[Mt 19:3—9; 22:30]. About food and stomach we read the following: «Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them» [1 Cor 6:13]. So he condemns those who think that they can live like goats and bulls doing nothing but eating and having sex. But if they have really attained to the resurrection state, as it is claimed, and for this reason they do not marry, then why do they not also refrain also from eating and drinking? After all, the Apostle indicated that food and stomach will not exist after the resurrection. If they have already been risen, then why are they still experiencing thirst, hunger, and physical pain – everything from which the full resurrection in Christ must set us free? What is the problem here? After all, even some idol worshippers will fast and abstain from sex. But it says: «The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink». Even sorcerers can by their sheer willpower abstain from wine, meat, and sex, and yet they worship angels and demons. Just as moderation is a form of humility which does not involve castigation of the body, so asceticism is a spiritual virtue practiced privately, not for a show (Stromata, 3,6, 47—48).
Nepos of Egypt (between the 2nd and 3rd centuries)
The work of Nepos of Egypt «Denunciation of the Lovers of Allegories» («Refutation of the Allegorists») has not been preserved. See Eusebius of Caesarea on Nepos (Church History, 7, 24).
Tertullian (155/165 – 220/240)
«And what a sight we shall soon see – the coming of the Lord, recognized by all, triumphant and victorious! What rejoicing for the angels, what glory for the risen saints, what a Kingdom for the righteous, and what a magnificent new Jerusalem! And then there will be other great sights too: the day of the last and final judgment, which the heathen reject and ridicule – when the whole dilapidated world with all its inhabitants will be destroyed by fire [compare 2 Pet 3:10]! What a sight will it be!» (On the Spectacles, 30).
Excerpt from «On the Resurrection of the Flesh»:
Chapter 19.
Thus, our consideration of these words (taken, of course, in their proper sense) and their meaning must ensure that the obvious prevails and that every time the error is eliminated by what is correct – if the opposing party should bring about any confusion in the form of symbolism or riddles. For some, seeing the typical prophetic utterance, which is often (though not always) given in the form of imagery and symbolism, offer distorted allegorical interpretations even to the resurrection of the dead which has been clearly revealed. They argue that death should be taken in a spiritual way. «For death, which is a familiar experience to all», they say, «is in fact not a separation of body and soul but our ignorance towards God through which a person, being dead unto God, remains in error as if in a coffin. Therefore, the true resurrection takes place when someone, having found the truth, has regained his soul and life by turning to God, and, having crushed the death of ignorance, came out of the coffin of the old man, just like the Lord had compared the scribes and Pharisees to whitewashed tombs (Mt 23:27). It follows that those who by faith have attained to the resurrection of the dead remain with the Lord after being clothed with Him in baptism». With such sly talk, they often gave a false impression that they don’t deny the resurrection of the flesh. «Woe to him who did not rise in this flesh», they say (fearing to repel us by the direct denial of the resurrection). But secretly they think, «Woe to him who, while being in the flesh, did not become initiated into the heretical secret doctrine», – for this is their resurrection. Many of those who recognize the resurrection after the departure of the soul, take it allegorically, as if our coming out of the tombs means denying this world, for this world is, so to say, the abode of the dead, that is, of those who do not know God. Many even see our coming out of the body as resurrection, saying that the body is like a tomb in which the soul is fettered in its worldly death.
Chapter 23.
Indeed, the Apostle teaches in Colossians that we who were once dead, alienated, and hostile to the Lord in spirit through our wicked deeds (Col 1:21), having been buried with Christ in baptism, were also raised with Him through faith in the power of God by which He was raised from the dead. «And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses» (Col 2:12—13). And again: «Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances?» (Col 2:20) If then he describes us as spiritually dead while admitting that we also will one day die physically, then, by considering us spiritually risen, he does not deny that we will also be raised in our bodies. For example, he says: «If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God». Seek those things which are above, not below (Col 3:1—2). By this he points out that we will be raised in spirit because only through the spirit we can partake of the things that are above. We would not have to seek it or think about it if we had already possessed it. Also, he adds: «For you have certainly died for your sins, not for yourself, – and your life is now hidden with Christ in God» (Col 3:3). So, the life which is hidden has not yet been comprehended. John also says: «And it doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him» (1 Jn 3:2). We can’t possibly be what we do not yet know, because if we had already become it, we would for sure have known. Therefore, at this time we only contemplate the object of our hope in faith; it is not yet in front of us or with us but is only an expectation. Paul writes to Galatians about this hope and this expectation: «In spirit we expect by faith the hope of our righteousness» (Gal 5:5). He does not say: «We already possess it». The righteousness of God refers here to the final judgment after which we will receive our reward. Paul, waiting for this judgment himself, writes to the Philippians: If I somehow attain to the resurrection from the dead, this does not mean that I have already attained it or become perfect (Php 3:11—12). Surely, he who was the vessel of election and the teacher of pagans had strong enough faith and knew all the mysteries and yet he adds: «I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus» (Php 3:12). And even more: «Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto the inaccessible reward which I am to strive for» (Php 3:13—14). Clearly, he is talking about the resurrection of the dead, but it will come in due course, for he says to Galatians: «And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap» (Gal 6:9). And he says to Timothy about Onesiphorus: «The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day» (2 Tim 1:18). He urges him to observe the commandment purely and irreproachably until that day – until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, which will be revealed in due time by the blessed and only Ruler, King of kings (1 Tim 6:14—15), that is, by God. Peter also talks about these times in Acts: «Repent and see to it that your sins are blotted out so that the times of refreshing might come to you from the presence of God and so that He would send you the appointed Christ, whom heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets» (Act 3:19—21).
Chapter 25.
Similarly, the book of Revelation indicates a certain sequence of times which even the souls of martyrs learned to endure while crying out for vengeance and judgment from under the altar so that the world might first drink of its sufferings from the bowls of the angels, so that the harlot city would meet its doom together with the ten kings, and so that the Antichrist (Beast) and his false prophet would begin persecuting the church, and so that, after the temporary imprisonment of the devil in the abyss, the first resurrection would be announced from the heavenly thrones, after which (when the devil is finally cast into the fire), the judgement of the resurrection would be proclaimed according to the books [see Rev 6:9—11; 15:7; 16:1; 17:12; 19:19—20; 20:4—12]. So, since Scripture points
