Tertullian, On the Resurrection of the Flesh 22

We must now turn to those Scriptures, too, the ones that refuse to allow a resurrection modeled on these 'animals'—let alone spiritual ones—whether that resurrection is presumed right now in the recognition of truth or vindicated immediately at the departure from life. The times of our entire hope are fixed by a sacred stylus, and it is not permitted to set that hope before the Advent, I think, of Christ; our vows sigh for the decline of this age, for the world's transition to the great Day of the Lord, the day of wrath and retribution, the last day, hidden and known to no one except the Father—yet foretold by signs and portents, shakings of the elements, and conflicts of nations (Luke 21:24). I would unfold the prophecies if the Lord Himself had kept silent, except the prophetic voice was the Lord's own; but it is more that He seals them with His own mouth. When the disciples asked when the things that had burst forth at His departure from the Temple would happen, He laid out the order of times: first for the Jews until the destruction of Jerusalem, then for the nations until the conclusion of the age. For after He said, 'And then Jerusalem will be trampled by nations until the times of the nations are fulfilled'—that is, taken away by God and gathered with the remnant of Israel—from there He preaches to the world and the age, according to Joel and Daniel and the whole council of the prophets (Joel and Daniel), of future signs in the sun and moon and stars, the nations' conclusion with amazement; the roar of the sea, and the movement of men growing cold from fear and expectation of what threatens the earth. 'For the powers of the heavens will be shaken,' He says, 'and then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.' When these things begin to happen, you will stand up and lift your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. Yet He said it is drawing near, not that it is already here; and when these things begin, not when they are finished; because when they are finished, then our redemption will be present—the redemption that is said to approach until that moment, raising and stirring minds toward the nearby fruit of hope. Its parable is woven in, too: trees growing tender in the shoot of a blossom, and then the blossom, the forerunner of fruit. 'So also you, when you see all these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near.' Therefore, stay awake at all times, so that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things and to stand before the Son of Man—certainly through the resurrection, with all things having been transacted beforehand. So, although it flourishes in the recognition of the sacrament, it blossoms and bears fruit in the representation of the Lord. Who, then, has so untimely and harshly roused the Lord to the right hand of God to shatter the earth—which I think is still intact? Who has already subjected Christ's enemies under His feet, as if faster than the Father, while every popular assembly still cries, 'Christians to the lion'? Who has seen Jesus descending from heaven such as the Apostles saw Him ascending, according to the angels' decree? No hearts have yet fallen to the ground, tribe by tribe, recognizing the One they pierced; no one has yet received Elijah; no one has yet fled the Antichrist; no one has yet wept over Babylon's exit. And is there already one who has risen, unless he is a heretic? He has clearly already come out of the body's tomb, yet still subject to fevers and ulcers; and he has already trampled his enemies, yet still struggling with the powers of the world. And he certainly reigns already, yet still owes Caesar what belongs to Caesar.