Justin Martyr, On the Resurrection 2
Opponents deny that the flesh will rise. They argue it is impossible for this perishable, dissolving body to be reassembled into the same whole. They claim its salvation is both impossible and useless; they blame its frailties, parade its defects, and declare it the sole cause of sin, so that, if the flesh is to rise, they say, its weaknesses will rise with it. They construct sophistries like these: If the flesh rises, it will rise either whole, possessing all its members, or incomplete. But rising incomplete would reveal the raiser's weakness, if he could save some parts but not others. If it has all its parts and members, then it is clear that these things must exist after the resurrection from the dead — how is that not absurd, since the Savior said: "They neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven"? (Matthew 22:30) For angels, they say, have no flesh, do not eat, and do not cohabit; therefore there will be no fleshly resurrection. By saying these and similar things they try to turn people away from the faith.
Some even claim that Jesus himself is merely spiritual, no longer in flesh, and that he only provided an appearance of flesh, trying to deprive the flesh of the promise. First we will resolve the difficulties they raise; then we will advance the argument that demonstrates how the flesh possesses salvation.
Greek
Φασὶν οἱ χείρονα λέγοντες οὐκ εἶναι τῆς σαρκὸς ἀνάστασιν. Ἀδύνατον γὰρ εἶναι τὴν φθειρομένην καὶ διαλυομένην ταύτην συναχθῆναι εἰς τὸ αὐτό. Πρὸς δὲ τὸ ἀδύνατον καὶ ἀσύμφορόν φασιν ὑπάρχειν τὴν ταύτης σωτηρίαν, καὶ κακίζουσιν αὐτὴν τὰ ἐλαττώματα προφέροντες, καὶ αὐτὴν μόνην τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων αἰτίαν ἀποφαίνονται, ὥστε, εἰ μέλλει, φασί, σὰρξ ἀνίστασθαι, καὶ τὰ ἐλαττώματα συναναστήσεται. Καὶ σοφίσματα πλέκουσι τοιαῦτα· Eἰ ἡ σὰρξ ἀνίσταται, ἤτοι ὁλόκληρος ἀναστήσεται καὶ πάντα τὰ μόρια ἔχουσα ἢ ἀτελής. Ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν ἐλλειπῆ μέλλειν αὐτὴν ἀνίστασθαι ἀδυναμίαν ἐμφαίνει τοῦ ἀνιστῶντος, εἰ τὰ μὲν ἠδυνήθη σῶσαι, τὰ δὲ οὔ. Eἰ δὲ πάντα τὰ μέρη καὶ τὰ μόρια ἕξει, δῆλον ὅτι ταῦτα λέγειν ὑπάρχειν μετὰ τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν πῶς οὐκ ἄτοπον, τοῦ σωτῆρος εἰρηκότος· Oὔτε γαμοῦσιν οὔτε γαμίσκονται, ἀλλ' ἔσονται ὡς ἄγγελοι ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ; Oἱ δὲ ἄγγελοι, φασίν, οὔτε σάρκα ἔχουσιν οὔτε ἐσθίουσιν οὔτε συνουσιάζουσιν· ὥστε οὐδὲ σαρκικὴ ἀνάστασις γενήσεται. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν καὶ τὰ τούτοις ὅμοια λέγοντες πειρῶνται διαστρέφειν τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς πίστεως. Eἰσὶ δέ τινες οἳ λέγουσι καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν Ἰησοῦν πνευματικὸν μόνον παρεῖναι, μηκέτι ἐν σαρκί, φαντασίαν δὲ σαρκὸς παρεσχηκέναι, πειρώμενοι καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀποστερεῖν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας τὴν σάρκα. Πρῶτον μὲν τὰ ὑπ' αὐτῶν δοκοῦντα ἄπορα φαίνεσθαι λύσομεν· εἶθ' οὕτως ἑξῆς ἐπάξομεν τὸν ἀποδεικνύντα λόγον περὶ τῆς σαρκὸς ὡς ἔχει σωτηρίαν.