For if there is no resurrection, let us eat and
drink Is. xxii. 13; 1 Cor. xv. 32.: let us pursue a life of pleasure
and enjoyment. If there is no resurrection, wherein do we differ
from the irrational brutes? If there is no resurrection, let us
hold the wild beasts of the field happy who have a life free from
sorrow. If there is no resurrection, neither is there any God nor
Providence, but all things are driven and borne along of
themselves. For observe how we see most righteous men suffering
hunger and injustice and receiving no help in the present life, while
sinners and unrighteous men abound in riches and every delight.
And who in his senses would take this for the work of a righteous
judgment or a wise providence? There must be, therefore, there
must be, a resurrection. For God is just and is the rewarder of
those who submit patiently to Him. Wherefore if it is the soul
alone that engages in the contests of virtue, it is also the soul alone
that will receive the crown. And if it were the soul alone that
revels in pleasures, it would also be the soul alone that would be
justly punished. But since the soul does not pursue either virtue
or vice separate from the body, both together will obtain that which is
their just due.