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St. Justin firmly insists that the body will be resurrected, because man is a single psychosomatic entity. He writes: "For what is man if not a thinking living being, consisting of soul and body? Is not man a soul in himself? No, it is only the human soul. Then, perhaps, it is possible to call the body itself a person? No, it is only called the human body. If, however, each separately (soul and body) is not a man, and that which consists of two parts is called man, then God, Who called man into life and resurrection, did not call a "part" (only the soul or only the body), but the "whole," which is both soul and body.

The Divine Cyril of Jerusalem teaches that the body must be resurrected, for with it we have done everything. "We speak evil with our lips and pray with our lips, we fornicate with our bodies and keep our bodies upright, we steal with our hands and give mercy with our hands," etc. Thus, since the body has served us in all things, it will also "receive according to its works" in the Life to Come" [1004]. St. Isidore of Pelusiot observes: "If only the soul has struggled and attained virtue, then let it alone be crowned; but if the body also took part in the feats of virtue, then "let it be crowned with it." For this is just, blessed, and very natural [1005]. But St. Gregory the Theologian, speaking of the resurrection of the body and its unification with the soul, with which it lived together and "philosophized together" on earth, adds: "In this way, the body "inherits" together with the soul "unearthly glory." For just as the soul, which is one with the body on earth, shared with him the difficulties and misfortunes, so now it imparts to it that which is pleasing to it, which it enjoys in Eternal Life. And the saint allowed his rich inner world to hide and posed exciting questions: "Why am I "faint-hearted about hopes"? Why do I think and act as if my life is temporary? I await the voice of the Archangel, the last trumpet, the transformation of heaven, [...] the renewal of the whole world. And then I will behold my beloved brother Caesarea, so that he will die no more, and we will not carry him to the grave, we will not mourn him, we will not grieve for him. Then I will see him "bright, glorious, high." Such as you, the closest of my brothers, have appeared to me many times in my dreams" [1006].

St. Chrysostom teaches: "it is necessary that the corruptible creature, who participated in labor and death, should also take part in the crowns" – receive the resurrection. For if this were not to be, then it would not be fitting for God to give flesh to man, and for the Son of Man to take flesh [1007]. In another of his discourses, he delves into the above-quoted word of the divine Paul and connects it with another: "And if we hope in Christ in this life alone, we are the most miserable of all men" (1 Corinthians 15:19), notes that the immortal soul awaits the resurrection of the body, for without it it cannot receive the "ineffable blessings" of the Kingdom, just as it cannot be punished without the body. If the body is not resurrected, then the soul remains "uncrowned, outside of that heavenly bliss." If this happens, then we will not receive any recompense there. And since we will not receive any reward there, it means that it is given in the present life. But what is more pitiful and unhappy than we are? [1008] And so that believers may have no doubt that the resurrection of the dead is required by God's justice, he says: "We do not teach you our own doctrine, but the teaching of the Holy Spirit. So, what do you say? That the body has no part in the heavenly rewards? But it participated in the labor and sufferings of earthly life, and now, when the time has come for payment and recompense, will it have no part? And when it was necessary to fight, it took upon itself most of the labor and suffering, and now, when the time has come for the crown and rewards, only the soul is crowned?" [1009]

This important teaching of our Orthodox Church is beautifully summarized by St. John of Damascus. He writes that if the soul fought alone in the feats of virtue, then it would be crowned alone. And if she had fallen into sin alone, she would have been punished alone. But since the body and the soul together constitute the whole man, and since the soul has done "neither virtue nor evil" separately from the body, it is true that both of them will taste the reward.

We should rejoice when the body is destroyed

Many people ask: "How is it possible for the body to be resurrected, since it has decayed?"

Before we answer this question, it must be said that the Holy Fathers consider the corruption of the body to be a great blessing of God, and therefore a cause for joy.

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St. Gregory of Nyssa characterizes the decay of the body as "an excess of divine beneficence." He emphasizes that this decay does not cause any harm to the "divine image" of man, because although death "decomposes the sensuous" (the body), it is not "destroyed" [1011]. "The farmer rejoices," says the divine Chrysostom, "when he sees how the seed decays in the ground where he sowed it, but he fears and trembles when he sees it undecayed, for he knows that decay is the beginning of future fruiting. In the same way we rejoice when a man is sown (buried)." The Divine Apostle rightly called burial sowing (1 Corinthians 15:42-44), for the sowing of the body is higher than any other sowing. For the sowing of seed replaces "corruption and death," while the burial of the body, if we live according to God, is replaced by "incorruption, immortality, and infinite blessings" [1012].

In another place, the divine Chrysostom considers the corruption of the body as the work of the good and all-wise Providence of God, which is why we should rather rejoice when the deceased "rots" and becomes dust. After all, when someone decides to rebuild a house that is about to collapse, he first of all evicts the tenants, then demolishes the house and builds a new and better one. Eviction does not upset the residents, since the matter is not limited to the demolition of the old house, but the construction of a new one is expected, which, if they do not yet see, but already anticipate. The all-wise God acts in a similar way. In order to destroy the perishable abode of the body and make it better, He first of all takes the soul out of it, separating it by bodily death. When the body is resurrected, then He will bring the soul into it again, and with greater glory! So let us not pay attention to the corruption of the body, but rather concentrate on future beauty and glory [1013].

In addition, as the divine Chrysostom notes (and here he agrees with St. Gregory of Nyssa), "the existence of the body" does not end with death. The saint says the following: "Just as when we see a statue crumbling in a smelting furnace, we do not think that the metal is being destroyed, but that this happens in order to achieve a better manufacture of a new statue, so we must also think about the impending decay of the body. Just as the melting in the furnace is not the destruction but the renewal of the statue, so the death of our bodies is not "destruction" but "renewal," that is, restoration, perfection. So, when you see the decay and decay of the body, then expect "remelting", reconstruction. Follow this example further. The master foundry throws a bronze statue into the furnace to cast a bronze statue for you again. But God destroys the material and mortal body in the earth in order to make you a statue of gold and immortality. For the earth, having received a perishable and mortal body, will restore to you an incorruptible and immaculate body [1014] – glorious and eternal."