Origen of Alexandria, Against Celsus

God, then, gives to each thing its own body as He pleases: as in the case of plants that are sown, so also in the case of those beings who are, as it were, sown in dying, and who in due time receive, out of what has been “sown,” the body assigned by God to each one according to his deserts. And we may hear, moreover, the Scripture teaching us at great length the difference between that which is, as it were, “sown,” and that which is, as it were, “raised” from it in these words: “It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.”1073 Cf. 1 Cor. xv. 42–44. And let him who has the capacity understand the meaning of the words: “As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.”1074 Cf. 1 Cor. xv. 48, 49. And although the apostle wished to conceal the secret meaning of the passage, which was not adapted to the simpler class of believers, and to the understanding of the common people, who are led by their faith to enter on a better course of life, he was nevertheless obliged afterwards to say (in order that we might not misapprehend his meaning), after “Let us bear the image of the heavenly,” these words also: “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.”1075 Cf. 1 Cor. xv. 50. Then, knowing that there was a secret and mystical meaning in the passage, as was becoming in one who was leaving, in his Epistles, to those who were to come after him words full of significance, he subjoins the following, “Behold, I show you a mystery;”1076 Cf. 1 Cor. xv. 51. which is his usual style in introducing matters of a profounder and more mystical nature, and such as are fittingly concealed from the multitude, as is written in the book of Tobit: “It is good to keep close the secret of a king, but honourable to reveal the works of God,”1077 Cf. Tobit xii. 7.—in a way consistent with truth and God’s glory, and so as to be to the advantage of the multitude. Our hope, then, is not “the hope of worms, nor does our soul long for a body that has seen corruption;” for although it may require a body, for the sake of moving from place to place,1078 διὰ τὰς τοπικὰς μεταβάσεις. yet it understands—as having meditated on the wisdom (that is from above), agreeably to the declaration, “The mouth of the righteous will speak wisdom”1079 Cf. Ps. xxxvii. 30.—the difference between the “earthly house,” in which is the tabernacle of the building that is to be dissolved, and that in which the righteous do groan, being burdened,—not wishing to “put off” the tabernacle, but to be “clothed therewith,” that by being clothed upon, mortality might be swallowed up of life. For, in virtue of the whole nature of the body being corruptible, the corruptible tabernacle must put on incorruption; and its other part, being mortal, and becoming liable to the death which follows sin, must put on immortality, in order that, when the corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and the mortal immortality, then shall come to pass what was predicted of old by the prophets,—the annihilation of the “victory” of death (because it had conquered and subjected us to his sway), and of its “sting,” with which it stings the imperfectly defended soul, and inflicts upon it the wounds which result from sin.

"Ὁ θεὸς" οὖν "δίδωσιν" "ἑκάστῳ" "σῶμα, καθὼς ἐθέλησεν", ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τῶν σπειρομένων οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν οἱονεὶ σπειρομένων ἐν τῷ ἀποθνῄσκειν καὶ καιρῷ ἐπιτηδείῳ ἀναλαμβανόντων ἐκ τῶν σπειρομένων τὸ περιτι θέμενον ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὴν ἀξίαν "σῶμα" ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ. Ἀκούομεν δὲ καὶ τοῦ διὰ πλειόνων διδάσκοντος λόγου τὴν διαφορὰν τοῦ οἱονεὶ σπειρομένου πρὸς τὸ ὡσπερεὶ ἐγειρόμενον ἀπ' αὐτοῦ καὶ λέγοντος· "Σπείρεται ἐν φθορᾷ, ἐγείρεται ἐν ἀφθαρσίᾳ· σπείρεται ἐν ἀτιμίᾳ, ἐγείρεται ἐν δόξῃ· σπείρεται ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ, ἐγείρεται ἐν δυνάμει· σπείρεται σῶμα ψυχικόν, ἐγείρεται σῶμα πνευματικόν." Ὁ δὲ δυνάμενος ἔτι καταλαμβανέτω, τί νενόηται τῷ λέγοντι· "Οἷος ὁ χοϊκός, τοιοῦτοι καὶ οἱ χοϊκοί· καὶ οἷος ὁ ἐπουρά νιος, τοιοῦτοι καὶ οἱ ἐπουράνιοι. Καὶ καθὼς ἐφορέσαμεν τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ χοϊκοῦ, οὕτω φορέσωμεν καὶ τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ ἐπουρανίου." Καίτοι δὲ βουλόμενος κρύπτειν ὁ ἀπόστολος τὰ κατὰ τὸν τόπον ἀπόρρητα καὶ μὴ ἁρμόζοντα τοῖς ἁπλουσ τέροις καὶ τῇ πανδήμῳ ἀκοῇ τῶν διὰ τοῦ πιστεύειν ἀγομένων ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον, ὅμως ἠναγκάσθη ὕστερον ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ παρακοῦσαι ἡμᾶς τῶν λόγων αὐτοῦ εἰπεῖν μετὰ τὸ "φορέ σωμεν τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ ἐπουρανίου" τὸ "τοῦτο δέ φημι, ἀδελφοί, ὅτι σὰρξ καὶ αἷμα βασιλείαν θεοῦ κληρονομῆσαι οὐ δύναται, οὐδ' ἡ φθορὰ τὴν ἀφθαρσίαν κληρονομεῖ". Εἶτ' ἐπιστάμενος ἀπόρρητόν τι καὶ μυστικὸν κατὰ τὸν τόπον, ὡς ἔπρεπε διὰ γραμμάτων καταλιπόντι τοῖς μετ' αὐτὸν τὰ νενοημένα εἰρημένα ἐπιφέρει καὶ λέγει· "Ἰδοὺ μυστήριον ὑμῖν λέγω", ὅτι περ ἔθος ἐστὶν ἐπιφέρεσθαι τοῖς βαθυτέροις καὶ μυστικωτέροις καὶ καθηκόντως ἀπὸ τῶν πολλῶν κρυπ τομένοις· ὥσπερ καὶ ἐν τῷ Τωβὴτ γέγραπται· "Μυστήριον βασιλέως καλόν ἐστι κρύπτειν", πρὸς δὲ τὸ ἔνδοξον καὶ ἁρμόζον τοῖς πολλοῖς μετὰ τοῦ οἰκονομικῶς ἀληθοῦς "τὰ ἔργα τοῦ θεοῦ ἀνακαλύπτειν ἐνδόξως" "καλόν". Οὐ σκωλήκων οὖν ἡ ἐλπὶς ἡμῶν οὐδὲ ποθεῖ ἡμῶν ἡ ψυχὴ τὸ σεσηπὸς σῶμα, ἀλλά, κἂν δέηται σώματος διὰ τὰς τοπικὰς μεταβάσεις, νοεῖ ἡ μεμελετηκυῖα τὴν "σοφίαν" κατὰ τὸ "στόμα δικαίου μελετήσει σοφίαν" διαφορὰν ἐπιγείου οἰκίας, ἐν ᾗ ἐστι τὸ σκῆνος, καταλυομένης καὶ σκήνους, ἐν ᾧ "οἱ ὄντες" δίκαιοι στενάζουσι "βαρούμενοι", μὴ θέλοντες τὸ σκῆνος ἀπεκδύσασθαι ἀλλὰ τῷ σκήνει "ἐπενδύσασθαι", ἵν' ἐκ τοῦ "ἐπενδύσασθαι" "καταποθῇ τὸ θνητὸν ὑπὸ τῆς ζωῆς". "∆εῖ γὰρ" τῷ πᾶσαν φύσιν σώματος εἶναι φθαρτὴν "τὸ φθαρτὸν τοῦτο" σκῆνος "ἐνδύσασθαι ἀφθαρσίαν", καὶ τὸ ἕτερον αὐτοῦ, τυγχάνον "θνητὸν" καὶ δεκτικὸν τοῦ ἐπακολουθοῦντος τῷ ἁμαρτάνειν θανάτου, "ἐνδύσασθαι ἀθανασίαν"· ἵν' ὅτε "τὸ φθαρτὸν" "ἐνδύσεται τὴν ἀφθαρσίαν καὶ τὸ θνητὸν τὴν ἀθανασίαν, τότε γενήσεται" τὸ πάλαι ὑπὸ τῶν προφητῶν προειρημένον, ἀναίρεσις τῆς νίκης τοῦ θανάτου, καθὸ νικήσας ἡμᾶς ἑαυτῷ ὑπέταξε, καὶ τοῦ ἀπ' αὐτοῦ κέντρου, ᾧ κεντῶν τὴν οὐ πάντῃ πεφραγμένην ψυχὴν ἐμποιεῖ αὐτῇ τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τραύματα.