching

So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.

1 Corinthians 15:53 Direct teaching

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

1 Corinthians 15:50 Direct teaching

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

1 Corinthians 15:54 Direct teaching

So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

1 Corinthians 15:35 Direct teaching

But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?”

1 Corinthians 15:43 Direct teaching

It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.

1 Corinthians 15:44 Direct teaching

It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

1 Corinthians 15:20 Direct teaching

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Acts 24:15 Direct teaching

I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.

Acts 2:31 Direct teaching

he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.

Philippians 3:21 Direct teaching

Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.